To Light The Future!

by Dantheman2000009

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

14. From Zero to Hope: Part 4

Howdy, good to see you all again and welcome to part 4 of this collab! Now before we get started as of writing the end of this chapter Kai no Kiseki is out and I did in fact see most of the major plot points… I will make no comment on the main story points. Also can Falcom stop fumbling with Elaine! Gets up Like come on! Walk away to the end of the chapter.

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

'Thinking'

"Letters"

(Whispers)

"Talking"

Change of time/Pov

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

Iwonn's Art Blog )

"Then shut up and listen, you're in my world now so you better follow what I tell you, got it bud?" I said as I zoomed in on the scope, the rain would help but these soldiers seem like pros.

"Go on." I got a response, a simple one but it will do for now.

Glancing at the building I was on, the only thing that came to mind was it being a temple of some kind. "You know where the temple is right?"

"No." I blinked at his response. 'You gotta be fucking me right now…'

"Do you know where the tall ass building is?" I checked the area around them and saw nothing so far, then I saw him poke his head out.

"Sadly I do." I looked away and towards the area around me, checking it just in case. 'Now to help him get over here, as long as he stays on the call it should be easy…'

"I'm at the top, my bike is a bit behind the building in a shed. You and the others there need to get over here without being spotted, easy right?" I slightly joked, but then I heard a sigh that I could tell was one from a angry man.

"Yeah. Child's play." I turned back towards him to see which path he would take getting here.

"The rain is your friend tonight, use it to hide any noise, stick close to the buildings. I'll let you know if any patrol is getting close." Without a single response Relon hung up.

"Well, that's rude… Something must've happened to Rinwell then, he better be quick then!" I looked back at him to see them take the water channel that flows throughout the place, it didn't take long for them to get to the other side which was much closer than before. 'So far so good, but…'

Back with Relon he waited for another patrol to pass before moving towards a building, there I saw a patrol go near where Relon and his group would exit. Thinking fast I grabbed the radio. "I'm seeing a lot of rats move around from the rain, don't get jumpy from random noises." I said in a tone that I hoped it would work.

I got a few rogers then a moment later I saw Relon exit into some bushes where those troops noticed the movement. And they walked away. 'Add that to the count of how many times I'll save this man.'

The way ahead is mostly clear, so I watch them bolt until they reach a rocky wall that's in one of the backyards. On the other side were a few patrols meeting up, they weren't moving for a good bit as it seemed they were discussing something.

A moment later I was getting a call from Relon. "You called, seems like a pickle up ahead. Hold tight." I quickly scanned the area, seeing nothing that could work. But then I saw from here I could help without the use of this sniper anymore, then I glanced at the guy still knocked out next to me.

I threw the gun and the guy towards a house near the treeline with a somewhat soft roof not far away that had no patrols nearby, then I used the radio. "Target spotted by the treeline! Multiple targets!" I screamed out into the radio, which caused all of the troops in the area to be alerted to the noise, but they started rushing to that spot while firing their guns without a second thought. 'They'll hit their own guys doing that…'

"'Shoot first, ask questions later' is definitely a motto they live by." I heard a man's voice come over the call. Then Relon's right after. "Next time you do that, how about warning us?" Relon growls as he hangs up. 'And that says it all really, something big went down already…'

I turned away and started climbing down the building slowly as to not alert anyone else, waiting on a lower part of the temple I was able to watch Relon move past any of the other guards on this side of the place and get to the back area where the bike is at.

"Yo!" I call out as I jump off the building and land near them. Relon immediately walked up to me.

"Asshat, what the shit?" He got close and looked to be out of patience.

"We both had long days… Where's Rinwell?" I didn't care if he disliked my attitude, was angry or anything else. As I know that feeling.

Both him and Munechika growled, then Relon answered. "That stupid ass witch that brought us to this world nabbed her."

Glancing around I see the others he's with, a girl with long silver hair, blue eyes and had a tachi on her, the other was a man with dark hair with some blue mixed in, deep blue eyes and he also had a sword, but not a standard one.

"I think I know where. You lot get on the bike and follow the path north-west. I have an airship and Magilou is there. I'll save Rinwell." I started to back off, ready to make my way to that base I saw far off. 'Relon looks weak right now, the others I have no info on but they seemed to be worn out. I can get in and get to her before the enemy even knows I'm there…'

Relon opened his mouth to say something, he stopped then a moment later. "Fine." I saw him ball up his fist, no doubt annoyed at how powerless he is right now. "Bring her back, Shade." The words I needed to hear.

I started back up while I talked. "I'll make sure she's safe and sound, the owl as well. Also I'll give a proper introduction to the others later, so good luck!" I quickly turned and moved into the shadows, heading to where the base was. But for a moment I thought I heard Relon yell, but maybe it was just me.

It didn't take long to get to the edge of the base, there were guards and spotlights but since this was a temp base there were areas I could get through with ease. Seeing that there was few buildings as well, it made it easy to figure out where they were holding Rinwell. 'There's mostly lookouts with a few standing guards… If this is a temp base then where's the base Anelace mentioned?'

Getting over the wall was cakewalk, getting close enough to sense what's in the buildings was tricky. Guards were all over the place and it seemed like they were getting ready for airships to arrive, I needed to be quick about this.

The building that was off to the side was the one, it had guards out front, on top and at least two vehicle mounted turrets around the front. "Alright, walls should be easy to break. Get in, grab her and run, maybe injure this witch…"

I got close, the rain helped but there was a lot of light around, but that didn't stop me, inside I could sense two people and something small. I snuck on top and knocked out one of the guards on top, there were three more. Before any could notice I quietly took them down then crouched above the entrance where I heard the guards out front talking.

"Do you ever wonder why we're here?" The one on the left asked without even looking at the other guard.

"One of life's great mysteries isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence? Or is there really a Goddess, watching everything. You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night." I blinked as this wasn't the first time I heard this.

"What? I mean why are we out here, in this basin?" The left guard turned to the other, looking confused.

"Uh… Oh… Yeah…" The right guard looked away as he scratched his cheek.

"What's all this stuff about Goddess?"

"Uh… um… Nothing." These were not the elite troops that were in town.

Before I could take them out or get into the building I heard a girl shout. "SHOOTING STAR!" A familiar voice sounds out. From within, then I saw a great light appear above me. 'Fuck.'

I jumped off and watched as all at once, the ceiling begins to cave in as a giant balls of cosmic light descends disintegrating anything in its path until it reaches ground level. With a deafening pop, it bursts. On the other side lies a grinning Rinwell and tied up Hootle.

"Fuckin hell…" I landed and shook out of the amazement and confusion of what that was and looked ahead, as Rinwell stood there smiling in what used to be a building, she even took out the guards and vehicles nearby. 'That killed them… Just like what happened to them back then.'

Suddenly I see a woman appear in front of Rinwell. She had long black hair, a black robe with golden armor accents, she had an angry look on her face. "Damn brat…!"

"You can't call me a brat when we're the same age!" Rinwell yelled out at this girl. 'Same age? Dame she has an air of maturity that's for sure.'

Seeing as a fight was about to happen I pulled out my handguns as I quickly moved forward to get between them both. Head snapping at my presence, a subtle flicker of the girl's hand issues colorful glyphs on the ground to erupt. Ice, water, earth, and fire spew like geysers.

"Damn! You are a bitch!" Thanks to the duels I had with Rinwell I was able to mostly evade these attacks, but I was still grazed by a few. I got close to the woman and aimed my gun right at her face and fired. 'A fake, but I can sense where the real you is!'

Her head was blown off, a gasp sounds from Rinwell for the body to slump over before vanishing like a mirage.

"Hmpf, insults mean nothing when one cannot back it up." She speaks from behind me in a cocky voice.

"And one needs to shut the fuck up!" I aim at my own chest and fire my gun, the shot goes through me and hits her in the eye.

A blood-curdling scream bellows from the mage as she teleports all over the place. In the process, Rinwell's tome fell from the witch's hip, quickly I put a gun away and grabbed the tome. Conforming on a glyph as a platform, her breathing steadies for her sole eye to glare dangerously at both me and Rinwell.

I hold my chest as I glare at the woman through my mask. "Leave now or I will shoot myself again!" I pointed my gun at her as my voice was filled with venom.

"You… insignificant…!" She huffs, her entire body beginning to illuminate in a green glow before it ends. Lowering her hand to reveal her charred eye now closed, she lifts a hand to aim at us two. 'Not good!'

"Rinwell here! Hit me with a lighting blast, the biggest one you can make!" I tossed Rinwell her tome as I then pulled out my other gun again and readied for her attack.

Not asking questions instead conjuring mana, her tome glows as do Valkyrie's hand. "Blah, blah, blah! Electric Discharge!"

"Tabularum Sic Agen!"

Rinwell hits me with her magic and I feel the boost from it, quickly aiming up I shot all of the shards of magic that were coming at us. After that I put away my left handgun and pulled out my scythe and threw it at the witch as I turned and saw Hootle was still bound.

"Get the owl! We're getting out of here!" I turned back to the witch to see her stare at the incoming blade.

"Right! Come on, Hootle!" Rinwell unbinds Hootle who then flies into Rinwell hood "Hoot Hoot Hoot!"

With no effort, she catches the scythe by its blade "You're not going anywhere." She growls, pointing the scythe at us.

Seeing that Hootle was free I put away my other gun and grabbed Rinwell and threw her over my shoulder, reaching out towards the witch I watched as the scythe pulled towards me and out of her hands. "That's mine!" 'Good thing magnetic fields are a thing!'

I then jumped out of the wreckage of the building as Rinwell and Hootle screamed out.

Manifesting above the wreckage, the witches eye narrows as she raises her hand for the clouds and the dark overhead. "You like lightning, do you?" Hand coating in electricity, it raises upwards. "Twin-Kirin!"

Hearing the roar of a behemoth, Rinwell's own cries grabs my attention as I turn to look at the sight of two lightning dragons coated in blue slowly descending from the heavens. "Why is this bitch crazy!?"

The guards around us couldn't keep up as they tried to chase us, so I jumped over the wall as this attack started coming down at me. "Sorry Rinwell!" I moved her slightly up on my shoulder then threw her far out ahead of me before she could even speak.

A moment later I then got hit with what felt like the power of ten railway guns, yet all it did was launch me forward at high speeds and power me up more, it felt like I had electricity coming out of my skin.

Rinwell was just out of the main strike zone, but she herself was also launched ahead, using the power I had gotten I quickly caught up and grabbed her out of the air and landed on the ground. "You okay?"

Eyes widened in disbelief, the witch can only look on at a loss for words. "WHATHTHEACTUALLYHECKSHADE?! NEVEREVERDOSOMETHINGSORECKLESSMUCHLESSTHROWBOTHOFUSLIKETHATFORASLONGASWE'RETOGETHER! GOT THAT?!" I leaned back as her yells were as loud as the blast that just happened.

"HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT!" All I could see was white as the owl got in my face.

"To be fair I didn't think she would use the power of a lighting dragon." I pushed the owl out of the way as Rinwell now got close.

"I. DON'T. CARE!"

"HOOT. HOOT. HOOT!"

I turned to look at the chaos behind me, what was once a base was now a crater that had burnt the very ground and everyone that was there. "Relon is safe along with the others, so no need to worry about them. Now then… will you stop!" I turned to look at the witch who was still in the air.

Hunching over about to continue, something stops her. Given she looks back as if listening to someone, whatever attempts at retaliation she had planned is put on halt. "For now!" She calls before with a snap, she vanishes.

"Alright, so you good Rinwell, Hootle?" I turned to look at them, both were glaring at me.

"Are we good? ARE WE GOOD?! UGH!" She grunts and turns away.

"HOOT!" He does the same.

"Good enough, Relon would have killed me if something happened to you both." I chuckled as I walked past them.

"Speaking of! How is he?! Munechika too!" Rinwell steps in front of me, concern in her eyes.

"Alive, the other two with him are alive as well. They should be at the ship Magilou and I showed up on."

"Other two? What other two?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"Hoot hoot?" He does the same, I think anyway.

"Girl with silver hair and a guy with a blue streak in his hair." I look between them both. 'I see, so she must of been taken before Relon met with them? No, that doesn't seem right…'

Rinwell blinks a few times before I see it click for her "So they're with him now? Hey, what about the big guy in black armor?"

This time it was my turn to blink, there was nobody else… "He wasn't there, wait… Who are they apart of?" 'Is it them? The area is right and… that girl, she's…'

"Sika… Mika… Uh…"

"Hoot, hoot hoot!"

"Oh yeah! Ikaruga, I'm pretty sure! That's what they said, right Hootle?" At her question, a nod comes from the baby owl. 'Zero's troops, the Ikaruga… I get the picture now.'

"Ikaruga? So they are here, meaning I think I know who that girl is then." We started walking as we talked, every so often I glanced into the distance

"Who is she? It's fine to ask since those space-time rules Relon spoke of don't work here." I stopped and looked at her.

"Rules? Whatever, well the girl is Shizuna. From what I heard she was highly respected and known as the 'Silver Princess.' Her group were allies in my time, until they took things too far." Yet it wasn't long after I knew what they all felt.

"Hoot?"

"Yeah, what happened?" She looked at me, a hint of worry on her expression.

"She was killed, her people went after the Dominion and were even going after the families of the troops. I worked alongside them and then fought them, then the Dominion erased them all." We started moving again, but not too quickly. I could still see the charred remains of the base.

"The bad guys of your time… Just like how we have Senate, you have the Dominion…"

"Hoot…"

"Why do people have to cause so much pain? Grimoire, Valkyrie, whoever she claims to be wasn't always like this so what changed? Why go to such lengths now?"

It was clear how distraught she was. Though as much as I was ready to say something, the negativity in her disappeared.

"Next time, I'll get my answers. I made a vow to help Relon and I'm sticking to it. This whole ordeal was just a small setback. Yeah, that's all! In fact, more good came out of this than bad!" I looked down at her, smiling at her sudden enthusiasm.

"Hoot!

"That's right! I can bust out Shooting Star without the need of my tome because of you Hootle! Hehe, Zero, Grimoire, and everyone else not with us is going down!" 'If only it were that easy.'

"Hoot hoot hoot!"

"Heh, that's what I like about you, those eyes of yours never lost the hope in them. Also that spell almost got me as well, but it was badass." I laughed a little as we continued to walk.

"Did it? Haha, sorry about that Shade. Didn't mean to nearly disintegrate you. Had we known, we would have dumbed down the power on it." 'I'm still wondering how she wasn't hurt by it, guess her own magic doesn't hurt her.'

"Well considered us even then, I did throw you around. Now as much as I want to keep chatting here, troops will be all over this area and we've stayed long enough."

"Agreed. I could use some rest. What about you, Hootle?" Another chirp in agreement is the familiar's answer.

"Rest will come later, we gotta get back to my bike which is back in town. So time to get moving… also here." I pulled out the pendent I made Rinwell, showing her the butterfly shape, the blue Luminous in the inner area shined against the Titanium.

"A pendant? Huh. I'm sensing something. A magical essence?"

"It's made with Luminous, some type of element the witches used here that could store power, so this pendant is full of my power and should allow you to use lighting magic to a greater effect." For a brief moment, I thought of telling her about how my blood went into it, but that would just freak her out.

"You don't say…" She accepts it placing the accessory around her neck. "Thanks Shade. We'll put this to great use!" She beams a smile.

If… No, when we win there's a chance I won't see her again. If there is it's small and by that time both of us will change, but I hope this smile remains the same. That this pendent keeps her safe and helps her keep others safe. I hope she won't see anything worse than what I did to those wolves.

"Plus I hope this serves as a good apology for what you had to see of me awhile back." We walked slowly, side by side.

"Awhile ba- Oh." Cutting herself off, there was an odd feeling coming from her. "Um, Shade?"

"Yeah?" I turned to look at her, seeing her look down before back at me.

"I want to apologize. About… that. I…" She sighs before pushing on. "Know that everyone's different and fighting can get, well, pretty fierce. I'm still a novice in terms of actual combat. I mean, I fight with a book and you fight with guns and a scythe. I shoot magic and you shoot bullets. Kinda."

"Hoot… Hoot hoot."

"Argh, I know! Shade, I'm sorry! Really, really, really sorry! Everyone is different and I shouldn't have judged you just based on that practicality alone. Splitting up, I got to see some things that were somewhat of an eye opener. Both civil life for those that lived in peace and the life of others fighting. You were defending us and you have your own stuff going on like everyone else. So… yeah. I'm sorry. Truly…"

We stopped walking, behind my mask I was in shock. There weren't many that saw me fight like that and apologized to me about how they acted. People saw me as the Grim Reaper, a Monster. They never saw past that.

"I'll be… You say sorry way too much, but thank you. I'll tell you why I fight like that later, why I was so brutal. But man, I hope you never change." I let out a small chuckle.

"Haha, you're talking to the girl that ran face-first into a warzone against Erebonia's most dangerous without a second thought! There's no changing the amount of awesome we are! Isn't that right, Hootle?" She looks back at the owl.

"..."

"Hootle?"

"Hoo…"

"What do you mean 'no comment?'" I could only shake my head at the scene.

"Little guy can only watch as you run head first into a war, but that's not the part I was talking about."

"What do you mean then?"

"You're innocent, you see the bright side of things and bring a ray of hope and light, seeing what type of people Relon will be fighting and the stuff I know happens… He'll need that to ground him, to let him know he isn't alone in his war."

Immediately the causal face she wears hardens with determination. "... Yeah. Leave it to us! We're family. Nothing's getting in the way of that! I won't let it!"

"Hoot! Hoot!"

"Good, never lose that part of you." I reach out and rub the girl's head as we stop by a tree.

"You got it." She smiles, one brimming with the utmost of confidence.

"Now, we're almost back to where I parked my bike… Shit get low, a patrol!" I pull her close and duck behind some trees.

As a group of Zero's soldiers go past, a sigh escapes Rinwell. "That was close."

"They are searching the outskirts of town, seems like they figured out that we aren't back at that battleground." I glanced around, the patrols aren't leaving many openings

"How much did I miss? It's crawling with soldiers!" I quickly look at her. 'Wait… if Shizuna is with Relon and the Ikaruga are here… They all did look beat up and with this many of Zero's troops.'

Letting out a sigh I look back at the area ahead. "Relon knows more about that, but still… Ah, nevermind that. We need to move quickly!"

"Lead the way then!"

"Hoot!"

I grabbed her hand and led her closer to town, ducking behind whatever we could. Then I saw the shed as well as a group of troops that found the bike.

"Damn it!"

"Go loud or soft?" She questions with clear urgency. 'Soft? I guess she doesn't know much of this stuff.'

"Hmm… Rinwell get Hootle in your hood, I'll take out those guys and you'll hop in the sidecar, keep low. Got it?"

"'Kay. Come on, Hootle." Hopping into her hoodie, she gives a nod at the ready.

I walked closer until I got all of them in my sights, quickly I pulled out my handguns and started shooting them down, avoiding the bike but in turn making a lot of noise. "Rinwell now!"

With a burst of a wind spell, she blasts off into the air over the bodies to hop in already in the process of buckling up. "Come on!"

I run over and jump on the bike and started it up, to my right I see headlights getting closer. "Keep low and hold on!" I pulled on the gas and started along the path back to the ship as an unknown amount of enemies tail us.

"There's so many! If we bring this much to where the others are…!" Urgency evident in her voice, the obvious becomes… well, obviouser as a groan escaped her lips.

"Hold this thing steady!" She says holstering herself facing behind us. 'I swear…'

"Hoot!"

"Screw this! If we don't do something, we're cooked! Whoa!" Ducking back into the seat as I swerve to avoid sudden gunfire and arts, her tome glows. "Keep us steady, Shade!"

"I swear, people think it's easy to drive while being shot at, you both have more in common then you think!"

"If you're comparing me to that old hag, I swear I'll mess with you next!" 'Yeah, they really do…

"Hoot! Hoot, Hoot!" The baby owl speaks with equal urgency.

"Violent darting winds intersect! Cross Blade!" She shouts, razor disks of wind funnel out of thin air to launch slashing the tires off of several vehicles causing a chain reaction of crashes to occur.

Flipping through her tome to the next spell, her tome cycles to a different color as she mumbles something in an odd language before weaving out of the way of a bullet. Eyes snapping fiercely, she thrusts her hand to the air as spells wizz past us.

"Let's see how this gift works! A chain between Heaven and Earth, a wailing banshee of lightning…!" More and more, the green light shines until the very outline cascades over the book itself. In correspondence, the necklace around her shimmers with equal brilliance. 'Why am I getting a bad feeling?'

At once, in that very moment, the firing stops.

"Divine Saber!"

Hearing the surge of crackling, my eyes lift up to the clouds and I see a colorful blanket of darkness. Colors resembling a rainbow seemingly dance in harmony before the cluster of colors surges down upon us. 'For fucks sake…'

"Hit it!"

I pull harder on the gas as I glance up. "Girl's got a deathwish…" I reached into my pocket and quickly called Relon, hoping he was at the ship. 'We're almost there so might as well give a heads up!'

"Shade? Please tell me you guys are the cause for that lightshow a second ago." Relon answers cautiously.

"COVER YOUR EARS!" Rinwell exclaims diving into the passenger car and hunching over. Glancing over I could only look at her with a slightly annoyed expression, like she could see it anyway.

"Wait, what?!" Relon exclaims having heard her warning.

Looking up it was about to hit the ground behind us now. "Relon, I'm sorry in advance, but I made a monster." 'What have I done…'

"What do you-"

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

Ground trembling as firework-like lights flash in repetition, pieces of debris pelt my back and the bike. Daring a glance out the corner of my eye, I gaze at the wondrous-yet-equally-worrisome sight. Flames, craters from the sheer impact, but most of all, the vehicles once chasing us lie in said descriptions.

"Holy Aidios, that was so different from the last time I casted that!" Rinwell exclaims joining in on the spectacle.

Before anything can be further said, a wave of annoyance resurges as more vehicles burst through the smoke maneuvering around the craters.

"OH, COME ON!" her hand went into the air in pure annoyance.

"I knew there would be more, Relon are you at the ship!?" I pressed on my mask the speaker option, something I never added myself but Tio did…

"Yeah!"

"The hell's going on?!" The girl, Shizuna exclaims over the line.

"Who's that?!" Rinwell inwardly blinks, apparently choosing now all of a sudden to not only stop her chant of her spell but also inquire into the appearance of the new woman. 'Now's not the time…'

"You all can chat later! Relon are you in the cockpit?"

"Currently flying back in that direction!" I glanced back, there's a lot here…

"Well get in there and turn your ARCUS on speaker!" If I can get Pater-Mater to lower the ramp I can drive in, but that ship needs time to take off. Yet, they won't wait for that.

"On it!"

"Also we're coming in hot, so get on the deck after I get there! I have a plan." The path is getting narrow, meaning we're close.

"WE GOT COMPANY!" The voice of Shizuna exclaims as a whirring sound.

"Ready when you guys are!" I let out a sigh before yelling.

"Pater-Mater, lower the ramp and get ready to take off!" I pulled harder on the gas.

"What the- Hey! PATER MATER IS THE SHIP?!" Relon yelled out. 'Did Magilou tell them?'

"I TOLD YOU SO!" The voice of Magilou shouts in the background.

"NO YOU DIDN'T!" Another voice berates her. 'I… don't want to know.'

I hung up as I turned to see how many vehicles were behind me. "Rinwell, once we get there join Relon on the deck and provide cover. I'll keep them away as the ship takes off!"

"Wha- Okay!" She nods, tucking away her tome.

Up ahead I see the clearing where the ship is at, the ramp is down so I aim the bike and slowed down. I got up the ramp with a small amount of damage, there I saw that guy with the blue streak in his hair and Magilou by the ramp.

"Blue Streak, Magilou, tie the bike down!" I hopped off as I ran back outside. There the enemy stopped their vehicles and were using them as cover.

"Blue- Gah, whatever! Come on, witch girl." Blue Streak groaned loudly.

"That better not be some way of calling me a bitc- oh whatever!" I let out a chuckle, she seems to be better…

"Less arguing, more working!" Shizuna exclaims. "We've got company!" I glanced at the girl, I didn't even need to look into her eyes to see that she did lose her people. 'I'll speak with her later… for now.'

Passing by, Rinwell doesn't waste any time in hurrying over to the bridge and outside. "Flames Descend! Burning Strike!" At her call, volleys of flames descend upon the entrance of the area for an explosion to erupt.

"Relon, your swords still moving around!?" I yelled out as I stood out in the open, the hatch behind me closing up.

"Yeah! What do you need?!"

"Just be ready to catch me. Pater-Mater get this ship flying!" I took a deep breath, they are setting up to fire on us.

"Gotcha, you heard the man you two!" At his words, both swords rise above ready for action.

All around troops move upon us, I let out a sigh as I pull out my handguns and hold them out, ready to make my stand. "I'm ready, you asshats!"

"He's gonna fight by himself?" Shizuna exclaims as she is about to jump off.

"Wait!" Relon halts with his hand. "Let him handle it. He's the best to hold them off."

About to argue, she relents as the ship revs to life.

Gunfire erupts all around me, most is focused on me but a few troops are aiming for the ship. I began shooting their shots out of the air before they had the chance to hit me or the ship. I'm also trying to hit them back but there's too many, but it's too chaotic, then I see their swordsmen rush at me, around five in total.

For a moment, I hesitated as they rushed me. I saw their eyes were visible so I looked into them, hoping there's good in it or maybe a chance they were fighting back… but what I saw was nothing, there was nothing in them. They were soulless husks. 'Huh… that makes this easy…'

Letting out a sigh I rushed forwards and grabbed the first guy, using him as a shield for bullets as I shot the next swordsmen, putting away a gun I grabbed the sword from the now dead grunt. I threw the sword past the next guy which caused him to dodge which left an opening for me to grab his head and throw him into the others.

"He's quick," Van notes.

"Quick isn't enough though. Relon, why not let us help?" Shizuna asks.

"Because Shade isn't exactly normal," Rinwell answers for her tome to glow green as does her pendant. "Not exactly human like us exactly." Jumping onto the railing, she extends a hand.

"Celestial Hammer!" Beams of electricity explode into a shower piercing all around me.

"Who here isn't a normal human?" Van bats an eye.

"Just you two I'm pretty sure," Rinwell answers falling back as a shot whizzes past them. "And maybe Magilou. If you can count her."

"HEY!"

Despite where we were, despite how tense this situation was. Their banter was enjoyable to listen to, it was new and yet the same as I had known before. I let out a small chuckle then I looked up back at the enemy with determined eyes, ready to get everyone out.

I felt a bullet hit my leg, yet from that blast that one witch caused I can feel the energy heal it within seconds. I let out a small smile as I stopped shooting the bullets out of the air that were heading towards me, instead I kept them off the ship and others. I felt it hit my legs, arms and body. No doubt they were wondering why I was going down, or they are that dumb enough to keep shooting me.

I put more energy into my rounds, blasting the areas the troops were in, not caring if they died because at least they weren't human, like that makes it better… . Another swordsman comes at me, I shoot him through the knee as I grab his sword on his way down and place it on my back. "I'll take that."

"You weren't joking…" I heard Van from above.

"Yeah, no need to worry about injury when he can't exactly get hurt. Least not by what they're dishing out." 'I do get hurt jackass, I still feel all of this!'

"What the hell is with this world?" Van sighs, swatting away a stray bullet.

Glancing behind me I can see the ship is now taking off, the ramp was closed shut so only one way back. Another wave of swordsmen rushed me and I rushed back, I jumped over them and grabbed the one in the far back, threw him forward towards the ship and then used him to jump even higher into the air, he went down on top of his buddies. "RELON!"

Focusing on the airborne male, both of his blades shoot forward. Taking aim, the soldiers below fire for the weapons to maneuver with ease through the gunfire. 'Must be nice to have magic weapons!'

"Double jump!" Relon hollers, the logic already clicking in my mind.

Pappan reaches first. Placing one foot on the sword, I hop higher to meet Pippin. Grabbing a hold of the cloth, I'm dragged away as my momentum suddenly shifts in the direction the sword is going. Peering down, I take in Pappan deflecting the incoming bullets as we spin back towards the ship.

It doesn't take long for me to land on the deck. Kneeling down I catch a breath. "Pater-Mater, get us away from here, just head west!"

The ship begins to speed away, any incoming fire dies down as it's out of reach. 'Shit… I used up about half of that energy boost there…

Allowing a breath of relief to escape, one he hadn't known to have held in, Relon's grip over the railing lessens.

"We made it." He sighs, rotating in time to be tackled by a familiar force knocking his tired form over. "Oof!"

I glanced over to see Rinwill tackle him onto the ground, a big smile on her face. 'Good…'

"We're back, hehe."

Relon eyes open to the cheeky smile Rinwell harbors, his own smile, something that feels like a while since seen, graces his features. "Welcome back, Rinwell." He hugs the girl. "You too, Hootle."

"It's good to be back." Rinwell cheered happily.

"Hoot!"

I slowly stand up while watching the scene before me. "So, guess now we can all relax and chat…"

"Are you trying to speak something negative into existence?" Rinwell gives a droopy look over her shoulder. "Our luck isn't the best so please don't do that."

Given the fact that she is still on top of Relon, the whole sight is rather amusing. "Well, we still aren't out of the woods yet. They do have airships but I don't think they will chase us yet, not after what that girl did to that base." 'But still, where were the professors? The main base? The leader behind those husks?'

"That's right, how did you guys escape?" Relon wonders for the cheeky grin on Rinwell and Hootle's faces to grow ever more.

"Do you want the short version or the long version?"

"The version that won't bore us." Magilou quips for a twitch to escape the girl who quickly rises glaring at her.

"What's wrong, granny? Is it hard to focus on anything longer than a minute?" She grins with a clear tic mark.

"Hey, Rinwell…" Relon chides.

"Oh, did the twerp say something? One escape from the enemy and you think you're all bark, eh?"

"Magilou, chill would ya?" I ease though she doesn't seem to listen, yet looking at her I can tell this is her own way of welcoming Rinwell back. 'One day I will learn about you…'

"Are they like this often?" Van wonders.

"Despite being good friends, yes." Relon chuckles.

"WE ARE NOT FRIENDS!"

"Uh huh. Well, anyway. Relon, who was the person that sent you here, what was her name?" I asked since I figured it would be best if I told the story.

"Valkyrie."

"Ah right, well Rinwell here used her magic to escape from her before I showed up, then Valkyrie got a bit angry when I shot her eye out so she blasted the entire base they had set up to kill us." Short and sweet…ish.

"Good to know someone doesn't hold back when they get an opportunity." Shizuna nods.

"Shade gave me this pendant too so my electric magic is amped to the max!" Rinwell shows off, radiating exuberance.

"Every bit helps in our fight against Zero." Relon nods. "Still, it's relieving to be reunited like this."

"I know, right? Feels like forever since we left Eryn Village!" Rinwell notes to receive nods from both familiars.

"Speaking of, Pater-Mater, take us to Eryn Village!" I called out to the AI.

"It knows the way there?" Rinwell wonders.

"The village is known to everyone, it's not hidden as it might be in your world." I glanced towards her.

"Huh. I don't know if that relieving to know or not." She looks down at her feet before looking back at Relon.

"Given that Zero is aware of its existence but hasn't done anything since what he did to the Hexen Clan, it may be a good place to go for the time being." Relon comments.

"Guess that settles it." Rinwell shrugs.

"Now I think it's time for some introductions…" I look over at people I don't know yet. "You might have heard already, but I'm Shade."

"Van Arkride." The blue streak-haired male greets with a curt nod. 'Van…? Maybe?'

"Shizuna. I'm a friend of Van and Relon." 'Now that I get a good look, yeah… she lost everything back there.'

"Friend, huh?" Van snorts for the young woman to snap his way with narrowed eyes though he seems unfazed. "Nearly slicing his head off is quite the greeting."

"You want to experience the same thing, Van?" She smiles though the malicious intent behind it couldn't be more apparent.

"Um, n-no. I'm good." 'Well, maybe not everything, at least she has a net.'

"It's a struggle for you too, huh Van." Relon offers a comforting pat for the guy to only subtly nod in defeat.

Noticing the quiet look Rinwell sports during the two's antics, her eyes shift to Relon and Munechika. Making some sort of gesture, their own expressions grow slightly grim as they shake their heads. Seeing a look of sadness for only a moment, she perks right back up. "Shizuna, Van, good to have you both aboard!" She steps into the fray. "I'm Rinwell and this is my best friend Hootle!"

"Hoot hoot!"

"An owl?" Van arches a brow.

"Awe, it's adorable!" Shizuna coos petting the creature for it to elicit a happy chirp.

"And she's captivated." Van chuckles.

I could only watch the scene before me, it was nice seeing this little reunion, yet there was one person I needed to see. "There is still one more I need to meet now, Munechika?" I looked over at Relon.

"Oh yeah, Munechika, this is Van. Though you've already met kinda."

From his feet, the white cat steps forward. Giving a curt bow, the signs of fatigue evident in her gesture.

"She lost her voice from the cryptid that attacked so she's been communicating via the Hexen Clan's language." Relon explains.

"Witchcraft…" Van mumbles to get an elbow jab by Shizuna.

"I see, sorry to hear that. But I knew you were more than just a cat, your eyes told me all I needed…" I reached up and took off my mask and placed it on my hip, letting out a sigh as I walked closer to her. Gently I placed my hand on her head and gently rubbed it as I gave a small smile. 'It may not be her, but it feels the same…'

"It's nice to finally meet you, Munechika…" I looked down at her as my smile got slightly bigger. Looking at nothing in particular, a small sphere of white manifests around Munechika's body. Slowly, it expands to rise vertically. Dying down, a white-haired woman with silver eyes, cat ears, and a tail stands before us.

Wiping a glowing hand across the air in front of her, symbols appear before they alter into recognizable letters.

[It is a pleasure to properly meet you both, Shade and Magilou. I understand the events which have led you here alongside Relon Rinwell. I look forward to dispelling this evil reigning over our homeland.] Once more, she bows her head before lifting up. In doing so, her gaze remains locked on me for a long moment before shifting to Magilou and then back to the others.

Sighing, I looked back at Relon. "So, only they made it?" I gesture to Van and Shizuna.

"Yeah. Sorry to say but Tio did a number on all of us. Cause those roots to come to life and… yeah." The grim expression he wore as did the others said all that needed to be said. 'Tio… I see, so you were back there.'

"Ah, Tio… is she alive?" I asked hesntetly

"Yeah. Zero's Army pulled her out. Likely Laura and Unc- I mean Victor Arseid too." He comments pointing to the large greatsword on his back. "Words can't describe that fight. Not easily at least."

"Laura as well… I see, she can be a tough one to fight." 'I doubt she'll be as tough as the Laura I knew, but still she's tough.'

"It was somewhat easy. The Radiant Blademaster was the hard part. Fighting around him wasn't easy. Honestly, I don't know if I can pull that off again."

"Well Victor might have been going easy on you, has Magilou said anything of what we encountered since we last saw each other?"

"Yeah, we're up to speed. As for what our next move is…" Rinwell hums. "I know our main objective is taking out the reactors but outside of that, we've traveled a great deal around meeting allies. I don't see any point in wasting more time doing that." 'She has no idea, but seems like Magilou told the others.'

"Shade." Relon speaks, gaining everyone's attention. "Sorry to ask this but what happened… with the witches you met. Vita Clotilde as well as the woman with her?"

I looked at him, I felt as if there was more to it. "Let's head inside first, it might be better to sit down, at least for those from this world."

"Huh?" Both Van and Shizuna sounded that out in sync.

"We get you guys aren't normal but extraterrestrials?" Van crosses his arms.

"I believe them." Shizuna speaks up, earning a surprised look from Van. "There's too much evidence of things not being normal so we need to start thinking outside the box, Van."

"Technically, I'm a different dimensional being. At least, half of one. With one fourth being human and the other quarter a witch. Or mage. Still haven't figured that term out." Relon muses.

"Figure that out some other time, maybe find a way to shorten it as well. Let's just head inside so I can explain."

"Lead the way."

We all head inside, everyone sits down somewhere as I palace that sword I got against a wall and flopped into a seat with a sigh. Magilou had sat next to me, being the lazy girl she is, she leaned on me and was just relaxing. 'Really? Whatever I don't mind.'

Glancing around I looked at everyone before my eyes landed on Relon. "How much you know? I doubt Magilou was a good story teller."

"Only the basis from her perspective. Mentioned having a ship they were setting up away from the continent, right?" I raised a eyebrow, clearly Magilou didn't tell them everything.

"The Ark, yeah… But it's not to leave the continent, it's to leave this world all together and find a new one."

"A new world?" Shizuna wonders inquisitively.

"Like ours?" Relon follows up. "Surely they don't simply mean another continent on the planet."

"Could be mine, could be yours, could be something else. If Zero's countdown ends, this world will be reshaped into his image fully which will allow The Ark to move to a new world during that moment." I glanced down at Magilou who almost seemed asleep, yet knowing her she's just pretending.

"How are they planning to do that?" Van arches a brow.

"That I didn't ask, mostly because they moved on to the next topic… by the way, there's only one witch there. Vita, the other is the Grand Master of Ouroborus, what's left of her anyway." Despite remembering what was left of her body, my expression remains calm.

"Elaborate on 'what's left?'" Relon urges.

I let out a small sigh. "30 years ago, that's when the Grand Master noticed Zero show up in this world, at some point her and the rest of Ouroborus took action to stop him before he got too powerful. Her, Vita and another were the only ones alive and the Grand Master is missing half of her body and is in some chamber keeping her alive." I stated matter-of-factly.

"The leader of the infamous Ouroborus fought Zero?" Shizuna shudders in awe. "To think someone like that would lose…"

"I wouldn't expect any less given the power Zero has exuded across the continent." Van speaks up.

"If their leader is out of the picture, then we will have to look to the next best thing."

"Relon, you're going to head there, aren't you?"

Not answering immediately, the male's eyes remain on the floor. After a moment, he nods. "Yeah. I need to speak with Vita." 'Hmm? Another person he has history with?'

"So we're heading there next, huh?" Van rocks back in his seat. "This'll likely be troublesome."

"What makes you think they'll listen?" Shizuna asks.

"Well…" Rinwell begins to quietly eye both Munechika and Relon for anything. "She's kinda his… mom?" She says tenderly for both newcomers to buck wide.

"Define 'kinda.'" Shizuna demands with a stoic though unnerved demeanor.

"In our world, she gave birth to Relon." Rinwell explains looking to the quiet male. "Here… she didn't."

"So you're going to try and use some sort of paternal move to make her want to help out?" Van muses somewhat accusatory.

"No." Relon gently answers. "I… would like to get their help but I… It's complicated. I just need answers to some things. It'll help both me and possibly our cause."

I watched on, seeing the way his eyes looked, his gentle yet sad eyes. It wasn't hard to know why he wanted to meet her, but it makes me wonder a bit…. "I see… You never met her, did you?" I looked him in the eyes as he looked at me.

"Please don't pry into my family life." Relon musters out a sigh. "I have in my world. Just not in the way I would like." 'There it is, Relon keeping to himself yet failing to hide everything… jeez, just open up a little.'

Deciding to move away from that before I say anything that I might not want, I looked around the room. "Alright, so anything else you wanted to ask? Any of you?"

"I got one." Van comments with a raised hand. "We've been out of the country so you'll have to mind us, these reactors. Where are they? And which ones are we hitting next?"

"I have a map in one of the bags, I'll show you it once we get to Eyrn village."

"We'll likely tackle Saint-Ark's reactor next." Relon quips. "You guys already took one down so it's our turn." 'Doesn't matter who takes it down, besides not like this is a turn based game of some kind…'

"We'll have to watch out for Valkyrie now that she's with them." Rinwell chimes in.

Remembering the witch I realized I forgot a detail about Zero. "Oh, right. The countdown Zero gave us, it's not about when he'll have enough power to reshape this world, but when he can."

"Countdown? What countdown?" Shizuna asks, her look of neutrality shifting to honest confuzzlement.

"Zero told me though one of his men, 5 days from now he will reshape this world. Before we thought that's when he'll get enough power, but it's when he's allowed to do it. Once this world and the Beyond are at their closest."

"Relon's home…" Rinwell mutters eyeing the male. "Is it wishful thinking in wondering if the two dimensions being so close will give Relon some sort of super boost like his transformation?"

"We can only be so lucky." Relon mumbles flexing his hand at the thought.

"And there's a chance that during that moment, we'll be able to defeat Zero. So if we're going to have a final battle it will be then." I clench my fist as I say that, already knowing that any final battle will cost this world a lot.

"Sounds good to me." Van shrugs.

"When that moment comes, we have to be ready!" Rinwell states, the urgency behind her words is evident of the situation at hand.

Feeling a pair of eyes stare into my head I glanced at Shizuna and noticed her eyes on me, her gaze was quite serious. "Got a question?"

"Human experimentation. Explain that." She requests or rather demands while crossing her arms. 'I doubt anyone she knows was affected by Zero's shit… Still it's not a nice thing to know about.'

"Ah, that. I'm not too sure how deep Zero went into that, but from what I've seen and was told… Children who are turned into monsters are forever stuck that way, living like that. Adults have a timer before their bodies give up…"

"... I see."

"Shade, is there anyone of importance that had their minds freed when you destroyed the reactor?" I looked back at Relon, thinking for a moment of whose names will everyone know here.

"Cassius Bright, his daughter, Joshua Astray, Zin Vathek and Anelace Elfead. Those are the names that you may know of the most."

"Familiar ones for sure." Van nods.

"So Cassius has been freed." Shizuna mumbles. "Good."

"How exactly did you guys destroy it?" Rinwell adds on.

"I shot it, grabbed those around and ran." I said with a small amount of amusement in my voice.

"If it's that simple, then why hasn't the resistance achieved that ages ago?" Van dismisses.

"I'm half demon, because of that I can fire a round that could wipe an area, like you kinda saw back there. Plus you have to be deep in the base itself to get a good shot."

"... Damn it." Van grumbles in defeat earning a supportive pat by Rinwell.

"Who exactly is on Zero's side?" Shizuna wonders. "Faction-wise." I wondered who she would even know as both her and Van were away, yet it's better to just say the names and figure it out from there.

"Those in Crossbell, the SSS, Arios, Yin. I haven't seen too many from Crossbell so who knows who else is there…"

"Then there's my academy's class; Class VII. Those higher-up figures related to them like Victor Arseid. Thankfully, our side has barely run into any resistance from particular individuals aside from grunts up until we met."

"So Arios is in our way as is Rean…" Shizuna again mumbles in thought.

"Given the way things are, we've steadily amassed our own powerful force not counting the resistance." Rinwell chirps with positivity looking around. "We're basically a mini army!"

"Hoot hoot!"

"Even that might not cut it, just taking one reactor costed a lot of lives. And I went in before the battle and took out the turrets on the place, we'll need a lot of planning." I looked at Rinwell while I admire her optimistic way of looking at things, she doesn't know how a battle will turn out. Numbers mean nothing when it comes down to planning and skill.

"We'll need a coordinated effort from the resistance. That or we somehow manage with our tiny force to lessen the casualties." Relon notes.

"Why not teleport inside?" Rinwell offers. "We don't need a large force and I could just Shooting Star the reactor before anyone notices. With Munechika, we get in and out before anyone notices."

"The only issue I can see is either they have individuals capable of sensing magic or they have a failsafe should something like that happen. Given the only known magical entities outside of Zero are Emma and Valkyrie, we'd have to take that into account." Relon adds.

"Plus you need to at least know where you're going, could end up at the command center or right next to a long drop. While a good idea, it has a lot of risks." 'More than a lot, I doubt Zero would make it that easy, plus they might have different ways to protect it so it won't be as easy…'

"Hmm. Munechika, could you use that sensor ability to get a layout of the reactor's area? Including what lies underground?" Giving a look, she nods.

"Wait, are you leaning towards the idea?" Van wonders in slight astonishment.

"The idea alone holds plenty of merit. Should it work. I have the transportation, Munechika has the ability to get in and out with Rinwell being the button to take out the reactor. Munechika can further amplify her already boosted magic. At the core, we technically have everything to deal with a reactor. But that, again, isn't taking into account what can stop us."

"Why entertain such an idea?" Shizuna questions.

"Because this way we don't lose more lives than when we'll need them most." Relon answers "Zero is the big bad and once we take out the remaining three, who knows what he'll have instore. We'll need every able body at that point."

"Huh. Didn't think my idea would get such feedback. I was only half joking." Rinwell smiles, clearly happy with the discussion thus far.

"If it means less death, I'm fine with it, but I really don't want to go on another rescue mission for you." I joked as I let out a small chuckle.

"You won't have to. Again, it's a thought. We won't confirm anything until we have more information."

I nodded, now that everyone here seems to be caught up on what I discovered I might as well ask if Relon found out anything or anyone. "Alright, so Relon, Rinwell. Anything happened with you during our time away, besides ending up here?"

"Met the resistance in Milsante, stayed the night in a destroyed Ordis, found no signs of Ashland; the place I was born."

"We met another you by the way. Your mom, or I guess his mom, is a really good cook! Though they would help our cause. Your brother, erm, his brother was pretty adamant. That and the townspeople were… very wary of us being there." I froze for a moment as Rinwell said that like it was the most casual thing ever.

Another me? Mom, brother… Another Shade village, so this world is more linked to my own than Relon's if his home place isn't here, but yet. How should I feel? Before anything I should find out what they were like.

"Two Shades?" Van wonders to eye me. "My head can't keep up with anymore of this out-of-world stuff." He complains massaging his temple.

I looked at Relon, a simple stare. "You have questions I'm assuming, but first was there a man named Father Bennett?" Magilou glanced up at me from where she was, knew she was faking.

"No." Relon answers curtly. "Your life is your own and I have no interest in prying. Whatever you wish to tell is your choice. As for the latter, no. A man named Oz we met but no Bennett." 'No Asshole, good. And damn it Relon, despite looking similar we are both vastly different…'

"Good…" I looked at Rinwell for a moment, then back at Relon. "And the other me.. His name was Alex, yeah?"

"Yeah." Relon gives an affirmative nod.

Alex, another me… So he must be happy, he has his family and friends even. I took a glance around and sighed, why am I doing this? Why should I tell them my backstory? Why tell them some sad tale that means nothing to them? Rinwell, Relon, even those from this world… I want to leave an impact on them, more than just being a good fighter and saving the world, I want to be remembered as a friend that can be trusted and we don't have time to take it slow with opening up. 'I told Relon some of this story, yet not the full version, Rinwell knows nothing of it…'

"I'll tell you, not like I got anything to hide from the people here. Plus I already kinda mentioned it before, so let me tell you a little story of a boy named Alex and how he died." Everyone was quiet, all looking at me already with worry on their expressions. I even felt Magilou shift a bit on my shoulder, she'll be the only one that will know after this is all over.

"He was born and raised in Shade Village, small place on the border of Calvard, so tucked away people never knew they worshiped a devil, that they were once all members of the DG cult… The boy's mother was forced to be there as her child was 'gifted' half the time she loved the child, other times that child heard her wish he was dead." I remember, coming home to a warm smile and food, other times to said food being tossed my way when she had a bad, bad day.

"Still he loved his mother, that was until he was 5 years old, he was led to underneath the church where he was tested on once again, taking a red pill. That pill made him lose time, he'd wake up and would have drawn on paper, stuff he should not know at all… The time came to bring out his other side, Father Bennet took his mother and took her head off right in front of the boy as everyone around watched and praised." I was calm in telling the 'story' why get emotional for some poor kid that died right?

"That boy killed Bennett, the men, women, and children. Destroyed the village and woke up about a week later, in a puddle of blood in the now blood stained church, there were no bodies anymore and the boy was but a husk. He got rid of the remaining pills and left, walked out of the village… and that's where Alex died, no emotions left within him… But that's where I was born, Shade." As I said that, I felt Magilou let out breath, she even ever so slightly pressed on me harder, no doubt her way of showing comfort, or maybe something else.

"So that's it, huh…?" Relon musters out, the equally grim looks on the other as clear as the world is grim-looking.

"Shade, I…" Rinwell begins to shake her head. "I don't know what to say to that." 'Figured this would be the reaction, not like I expected much else.'

"It's fine, I had no emotions after it happened so there was no guilt, no sadness. After that I walked and found the man I call my father, Vali. I also found out I had healed from everything when a wolf tore into my shoulder so kinda why I hate wolves, haha…" A small laugh to brush off any awkwardness, or maybe to hide the pain. Either way, telling it felt good, so I let out a small sigh of relief.

"That… explains earlier." Rinwell carefully surmises.

"If you're wondering where Vergil is at, I didn't have a brother, not until I was forced back into the past. And, no I'm not going to see my other self, I have no need for it." No need for it, why should I even see them? To see what could have been? No, I do not need to see it or wish that it should have been me to be happy with my family. I'm fine where I am now… yeah I'm fine.

"That answers my follow-up question. But what if they end up joining us? Or worse, fighting against us?" I shook my head at Relon's question.

"From what you said it would make no sense for them to fight us, if they join us then it still works, I have my mask after all." I patted my mask with the arm I'm able to move.

"The Temporal Laws may not be active but I'd still not want to risk something as reality-breaking as two Shades interacting." 'Fucking laws again, pretty sure whatever they are I broke a shit ton.'

"Agreed. Who knows what could happen."

I looked back at Relon, remembering the people he asked about. "Also Relon, Claire wasn't at the reactor, or at Bashton anymore. Seems she's been moved to Trista."

Seemingly deep in thought, Relon nods. "I understand. Unfortunately, I don't have a clue where Tio could be. Likely out of combat due to her injuries. Unless they have a magnificent healer at their disposal. Unless Zero can instantly cleanse wounds."

"That'd be a real bother should that be the case." Van voices.

"I won't be shocked, whoever those guys were back there when we escaped. They were soulless beings, I looked into a few of their eyes and saw nothing at all, which is why I didn't hold back."

"Then they're just pawns until we free them." Shizuna mentions.

"In the end, we still gotta do what we have to do." Rinwell nods in agreement.

"Seems like it." Van surmises.

Wordlessly, Munechika nods.

I shook my head, those things had everything a person would have, but they felt like dummies, meant to take hits, kill and follow orders… "No, those were something else, I would not call them human. It's like they were made to kill and follow orders, they are not the same troops that we've been fighting…"

"A third party not affiliated with Zero or the resistance?" Shizuna wonders. "Could they be with the witches or another group with the ability to control?"

"No, they were Zero's people, maybe other experiments or even his own little army for himself that isn't with Rean or Lloyd's." Makes sense, if Zero can't control everyone then having a little army just for his use would make sure he stayed in power…

"Why bother having a different unit not affiliated with either side? For a side agenda perhaps?" Van suggests.

"Who knows, but I don't want to see who's mad enough to lead them…" A small chill went up my spine, a bad feeling…

"If we find the culprit, we'll simply end them." It was clear with how Shizuna stated that matter-of-factly, that issue wasn't up for debate.

I looked at Shizuna, she was in no state to fight anything like a commander, same for everyone else. "In your state, no. The spring back at Eyrn should help, same goes for all of you, I'll be on watch in case something happens… But we still have a bit before we get there."

"Don't assume we'd foolishly engage in a fight in our current state. We're not foolish enough to risk further loss. Especially given what we know now."

"Ease up, Shizuna," Van chides. "He's only treading with caution. We've finally achieve one victory so we simply have to be careful with our next moves."

Clicking in response, she says nothing relenting to remaining silent. I took this moment to look into her eyes, sadness, despair, anger. Like I was when…

"Shizuna, tell me… how many died?" I asked in a calm tone as I made sure to keep my gaze on her.

Narrowing at the question, the tension that rises carefully subsides. With a tired breath, she feigns from my direction. "All of them. It's just us two now."

"You remember their names, their faces? All of them?"

"Of course we'd remember our friends and comrades." Van waves off for his gaze to harden. "Or… are you referring to who killed them?" I glance at Van, right he was with Shizuna, yet he seems to be doing better. 'What will they do once they see those responsible for their friends' lives? With how they are now, they will kill even knowing those were being controlled.'

"Your friends… I've been where you both are at, where that bloody path leads. The pain won't ever go away, nor will it get any better. You'll always remember their smiles and laughs, their words… All you can do is live on for their memory, so once we win, make a nice tribute to them all, each and every one of them…"

At first both only look on blinking repeatedly. After a moment, a chuckle escapes Van as he relaxes. "Hmpf, you don't need to tell us what we already know."

"What we do is our business. Don't go ordering us around just because we've joined your cause. Still, we'll take your words to heart." Shizuna says with a slight gentler tone.

"Good, besides I'm not a leader type, I don't order anyone around… But just some advice, don't let revenge take you when the time comes…"

"We'll keep that in mind."

"So…" Rinwell begins seeing an opportunity to chime in. "How long before we reach Eryn Village?"

I looked at the console behind me. I'm not much of a pilot but going halfway across the continent without a single stop would drain the ship's energy. Seems like power saving mode is on. "Maybe an hour, we used a lot of energy getting to you guys so we're going slower to conserve. This is after all a small ship, not a passenger ship."

"Then we can rest." Relon notes settling into his seat. "This time without interruption."

Silently agreeing, Munechika reverts to her cat form before hopping into his lap and curling up. "After today, rest is so needed." Rinwell stretches getting comfortable in her seat as Hootle hops down onto her own lap.

Letting out a small smile I start to get up. "I'll be on the deck if you need me…" I moved Magilou off of me and got up, she pouted a bit before just moving over to my seat and leaning back, she didn't say anything yet the small moment when she looked up at me and the small nod told me all I needed. That she wasn't going to say anything once we got back, so with that I gave a small smile, grabbed the sword and walked out the door.

The warm air hit me as I walked out, yet it wasn't bad. I got to the railing and leaned on it, looking out into the wasteland below. A lot on my mind from all that new info…

This world was more like my own than Relon's, yet I never saw Remnant on the map which means none of 'them' should be here at least. Still, another me was here… "I wonder, would he also make friends with Tio? Maybe even the SSS? Heh, like that would matter to me anyway, that's 'his' life, not mine."

Suddenly, the whirling sound of the door gets my attention though I pay it no mind already sensing who comes out.

"You're not exhausted?" The voice of Shizuna inquires. 'What does little miss silver want with me I wonder…?'

"Nope, I was hit with a big electric attack from that one witch, which only gave me energy since that's the type of demon blood I have in me." I let out a small sigh, not turning to look at her.

"Demonic blood, dimensional being, you two truly are abnormalities. I have to ask, why bother giving us your backstory, much less those sophisticated heroic speeches? Surely you don't just like hearing yourself talk." She had walked up next to me, I felt her gaze locked onto my head.

"Heroic? I wasn't going for that… I just don't want to see you or Van go down a dark path that will haunt you both. As for my backstory, it was mostly for Rinwell and Relon to hear, but I don't really care if you heard it or not." I looked on at the land below, seeing roots everywhere and what used to be a nice lush forest now nothing but dust and dirt.

"For them? What for?"

"5 days, that's when this will be over in one way or another. After that, if we win and live, there's a good chance we won't see each other again. While I have some minor issues with Relon, I at least want both of them to remember me and know me."

"Ah, that's right. You four will return to your respective worlds and ours will be freed…" 'Five, there's Hootle, but I'm not bringing it up…'

"Hopefully it won't be immediately, I want to say my goodbyes at least…" I looked over at her with a soft smile.

"Saying goodbye isn't easy. That's for sure"

"It never is… I wished I could've said goodbye to so many people that I knew, yet here I am. A being that can not die and is forced to see things through."

"So that's what you meant. I see."

I looked at her, good chance I'll never see this version of her, maybe if she heard more of my story, the parts I dislike remembering and telling, maybe she won't go down that path, so with a sigh I turned my body to look more at her.

"I've been through a lot for a 16 year old, buried a lot of people... Even destroyed towns and a city. I was known as a monster, the 'Grim Reaper' pretty soon they saw the only way to get to me wasn't by going for me, but the people around me. While we may be different, I don't want you to walk the path of a monster, really anyone for that matter… It's not a path that you can just leave." I let out a sad smile as I turned back to where I was facing, only seeing her from my peripheral vision.

An answer doesn't come immediately though judging by the satisfaction she now wears, it seems that my words were useful. Wordlessly, she nods before heading back inside.

"Heh, I didn't see her eyes but I feel like they are brighter now…"

Later at Eryn village

The ship landed in the clearing that's in the village, it's only been a few days but the roots here have grown more. I never left the deck so I hopped off as the ramp opened up behind me.

"Looks like the roots haven't spread as far as I thought they would." Rinwell announces as she's the first to touchdown on the sacred grounds. "Hootle, let's go check around and get rid of any roots. Munechika, you come too!" Already running off with both familiars behind, Rinwell vanishes past the gate and over the hill.

"Funny how she was too drowsy to get up mere minutes ago." Van comments.

"This is her and Munechika's home so it makes sense how her attitude would turn on a dime." Relon offers taking a seat on Pippin.

"Well either way I'm going to hit those springs, see ya~!" Magilou skips off towards the springs with a small bag over her shoulder.

"I think I'll join her…" Quietly, Shizuna follows after the skipping witch. 'I just hope I don't have to break up a fight with them… eh, should be fine.'

"You can rest up at the atelier if you want Van." Relon offers.

"Yeah, I think I'll take you up on that."

I turned to look at both of them. "I'll be at that workshop, if you need me just call." I walked past to check on the bike, just a quick glance I could see it's mostly fine so I left the airship and walked to the workshop.

"I'll come by in a little bit." Relon comments. I waved over my head to acknowledge him.

As I walked through the village I was able to see more of the roots, Rinweill and Munechika were getting rid of them, slowly however. Once I was in the workshop I placed the sword on the counter and looked over the room again, a few roots popped up right where I needed to be at.

"Hmm… Should I call for one of them?" I glanced at the roots that now lay under the counter, blocking my way to pressing that hidden button. "Eh, I'm sure I'll be fine."

I reached out and grabbed the roots, I felt the pain they gave yet that only made me pull harder to get rid of them, after a minute of this I got them all out of the way and into a small pile. "Little shits…"

Sighing I reached and pressed the button, I heard a click and then a thump. Glancing up I saw a decently sized box now on the counter. "Right, magic…" I stood up and looked at the box.

It wasn't so much like a chest, there was no lock and it only had a lid to cover what was inside. So I slowly opened it up, inside was… ore. It wasn't Zemurian Ore, nor was it the same as the sword was made out of. This was something else, I took a small bit off to get a closer look.

"Hmm, it's as tough as Zemurian Ore, yet not as heavy. This stuff is meant for small items rather than a heavy sword or gun… Unless I mix it with Zemurian Ore? But that might just weaken everything all together."

I grabbed the books that were here and looked through them all quickly, then I found the ore. "Emtunefrce? Odd name, but seems like something the guy here made himself."

It lists what I was able to figure out, yet also says that it's able to mix with any material and make it stronger. Other effects, if any, are unknown.

"Hmm, there's a bit here. Once we win I think I want to bring this home for my sword!" I smiled as I looked at the ore, suddenly I felt someone walking closer to the workshop, about to come in.

"Finally found you," the voice of Relon greets, using Pippin as a cane with Pappan floating beside him. "What are you up to?"

"Just seeing what was here, last time I meant to check. Got some nice ore here to use."

"Ore, huh?" Walking over, he inspects said findings. "Can't be normal ore given where we are. Any idea what they do?"

I hand him the book with the page open on where the ore is on. "Pretty good stuff, no idea where it came from."

"You'd think here given the info on it is here but… we haven't seen any sort of ore ever since we first arrived. I wonder if Munechika or Rinwell know anything about this…" Relon wonders aloud in thought.

"Well it was hidden with magic, kinda. Munechika would likely know something since she's from here."

"We'll have to ask when we get the chance. If we can find a way to use the ore's properties, who knows what we could do. Maybe even make a necklace similar to the one Rinwell has."

"There's enough here to make something like that, plus once we win and save the world I might bring this back with me to use." I grab the ore and toss it in my hands with ease.

"If we can even do that. We still don't know the boundaries in traveling between worlds. Plus, we still need to figure out a way back. Even if we beat Zero, there's no guarantee an exit will just pop up."

"We'll figure that out as we go, besides the stuff on me came with when I showed up here, then stuff will go back with me." I toss it one more time before placing it back in the box.

"Hmm, if you say so. Here's to hoping." He relents with breath. I glanced at him with half lidded eyes.

"Say, I know we were forced into this and that for you this is some test or something. But you've been keeping to yourself a lot, kinda looking at the negative side. People would think I would do that from the way I look." I joked at the end.

About to respond, he catches himself for another bothered sound to come. "Sorry. Not my intention. Recently, people have been putting their lives at risk just because I exist. It's frustrating. Especially in my weakened state now. I hate being protected more than anything because it puts them in danger. It doesn't help that I'm still dealing with the effects of what Valkyrie did to me when we first arrived in this alternate world. Not to mention the mysteries surrounding my own powers. Then there's this world. Do the rule of your transition affect mine or do I lie within a different set of rules? Too many questions and not enough answers. It's… just a lot right now."

"Yeah, sounds like a lot. But as someone that fought in a war pretty much… you need to depend on people. So being protected might mean they are in danger, but try and go alone and you'll end up in a hole. Only reason I'm not is because I dig myself out."

"I already tried that and it didn't work out. So no point in trying again. I'm not even strong enough to fight against the very people that want to protect me. If I can't even contest that, then I simply have to accept their help. Come hell or high water." He offers a defeated shrug though his expression seems to have lightened just slightly.

"Stubborn one you are. Tell me, do you see yourself as a hero then?"

"I don't see myself as anything. Never bothered to. I'm a Lucinance, a being born from two different entities in a realm not of Earth. That's what I am. As far as who, I've only ever thought of my status as a member of Class VII, a member of the Namikaze family, and my recently added titles. As far as delving deeper into what those actually mean, no."

"And how much of that affects me? Not a damn thing, all I see is Relon. If I just see Relon, then your friends back in your world see you as Relon and maybe even more wholesome stuff… Let me ask you this then. Who do you want to be?"

"I already know my friends see me as Relon. The issue is what the people trying to kill me see much less the people in Erebonia that still despise me; their enemy. A guy whom they can't stand. I want to be the guy to fix the problems surrounding him and put a stop to any more trouble."

"Man, I now know what she saw back then… Relon, who cares about what the people think about you? Who cares about what your enemies think about you, hell who cares about what I think about you. The only person that can decide on your path, on who you can and want to be… is you."

"I don't want to have to think about what pompous political civilians think. I have to because I am directly tied to important people and my very being due to recent events now affects them so, again, I have to make my relationship with the people good again so that the reputation of others won't be affected. The mere idea of innocent children hating me… it just sucks."

"It does, being blamed for the deaths of their fathers and mothers. Yet if I hold every insult they gave me, that their family gave me, that their friends and so on gave me I would not be here. If you hold them you won't last long enough to see them smile…"

"That's where I say we differ, Shade." He speaks, the air around him shifting. "I was innocent. No shred of malice, the kind to want much less have to kill. Senate put a bounty on my head, unveiled me like some villain to the entire continent. Do you remember what gives me strength, Shade?" He asks, closing his shaky eyes as his fists quiver in clear agitation. "Anger," Relon answers revealing slitted eyes. "I may not be able to go back to the life I once had before Senate made me into their hunter. I may not be capable of letting this lingering positivity, this fleeting thread of purity wade along the rapids of my life alongside those I care about, but if I'm going to succumb to such despair. I'll curse those that caused it, use the power I do have and make them suffer! Even if I can no longer live, if my little sister, if Claire and Laura, if any damn orphan can see another day with this cursed human race clashing conflicts and ideals over and over to the point that meaningless bloodshed will finally cease, then SO. FUCKING. BE IT!" He ends, panting from the absence of air.

"My strength comes not from the absent marking they took. It comes from me. Just like you and your powers. The more angry I get, the more ruination that befalls me, the stronger I can become, Shade. Don't think I want to rely on such a way of life. I'll keep fighting. Not for me, but for those fighting for me." Quietly, he fell back onto the awaiting Pippin. Slitted eyes widening back out into normal pupils, he raises a balled fist to strike the wall cause the structure to shake.

Releasing a long, unsteady breath, his fist lowers revealing the ruptured hole in said wall.

"Sorry, Shade. I can't just let it all go. Not yet. The negatives that have affected me have taken away other strengths but they've also given me some in return. I don't plan to linger on any dark path. Truly, I don't. But if there's a way, a guarantee, of ensuring the safety of everyone regardless of my own self, then I gotta take it."

"A path like that, isn't one you can just linger on. It will always haunt you wherever you go in life, I can't even sleep because of it! I thought that way you know, if I could stop people and in turn save the people I care for then I'll do whatever it takes… But here I am, lost everyone I cared for because they saw me as the only way to win. All I got was nightmares and a scarred mind, I buried Tio after losing myself after her death, buried my best friend right after that! Yet it was their belief in me, that single question that kept me as ME!" I didn't care about the small pain that came from looking at him in the eyes, I didn't care about the blood coming from my eyes.

"And what was that, 'cursed human race'? Do you not even see yourself as them anymore? Or has all those titles and stuff about what blood is in you made you forget!? Enough about what this Senate did or wants from you, what they picture you as, or do you want them to be right!? DO YOU WANT TO BE A MONSTER!?"

"Human?" This time, a shudder as though terrified escapes the hybrid. "Now that I've seen how the human beings are, how easily they can love and support you one minute to… to turning on you and attempting to kill you only to be restrained by the authorities, the yelling, the tears of anguish over something I didn't even do, then I…" He stops as though there's a lump in his throat.

For the first time since meeting Relon, I could see for an inkling of a moment an emotion I didn't think he had; pure, genuine, fear.

"Then I don't think I want to claim myself as a human…"

"News flash, humans aren't the only race that does that! Monsters in the wild, a breed of dog even a cat will every so often scratch you! If you don't see yourself as a human then why even try to fight for them? Or do you see yourself as above them and treat them as pets?"

In the blink of an eye, like a flicker, his eyes shifted back into slits upon hearing my words.

"You think I don't know that?! It's a doggy dog world, I get that! I simply can't grasp the sudden change in nature from a city scratch that- a continent all because of one mistake! If the human heart is that fragile that it'll turn on a stranger then I don't know where the line is drawn between what is right and wrong! If that were me, I'd certainly as hell be cognitive enough to recognize the situation instead of dropping everything I'm doing to beat up some kid that caused an honest mistake! And the hell are you spouting?! Racial superiority? Don't put some asinine crap like that on me! I care just as much about humanity as the next guy! I am just questioning whether I want to include myself as a part of it! I'm the guy going to put a stop to this world's madness and get back to my own! And what about you?! You're getting on me about who I am! Who are you?!"

"I'm me. A guy out of time trying his best. Yeah I may be different but I talked, ate and even partied with humans so much that I never even thought of the word… And yeah, people will turn on you from a simple mistake. Some may know it as wrong, those that beat on you no doubt knew it was wrong, but when they are angry and afraid they don't care at that point. By that point the masses will join them because that's what they do, they will hate you and want you dead! Yet it's those people, your friends and those that are smart enough to know better, those are the opinions that are worth a damn!"

"Did what I say earlier go in one ear and out the other?! I have to get back into the people's good grace because of those that care about me! If I didn't have to worry on the aftereffects of my actions and what that would cause on them! If my friends, my family, those that just know me become hurt because of solely that, because of humans that don't like me; then those opinions that mean the world to me would be gone."

"HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL!" I wiped the blood out of my eyes with the back of my hand. "I killed one man and they killed half a town of people, I kept winning and they went after innocents, I saved heroes and they killed my friends! These weren't some godly beings, not some demons… they were human like everyone else and they did so much worse to others besides me! If you get so scared because of what people will do to your loved ones, all because of how they see you then change it!" I looked away to let my eyes rest slightly. "Or are you going to be scared of humans for the rest of your life?"

"That's why I'm trying to change it all! Their opinions, the possible outcomes! I get what you're saying! I get what you've been through! My world is shit! Your world is shitier! All worlds in the cosmos, the universe, and beyond are shit! I'm scared, okay? I'm terrified of the risks that what I do will cause on others. If some old man next door gets fed up with me trying to help, he could get a gun and blow out the brains on my best friend! I don't have the power to transcend space and time so that's it!" He growls to once again bang his fist, this time cracks from the roof descend around us. "I get it." He grumbles. "I'm… still trying to wrap my head around everything. The good, the bad, and the things that have yet to happen. It's a pile of answers no amount of advice will solve. It's something I gotta figure out for myself."

"You're right, no amount of advice from me or anyone would help, not when you're like this. You're in Class VII yet you think some old man with a gun could hurt them? Even that Musse girl can hold her own, don't ask how I know." I sighed and walked up to him. "The world is shit indeed, yet you keep on and on seeing it as that. Your friends and family at home are supporting you still, Rinwell here is supporting you and hell now you got my flag behind you! Yet don't think of them as weak enough to let people walk over them to get to you, each one of them is stronger than you think." I placed my hand on his shoulder, giving a slight smirk. "Also, language."

"... I know. Feels like our roles are reversed now…" Relon mumbles.

"Sometimes you need to see the other side to understand what to do, I'm not perfect or even close to it… I know I can't protect everyone, I still have my own shit to deal with just like you. For me the belief of those that have passed is keeping me going, you have those people still and their belief in you." I give him a small grin. "Don't let that go to waste, but don't let it get to you either."

"... Duly noted." He huffs out a tired breath leaning back for Pippin to catch him. "Damn. I'm exhausted all over again."

"You did get heated there, since you're calmed down… what the hell is this 'mistake' you kept bringing up?" I leaned on the counter.

Watching him lean back to eye the ceiling silently.

"It happened recently. Technically only two weeks ago. You could say I was fighting the Zero of my world. Someone who also happened to be from my family. Well… one of his lieutenants was fending my friends and I off. She… 'evolved' so-to-speak. Before we could do anything, an entire imperial battalion of trained soldiers vanished. All because I chose to fight. Which coincidentally signaled to a lot of friends from all over to come help. It's just… their lives were there one minute and gone the next. We couldn't tell the civilians the truth cause behind their deaths so… I took the blame to protect the royal family. Bringing it up leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Something that won't easily go away until my Zero pays for his transgressions. If you're going to bring up that it's not my fault, I know. I saw a chance to end a possible tyrant and I took it. Even with the power of Aidios, I could only break his mask…"

"Yeah, I can see why you think it's your fault. Yet those men and women signed up knowing they could very well die, their families knew as well what could happen and so did those that sent them into battle. While I may not understand why you couldn't tell people the truth, I can say that blaming yourself for their deaths is meaningless."

"I wouldn't call it blaming. More like frustratingly accepting the fact that they died." He sighs.

"That's the tough part… Two years ago for me I had just sat out into the world to face the Dominion, I was 14 and naive. I Went to Langport and there I saw just how bad it could be, slaves everywhere and the resistance fighting out in the open using hit and run tactics. One day was all it took for shit to hit, I met one of the Dominion Knights, an ass named Crest." I scratched the back of my neck as I remembered the events once again. "He was twisted and sick, yet during our fight I won because of my demon blood, I was angry and lost control for a moment. I tore him apart and what happened next? The Dominion killed all the slaves and the resistance cell in the city, all because a Knight had died."

"The hell is with us and these shitty experiences?"

"Guess fate just loves to make us suffer, yet each time I made it through because of the people around me. No doubt more shit will come but the only thing we can do is deal with it and hope for the best. At least that's what people I knew told me."

"I've heard a similar thing." Eyes shifting to the door, he looks over to me with a knowing though somewhat unperturbed look.

"So…" I let out a sigh. "What was that about last time? About Aurelia and Millium dying? I didn't ask last time because to be honest, I didn't have much opinion on you then."

"Honestly, I'm still piecing that together. I was only going off of what my future self warmed me of. I know Millium is related to Claire and Lechter though I haven't met her personally. As for Aurelia, she's my classmate. With how skilled she is in Class VII, being told that… is hard to believe. I only wish I knew how exactly. But what I meant before regarding those are the laws that are bound by Aidios. Saying or even doing certain things can alter the fabric of reality basically. Though since coming here, nothing of the sort has happened. At least to my knowledge so it may be that this world simply is unaffected. Whether due to Zero or Aidios or some other omnipotent being."

"...Your classmate? Huh, she's a full blown general in my world, guess that's another difference we have. As for Millium, I didn't know her but… good luck once you do. As for these laws, I'm pretty sure I broke a shit ton already."

"Huh. I can actually see that, oddly enough. With how well versed in academics and clubs not to mention her prowess with a blade, it honestly fits. As for you, yeah, I have a feeling you have."

"Guess that means rules are meant to be broken, at least for me. Could be because of my blood or my world doesn't care."

"Why does what you just said feel like a reference to something? Oh well. That could be."

I shrugged and went on the other side of the counter. "Anyway, got a lot of this ore here. Since I made Rinwell a little something already, want me to make you something?"

"Me? Like what though?"

"I don't know, could be anything. Besides, I don't need to rest and I'll be bored while you and all those people outside…! Get their rest."

Hearing ruckus outside for only a moment, we can only shake our heads.

"Well, that was bound to happen." Relon notes. "Still… what to make…?" Watching him go in thought for a long moment, he looks to me. "I have a very specific idea."

"Write it down, I'll see what I can do."

Complying he does so before handing it off to me.

"Tried to be as specific but still realistic as I could."

Peering at the piece of paper, I read it.

[Three bracelets that can interweave into one. Preferably of similar spiral structure. Each with their own slot for a gem to boost a certain affinity. If possible, one fire and two waters.]

"I don't think I can do these gems, but I can make the slots. Jeez, really putting my skills to the test with this design." I lay the paper on the book then looked at Relon. "Wrist please."

Acknowledging, he holds it out. Jotting some simple measurements down, he moves away.

"So, three bracelets that can turn into one? Right?"

"Yeah."

I smile slightly. "Alright, I'll make sure they can fit smaller wrists in that case."

"Why are you smiling?" He narrowed, the meaning behind such words as plain as day.

"Oh nothing, I'll make sure to give them a little mark so you know which one goes to which girl~"

"I hate you." He deadpans floating out and to the entrance to halt. "Make the red one for Laura Arseid." He adds, his voice as close to monotone as it could be though I could sense the slight feelings behind it.

"Alright, go rest up. I'll be here." I pull out my sketch book to write down a few ideas for the design.

First thing I started on was seeing which designs could work, it needs to look good both apart and together at least, but getting them together and apart is as tricky as dealing with three women. 'Hmm… For Laura I guess her family crest would work, Musse… She's a noble? That could work… Claire, she's not a noble but maybe an instrument will work.'

I made the designs of the marks for each part, then I started up the machine, while old it still worked, not as good as the one in the Ark however. Slowly I used what skills I had to make them, each one of them had a slot big enough for a gem and right below said slot was the mark of each girl. Using some of the tricks the books had here that the witches used to use, I was able to make it where they can connect to form one and split apart into three with ease. 'I'm never making this shit again…'

I lost track of time as I was working, getting annoyed while making this. "He better like this or I swear…"

Glancing over I saw a good chunk of the ore was left over and now half of a sword, with those two materials along with my own blood it should never break unless some bullshit happened.

Seeing that I now have some free time I leaned on the counter and looked at the bracelet. "What am I doing? Am I that desperate to make friends with him that I told him all of that?" I looked down at my hand and slowly clenched it.

"He can control his power and yet he's that scared, man that made my head hurt… I forgot half of what I even said, but I do know one thing." Looking up at the door I let out a sigh. "Seeing it from this side, I can understand their view. He may not see it now, but he'll find his path… but I need to worry about finding my own at this point, 'Who do you want to be?' I'll ask him again when I give that to him, maybe, yet even I don't know my answer to it."

I heard a small pop from the machine, so I started turning everything off as I was done using the tools. Yet my mind went from Relon to those soldiers that tried stopping us earlier "Hmm… First we knew the professors went to Longlai to test Relon, yet I didn't see a test for him or even Rinwell. Then they set up a small temp base that wasn't well guarded, even patrols in the area were slow in moving in after the witch blew it up…" I paced around before leaning against the wall while closing my eyes to think more clearly.

"They were even prepping for airships to show up, yet none were around. We were flying slow as we left so why did nobody chase us, I didn't see anything the entire time I was on the deck… That bad feeling is back." I opened my eyes and slowly let out a heavy sigh.

I shook my head and walked back to the counter, grabbing my book and Relon's custom order, as well grabbing what was left of the ore and tying it to my hip. After I placed the items on me, I sensed someone from behind the building take a single step into the area. "Hmm…fuck."

I focused on where I sensed it and went as close to the wall as I could, there I sensed more people slowly moving closer, some low on the ground and some crouching.

"Hope everyone is rested, figured shit like this would happen…" I pulled out my handguns and walked out the front door, l could see from here that nobody was outside so they wouldn't have seen the dark figures slowly moving in all around us. 'They aren't people, just husks at best… It was here I told myself I would be better, yet I'll need to bring death to protect everyone…'

Grabbing my mask I put it on and let out a sigh. "Party time…" I aim my gun towards my right and fire a single round at the soldier that popped around the corner. He went down with ease and as I expected not even a grunt of pain came from it, just blood and brain. 'Yet I bring death, I know

now that my power isn't a curse, I am no longer that child, I am no longer a monster. If need be I will be the Grim Reaper, yet I won't lose myself to it!'

I put on a cocky smile as I looked at the soldiers that were keeping low before now all started rushing in, firing mostly at me. "Guess it's time to rock!"

Putting a gun away I took out my scythe and threw it towards a small wave of soldiers, watching as it cut through them and then returned back to me just in time for me to swing and cut a swordsman in half. 'Jeez, they didn't even try to dodge it.'

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Hearing the familiar voice of Magilou, I take sight of her and Shizuna slowly retreating from a group. With skill, Shizuna parries each attack while pushing Magilou away from harm of a stray strike.

"Hmpf! Things really do go from zero to a hundred with you guys!"

"You're smiling?!"

Out of a burst of light, Munechika appears. Thrusting her glowing hand, pulses of white strike holes through them.

"Get her out of here!" Shizuna shouts for the familiar to nod.

Grabbing Magilou, both vanish to the balcony where Rinwell can be seen casting a spell.

"Get inside, Magilou!" Rinwell calls. "Flames descend! Burning strike!" She chants for fireballs to strike a wave of enemies that appear over me. "Shade, we'll provide any cover!"

I nodded as I wondered where Relon was at and why he wasn't fighting. Sensing a grunt rushing me from my left I waited until he got close enough to take it down, but someone beat me to it.

"On your left!" Van shouts striking the head of the enemy that attempted to sneak up on me. "Looks like it's the three of us leading the defense." I gave Van a nod as I turned to look ahead.

"Who are these guys?!" Shizuna questions regrouping with us.

"Same soulless hucks that were stopping us from leaving earlier, you two make sure none get close to the main building while I go on the assault…" I let out a sigh as I put away my other gun, now only having my scythe out. 'With this many I'll need to focus their fire, sorry Renne… seems I'm breaking that promise again, yet should be fine with my energy!'

I swing it over my shoulder as I begin to walk forward. "This is a Reaper's job…" My eyes closed and slowly they opened with a sense of determination. 'And this is where the Reaper will die for good, this world will be the last time I use that title!'

"Reaper?" Van questions. "The hell?"

"Let him be. He's more durable than either of us so we should leave the offensive work to him." She suggests, backpedaling to the base of the structure with Van in tow.

A group of swordsmen begin rushing in towards me as behind them the gunmen fire into me, while they hit their mark, the effect it has means nothing. I hold my scythe to my side as I push off the ground and launch myself forward, cutting all the swordsmen in half and then rushing towards the gunmen.

I threw Harvester towards them, moving over. I grabbed the closest guy and quickly broke his neck as the scythe returned to me after cutting through a few targets. Another swordsman came at me but I dodge with ease and sliced a good chunk off with a single swing, looking ahead they stopped rushing and waited for me to make the first move. 'There's that rush of battle, I should be good with trash like this here.'

I turned my scythe around and jumped forward towards them, while above I flicked my scythe towards the side while they watched my every action. The scythe started spinning and by time I landed it had gone through them from the side, I reached out just in time to grab it, spinning it around and resting it on my shoulder.

"He's certainly cleaning house." Van notes.

"Be glad their entire focus is on him. We don't know what else can happen so be ready."

"I should be telling you that. Hey, Rinwell! You two got a spell or two at the ready?"

"Already on it!" She hollers as both magic-users cast their next spell.

Seeing more grunts come at me, I decide to have some fun, just like Vali taught me. I sidestepped to the left of a sword and tripped the grunt, another two tried to come from both behind and in front of me. All I had to do was duck under their swords which clashed together which then I spun the scythe around to kill them.

"Jeez, it's like playing with dolls… Which I never did by the way, but still this is way too easy!" I jumped over another grunt and onto the one behind him, balancing on its head.

A bullet goes through the head so I jump off as its body hits the ground, on the way down I took care of the other grunt and then noticed that the gun fire stopped.

"Hmm? Wait, that sounds like…?" The sound of an airship is heard then it flies by overhead and then hovers just above. "So, time to see who's leading!"

"Hey, what's going on over there?!" Van calls out.

Jumping onto the roof, said familiar looks on to widen.

"Munechika? Hootle?" Rinwell calls watching as said catwoman jumps onto the roof alongside a flying Hootle.

Swishing a single finger as her expression widens, all read the single word. [Airship.]

A laugh is heard from the airship, a figure suddenly jumps out and is heading towards me, my eyes widen as I know that red hair and those yellow crazy eyes. I swing just in time to block an attack from his sword, a crater forms below me from the impact of his hit, he jumps away and smiles at me. 'Why him!?'

His outfit is like those grunts. More fitting and less armor yet the big difference is the long black coat. Yet those eyes are one's I'll never forget. "Crest…" I hissed.

"Who is that?" Van wonders. "A higher-up of Zero's?"

"Rinwell, that spell better be a big one." Shizuna says, gripping her tachi.

Crest looks towards the main building and points his blade at it. "Come on out, Relon! I want to have a good fight to see just what those swords of yours can do!" He grins as he also notices Van and Shizuna. "I'll deal with you two later~"

"The hell?" Van narrows. "Someone's cocky."

"He has the power of Zero. Whether it's his mind that's corrupted, the power the guy likely has, or both; he has every reason to be."

"Why mention Relon, Pippin, and Pappan?" Rinwell questions. "We haven't had nowhere near as many encounters with their army!"

"It only takes one to be on Zero's murder list." Van clicks his teeth in annoyance.

"You're Crest, right?" I asked, now moving between himself and the building.

"Oh? Guess you know me from your other world? Good, then hopefully you know just what I want~" He looks me up and down before losing his grin. "You don't have what I want, besides my lord still has that offer for you even if you will say no till the end." He then looks past me and towards Shizuna.

"You there, girly! Your people's swords were shit, but I can see real quality in that blade~" He then moves his sword to his side. "But I want those flying blades, so…" He swings towards the bathhouse and like I expected a wave of black energy comes from the blade and completely destroys the building. "RELON, COME ON OUT!"

"You want him? Have this instead you jerk!" Rinwell hollers, green tome lighting up as dark clouds lurk overhead. "A chain between heaven and earth… A wailing banshee of lightning…! Divine Saber!"

First comes the rumbling and then the layered colors cycle overhead. From several spots, light spots manifest as bolts of colored lightning descend. One boom followed by another emits as the airship is slammed down and down until likely its engine explodes causing the hovering vehicle to crash out of sight.

"How's that?!" She smirks confidently, glyphs appearing as she readies her next spell.

"Why would I care about that, little girl?" Crest looks at her with a bored look. "What, you think I care about these soldiers?" He swings his blade again and a smaller wave of energy goes into a group of his own men. "All of them are my own little toys, why would I care about a broken toy~?" 'Just like the Crest I knew… Meaning this won't be easy.'

"Rinwell, everyone, be careful! I have fought this guy before in my own world and trust me. He only cares about one thing and that is his collection!" I make sure I'm ready to engage in any attacks he does against either me or everyone behind me.

"A weapon collector? But that's Relon's aunt's title." Rinwell says to herself at the coincidence. "If Shade's fought him, then he's still our best bet for dealing with him."

"I only got lucky when I did, but this time I can tell it won't be as easy!" Looking more at his sword I can see it's not exactly the same as it was from then, but the attacks are the same. 'I'll need to be careful, he could wipe the entire house behind me with a single swing!'

"Do you use a sword? No, so you aren't worth my time, besides I want to see just what these magic swords can do!" Energy flows through his blade and his gaze is locked onto the house.

"Oh no you don't!' Rinwell shouts, her tome now glowing white. "Illuminate the dark! Holy Lance!"

Around us, several small lances coated in gold hover. One by one, they launch at Crest.

"Pathetic!" Crest swings at each one, cutting them in half with his sword before sending one attack towards the house.

Quickly I jump up and slice the energy wave in half, both halves going on either side of the building.

"So those didn't work, huh?" Rinwell mumbles to smirk. "Good. He missed one though."

"This magic…" Crest grabs the lance that comes from behind. "You're like that Emma girl, if only you were as good as her!" He snaps the lance with a single hand. 'If Van or Shizuna fights him they will die, Rinwell's magic is too slow to really catch him off guard. I need to fight him, yet there's only one way I can do that…'

Looking around I noticed all of his grunts have now shown up on the edges of the village, waiting for his orders to engage. "Relon, if you can… let me use one of those swords!" I yelled out towards the house.

"Munechika, get Relon out-" Eyes widening, the hexen witch can only look around in bafflement at the absent familiar.

"Hoot hoot!" Hootle chirps gesturing inside the house. 'Hmm, what happened?'

"Darn it!" Eyes doing a once over of the enemies all over, she carefully lift herself atop the railing and then to the roof. "Alright, it's just us now!" She declares, glyphs once more forming around her. "Van, Shizuna, we're getting through this!"

"Hmpf, don't need to tell us!"

"Van, you take the left side and I'll take the right!"

"Sounds good!"

Before either can sprint off or Rinwell make a chant of her spell, the shattering of glass causes all to stop. Like a bullet, the sentient blade hurtles directly towards and past me. 'Heh, at least he heard me. Hopefully this blade can handle my energy.'

Barely reacting, Crest can only tilt his head out of the way as the blade knicks his cheek leaving the smallest of cuts. Zooming back around and up into the sky, it hovers unable to be distinguished. Without a moment of hesitation, it dives barreling through Crest's forces.

Through impalement or with a slice, around and around it goes across the village nearly leaving only a fourth of the surrounding forces left.

"Whoa…!"

Once more, it comes to a halt at the house in which it departed from. Its purple and red colors identifying the blade as none other than Pappan.

"Pappan, you…!" Rinwell breathes out with wide eyes at the act committed.

Not responding, it flies over to come to a halt next to me.

"Alright, that sword certainly made our job easier!"

"Let's go!"

"Pappan, did Relon have you do that?" Rinwell wonders. "Or…" She falls off, her eyes trailing to the broken window.

Putting away my scythe I reached out and grabbed the blade, noting how light it was in my hands. "I'm lucky they said which blade you were, because I forgot by this point… So come on Pappan, I'll try not to harm you!" I hold the sword at my side as I take a step closer to Crest who now has a wide smile on his face.

"Hahaha! That was amazing, now that's a sword I want to have!" Crest holds his blade, not caring about the cut on his cheek. "You may not be who I want to fight, but seeing that stance I can tell you know a thing or two, so come on let's get this started!"

Both me and Crest launch at each other, our blades clashing in a flurry of strikes, having some of his energy behind it that goes out into the village, destroying more of it.

He jumps in the center of the village as I jump ahead, using some of what was left of the center to get higher before coming down at him with a strike. He blocks it with ease and from this fight so far I can tell his moves are similar from back then.

"Your style is all brute, at least have some technique for that sword of yours!" Despite seeing him again, knowing what I did to him once before. I joked as I held my blade up at him. 'I hate this man before me, yet I can't let it get to me… not now!'

"If I did that then I won't have any time to collect~ Haha, at least this way I can get what I want!" He swings downward and I match him by swinging upward.

One after another I match his strikes, Pappan is holding up but yet I can tell I won't be able to use it for long. Jumping back I noticed Crest still isn't tired, he's enjoying this fight yet he isn't going all out. 'Just like before, but this time…'

I closed my eyes and focused on where I stood, I'm still filled with energy yet I could only focus so little of it there. I jump forward as a blast comes from below, using the sudden speed to get a cut on his upper leg and then turning around to block his next strike.

"Well shit, now this is getting fun!" I pushed him away and swung once towards the left then another towards the right, he blocked them both as I expected. Yet I quickly turn along with the blade and swing upwards, causing only a small amount of electricity to come from the blade yet he didn't expect me to know that move as he had to dodge out the way, the first time he dodge.

"Helix? A sloppy version yet I know that move when I see it!" His eyes look twisted as his grin gets bigger.

"What can I say, I had a good teacher!" Knowing I can't use it again like that I try to think of ways to fight him. His speed is the issue as not even I'm that fast and my energy and this sword aren't matching well.

He comes at me again, I keep blocking his attacks yet like before his energy is going outwards and hitting other parts of the village, by this point only the main building is left standing. 'Shit, at best I can only do one good strike with this sword before I worry about its condition.'

Holding Pappan close, I decided to try it Crest's way. Rushing forward I hold the blade more behind me, Crest swings down and looks amused as instead of blocking or dodging I let his blade enter my shoulder, swinging upward I was able to once again cut him but only barley has he pulled away quickly.

"Using your healing to throw away your body to get me? I like that idea, but even that won't work!" He laughs again as more energy flows over his blade. 'Time's up, now it feels like it's rejecting me.'

"Pappan, return to Relon. You can't take much more of this I know…" Letting go of the sword it starts to hover. Crest then loses his smirk.

Feeling itself relinquish, Pappan shoots above us but not to flee.

"BURNING STRIKE! TIMES TWO!" From the parting clouds, lobs of flames descend like a fiery rainstorm.

"Oh? So the little witch still has some fight left, huh?" He cleaves an incoming ball in two for the flames to split past him.

Retreating back, my eyes watch as Crest slowly walks after me. All the while unperturbed by the falling flames as they seem to do little damage around him.

'Why aren't they hitting him directly? Rinwell's skills could hit him easily with the way he's walking- Oh, I see now, good idea.'

Sensing what was coming, I had to keep my head and eyes focused forward to not give away the plan, Yet I couldn't stop the smirk forming on my face, despite nobody being able to see it anyway.

"Well, I'm rather disappointed. A sword as unique as that fleeing. It seems like it wasn't able to keep up."

I stood straighter to the point it almost looks like I'm looking down on him. "Sucks to be you then." I offer my uncaring condolence forcing him to halt.

"Seriously? Again?" He snaps his blade up to cut a lingering ball of flames in half.

In doing so, a blast of fire erupts. The force alone sends me skidding back to the entrance of the village.

"What amateurs goes for the same sneak attack not once but twice?" He scoffs resting his blade on his shoulder. "No, anything you all have can't be of much worth with how you're fighting."

"If you say so." I offer, reaching for my scythe. "But then again, it's not just me. Everyone here is fighting."

"Ha! A bunch of ruffians having gathered together into a make-shift mockly crew is what you rats are. Consider me the exterminator. Now that I've had my fun, time to do what I was ordered to."

"You weren't listening." I smile, withdrawing my gun and scythe. "I said everyone!" 'Last time, it was me and Aaron. We won by luck and chance… This time, there's more!'

Not giving him any time to process that, I lunge forward with all that I have.

"Enough of this, time to-"

Skklt!

Cut off, his eyes widen as my smirk grows. The moment he pointed his blade as he's done several times already, he left himself wide open. From the moment Rinwell launched that attack, they sat in waiting for the perfect opportunity.

In front of me, the blade known as Pappan lies stabbing halfway through the extended arm of Crest.

"A… third time?!" Is all that he can gasp out in this split moment.

From behind, a glow manifests. Wasting no effort, he backhands the light for his other hand to be blocked by none other than Rinwell using Galeforce's wind to repel the sheer muscle Crest is using.

"No." A calm, familiar voice answers cutting through the air. "A fourth!"

Eyes cutting to the corner and above, they dilate in clear surprise and any other negative emotion he can manifest. Descending right above us with the greatsword Galland-Sharl in hand lies none other than Relon.

"Relon?! You choose now?!"

Despite the embedded sword, he attempts to raise it only for Pappan to drag his arm back.

"Tch!" He clicks in frustration bending and flexing his arm in an attempt to reach for its handle.

"Oh, no you don't!" Quickly I shoot, aiming at his elbow. The shot sends his arm back and I see everything between it and his hand go limp.

"Shade, you-"

"You wanted me, here I am!" Relon growls dropping arcing the sword overhead. "Aseid Cleaver!"

It all seemed so well. Our coordination, the slight luck added, our back-and-forth efforts. However…

"Heh!"

A plume of darkness erupts sending Rinwell and myself off our feet as our vision becomes shrouded in black. All my ears can pick up is a clash of metal before the thumping of feet comes. 'There it is!'

"Thunder Field!" Rinwell's voice exclaims.

There was too much smog or whatever this crap was that lingered around us. Fanning it would be useless. Every second mattered. Apparently Rinwell's battle intelligence also realized that because in using that spell, she casted not only a field of electricity around her, but she made the outline of both Relon and Crest very noticeable. 'Heh, useful!'

"Shade!" Relon shouts on the move.

Getting close to Rinwell I aim my gun ahead towards the ground. "Relon, get out of there!"

"Pippin, Pappan!"

Focusing my energy into my gun I fired a round that ended up causing a large explosion below where Chest was at, at the same time I stood in front of Rinwell. The blast alone sends me back into the forcefield of Rinwell's. Thankfully, the electricity acted as an amplifier restoring my strength. As the force from the explosion made the smoke dissipate, I could clearly see Relon hovering atop Pippin with Pappan beside him.

"This is a good fight, yet using such underhand moves to get me is rather boring! I'll admit you got me but now's the time for me to end this, starting with that damn witch!" Looking over I see Crest had moved away and was standing on a slight hill, looking at us with now black eyes.

Descending from the air, Relon steps off as we regroup. Both of us walk in front of Rinwell already prepping her next art.

"Try us." Relon dares as I see Shizuna and Van coming our way from my peripheral. 'I can still sense Crest's 'toys' they should focus on that- wait!?'

"Huh?" I looked the other way to see something heading towards Crest, a scythe that I know very well. 'How…?'

"You're not doing anything!" A voice I recognize is heard from behind Crest, Crest turned and blocked a strike from Loewe with ease as he avoided the scythe that just went by him.

"Oh? Now this is a nice blade…" Crest pushes Loewe off but he moves away and lands next to us.

"Loewe?" I looked at him and back where the scythe had come from to see Renne alongside Estelle and Joshua. Gunfire comes from the other side and I see Shirley firing into the grunts that were behind Shizuna and Van. 'They are here…'

"Go! I'm ready!"

"Go!" Loewe barks.

"Pippin, Pappan!" Relon shouts hopping onto one as I do the other while zooming at Crest.

"Oh? So you two are approaching me? Instead of running away, you're coming right at me? Like the many who have tried before, despite their valiant efforts and rallies across the continent, so too shall your efforts be drowned out by my power!"

"How else can we beat the shit out of you?!" Relon spits, leaping off Pippin and towards the Zero-possed Crest.

"It's futile!" He extends his palm for a black forcefield to repel Relon's strike.

Falling back onto Pippin, I fire as my shots seem to vanish upon impact.

"Futile, futile, futile! It's FUTILE!"

"RAARGH!" Relon roars, zipping on Pippin all around striking every spot he can to revolve back around to the front. "Futile…" He begins to embed the greatsword in the spherefield. "Is a word I simply do not acknowledge! Shade's rounds may not work but physical attacks certainly do!" He growls. "RINWELL!"

"All disasters made one, come forth helix of purity!" She chants, a single line of blue slowly draw itself in a circle before it glows. "Maelstrom!"

"MOVE!"

Complying, Pappan sends me away as the torrent of water blasts at the shield. The visible crack of water seeping in going noticed by myself and Relon judging from the focused look.

"Such meager droplets of water shall not stop me!"

"SHADE!" Not wasting time, Relon shoots into the sky.

"I got you!" Aiming my gun I fired a round right where the crack is, electricity scatters out and affects the water that was seeping in.

"AHH! USING PATHETIC TACTICS SUCH AS SIMPLE CONDUCTIVITY!"

"You may be omnipotent, but Crest certainly isn't!" I comment for the shield to disperse sending Zero-Crest into the sky. 'Zero's power… heh it does more bad then good for someone like that!'

"We're… finally here!" Another familiar voice gasps through a wheeze.

Turning back, I take sight of Magilou walking with a limping Munechika. Body glowing white like a coat, it all goes to her extended hand. From there, it shoots like a visible gale of wind through the air, past Crest and into the sky. 'What the hell!?'

Like a single droplet of water descending towards the Earth or two magnets coming into the middle, Relon appears breaking apart the sky. He was donned in that same light that Munechika wore just moments ago. As Rinwell's spell ends, Zero-Crest continues to float. 'Why am I surprised at this point…'

From above us all, he twirls and twirls and twirls. Using likely the last of his dwindling strength, he sends the greatsword towards Crest. For a single second, the force alone sends the ragdoll of Crest down as he barely blocks the sword.

Flying over, I grab it. The recoil from its momentum nearly making me stumble had it not been for the cloth attached to Pappan.

With one powerful jump, the shockwave itself clears the sky, Relon descends. Reeling back his fist, the light glows brighter. Illuminating all around, we can only watch as the form of Crest rights himself.

"You… inferior… creature! I… said… it's… FUTILLLLE!"

"BEASTS DESCEND! FLASHING FANG!" From water into light, Relon's form pierced the beam of darkness. More and more, he inches nearer.

"TELL ME…! WHAT HOPES… DO YOU HAVE…!"

"Plenty!" I holler, appearing over Relon.

With a single strike, I drop the sword on Zero-Crest. The sudden energy from Relon flowing into me. It's a warmth brimming with power. Graciously, I accept it as I redirect my new fuel towards the perpetrator behind it all, a stain on this world.

"Zero…!"

"Crest…!"

"THIS ENDS NOW!" We roared together, bringing our attack down on him.

As though the very air itself was glass, everything shattered. All that came next was the blur crashing into the ground. Amongst the rubble, lied one Crest. Zero amplification now absent.

The dust cloud blocked my view of everything aside from Crest, Relon and myself. Staring at the man I can see he's still alive yet injured to all hell, looking over at Relon I can see he's also barely standing, no doubt that power he used is near its end as well as his own energy.

I still heard fighting from the others, yet underneath it I heard more airships coming and in that moment I saw Crest twitch.

"He can still move!" Relon exclaims at the top of his lungs, both swords blitzing past towards Crest.

Sensing the attack coming from Crest and seeing that Relon was now very tired, I pushed him out the way just in time for my entire right side to be cut off from Crest's attack. I fall down as the dust clears away and as airships show up above us.

"SHADE!" He calls out mid-roll.

The pain is rough as always, using my only arm now I hold my side as it heals, using what extra energy I had from the witch. "I'm… fine!" Slowly I sit up as a voice comes from above.

"We need to-" Stopping mid sentence to trip back onto all fours. "My strength…!"

"Haha… HAHAHA! Now that was fun, truly what I needed… you both did a great job and my mission is done. Sadly I didn't get any new blades, but there's always next time~" Looking up I see Crest looking down at us on an airship, despite his words even he's trying his best to stay up.

"Shit, we almost had him!" I stand up slowly, staring at him all the while.

"Zer….ooooo!" Relon growls struggling to his feet as both swords go to his side.

"You called?" A voice comes from beside Crest that even makes him turn his head in surprise.

Walking towards the edge next to Crest, a black suited grunt exhibiting an enormous black aura gives a carefree wave.

"Bast…ard!"

"Oh, come now Relon~. Didn't you like my visit in your dream?"

"You dare enter my head, talk ill of Nameless and Luna, put that… that. THING on me to make my recovery slower than it actually was…!" I glanced at Relon, wondering what he meant.

"Yes, yes, blah, blah, blah. Truly, those emotions of yours need work. Though given what I've been informed of your lineage, I suppose that anger is what's keeping you standing. Color me impressed!" He claps. "That kind witch gave me quite useful info. It's too bad we made a deal. You and her both seem quite fun! Maybe after I conquer this world, I'll go and join this supposed Sephiroth! Maybe even doublecross the both of them, hahaha!"

"Like you would wait until then, I'm sure you'll do it while that witch is still here…" Now standing fully I look to see my arm has almost grown back fully.

"Zero…!" Relon growls once more.

"Yes, I hear you! You can stop saying my name. I'm right here, hybrid." He dismisses with a bored wave to halt.

"Zero… Zero… Zerooo…!" At this point I wasn't looking at Crest or Zero, but at Relon. 'Relon…?'

From around Relon, the ground begins to crack.

"Oh? Using that supposed anger attribute to gain a spur of power?"

"Zer…oooo!"

Turning to face Relon I can not only sense but see that something isn't right, but I have no idea what's wrong. Not even during his other anger outbursts was he like this.

More and more, the cracks seep outwards as the ground begins to tremble. Hunching over as his body trembles with erratic spurts of twitching, Relon snaps up to gaze with searing slits of red. All at once, purple flames become ablaze around him. "ZEROOOOOO!"

Reeling a hand of purple and black flames back, he thrusts like a flamethrower. Like the maw of a creature, the sheer density behind the attack sends everyone around him sliding back a small ways. Nearing Zero and Crest's ship, Zero raises a hand stopping the attack with a simple gesture of his hand.

"Oh? You're copying me now, are you? Quite the change you have. I wasn't aware of this. Could it be that witch kept this from me…? No, judging by the shocked look of those around, this is your first time using it. Yes, yes, you have control over your anger so to lash out like some rabid creature is unlike you. Even though that fits you perfectly."

Muscles flexing as his two bangs dance from his raw power, Relon's slitted pupils vanish entirely.

"Uh, Relon?" 'Don't tell me I have to stop him?'

"Haaaaa…." He sounds out as though something is caught in his throat. Seeming to reach for said thing, he immediately drops onto all fours like an animal.

Dark aura exploding around once more, he lifts his head for a single ball fogged by black and purple mist to manifest.

"Hmm. He's lost himself it seems. Oh well, we're done here."

"Yes, my lord. I too have little interest in a warrior who has lost their way." Crest nods signalling with his hand.

From around his person, the dark aura seeps into the ball like a vacuum until nothing on Relon's person remains. Shimmering a bright purple, he eats the orb whole. As if erupting inside, his body bloats to its limits before smoke escapes from his mouth.

Still as stone for a moment, his slitted eyes dilate back into reality before he opens his now fanged maw.

"RAAAA!"

From his mouth, a beam of purple with black spirals barrels for the retreating ship.

"Oh? Another attempt?" The Zero-controlled grunt smirks in amusement to widen. Before he can react, the attack obliterates the body he possessed snipping a portion of the ship.

"My lord!' Crest exclaims.

"Well now." Zero voices as Crest turns to another grunt rolling their arm. "He surprised me with that. I couldn't even react. I blame that weakling's body. Interesting. Relon Lucinance, you and Shade both continue to fascinate me more and more. Crest, I'm leaving." With that comment, the grunt drops having been freed.

"Yes, sir!" He bows to look back. "Shade and Relon… Hmpf."

Panting still on all fours, sense seems to return as Relon's eyes flatten back out into normal before with a dispel of whatever power, he drops unconscious.

Rushing towards him I pull him up to his feet to see he's out cold, no doubt for a while. "What the hell was that? He's alive at least…" Looking around I see what was left of the grunts are gone.

"Relon!" Looking up, I see Rinwell along with the others eventually make their way to us.

"What the heck was that?!" Rinwell gasps, hurrying to inspect Relon. "Relon, hey!"

"He's alive, whatever he just did knocked the shit out of him." I looked around to see what little remained of the town. 'Not many places to lay him down at…'

"Let's get him back to the Atelier." Shizuna suggests.

"Yeah." Rinwell nods to notice both swords on the ground. "Can't forget about you too…" She says picking both divine blades up.

"I know you two aren't exactly normal but can someone explain what that was?" Van gestures assisting in lifting Relon.

"Like I know, I went with the flow at that last attack but whatever Relon just did… I got nothing." With ease I pick up Relon and fling him over my back to carry him easier.

"Okay then." Van dismisses his attempt to look around. "I take it these are those friends you mentioned?"

Loewe walked up with Shirley next to him. "There's much to discuss, I'm sure, let's head inside and get him somewhere he can rest."

"Hot damn, didn't expect this when we got that message, I count you all lucky to have lived from that man!" Shirley comments as she looks around the area.

"Who exactly was he?" Shizuna questions as she moves to assist Munechika and Magilou.

Loewe looks over at Shizuna and crosses his arms. "As far as we know, he's Zero's hitman. One could say the boogeyman to us in the resistance."

"Who we almost beat." Rinwell notes. "At least, it looked that way until Zero joined…"

"Regardless, we fended them off." Shizuna says. "My question is how could they know our location? They've had no reason to return here and it didn't seem as though we were followed."

"Could be because Zero's presence is all around Erebonia." Van suggests. "Those damn roots, the constant dark sky."

"Questionable." Loewe comments. "If that was the case, then he'd already have obliterated all of the Resistance's bases but he hasn't. Most likely, you all were either followed without realizing or Zero got one hell of a good guess. Possibly a suggestion but someone." I look between everyone as they talk, moving Relon to my other shoulder as I wait for them to finish.

"Valkyrie…" Rinwell mumbles just loud for us all to hear. "She probably told him about this place. The only other thought I can think of is they reported about Munechika and he may have remembered?" She shrugs.

"What's done is done." Van sighs. "This location is compromised and who knows what will come next if we remain here for much longer."

"Let's at least wait until Relon wakes up!" Rinwell speaks up, readjusting her hold on both swords.

"Then let's head inside, Rinwell or somebody, get a bed ready for him." I start walking towards the Atelier.

"Get me a bed too! I think I'm graying from all the stress!" Magilou cries out as she follows behind me.

"Van, here!" Rinwell gestures pushing both swords into his hand before hurrying ahead.

"Hey, Rinwell! Ugh, damn… swordsitting."

I laid him down in the upstairs bed, making sure to be gentle. Once that was done I went downstairs towards a remote area as I needed to sit down for a bit after that battle. 'I lost all of that energy from before, at least I'm not tired enough to pass out.'

I sat down and right next to me was Magilou, she flopped down next to me and leaned forward, playing with her hands. "You know, I really want to go home now."

I glanced over at her and let out a sigh. "Yeah, but for now let's just rest… Seems Loewe and the others will at least keep watch for us." I leaned back and just calmed myself down from that fight.

"Shade…?" Hearing her voice I looked ahead and saw Renne walking towards us.

"Hey, what about me…?!" Magilou called out to Renne who only smirked in return, which only made Magilou smirk as well.

"Hey there Renne, glad to see you… Didn't think you would be here." I lazily say as I lean forward.

"Loewe said we'll explain later… but tell me, is he here?" Magilou glanced my way as I tiredly grinned under my mask.

"In the ship by the clearing. Go ahead, should be safe over there." Renne looked like she was on the verge of crying, she turned around and went out the door, followed by a confused Estelle and Joshua.

"She's so hugging you later." Magilou says while she herself leans back, leaning slightly on me as I myself leaned back.

"Yeah, but that will be later… also do you have to use me as a pillow?" I looked down at her as she tiredly shrugs.

"Eh, like I care~" Shaking my head I closed my eyes to get some rest, but before I knew it I had slipped into unconsciousness.

In the Dream

Darkness is all I saw, yet my eyes were open. Sound was there yet it seemed to go on forever. "Am I… dreaming?" No matter which way I looked I saw nothing.

"Hahaha… I enjoy such confusion!" I turn to see him standing there, Crest with a smile on his face. "Shocked?"

"Is this some trick!?" I tried to reach for my scythe, yet I had none of my weapons on me. "Huh…?"

"We're in your head, so just dream up something to kill me with, I'm sure you can find plenty of ways to do it~!" He starts to circle me, I stare back as I turn to always face him.

"What the hell is going on!?" As I yell that the darkness was replaced with the center of the village, bodies of Crest's troops all around.

I looked around, the lifeless bodies surrounding me, even Crest stands on top of them. "What's wrong? You should be used to death right? Or are you not going to count this, because they aren't 'alive'?"

His smile widens as he takes a step closer. "What a mess, first you see your powers as a curse, you think of yourself as a monster… a Reaper~ Yet having the smallest amount of control, seeing these beings as nonhuman, guess that makes up for it all, so go wild and let that bloodlust grow! Haha!" Like that he wasn't there now, within a single blink he was gone.

"W-What did he mean…?" I looked down and saw my hands covered in blood, looking back up I saw my scythe in one of the bodies. Before I could go grab it, another voice popped up from behind.

"What was it you said before? Right, 'your mood switches up as quick as someone can speak' now tell me, who does that sound like now?" Turning I saw the Grandmaster in her pod, yet her eyes were open yet black, looking right at me.

"H-Huh!?" I couldn't sense anything at all, not even the heads of all the bodies looking at me. 'Why do I feel heavy, why is she here, why!?'

"Which is it? You hate your time as the Reaper, yet you seem to have proudly called yourself that and even told yourself that you'll be the Reaper until you leave this world… doesn't sound like you know what you want anymore. It's a shame, I thought you were better than that." I watch as slowly, her body dissolves before I could even respond.

"Wait! Don't go, what do you mean…?" I tried to get closer yet I couldn't move, my body felt heavy.

"What I want… I want to save both myself and Magilou, Relon and Rinwell. Everyone in this world, yet I can't do that unless I do the things I hate…" Another voice pops up from behind, this one made me not want to turn to look at her.

"Yet it's your go-to solution, rushing headlong and losing limb and blood. Guess in the end you'll never change who you are, but what does a girl from another world and her words mean to you when you'll be leaving soon, after all none of these people aside from the weird girl are from your world. Why should you care about them?" Renne's words cut deep, I knew she saw me get hurt when I pushed Relon out of Crest's attack at the end there, she saw what I did to his troops.

"I do care! I care about you, Rinwell, Relon, even Shizuna and Van… There's Munechika as well" That's where it truly stopped and even then some of those names, did I truly care?

"Face the facts, you're a killer, a demon that can't die. You'll be killing even after this world, you'll be losing limbs without a care. In the end, you will never change!" Her voice stopped, not once did I turn to face her.

I fell to my knees, a puddle of blood was below me. "They are right, I'm a fucking mess! I don't know what I want, I don't know what to do!" I held myself as I cried out.

I was a Reaper, a monster and a demon. Killing is what I was raised to do, taking hits is how I was trained, my world was gone and I was handed a goal. What was it that I truly wanted, what did I want? Her voice echoed in my head 'Who do you want to be?' back then I didn't know how to answer and even now I still don't, I don't know who or what I want to be… maybe a life of a monster is all I'll ever have…

"Hello? Can you hear me?" A new voice popped up, one that I should know yet I didn't at first. Glancing back I saw her, Aeris.

"Oh good! You can, that means you've been chewed out by a lot of people by now!" She looks down and moves away from one of the bodies. "Ew, there's a lot here…"

"Aeris? Wha- why?" She looked back at me and tilted her head while placing her hands on her hips.

"Well to help, duh! Jeez, you seem to forget that you got memories of the other you in there! Now stand up silly, or else the blood will stain… well more than it has already!" She beamed a smile at me, a stark contrast to the gruesome sight around us.

Slowly I stood up, my body didn't feel as heavy now, yet it felt like I still couldn't take a step forward or backwards. "That's good, being on the ground doesn't suit you, now let's go someplace else!" That moment I was no longer in the village with the dead, but now in a place I haven't been to since I was five.

"T-This place? Why here?" My voice was shaky as I saw the church where my mother died, it was broken like it was before yet there was no blood, just a large empty broken room.

"Not what I expected… oh well, it's better than nothing!" She skips around, looking at everything carefully before sitting down on some rubble and staring at me.

"I don't know what's going on anymore… just wake me up from this dream!" I tried my best to yell out, yet I could hardly get my voice out.

"Oh dear, don't speak. Just listen to what I have to say… Shade, you are right. You're a demon, a monster and the Reaper, you've charged into battles losing limbs and even changed ways of thinking as you've gone along in this world." She swings her legs while saying all of this, like it was common everyday talk.

I looked away, angry at myself, at her words. Despite that, those words were as true as the sky is blue. Why should I continue? If all I do is kill and cause chaos, not even knowing what I want to do or even how I want to do things…why should I continue?

"And yet you're also human, a hero to many who you saved in battle, an icon to look up to for many to fight back. You charge in to save and protect those that you care for, everyday something new happens that pushes against you… Your demon side forces you to have a bloodlust, one that you always tried to manage as best as you could, yet even with that you try your best." Her tone was soft and caring, like a true angel. I looked up at her to see a kind smile on her face.

"You were raised to take hits, your nature makes you not feel when you kill. You're not ashamed of killing, but of how people see you and their whispers about you… You lost much and got angry, you showed the same level of respect to your enemies which was none at all… Yet, you were fourteen when you started this all, what else could a child think after all they've been through. Tio helped by not whispering her thoughts but telling you straight to your face, she helped you understand how to adjust yourself along with Celine." Aeris hopped off and walked towards me, a light now shining all around us.

"You were tossed around and always took it, you were given goals and never found your own, you had everything forced upon you!" She points her finger right at me, a determined look on her face that quickly shifts to a smile. "So, yeah you're both demon and human, monster and hero! But, yeah let's put the Reaper into the ground if it hurts you that much~ As of now you're just Shade!" She tilts her head as she smiles, suddenly it feels like that heavy feeling was gone.

I stood up straight and looked right at her, her hands were behind her back as she smiled at me, a proud smile. Her words, everyone's words were all true. 'That's right, I'm both human and demon just like I said to Relon. I am who I am, I'll protect those I care and fight on, as for killing… Only those that need it, Crest and Zero. I won't care what others think of what I do, I'll protect and save! I'll find my own goal soon enough…'

"I can hear those thoughts you know~ We are in your head after all, but I'm glad you feel better! Now once you get back to your world, you better write to me!" I snapped my attention back to her, a small laugh escaped my lips.

"Sorry, there's still a lot going on, but while a lot of this was harsh… It was needed, maybe I need a kids day soon?" I joked which was met with a giggle.

"Make sure to do it with your friends, it seems we're out of time. Relon is waking up and you are as well, we won't see each other again. I'm sure the road you travel will be hell, but I'm sure you'll be fine, you're you after all!" I tried to reach out but the world around me shook.

"Wait! Why did all of this happen now?!" Aeris looked up like she was in thought.

"Hmm, maybe one day you'll find out!" She started to glow and slowly started to fade with a large smile on her face.

There was so much I didn't understand about this all, why did this happen? Why did it seem like someone was helping me? Why was it Aeris that helped me up? All I did know was that my past was that, my past.

I felt myself fade as well, these thoughts can come later, all I did know was that I'm willing to face forward now. No title like Reaper will hold me back, monster, hero, demon or human!

"I'm Shade, I am who I am!" As I faded the bright light of the world shined a bright blue before my vision was black again.

1 Hour Later

Slowly I opened my eyes, confused by the dream I just had and yet I felt better. Thinking over the events again, some things made sense but also didn't. 'What the hell… never had a dream like that before… was that a dream?'

"Relon!" Rinwell predictably exclaims, joy and relief evident in her voice, looking up I see Relon walk in.

"H-Hey, I just woke up!" He chides her yet with a smile on his face.

"Hmm…? Oh, you're awake?" I groggily said as I looked over at Magilou, seeing her also get awoken.

Relon nods."Yeah, you okay? You sound off." Under my mask I let a small smile creep onto my face. 'Off is putting it lightly'

"I'm fine, just… need to think about a few things. Seems you're fine now, what was that?" My mind is still putting together the pieces of what that dream told me, yet I won't go into details with anyone until I sort it out for myself.

Momentarily ignoring the eyes on him, familiar and new alike, Relon moves to take a seat. Resting a hand under his chin, he answers as plainly as he can. "Likely a cryptid." 'Makes sense, because why not at this point…'

"Ah… that explains everything." I said in a sarcastic manner as I stood up. "And that power that you shared with me? Don't remember you having that in your pocket."

"One of Munechika's abilities." He gestures for said catwoman to nod.

"I wish I could learn that…" Rinwell mumbles for said woman to tilt her head in wonder as the conversation continues.

"During our fight in Calvard, I unknowingly had a part of Zero embedded in me. It's likely how they found us," he grimaces before continuing. "Though Munechika, and Magilou to an extent, helped get him out. As for the cryptid… I'm still trying to make sense of all that." At hearing her name I look over at her to see her grin at me.

"Time. Time. Timeout! A cryptid? Like, the rare and powerful monsters that pop up out of nowhere? The ones that have a insane amount of power? Like that plant monster we fought in that field over there?" Rinwell points in exasperation.

"Yes." Relon sighs.

"Somehow you now have a cryptid." She blinks incredulously. Honestly, she had every right to, it made little sense.

"No. I have the essence of one. Likely left behind by Zero. I thought it was just battle fatigue since our fight in that mountain range but I've been hearing faint calls from whatever it is."

"But… why would Zero give you the power of a cryptid, even if just a little bit?"

"I don't know. I don't even think he meant to give it to me much less knew until that weird thing happened. It's a hot mess both out here and in here." He gestures to his head. "The last thing I was expecting was for Nameless to have a new roommate. The issue now is that-"

"It works in tandem with your anger." All look at Shizuna and Van at the door with the girl leaning against the door frame. "The very thing that makes you strong is now a liability." 'As all powers have, but damn he has a lot of baggage. But not like I can really judge here.'

Looking from her to Relon, Rinwell's eyes buck wide in realization.

"Until I can learn more, it would seem so." He answers nonchalantly.

"You seem calm." Van notes entering and taking a seat.

"I could be upset but that would be a waste of energy." Relon states redirecting his attention to me. "That's about it. Nerfed even more now until I can get to the bottom of things."

Nodding, I glanced at Loewe and Shirley. "At least it makes some sense now, so Loewe… I assume Pater-Mater somehow sent you a message which is why you're here, but why is Shirley here as well?"

Loewe stood up from his chair slowly. "We were talking over the radio when we got the transmission, none of us knew what it was saying until Renne heard it. It told us the location and that danger was here, Shirley here simply wanted in on the action so she came here using those stones near the Twin Dragon Bridge."

"And aren't you glad I came! I mean the trash was easy to get rid of here but who knows when more will show up, why does it sound like you didn't want to see me again~?" Shirley leaned forward in her seat.

"I'm glad to see everyone, just didn't expect you to be alone. Now that we know why you're here… what do we all do now?" I asked while leaning on the table, after that dream and that fight as of now I can't think of anything to check out here, just taking out the reactor.

"The only person who I can think of capable of giving me answers is Vita Clotilde so that's where I plan to go. Then we're hitting that reactor at Saint-Arkh." Relon states, my gaze turns back to him. 'Vita, which means…'

"We have plans for tackling the next reactor tomorrow so once that's finished, we'll hopefully be ready to assist you all," Loewe states.

"Just a warning, while Vita may help… The Grandmaster may not be so kind, who knows what she will do due to her slowly losing what's left of her." I warned as I got off the table.

"I had a feeling. Still, if we're able to get Vita on our side, then that means we'll have three members that can use magic. That's something we can't pass up regardless of personal preferences."

"Oh, we're all talking now?" A girl's voice is heard from the doorway, glancing over I see Joshua, Estelle and Renne walk in.

"Shade… thank you!" Renne quickly rushed forward and tackled me into a hug, I was able to stay in place but I did feel the power behind it.

"Saw that coming… You're welcome kiddo." I smiled under my mask, despite me using myself as a shield in front of her, doing all of that shit back there… she still hugged me like this. 'Guess Aeris has a point.'

"So, what's the situation?" Joshua asked, trying to understand what's going on.

"Introductions are definitely needed first and foremost." Relon quips.

"I'm Joshua Astray, this here is Estelle Bright and that's Renne." He points to himself then the girls.

"Relon Lucinance. A pleasure to meet you all."

"Then I guess that means we'll be splitting up for now again." Rinwell muses.

"I doubt I'm wanted back at that place, so I think I'll be heading somewhere else… maybe head back with Shirley." I see Shirley wave at me from the corner of my eye.

"Ugh! Heading out again, this time we don't even have a plan. Well at least that means I can relax~" Magilou stands up from her seat with a pep in her step.

"Go ahead, Granny, get your sleep. You certainly need it~." Rinwell grins cheekily.

"Rinwell, why?" Relon sighs as a tic mark appears over Magilou's forehead.

"Hmph, sleep helps people grow, seems you might need some~" Magilou crosses her arms. 'That wasn't a bad comeback, hehe.'

Naturally, the irritation is reflected back upon Rinwell's own demeanor. "Oh ho, just you wait!"

"Alright, stopping this because I just woke up." Relon chides pulling her by the hoodie. "Shade, you said Vita was along the west coast where again?"

"Avon Hills, following the road there should lead you to her." Sighing I take off my mask and place it on my hip, the light hits my face and I can now rub my eyes.

"We can use one of the teleporters to send us straight there." Rinwell notes.

"That makes our trek all the easier then." Relon surmises. "Shade, what will you guys do?"

"Well, there's no location that I really need to visit. Shirley I'll be heading back with you to Twin Dragon Bridge, I'll help prep when we move in on Crossbell's reactor."

"Works for me! I'll even get some of my guys to go against you so they will be ready!" 'Great, more training… oh right.'

Reaching into my pocket I turned back towards Relon, pulling out his bracelet and I tossed it to him.

Catching it, Relon twists his hand to peer at the object. "Is this…?" Relon blinks, lifting his eyes to peer at me.

"Your order, I hope it's to your tastes, plus it has some rough magic and my blood so it's tough but still able to do what you wished, don't ask me to do this again." The moment those words left my mouth I realized I messed up. 'Fuck, I said it had my blood…'

"I won't. Wait- your what now, not gonna go there. I'll make it up to you somehow. Thanks, Shade."

"Huh?" Rinwell inwardly blinks alongside Munechika. "What is that?"

"An artifact similar to your necklace. Hoping it'll come in handy later on." He answers by discarding it. "Shizuna, Van, what about you two? If you want to familiarize with the Resistance and get more rest, I'd-"

"Are you trying to kick us out of the group?" Van cocks a raised brow.

"No, I'm-"

"Then we're staying together." Shizuna smiles, matching Van's crossed arms.

As much as he wanted to sigh, Relon couldn't help but offer a thankful smile to them. 'Good, I was even going to say to let them come along.'

Looking over I see Renne nod as she looks up at Estelle and Joshua, telling me that she's staying with them still. 'Huh, even in this world she goes to them, at least she'll be safe.'

"Thanks, you two."

"Relon, Munechika, myself, Van, and Shizuna." Rinwell counts off. "That's five not counting Pippin, Pappan, and Hootle. Our group's grown now that we're all together."

"Each member is important." Relon nods. "We each have a role to play in ensuring we all make it through each battle."

"Yeah, we'll need all the help we're gonna get if we plan to meet the famous Vita Clotilde and take down a reactor."

"Big goal to make in a short time." Loewe notes.

"Hehe, watch us! Shade's group did a lot since the last time we met up so it's only fair that we match them." 'A bit more than a lot, but I'll take it.'

"That energy and positivity is amazing." Van mumbles to earn a chuckle in agreement by Rinwell.

Having overheard, Relon can only quietly agree as his eyes go to me. Nodding at one another, all step outside. Beckoning any remaining companions from their temporary surveillance of the area, both groups look across from one another now in the clear where their means of transportation lies.

I took a small pitstop to grab what remained of the ore I used and stuffed it in a bag, then I made my way to everyone else.

Relon, Rinwell, Munechika, Van, Shizuna, Loewe. Estelle, Joshua, and Renne on one side. On the other, Myself, Magilou, and Shirley. 'With that many they should be able to get back ok, still everyone needs rest.'

"Our groups has more than I mentioned." Rinwell sweatdrops.

"You really planned on tackling a rogue witch on an empty stomach?" Van snorts. "Not to mention some of us haven't eaten nor rested properly."

Stiffening at the jab, Relon could only give an apologetic look before returning forward.

"We'll see you all shortly." Relon bids, reaching out his fist.

"We're always a call away, besides we have an airship so we can be back up whenever you need." l smiled as I extended my arm out, holding out a fist. But looking at him, knowing even more shit happened, I wonder if what Aeris told me would help him, so. "Hmm… Relon, no matter what you decide, you will always be you. Both human and whatever you call the other side of yourself, you'll always be Relon in the end." I looked at him with a calm yet determined expression.

Relon was momentarily taken aback by the look on his face, but soon he smiled and we bumped fists, they remained touching.

"Same to you. Even if we have to hop from one place to another through teleportation or zoom in the skies to you all."

"If you see rainbow lightning, just know we'll be there soon." Rinwell jokes.

"I'll also see the rest of you later, we don't have much time so communication is key. Also let me know how that trip to Avon Hills goes."

"Will do. Keep us posted if anything pops up on your end."

"Hopefully nothing will happen, but knowing this guy's bad luck I'm sure we'll be in shit in no time!" Magilou comments as she turns and walks towards the airship. 'Not wrong…'

"I know she isn't talking about me but it certainly feels like it." Relon sweatdrops as Rinwell can only shake her head.

"Just go with both of us, but yeah I'll let you know if anything pops up or if I head to somewhere else."

"I'll make sure nothing happens, besides it seems they have placed all troops near the reactors. That should be our biggest issue away." Shirley adds.

"We could just drop a star on them."

Looking to Rinwell, she looks back at Relon innocently. 'I truly made a monster…'

"What?"

"Teehee, I wanna see!" Renne chimes in with a giggle.

"The hell?" Relon blinks at the two before dismissing the looming questions. "Not even gonna go there. Alright people, let's hit it."

Turning away we walked onto the airship, once on the bridge Shirley looked around as Magilou sat down in one of the seats. I took this time to put things away and sort my thoughts. That dream was unexpected in every form, from Aeris being in it to everyone in it telling me off about my actions and helping? Sure, helping me through them all, every word they said was right and while I doubt I can just change like that, I do think it will help me get through this world. The Reaper was dead, that is for sure and while I will have those urges for killing or rather destruction, monsters or those lifeless soldiers will do. As for my demon side…

"So… had a nightmare?" I looked up to see Magilou looking at me with her arms crossed.

"You knew I was asleep? Well, it makes sense as you were leaning on me. No, not a nightmare, but there was a dream…" I walked over and sat in the seat across from her.

"Oh? Must have been some dream to have you spaced out, now come on, tell Magilou the details and pour your heart out so I can fix what is clearly broken!" She posed as always and all I could do was sigh.

"It was just a wake up call and I've already figured a few things out, but… screw it!" I sat up a bit more straight in my chair, by this point I noticed Shirley was by the bike so I had a little privacy with Magilou. "Since coming here I've been confused on what I should do, either to kill or not, then how I should act when killing, not to mention my bloodlust that takes over…"

Magilou places her hand on her chin and nods while humming, then snaps her fingers. "Yeah you were doing odd things, I mean I didn't care as long as I was alive. But since you've picked to confess to me, then I shall offer my advice! Now how much did you say you 'figured out'?"

"Well I know that acting like the old me won't work, and as much as people hate to see it I will use whatever I can to protect those I care for, even my body. Really my only issue is my demon side, while it's a part of me I can't control it fully so it's a danger to everyone around me, all I can do is focus energy into points of my body and no, having it course through my entire body doesn't work." I bailed my hand into a fist, the lack of control is the big issue here as I don't want to have another massacre on my hands.

"Alright, alright… I have no idea then, you seem to be holding up pretty ok with everything else and I guess setting boundaries will help with the killing and protecting stuff, and well I'm human so not like I can help with demon stuff. Could ask the other you that's in this world?" Glancing up I shook my head.

"No, despite everything I still have no desire to meet my other self or his family. I'll just have to find a way on my own, unless I meet my father in our world." I looked back down but I did see Magilou glance away before my vision left her.

"Hey, Shade! Come here!" Shirley's voice was loud and sounded angry as it came from where the bike was at, a sigh escaped as I have a feeling I know why she was angry.

Getting up I headed her way to see her, arms crossed and foot tapping the metal floor. "Why is my bike trashed!" Looking over at it I can see bullet holes and some burn marks on the back side. 'Rinwell…'

"Well… I was being chased by those soldiers and a large explosion happened and well… sorry?" She sighed and turned towards the bike.

"You're not having her again, you can ruin this ship instead! Once we get back I'll fix you up girl…" She kneeled down and patted the bike, seeing as she was done with yelling at me, for now.

I turned around and decided to just go get some air on the deck, taking a glance at Magilou. I saw her playing with Pater-Mater by making beep and boop sounds. Once outside I did as I did before and just watched the land below as we flew along to our destination.

The ship flew slowly to preserve energy, so it took about two hours to get to Twin Dragon Bridge, lucky for us Shirley had informed them ahead of time of our arrival. Nothing seemed to have changed here and they had cleared an area for the ship to land as well, instead of hopping off I simply walked back inside and made my way out with Shirley and Magilou.

"THERE THEY ARE! OUR HEROES!" Someone yelled as we stepped out and suddenly everyone that was around ran towards me to say thanks and congrats for taking down a reactor and freeing people, they even thanked Magilou.

"Please you don't have to thank me, but please keep doing so!" She pulled out a pen and started signing random stuff they were giving her, even someone's forehead.

"Uhh…?" Looking at Shirley she just shrugged.

"You'd expect me to hide the fact you took down a reactor? You see how happy everyone is, morale is up and with you fighting with us here, we'll win in our battle!" Looking back at the crowd I saw all of them smiling and cheering, seeing this I simply raised my hand into the air.

"We'll win!" Simple yet it worked as the crowd cheered harder, what I didn't expect was the dozen of questions to come which took a bit to answer them all.

Once that was done Shirley led me to the tent where she had her plans laid out. "Alright, here's the deal. We aren't moving in on the reactor, not for another day or two."

I looked at her confused on why the wait, was it because of her lack of forces or something else? "Do I need to ask why?"

"You know why, Loewe's troops are going to deal with those reactors over there, meanwhile we'll deal with Crossbell, but we have one major issue with that." Shirley looked at the map and with the outlines on it I could tell what the issue was.

"The only backup you'll have is from Legram, is there an issue with that?" I stepped up to get a closer look at the map, I heard her sigh as she pointed at Bareahard.

"Roots cover a good bit here, if they left now there's a chance they might make it but they would be tired and would only drag us down. And no we can't use the stones, that path can be safe for small groups but not for an army where monsters could attack at any moment." I looked at her confused, then I realized what Shirley was getting at.

"The airship." She nodded and turned towards me. "Guess I won't be relaxing here, putting me to work just like that."

"Time's ticking, me and Loewe discussed it when you were asleep and well it's the best idea we got. For now you can rest and we'll work on the airship to make sure it can handle all the trips back and forth." I nodded as we made our way out of the command area.

"It's always something, guessing tomorrow I'll be going back and forth. So, how many are we talking here?" She went into thought for a moment then turned to look at me.

"Currently, maybe eighty. They aren't sending everyone over here plus they do have supplies to be brought over so… even more trips for you. Busy day tomorrow!" She smiles as she lays a hand on my shoulder.

"At least give me more info, like who's in charge over there anyway?" Crossing my arms I stared at her waiting for her to answer.

"A guy named Rufus Albarea, hot shot and pretty boy from what I heard. Not my type though~" I hummed in response.

I knew of him, a crafty man that could plan ahead yet also hide his cards until the right time comes. I wasn't sure how much of this information was correct, but still I at least knew he was a good ally. "Can't wait to meet him, should I expect anything else?"

"Not that I'm aware, so guess if there is something else it will be a surprise for us both." She smiled as she turned away. "I'm going to go fix my bike, which you're not using again!" Like that she walked away, leaving me alone to do whatever I wanted to do.

Seeing as I had a good bit of free time I went to eat, it's been roughly a full day since I last ate or drank anything so I was looking forward to that. I made my way towards the eating area and saw Magilou already done eating a meal with a few of the people at her table. 'So that's where she went, I bet she's living it up.'

"And as the giant mech tried to stomp on me, I, the amazing Magilou, got out of the way and engulfed it with flames, making it step back with a gasp, allowing those behind me to live and fight on!" I shook my head and went to grab some food, the lady serving it noticed me approaching and smiled.

"W-Well hello, you're Shade right?" I smiled as I looked at her, she couldn't be no older than 18 years old.

"That's right, you are?" She wasn't someone I recognized, she looked to be a daughter of one of the troops here acting as a server for meals. A simple job that's risk free.

"Oh, I'm Misa! I heard all about you from my dad, so let me get you a large amount to eat, you'll need it! Plus kinda deserve it!" She smiles as she grabs a tray and starts putting a mixture of food on it. 'As I expected, at least she's a cheerful person despite what's going on.'

A moment later she handed me the tray that had more food on it that I think I could eat, but still I took it with a smile. "Thank you!" I walked away and went to the table Magilou still sat at.

"Oh, Shade! I was just telling these fine folks about our battles, care to join-HEY WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MUCH FOOD!?" I sat down and she stared at my tray like I had just stolen it from her.

"Huh? Didn't you get more because of what we did?" She shook her head with added drama to it.

"I got the normal amount like everyone else! Oh, I get it, it's because you used your good looks on the lady, didn't you~!" Glancing back at the server I saw her quickly look away. 'Huh, well… sorry to disappoint her.'

I looked back at Magilou with a small grin. "So, I have good looks huh~?"

"Aww, you think you're my type? Well you aren't, but even I know when someone looks good! Like myself, or Shizuna who by the way is pretty stacked~" Some of the men around now tuned back in since it was about a woman's body, seeing that Magilou was about to blab about something a bit too personal I kicked her shin. "Ow! Hey, that hurt!"

"Good, don't talk about people's bodies." I took a bite of my food as I looked away from her.

"Please, that's all I was going to say!" After that the small crowd around us went away, mostly because someone showed up and started ordering them around.

"Tomorrow I'll be moving troops and supplies with the airship, from Legram to here." I told her, she looked over and rolled her eyes.

"And here I thought we were going to rest, ha! Fat chance, always something going on…" I looked over at her as I took another bite.

"You don't have to come along, all I'll be doing is flying the ship back and fort-"

"Nope, I'm coming." It was short and straight to the point, she was now looking at me with a grin. "We are a team, besides it's better than doing nothing all day."

I was a little shocked by what she said. "I thought you wanted to do nothing?"

"For battles yeah, whenever we weren't fighting we were on the bike. Not like I could do much in the little sidecar, at least on the ship I could move around." She moved her own tray out of the way and leaned on the table.

"Well, alright… You'll be in charge of final preparations before we take off." I took another bite as she gave a thumbs up.

"Eh, works for me." She straightened up and got up. "See you around~" Just like that she walked away, leaving her tray for me to give back.

I ate in silence then once I was done I handed both mine and Magilou's tray to Misa, she smiled and winked at me. 'Great…'

Since I had the rest of the day to myself and there was still much time left in it, I went ahead and went to the tallest point that was left of this place and looked out over the area. I looked towards the direction of Crossbell and wondered if taking the reactor down would go as well as last time, or even if the people there would go free like the others. 'Would Tio be free? Or even Lloyd?'

I let out a sigh and leaned against the bits of rubble behind me. "Not even the sight before me is good enough to draw… I hope I can make it back."

For a few hours I sat there, occasionally glancing down to see what was going on down below. I couldn't tell if I was happy about giving this much time to rest, but it's not like I could do much at the moment.

Night had fallen and so I decided to check on the airship to make sure it was good to go for tomorrow. When I got there nobody was around it so I walked in and as I did I heard the sound of Pater-Mater.

"Hey, did they wrap up on the ship?" A single beep was his response. "Good, ready to do a lot of flying tomorrow?" Again another single beep.

I sat in the chair and leaned back, looking at the console. I didn't really have time to see how quickly it was put together, yet it worked. "Good job by the way, for sending a message to Loewe and Renne. I'm sure you feel like a hero, right?" A single beep as I had expected. "Heh, it's not long now until the fate of this world is decided, just means I and everyone else needs to be ready in full by then, easy enough."

For the next few hours I sat there and asked Pater-Mater question after question. It didn't matter what it was about as long as it passed the time.

In the end, some questions turned into heated debates. "See you don't understand, Dragons are cool while Wyverns are just less cool!" I get two beeps in response.

"How are Wyverns cooler? Have you ever met a Wyvern?" A single beep. "Oh really? I'll ask Renne next time I see her then!" It beeps four times at me. "Language, I think…"

I leaned back in my chair and turned to see Magilou there, eating a sandwich. "You see what I've been dealing with all night?" I pointed towards the dumb AI.

"I think that dream you had made you go crazy, but at least it's fun to watch!" She finished her sandwich and leaned back in her own seat. "So, when we leaving?"

"I'll go ask Shirley, but with how short on time we are I think it will be soon. Be back in a moment." I got up and walked out of the airship. "What the hell was that conversation?" I shook my head as I made my way towards where Shirley was at.

As I got closer she noticed me and waved. "Good, you're up, now get going!" I halted where I was.

"Right now?" I slightly tilted my head in confusion.

"Right now." She smiled and crossed her arms.

"I… alright. Keep me updated on Loewe's side, alright?" She nods as she turns away.

"Yeah, yeah. Now get your ass in gear, we don't have much time!" She waved as she walked towards a group of her men.

With a sigh I turned around and made my way back to the airship, as I got back on I closed the ramp door and went to the bridge. "We're leaving now, you ready Magilou?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll just be on the deck until we get there." She gets up and walks out the door to the deck.

"I might just join you… Pater-Mater, start the airship, we're heading to Legram!" A single beep was my response.

The ship begins making noise and slowly lifts up and off the ground, after a moment it starts moving forward and then turns to face where Legram is located before picking up speed. "Now I wait, thanks again Pater-Mater!" Again, another single beep was what I got.

After successfully getting airborne I make my way outside on the deck, the warm air hits my face as I step onto the deck. Magilou was sitting down against the wall, enjoying herself as always.

"Not taking in the sights?" I asked as I sat down next to her.

"What is there to even see by this point, it's all so bland and boring!" I smirked as I looked out towards the distance, very few things were around to look at that we haven't seen already.

"True, guess we just wait until we get to our destination. Flip side is the journey isn't long so we should get done by early afternoon if things go as planned, but plans don't always go the way we want so might as well just wing it." Magilou looked over at me and grinned.

"Sounds like you're taking a page out of my book with that thinking, works for me!" She throws her hands back and behind her head, relaxing like she always does.

I sighed, seeing that nothing was going to happen I decided to follow her steps.

At Legram

Soon we reached the location, the base Zero's men were using in this area which was abandoned recently. I sensed many people below and looking over the railing I saw people waiting to hop on as well as get supplies on board. 'Least they don't want to waste time.'

Once the ship landed me and Magilou walked off and was greeted by a blonde pretty boy, he was tall maybe a bit taller then myself. His clothing was dark yet had a sense of elegance. To his right were two young kids, a girl with pink hair and a pink dress holding a large teddy bear and a boy in a blue vest with a sword on his back.

"Shade I assume? We've been expecting you." The blonde man said, his voice matched his clothing in terms of how elegant it sounded. 'Yep, sounds about right.'

"That's right, you must be Rufus? And they are?" I turn to look at the kids.

The boy stepped up. "I'm Swin, this is Nadia. You could say we're this guys' helpers, but don't think because we're young that we can't hold our own in a fight." He said in a stern manner, clearly having been told that before.

"I don't know, kiddos like you should be drinking milk to get stronger bones!" Magilou jumped in with a smirk.

"And how strong are your bones? Strong enough to not break when I use my tools~?" Nadia asked in a very innocent tone, Magilou hid behind me with a eep.

"Kid's a devil!" She yelled out and I couldn't help but agree in some manner.

"Anyway, how do you want to do this, Rufus?" I crossed my arms as I looked behind him to both the small army and supplies we'll be carrying.

"Both myself and these two will be coming along during all trips for one, we want to make sure everything is in order. We are expecting one more but they seem to be running late… However we'll move troops first then supplies, then alternate from there." I nodded, finding this arraignment fine, but I was wondering who this 4th person was.

"Alright, get your men aboard. Should be able to fit quite a few." Rufus, Nadia and Swin moved aside and in good formation about eighteen men got aboard. Add myself, Magilou and Rufus's people, we have an extra six people if his 4th comes along, so a total of twenty four which seemed about right for the Airship's limit.

Just as Rufus's men got aboard I saw someone running towards us, she wore a set of armor and had her brown hair done up, plus she seemed pretty quick.

"Ah, there she is."

"About time."

"Yay, we're all together!"

The girl stopped as she got to us, catching her breath before looking up at me and bowing lightly. "I am Duvalie the Swift, you must be the honored Shade I have heard much about?"

"If you're called the swift, then why are you last?" Magilou asked with an amused grin.

"I was putting on my armor! And what does it matter to you why I'm late!?" She stomped a little and from the looks of the others I could tell this was a normal thing.

"Yes, I am Shade, But don't treat me like a big deal, just trying to not die is all." Duvalie turned towards me and nodded.

"I'll keep that in mind, now we should be off then? I don't think we have much time after all." Rufus nodded and then looked at Swin and Nadia who also nodded.

With that we all got on, Duvalie was with the rest of the men making sure they had what they needed while Rufus stayed around the pilot seat. Swin and Nadia went to the deck and as for Magilou, she was in a corner seating on a chair.

Seeing as Duvalie was busy I went to the deck to talk to Swin and Nadia, when I got out there I saw them next to the railing looking out towards Legram as we got further away.

"First time on an airship?" I asked as I got close. They turn to look at me, Swin crossing his arms while Nadia had hers wrapped around her teddy bear still.

"Yes, most are with Zero after all. I'm more shocked that this junk can fly with how it looks." Swin mocked a little in a casual tone.

"It does feel nice, almost romantic if we weren't going to die in a few days, plus the heat is awful!" Nadia exclaimed as she waved herself with her hand.

I looked between them and wondered what their deal was, they looked to be at least teenagers, maybe fourteen or so. I did hear of their names from others but nothing about them themselves. "Alright, since we may be fighting together. What are your weapons?"

Swin pulled out his sword and it had split into two. "Duel swords I can form into one, if I hit a spot with both then combine the blade and hit it again, the marked spot will deal a lot more damage." He said very calmly and with practice.

Nadia with one hand pulled out a pair of needles. "I can poke with these and if I want I can turn people into my puppets! Oh and my little friend here holds them for me, plus my wires and helps me cast arts!" She smiled as she squeezed the bear.

I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Remind me to not get on your bad side, well I have a scythe and dual handguns." They both nod.

"Look, if you're trying to be buddy-buddy with us then think again. We know you're not from this world, so don't bother trying to be friends with us." Swin's tone didn't raise, everything he said was calm and left the impression of not wanting to continue talking.

"Well too bad, I'm going to try now that you said that!" I smirked as Swin looked at me, clearly annoyed.

"Come on Swin, he seems nice. Plus if he gets annoying I can just poke him a few times!" Nadia's tone was cheerful, but her eyes were menacing.

"What do you even want to talk about? I doubt you have any shared interest with us, or do you plan to hit us with some otherworldly wisdom without knowing anything about us?" Swin glared at me with Nadia's own menacing glare still trained on me. 'Damn, these kids don't hold back.'

"I don't have any otherworldly wisdom, can't a guy just talk to his comrades?"

"Debatable/Don't care." Both said at the same time.

"Alright then, I'll start. How did you both meet?" I asked innocently enough.

Both looked at each other then back at me. "We killed people together before our leaders turned to dust and smoke, so here we are." Nadia said with a smile.

"I figured as much, but now that you're free you're fighting back against Zero, so does that mean you have a goal you want to get to after he's dead and gone?" Despite their looks and attempts to get rid of me, I kept a small smile on my face.

"A goal? Just living is hard enough, we're only fighting back so we don't just waste away in a ditch somewhere." Swin said, relaxing a bit and going back to his casual tone.

"I do have one goal, but that can wait until we win, or sooner~ But yeah, what Swin said about us fighting!" Nadia glanced at Swin when she mentioned her one goal.

"At least you have a goal, one that may be harder than you think…" I looked at Swin who looked confused, Nadia sighed.

"Yeah, tell me about it!" Swin looked over at her now even more confused.

"But I'll help you both out if I can, it doesn't matter if you were assassins. We're all fighting so that makes us equals, plus if you open up more you might see that many are willing to be friends with you, like me!" I smiled at them, both now looking at him with mild surprise.

Nadia's expressen then turned deadpan. "Sounds like otherworldly wisdom to me, either you're a good liar or just spout that junk everywhere to everyone." My eyes widened a bit as I didn't really expect to say that myself. 'Guess that dream I had is affecting me more than I thought, or some old influences came to mind… both I don't mind at all.'

"I can promise you that it just came out, but I do mean it. I can tell you're both good people at heart, so don't be scared to get out there more."

Swin shook his head. "We'll consider it, but don't think one little speech is enough to suddenly change someone's perspective, if you thought that then you're an idiot."

From then on we mostly had small talk, with me leading it all. About fifteen minutes passed before we landed at Twin Dragon Bridge again, the troops got off and we took. I was expecting Rufus and Shirley to chat but Rufus didn't even bother trying to get off. 'Those four stayed on as well… Swin and Nadia make a bit of sense I guess, hmm.'

Half a hour passed and we landed back at Legram, they loaded up a few crates of supplies and we took off. Nadia and Swin were still on the deck but sitting this time, it seemed like Nadia was napping. Duvalie was watching over the supplies, this time I went to bother her.

"Sup, whatcha doing here?" I asked as I stepped into the cargo area.

"Nothing, there's not much to do on this airship so I figured I'll keep an eye on our cargo." She had her arms crossed, she was rather stiff.

"You know you can be more lax right? Could even let your hair down if you wanted." She looked at me with a glare.

"I will NOT let my hair down! It will get in the way of any fights, also it's better to be ready for a fight at any moment then get caught off guard by Zero's men!" She looked away from me.

"Doesn't stop everyone else, might as well join them." She glared at me again.

"And you think I want everyone to be laxed?! I tried and tried and nobody ever takes anything seriously! I swear it's like people have a deathwish or something." She takes a breath and calms down.

"Sorry to bring it up, is there a reason you dislike it?" I asked calmly, she looked at me then sighed.

"Yes, I lost my lord, she's under him now doing who knows what against her will… it makes me sick! I will not fall to Zero's influence, I will be ready to save my lord, so I will not ease up until then!" A small sense of dread crept up at knowing The Steel Maiden was under Zero, but if she was like Cassius, then she should be able to break free.

"From what I know she's tough, no doubt waiting for the right moment to break free. Also I assume your lack of relaxation is because she was taken during one of those moments…?" I carefully asked, she glared at me before looking down.

"Yeah, I was powerless… and it does soothe my soul knowing the chance of her getting free is really high as well as others out there, so thank you Shade. I know you're the reason we even have a chance at all, well you and that other guy."

I patted her head. "Don't worry, one of us will save her, I can promise you that, also his name is Relon." Duvalie quickly backed away with a blush on her face.

"J-Just WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!? Patting my head is a cause for harassment!" I flinched and quickly put my hands up.

"Sorry! My bad, didn't think there…" She calmed down then went back to looking at the supplies, but kept an eye on me in the process.

With a sigh I walked back up to the cockpit, but before I left I heard her whisper something. "Thanks…" I pretended to not hear and went back to waiting until we got to Twin Dragon Bridge. 'So that's her situation, I think I understand the picture now.'

This time the stop was longer as the cargo was unloaded, once again Rufus didn't get off the airship. So as we made our way back to Legram I went to speak to him, finding him on the deck alone.

"I was wondering when you would speak with me, guess that makes me last on your list." Rufus turned to look at me with a small grin.

"Heh, like it mattered really. So you think Zero will attack us?" I asked with a straight face, looking right at him.

His eyebrow rose as his smile faded. "So, you guessed our reason for joining you on the ship? But I assume you found out by talking with the others?"

"That and I noticed you didn't bother talking with Shirley at all, but I think that's for another reason but it still helped me work out your plan. So, why keep me in the dark?" I leaned on the railing.

"Haha… I can tell you it was my idea but for good reason, a simple test." Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrow in confusion. "I do trust you, but the others don't nor do most of my men. So, with this test we can see how close you are keeping an eye on things and how you will react before and after this knowledge."

"So, did I pass?" He smirked and turned away. 'Not like I really care about it anyway…'

"Well Duvalie seemed to at least think you're not an awful person, Swin and Nadia also didn't hate you being there. As for me, well I don't really care as you will fight to live." Rufus looked over his shoulder at me, the smirk still there. "Also I do doubt Zero will attack us and for why I haven't left the ship, well Shirley has her role and I have mine. We don't need to talk in person after all, happy now?"

"Sure… Works for me I guess, makes sense to be on edge around me. But should you let me go that quickly?" Rufus turned back the way he was facing.

"Depends, for we know nothing about you and you showed up suddenly at the same time as your other worldly friends. Just what reason is there, maybe it's the world trying one last attempt to save itself, or maybe something more. Either way we shall see, I'll be heading back inside now." Rufus walked inside leaving me alone.

I walked back towards the far edge and sighed. "Well, it seems me and him thought of the same thing…why did me and Relon come here at the same time? This world is more like my own than his own, plus he was brought here by that bitch with anger issues. So, am I here for a reason or him…" Turning around I saw Nadia and Swin. "Sup you two!"

"Wow, talking to yourself even while knowing you're being watched, guess you're a lot more crazy then I thought!" Nadia teased as she walked up.

"Sorry for overhearing, but glad we did. But, I felt like you knew we would listen in, didn't you?" Swin walked up beside Nadia, crossing his arms.

"Somewhat, still I prefer to voice my thoughts if I can, helps me see the bigger picture. Plus it's a habit I have, so what brings you two here?" I leaned back onto the railing.

"I request a spar after we get done with this assignment with the airship, it will help us get a good look into what you can do." Swin said as Nadia hugs her teddy bear.

"I'd rather nap! Know what, doing it now!" Nadia held her teddy bear and laid her head on it, appearing to fall asleep.

"Should she be standing up…?" I looked over at Swin.

"She's fine, it's one of her greatest skills, napping anywhere. Well as long as I'm there." I raised an eyebrow at that last part.

"Nightmares I assume?" Swin's arms went to his side as he looked at me surprised.

"How did you…?"

"She's close to you, really close. To sleep that quickly means she trusts you with her very life, plus that last thing you said pretty much filled me in on the last clue." Swin's eyes widened and then he looks away.

"Damn it, I said too much…! You're a sharp one at least, now we do want to spar with you so find us after we're done here." With that Swin carefully led a half asleep Nadia to the cockpit.

I stood there and watched them head inside, a moment later Magilou walked out and walked towards me. "Ok, this is super boring."

"What'd you expect? Might as well get off when we get back to Twin Dragon Bridge, or just take a nap." I crossed my arms as Magilou got in front of me.

"Something else at least, talking to blondie is dull and talking to the knight while fun got old quickly." I raised an eyebrow at that. "She's very easy to tease, pretty sure I could make her fight me if I kept it up! But there's no challenge to it, so, oh well."

"If you get into a fight I'm not helping, but what about the other two?"

"Well the girl wanted to poke me and said things to me that I won't repeat… How'd you end up getting on their good side will elude me forever!" 'She is an easy target…'

"Do what you want, I'll be out here for most of the trips if you want to hide away. Also you do share your love for napping with Nadia, might even bond over it!" I smiled as Magilou stared me down, she sighed and went back inside. 'This is going to be a long day…'

Few hours later

We ended up doing a total of seven runs, three for supplies and the rest carrying around eighty people to Twin Dragon Bridge. Most of the supplies were food and medicine for the upcoming fight and possible release of those trapped by Zero.

At last we got off the ship, the people we carried went with Duvalie to join up with the rest of the men. It was past noon by this point and I noticed Swin and Nadia looking around, so I walked up to them.

"Looking for something? I can't say I know this place well, but I can help out." They turned to me, Swin crossing his arms as Nadia held a hand on her stomach.

"We're just about to go eat, we have an idea of where we are going, so we don't need help." Nadia nods her head to back Swin up.

"Well I'm hungry myself, so follow me and we can eat together." Both of them looked at each other then back at me.

"You are trying really hard to be our friend you know, but if it gets food in me quicker then lead the way!" Nadia smiled and motioned me to get moving.

We walked to where they serve food, both of them grabbing a tray as well as myself. As we moved up the line to get food I noticed that Misa wasn't handing out the food today, meaning I won't get any extra but that was fine with me.

As we got our food we sat down, Nadia dug in immediately with Swin taking his time. Somehow Magilou was done before we sat down and I saw her walking off somewhere, no doubt bored or wanting a nap.

We ate in mostly silence, only myself or Nadia bringing up topics which didn't last long. I didn't glance back but I felt someone slowly walking up behind me, they were a girl and smaller than myself, quickly I realized who it was. Their hands wrapped around my head and covered my eyes. "Guess who?" The young girl's voice sounded out with a cheery tone. 'Really? We hardly know each other to do this…'

"Misa right…?" I calmly said, she removed her hands and sat next to me on the bench with a smile.

"Yep! Didn't expect you to guess it was me, guess I left an impression… hehe!" I glanced at Nadia and Swin to see them smirking at me. 'Damn it…'

"Something like that, so why you here?" She turned around on the bench to be able to see Nadia and Swin.

"Well I'm here to get you three to prepare for tonight, duh!" At her words the three of us looked at her confused. She quickly looked at us then realized why we were confused. "Ohhh… right they hadn't told you. Well, you three will be on my team to cook for tonight's before-battle-feast!"

Nadia stood up, slamming her hands on the table. "Hold on, who said we're helping!? I'm an eater, not a cooker!"

"I'm not much of a chef myself, so don't count on me for anything." Swin crossed his arms as he looked at Misa.

"I can cook, but uhh… I thought I was going to help train people for tomorrow?" I leaned on the table with my elbow as I looked at Misa.

"About that… Duvalie took over that spot and Shirley agreed since you're our best bet at winning! Also…" Misa looked over at Swin and Nadia. "You two are coming as Rufus not only suggested it, but even told me to tell you that it's an order!"

Nadia sat back down and leaned onto Swin. "Come on! Why are we cooking!?"

Swin shook his head. "Had a feeling he was up to it, but we aren't cooks so not sure how much help we can be."

Misa smiled. "Well you can cut things, since Shade here said he can cook both him and I will do the main things while you both be our gathers and helpers!" She got up and took a step to the kitchen. "We'll start now since we got a lot of food to cook!"

I got up from my seat as the other two reluctantly got up as well, together we went with Misa as she had a big smile on her face. Once in the kitchen we all put on aprons and saw a few other groups of cooks moving around the kitchen. "Ok, we'll be cooking for everyone so stuff that takes awhile to cook like meat isn't up to us, other groups are already on it! We'll be a lot of the sides, which I have some of the stuff here, Shade and I will start and you two will help!"

Misa quickly began ordering us around, she and I were mixing, adding and cooking whatever she told me to do. Swin and Nadia were getting out ingredients and cutting them up, getting fresh pans and cookware along with other stuff. It was an assortment of side dishes she was making and the smell of not only her cooking, but the rest of the kitchen staff was amazing.

As Nadia and Swin rolled some dough for biscuits along with watching the burners and pans, me and Misa went to the food storage to get some frozen small sausages. "Would they thaw out in time?" I asked as we walked down to the basement of the place.

"Don't worry, we moved them last night to the refrigerator along with other meats and ingredients we'll be using!" Misa walked up to a large door and used a key to open it.

"I'm guessing you need a key so people don't steal food?" She nodded as she turned to face me.

"Yeah… we don't have much food, after tonight we should have enough for another week, maybe…" Misa sighed then looked at me with a smile. "But we'll make do, first we need to win and you along with everyone else will be helping, so I'll do my part for you!" She opened the door and walked inside. 'Huh, seems like the situation is more dire in other ways… I'll just do what I can for now.'

Walking inside with her, we each grabbed a large box and left, she handed me her box so she could lock the door and we returned to the kitchen to make pigs in a blanket. When we did return we saw Swin and Nadia finished with the dough and we all started cutting and wrapping the sausages.

The sun slowly went down and people were putting up lights and setting the tables for the food, most was done and all that remained was small tidbits that Misa was taking care of. Nadia, Swin and myself leaned against a wall as Nadia ate some of the food she helped cook.

"Mmmm~ These are tasty!" Nadia had a small plate of them in her hand as she ate.

"I will admit it wasn't the worst thing I've done, plus I did learn a few things… And these are good." Swin ate one himself.

"Sup guys!" Glancing over I saw Magilou walk up with a plate of food in her hand.

"Where did you go after we got back?" I asked her as I also reached over to eat one.

"Oh, just around. Did I miss anything exciting or cool?"

"No, just us being forced to cook…" As those words left my mouth, Swin, Nadia and myself turned to look at Magilou.

"What…? Do I have food on my face?" She looked at her plate and then tried to look at what parts of her face she could see.

"Magilou, you didn't by chance tell Rufus that I was good at cooking or something… right?" Magilou looked at me and smiled.

"Yep, didn't think you would figure it out… but you all did… am I that predictable!" She stomped and seeing as the food on her plate was in danger she sat it down on a nearby table. "Close one…"

"So, you're the reason I was forced to cook…?" Nadia spoke darkly.

"No doubt somehow got Rufus to agree to it, wait he would agree to it pretty easily…" Swin slowly glared at her.

"And Rufus got Shirley on board, which forced me to join in…" I stopped leaning and stood up straight, looking at Magilou.

"Huh?! Wait, guys come on! All I told him was that Shade was a good cook and wanted to get to know the kids better!" Magilou backed away, but kept glancing at her food. "Oh, Shade! Come on buddy, it wasn't so bad for you right…? Right?"

"I don't mind cooking… but not for an entire damn army!" The three of us took a step closer to her, our faces darken even if I myself didn't care that much.

"Hehe… sorry?"

Magilou's food wasn't touched by us as that would be a waste, but she did get a talking to by Nadia as Swin held her in place. Which seemed to have made Magilou's appetite decrease by a lot, she only ate half of her plate. Now the four of us sat together away from the feast as it got louder and after we all ate already.

Despite the situation from earlier Nadia and Swin didn't mind Magilou now that she knew where not to mess, as it got late into the evening the four of us got into a comfortable silence.

"That food was good… I think I'm going to get as much sleep as I can since tomorrow is, well you know." Magilou said as she stood up.

"And what did you do all day~? Doesn't seem like you were working in a kitchen or anything, I bet you were napping~" Nadia teased as she stared at Magilou.

"Eep! No, I was working on my… staff, yeah. Anyway, very sleepy, gotta sleep bye!" Magilou quickly made her escape.

"Heh, sucker." Nadia then pulled out her teddy bear and laid her head on it. "Sleep time."

"N-Not here! Come on, let's get you to a room…" Nadia allowed Swin to lift her up, but she was leaning on him the entire time.

"If you want a private and quiet place, you can sleep on the airship." I offered since I had other plans.

"That will work, thanks. Now come on, stop dragging your feet!" Both of them made their way to the airship, leaving me alone.

Looking over I see Misa walking over to me. "I see you noticed me waiting…" She said as she sat down across from me.

"Yeah, you weren't really hiding the fact you wanted to speak to me." Crossing my arm I looked right at her.

"Yeah… I think you saw why a bit ago… right?" She held her hands together on the table, not looking my way and with a faint blush on her cheek.

"Yeah, but sorry… I'm not from this world and once I beat Zero, I'm heading back to my world. Plus I'm not into romance at the moment…" Looking at her I saw a faint smile. 'She's not upset?'

"I thought so, but if there is a version of you that's from this world… think I have a shot?" She tilted her head as she looked at me.

"Huh…? Wait what now!?" I stood up, hands hitting the table in surprise as she giggled at my outburst, with a sigh she stopped but was still smiling.

"Sorry, that came from nowhere I guess. You see I'm kinda in the way you look, plus I have a feeling the you from this world, if there is one. Well, I think he'll be quite…charming!" I stared at her, my mouth agape as I questioned this girl and her viewpoint.

Finally I came back to my senses. "I mean I figured it was because of looks or what I did…well I can't say much but there might be another me, you might meet him. Still, why talk to me? You could have gone without saying anything to me, so why?"

She scratched her cheek as she awkwardly laughed. "I didn't want to leave you thinking I was into you like that, sorry…!" She clasped her hands together and bowed. 'What the hell, know what, I'm not going to think much into this.'

It took me a few seconds to process this, but I sighed and stepped away from the table. "It's fine, no harm done I guess. If I see the other me I'll say you have great food, but don't expect someone as cool as me!"

"Cool? I mean, yeah! Thanks again for understanding what I mean, now I need to sleep… be safe tomorrow and do your best!" She got up and walked away as I waved her goodbye, as she got out of sight I lowered myself to sit down in defeat.

"She didn't think I was cool… Great I sound like Magilou, why would I even care about that! Anyway, better go do what I was planning on." I got up and made my way to grab some binoculars and then I headed out to the cliffside where I first came into this world.

At the Cliffside

At the mountains where Garrelia Fortress is supposed to be, as expected I saw that a recon unit had made a way to the top to look at the reactor on the other side of the tunnel. Climbing up I saw a few scouts looking at the reactor which had every light on it could.

"Huh? Oh, you're Shade. Good, didn't even hear you climb up, gave me a heart attack man…" One of the scouts said as he calmed himself and went back to looking at the reactor.

"How's it looking?" I asked as I knelt down next to him, taking out my own pair of binoculars and looking at the base.

"Seems they are ready for us, plus if we're right the main control area is at the very top, if we aim a rocket we might not even have to attack!" Looking at the top I saw what the man was referring too, it did seem open to attack yet something about it felt like a bait trap of some kind.

Moving my gaze towards the bottom I saw a few Saber units and as expected turrets on the walls, about eight in total. I mostly saw grunts but I did see Rixia and Randy walking around, the layout and guard locations would make it very hard to sneak in like last time.

"Do we have an idea of anything underneath the place? Aside from the pump it has." The man simply shook his head.

"The place underneath had long since been sealed shut and even destroyed, I think it was called the Geofront or something? Still we can't use it." He sighed and got up, moving to another location to get another point of view.

Slowly an idea formed in my head, sneaking in was going to be much tougher here then at the last place, trying to go through the Geofront was a deadend. So, there were only two ways to do this, go through or go above.

Before I turned away I saw her, she slowly walked towards the reactor holding onto her Orbal staff. 'Tio… I'll do what I can here!' Standing up I made my way back to Twin Dragon Bridge so I could prepare with the others in the morning.

Same time 3rd POV

The fourteen year old girl walked into the base of the reactor, a weird chill went down her spine as she glanced in the direction of the Garrelia mountains. No doubt spies from the resistance who were going to attack tomorrow, but they didn't matter to her because the plan was settled for the battle.

The young woman was walking with a slight limp, the battle in the Kunlun mountains had left her drained and weak. While it was a pyrrhic victory, in the end she had failed as the main targets had escaped and none of her men had survived.

"Plato!" Looking up, the young girl saw her commander, Lloyd Bannings. "You'll be vital for the plan tomorrow, so get some rest!" Next to Lloyd was her partner for tomorrow, a young woman with long platinum blonde hair, some of which is tied back into braids and had Turquoise colored eyes.

"Understood Bannings, but I do need to check to see if I'll have enough Orbal energy to keep the shield up, or do you want to suddenly have rockets rain upon you?" Lloyd glared at her but held his tongue.

"Just don't disappoint again." He left, leaving the women alone.

"Do you need me to escort you to the top?" The blonde woman asked.

"I don't need an escort, but since you're my guard tomorrow it would be best to show you the best location to stand to defend. So follow me." The blue haired girl walked ahead, trying to hide the limp she had.

Tomorrow, Shade's POV

Morning came not long after, it was quiet as Swin and Nadia walked towards the briefing area, same with Rufus, Duvalie, Magilou and Shirley. As all of us gathered alone with squad leaders, Shirley let out a couth to get everyone's attention.

"Listen up! We're about to march to the cliffs of Garrelia, from there we'll make a temp camp and go over all details of our attack there once our target is in view! So, gather your men and make sure you have no regrets, trust me I sure as hell don't!" Most people cheered with her as they left, Swin and Nadia walked up to me.

"So, how'd the romance talk with Misa go~?" She teased as she innocently put her arms behind her back.

"To be honest, weird. She's into me but wants this world's version before she even knew there was one…" Both of them looked at me and grimaced.

"Ok, that's rough and weird."

"Least you didn't get your heartbroken, but wait a second, there's another you in this world?" Nadia looked up at me while at that moment Magilou walked up.

"Ah yeah, Relon said they met another you out east. Think they will come and help us?" I simply shrugged in response, while it would be useful I wasn't counting on it.

"So, you haven't met this 'Shade', still I don't know how I would feel to meet with myself." I looked over at Swin.

"Why I don't care about meeting myself, on top of other reasons." Looking ahead I saw people starting to move out. "Come on, it won't take us an hour to get there at a marching pace. And I'm ready to get this done and over with!" They all nodded and we sat out with everyone else. I walked up ahead of everyone else, making sure no ambushes awaited us.

Nothing happened and we got to our destination within an hour, meeting up with the recon unit and setting up tents and camp. Both myself, Shirley and Rufus went on top of the cliffs to get a view of the reactor.

"So, our only way in and through the gates that have turrets that could mow us all down mounted on the walls, it's wishful thinking this would be easy…" Rufus lowered his arm as he stopped looking through the binoculars.

"We already ruled out underneath, Shade can you sneak in?" Shirley asked as she glanced at me.

"Maybe, but I can't say it will go well since I already played that trick once. And you tried hitting the control area with a rocket right?" Shirley nodded.

"That girl at the top, Tio right? Well she's controlling a barrier around the place, well around the main area of the reactor so we can't just take it out with ease."

"And targeting the turrets is out, they will shoot at any rocket sent their way. So, any ideas?" Rufus turned to me and so did Shriley.

"Well, I did have one, but I will need both of your help…" They nodded and paid close attention as I spoke.

As the time for the battle drew near, both Shirley and Rufus looked at me with a sense of unease. "Do you think this plan will work? It's pretty far and I'm not that strong…" Shirley held her weapon on the top of the cliff.

"Totally, with wind arts booting me and my handguns… this should work just fine!" I put on my mask as Rufus shook his head.

"This is the dumbest plan ever, yet you're so confident that I think you can do it. So, tell me when!" Rufus took out his orbment and stood at the edge of the cliff.

"Knew you would agree, so Shirley, ready to launch me?" She facepalmed but held her weapon out, when I hopped on she felt the weight of both myself and my weapons.

"Fuck! I don't know about this now!" Jumping off I pulled out my scythe and threw it ahead of me, far into the sky then jumped back on. "Ok, that's better, how the hell do you walk with that on your back!?"

"Answer later, toss me now!" With a nod she spun and after a few spins swung her weapon with all the force she could, which was a lot for a girl her age. "NOW!" As I yelled Rufus casted a wind art on me which propelled me forward quickly.

I grabbed my scythe just in time and placed it on my back, then I grabbed my handguns and shot behind me to further my distance. "WOOOOO!"

Same time, 3rd POV

"Almost time, wonder what Shade, Rufus and Shirley are planning?" Swin asked Nadia and Magilou as they stood with the rest of the troops.

"Well last time Shade snuck into the reactor, but with how close it is to the time of battle I don't think he's doing that this time." Magilou held her staff in her hand and had it resting on her shoulder.

"Sneaking in would be tough, but I think Shade knows this. Maybe he plans to go in himself and take out the turrets?" Nadia said as she looked at the reactor.

"How would he do that? Rushing in or using his airship? Pretty sure he'll get shot at, unless he's fast enough." Swin asked, yet suddenly a few bangs are heard and everyone looks up.

"WOOOOO!" They saw Shade speeding through the air towards the reactor. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch in awe as he got ever so closer to it.

"He's…"

"He's flying!?"

"So, he's going over, huh?"

"IS HE INSANE!" Duvalie, who was in front of the troops, yelled out.

Each of them said as they watched, suddenly a voice behind them took their attention.

"Everyone move in! Remember try not to kill if you can, if we take out the reactor they will be freed! So let's move in and save those under Zero rule!" Shirley yelled out as Rufus showed up behind her.

"RIGHT!" The troops yelled out and with a nod, Swin, Nadia and a somewhat reluctant Magilou joined the frontline with Rufus, Duvaile and Shirley.

Same time, Shade's POV

As I flew through the warm wind, nearing the reactor, a sense of calm washed over me. Despite the chances of this failing, of the people not being saved like last time, or any other issue that could happen. I felt calm. 'Is this how birds feel? Well, maybe not but I can see why some people do stunts like this sometimes…'

Suddenly I realized something, a flaw in my plan. "How am I going to land!?" My sense of calm was gone but I did quickly think of an idea, blasting the ground as I neared it so slow my descent.

I looked ahead, just as planned I was aiming up to land within the base. As I got closer I noticed the sky starting to cloud up, covering the area in a shadow. Just as I was above the base I aimed my handguns at the turrets which were starting to aim at me.

I shot heavy blasts at each one, taking them out by putting a sizable holes in them. I also shot at the gate a few times to open it wide up, as I neared the top of the reactor I saw Tio staring at me as I fell along with someone else I wasn't expecting. 'Elaine!?'

Before I could process it I turned my attention to where I was landing, pointing my guns at my landing zone. I quickly off shot heavy blasts which slowed my fall slightly, but I still landed with a loud thud and a broken arm which was already healing. "Fuck!"

Already I heard gunfire and sensed it coming towards me, grabbing my handguns which were on the ground I took over behind a truck. "Just gotta hold out until they get here, otherwise I won't be able to get to the way up!" I did fire back, knocking out a few of the grunts, but I did see who was here, and what else was on this battlefield.

Rixia, Wazy, Elie, Randy, Lloyd and the girl I saw with Lloyd at Heimdallr as well as a man who I think I met briefly, as well as a few turret mounted vehicles and three Saber's. "Great, but expected!"

"OVER HERE, RANDY!" Looking over the hood I saw Shirley and everyone else rush through the open gate with Shirley rushing Randy who rushed at her in return.

With a nod I jumped out of cover and sprinted towards the entrance, Rixia jumped in front of me to stop me, but Swin made her block his attack. "GO!" He called out. "You owe us some first rate grub later!" Nadia called out.

As I ran by I saw Nadia ready an art while Swin prepared to move in, sensing a sniper round coming closer I dodged and saw Elie turn her attention to the others. Now they were facing off against Rixia and Elie who were focusing on them. 'Good luck!'

"Not so fast!" I jumped back as Wazy punched the ground in front of me. "You aren't going anywhere!" 'Does he have it?!'

"No, you aren't!" In a flash I saw Wazy narrowly block Duvaile's attack. "Go Shade!"

"Thanks Duvy!" I called out as I jumped over Wazy.

"DUVY!?"

I saw Rufus also running towards the entrance which had Lloyd running inside leaving the girl with twin submachine guns and the man with a large handgun covering him, along with a Saber mech. A wave of fire made them jump back as Magilou stepped up. "You so own me!"

"I'll pay you back by getting us back home!" I couldn't help but worry as I ran by, wondering how she would handle all of that.

"WASN'T THAT THE PLAN ALREADY!?" I heard her yell as she was then shot at causing her to yelp. 'She'll be fine, I know it! She will!'

Both myself and Rufus ran inside and came face to face with Lloyd. "We had a decent plan to defend this place, but what we didn't account for was you using yourself as a missile… You're a real pain in the ass!"

"Told you back in Heimdallr, I'm going home so I'm going to kick both your ass and Zero's! Plus I want to save this world now!" I aim my guns at him as Rufus draws his sword.

"Save it? You've seen the state of this world, Zero has won already… face the facts!" Lloyd got into his battle stance. "Still… haha… This will be a fun bloodbath! HAHAH!"

"And there's that creepy ass laugh!" As I aimed my guns I saw Rufus stop me.

"Leave him to me, go to the top and destroy the reactor before more die!" Rufus stepped forward and got into his stance. 'Really? No, he's right!'

"...Fine, but get a hit in for me!" I put away my guns and ran past as Rufus stopped Lloyd from stopping me, with that I started running up a large set of steps as I saw the elevator was destroyed already.

As I ran up the sound of blades clashing, Orbal arts going off and gunshots rang out outside and down below. 'Up ahead is Elaine for some reason and… Tio. Get your head in the game Shade, can't hold back!'

Same time, 3rd POV

"So, you are my opponents!? A bunch of kids!" Rixia said as she held her large blade up at them, behind her was Elie on a platform, aiming at the kids.

"Guess so lady, but we aren't just kids!" Swin yelled out as he got into his stance.

"Just because I'm not as big as you doesn't mean I'm not as strong!" Nadia yelled out as she pulled out her needles.

"Umm… Nadia I don't think that's important." Swin sweatdrop as he glanced at Nadia.

"What does my chest have to do with anything!?" Rixia yelled out.

"A lot! Don't think I don't see ms. sniper also having a rack as well!" Nadia called out loud enough for Elie to hear from behind Rixia, who did look down at her chest.

"Is this really the time!?" Swin yelled.

Not far away Duvalie glanced at them. "Why do they always do this!?" She yelled out as Wazy also glanced over.

"I'll admit that is entertaining, but I want to see you get faster… Duvy~!" Wazy grinned as he got into his stance.

"NOW YOU'RE CALLING ME THAT!? OH, THAT IS IT!" Duvalie quickly went by Wazy like a flash, which he barely blocked the attack she did as she passed him.

"Man! They should call you the Swift or something!" He called out with a grin.

"THAT'S… not a bad idea. Then call me Duvalie the Swift!" She for once smiled as she faced Wazy.

"Alright then! Guess I should bring it out!" He yelled out, a glow appeared behind him, a weakened version of a Stigma, powering him up.

"Oh, that is SO not fair!" Duvalie called out as she brings up her shield.

Not far away two large weapons clashed against each other. "Come on Randolph! Either you're dying today, or going to cry your heart out once you see how much of an ass you've been!" Shirley yelled out as she broke the clash and jumped back.

Randy was silent, but the look of a killer, a psycho was in his eyes. "Just die." He smiled as he rushed forward at her.

"I will… save you Randy!" Shirley had a look of hope, hope to save her only remaining family.

Finally near the entrance of the reactor, Magilou was dodging bullets as best she could. "Whoa! Stop shooting me!"

"Stop moving! How are we not hitting you, you clown!" The lady yelled out as she reloaded her guns.

"If guns aren't doing it, I'll just rush in and grab you!" The man tossed his jacket and showed his bulky muscles that were covered by a buttoned up shirt underneath, he then rushed at Magilou but stopped as she used her weapon to summon a wall of fire between them.

"Not today! And don't think I don't know who you are… Dudley! You warned me at least three times when you saw me doing my magic shows!" Magilou yelled out with mock anger.

"That was in your world, I'm not the Dudley you know!" He pulled out a shotgun from somewhere and shot a round through the fire which Magilou dodged.

"Whoa!"

"Take this you clown!" Noel yelled out as she aimed a rocket at Magilou.

"Where did you pull that from!?" Magilou continued to dodge and run as they tried to hit her.

The Saber that was with them saw it was worthless to engage with the clown, so it went to fight those in the battle.

Inside the base of the reactor a clash of blades was going on as Rufus and Lloyd battled each other.

"You really think that man will save you!" Lloyd yelled out as he charged at Rufus who swung as he dodged.

"Yes, for he has already shown us what he can do! He gave everyone a sense of hope where we had none, for that alone both myself and many others are willing to follow him into battle!" Rufus casted a quick wind art which Lloyd rolled out the way for, which Rufus tried to strike causing Lloyd to block his sword by holding his weapons in a X shape.

"What about the other one? The Senate Hunter!?" Lloyd pushed Rufus away and stood up.

"Relon? Well, I'll put him in the same boat. For you see, he's going to take down the other two reactors! Plus, Shade and Shirley said he's tough so I trust their word!" Rufus thrusted his blade at Lloyd with rapid speed.

"Arg! It's hopeless!" Lloyd yelled out as his battle aura was now visible to Rufus.

"Nothing in life is ever hopeless!" Rufus' battle aura also appeared around him as he yelled out.

Both men ready an attack at each other, both willing to give their lives in this fight.

Same time, Shade's POV

As I got close to the top I could sense both Elaine and Tio, who were no doubt waiting on me. 'Why is Elaine here? Are there others from Calvard here I didn't see?'

As I ran up the last few steps I saw how dark it got, darken clouds made it look like rain was coming but the air and wind didn't add up to it. In front of me was Tio who lowered her staff causing the shield around us to go away, Elaine ready her sword as she stood between me and Tio.

"So, you're Shade? I must say I wasn't expecting to be in a fight since our defense plan was solid, but we also didn't expect a man to fly into our base like you did!" She glared at me as she took a step forward.

"Glad I outsmarted you all, even though my plan was batshit crazy… haha!" I laughed yet I never kept my eyes off of them.

"Shade, why do I get the feeling you know me?" Tio asked with a hint of anger as she held her staff with both hands.

I was silent for a moment, then I looked past Elaine and right at Tio. "That's a long story… but let's just say we were once partners." Tio scoffed as she quickly casted an art below me, shards of ice bursted from the ground which I barely dodged.

"Not even willing to talk? I see, you Elaine got a question before we do this thing!" I stood up as I pulled out my handguns.

"What is it?!" She held her sword up, ready to thrust it at me.

"Know a guy named Van?" I saw a hint of recognition in her eyes which she quickly shook off.

"NOT ANYMORE!" She rushed me as she thrusted her blade, I dodged twice before jumping over her, but I saw a bolt of fire heading my way which I was hardly dodged by shooting my gun off which moved me slightly out of the way.

"Alright, understood! Won't bring him up until after I get Zero's influence outta your heads!" I got up and shot low powered rounds at them, Elaine dodged effortlessly while Tio used a Orbal shield to block them.

Looking around I noted how the battleground wasn't suited to me, it wasn't large and open but rather small and confined to a single large walkway. Perfect for a fighter like Elaine and a quick caster like Tio, but not for me since I use guns and as I wasn't going for kill shots so my scythe was out of the question as well. 'Ok think! Open air, I can jump around, long fall if I get hit off however! The console… looks the same as the other one I saw… Wait, could I…?'

Even though the plan I came up with was risky, it was the only option as for once I was out matched up here, still I wasn't going to fail! I looked ahead and noticed Tio take a step forward, where I saw her limp ever so slightly. 'A weak point… sorry Tio but gotta take what I can!'

"Sorry in advance!" I rushed forward as I put away one of my handguns, Elaine eyes widened but she quickly went to attack me as I got close. She thrusted her blade once again which I simply moved to the left and bashed my own body against hers, she was tough enough to not only push me back but also counter with a thrust towards my arm.

Still taking the chance I sneakily shot off a lower powered round at Tio's leg. "AH!" Tio leg gave in and she fell to her knees, but she held her staff up still. "I. Will. Not. FAIL!" She casted a art that made the entire area be consumed in wind. 'Shit! Good chance I'll be blasted off!'

I held onto the railing as Elaine did the same, despite the wind she attacked me again, stabbing my shoulder. "Arg! Damn it Elaine!" The wind died down and Tio was already casting another art, yet this one was no doubt going to wipe both me and Elaine out.

I glanced at the reactor, like before I should have some time to get away but I have a feeling it won't be as easy as last time. Seeing what I have to do I took a deep breath and pulled Elaine's blade out of me. 'Now or never!'

"AHHHHH!" I jumped onto the reactor, causing Tio to stop the art she was casting but again used a wind art, one that was more deadly. Gusts of wind caused me to almost fly off, they were cutting my body and even Elaine was about to get hit. "I…will save you!" I jumped towards Tio, my chest getting cut open as I did so.

I landed on Tio, who tried to push me off. "HEY!?" I felt her stab me with a knife she no doubt had on her, but I didn't care. Though the pain I grabbed her and lifted her up before throwing her into the air and away from the reactor, at the same time Elaine rushed at me, her sword going right past my heart.

"Fuck!" As she tried to pull it out I stopped her, grabbing her wrist I pulled her away from her sword and like Tio tossed her, still I couldn't stop now. I aimed my gun at the panel and shot a heavy round into it which started the chain reaction, in that same moment I turned around and jumped off.

As I did I saw Elaine was closer to the ground, my plan was to grab both on the way down but that plan was a bust. 'Shit, shit, shit! What do I do… wait thats…'

I saw him, standing below, about to jump and catch one of them. Seeing that I aimed for Elaine which he seemed to notice and jumped high into the air to catch Tio who was holding her head as she fell. I pulled the sword out of me and even shot a round behind me to quicken my fall so I could catch Elaine, as I neared her I realized we were too close to the ground to land safely.

As I caught her I saw Magilou not far where I would be landing so I came up with another plan. "Magilou catch!" She looked up as I threw Elaine at her as I neared the ground, if anything Elaine would get a bruise from the fall.

"Catch wha-WHOA!" Magilou fell as an unconscious Elaine hit her, becoming a human cushion for her.

I however crashed into the ground at high speeds which made my entire body hurt. "Ow…" I laid there, feeling my bones snap back into place which caused even more pain. As pain covered me I sensed the man land with Tio in his arms, which caused me to let out a deep painful sigh of relief.

Moments ago. 3rd POV

The battle waged on, both sides lost troops and the main fights were in a stalemate. Swin and Nadia were sweating as Rixia was able to dodge and parry any attacks they did, plus with Elie supporting her caused Swin and Nadia to be on the defensive.

Randy and Shirley were in a battle of attrition as Shirley's weapon wasn't holding up very well compared to Randy's, yet she wasn't backing down nor was he.

Duvaile was losing her edge in speed, but Wazy was also slowing down, both almost at their breaking point yet the fight in their eyes said otherwise.

Magilou was still running as Dudley and the girl who Dudley called Noel chased her as she was causing fires everywhere, yet despite them being low on ammo they weren't giving up on the chase. The Saber unit was back to supporting Dudley and Noel, seeing that they were having a very tough time with this girl. Magilou's expression was sour, she was so done with this fight.

Inside the reactor the deadliest battle still waged on as Rufus who had a large gash on his left arm was still fighting Lloyd, who now had a stab wound in his chest, both sides weren't giving up. Rufus's arm hung to his side, now able to only use his right arm for combat.

Lloyd still had a smirk on his face, enjoying the battle despite losing blood from his wound, he let out another laugh as he rushed in.

Just then however, unaware by all. Two figures jumped over the wall surrounding the base, two young men, both with white hair, they looked slightly different but appeared to be twins. One with slicked back hair and the other with messy hair. The one with slicked back hair held a katana while the other held what seemed to be a greatsword.

"Ready?" Messy haired ask, still looking unsure of this.

"Yeah… Seems the Resistance aren't trying to kill them, why?" Slicked back haired replies as he gripped his katana.

"Maybe they can be saved?" With a hopeful expression, the messy haired man looked at his brother.

"Maybe… Wait, up there!" Both young men looked up just in time to see a man in a mask toss a girl with blue hair into the air.

"I'll catch her, wait he threw another girl!?" Messy haired yelled out.

"Let's move!" Slicked back haired yelled out and both men rushed in, as they ran in a group of Zero's troops stopped them, the one with the katana rushed forward while calling out to the other. "Alex, quickly save her!"

"Got it, Vergil!" Alex noticed how the man in the mask looked at him and nodded before looking at the blonde girl, seeing that Alex knew who to catch and jumped into the air just in time to catch the blue haired girl and land somewhat safely.

A deafening boom happens, as a beam of energy shoots into the sky from the top of the reactor, blowing away the blackened clouds that were in the sky and making way for the clear blue skies.

Suddenly looking around Alex noticed that the troops wearing black were all holding their heads in pain, just then a loud explosion shook the area as the reactor blew up, shooting a beam into the dark sky above.

Nearby Rufus pulled Lloyd out of the base of the reactor just in time, both wounded. They sat there, Lloyd holding his head and Rufus breathing heavily.

"Alex!?" Vergil ran up and assisted his brother in laying the girl down as she held her head in pain, tears forming in her eyes.

"What's going on?" Alex asked, looking around.

"No idea, but… I get the feeling the battle is over already." Vergil looked around.

"Man, kinda wanted to fight a bit, but it seems like the good guys won!" Alex smiled and so did Vergil before looking back at the crying girl before them.

Noel and Dudley had stopped chasing Magilou who was now laying on the ground with a girl on top of her, Noel was crying but was tackled by another girl with twin tails, one that came from the Saber mech. "SIS!" Both were crying in each other's arms as Dudley looked down in shame as he and many others were freed.

Wazy was kneeling on the ground, his eyes lost a bit of their light but he simply knelt there absorbing it all as Duvaile carefully watched him, her arms crossed yet ready to act if need be.

Shirley held Randy who was trying to kill himself. "YOU AREN'T LEAVING ME! PLEASE, RANDY!" Randy tried to get free, but seeing that Shirley wasn't letting up, he laid his head on the ground and cried as Shirley now hugged him.

Around the area many were like that, being stopped by Shirley's men and their own. Medics were quickly running around helping those they could as some troops were already moving into the buildings to set up areas to house the wounded and mentally unstable.

Rixia leaned on her sword, tears rolling down her cheeks as she came to terms of losing everything she had, what she had loved. Elie who wasn't far also lost so much, the place she stood was once her home and now it was just a military base and reactor. She even lost her grandfather long ago, now she sat against the wall, tossing away her weapons as it all hit her. Swin and Nadia looked around, putting away their weapons as Nadia leaned on Swin.

"S, can I nap on you…?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Swin Sat on the ground as Nadia laid her head and bear on his lap. Both knowing that they weren't the people that could help these people.

Everyone was freed, those from the Resistance tried to help them the best they could. The battle was over.

Same time, Shade's POV

The ringing in my ears stopped as I slowly got up, glancing over I saw both Elaine and Magilou were ok, mostly. Looking around I saw the chaos before me, but my eyes were locked on to the two new people that showed up, who I knew immediately who they were. 'Them… they showed up to help?'

Vergil and…Alex, my brother and myself from this world. They looked around before their eyes landed on me, I gave a nod which Alex gave one back. Looking back at Magilou I walked over to check on Elaine, gently I got her off of Magilou as a medic rushed over to check on both of them.

"Good job Magilou, knew you would catch her!" I chuckled as Magilou looked up at me.

"Screw you…" She laid her head back as she moaned out in pain. Guilt filled me, knowing that I had hurt her even if I had no choice.

"Thanks, I mean it. I'll make it up to you…" Turning towards the gate I blasted open I noticed a woman walk in with a few people wearing civilian clothing, once I got a better look at the woman I froze. 'That's… mom.'

I shook my head, she wasn't 'my' mom, she was theirs. I glanced at Alex and Vergil again before looking at Tio who was on the ground crying.

"I… killed them all, everyone in Kunlun! I killed them all, I killed so many!" Alex bent down and held her hand.

"Hey, it's ok… well…" He looked at Vergil before sitting down next to Tio and held her close. "Let it out, go ahead…" So she did, I watched as Tio cried into his shoulder which was hard to watch, yet an amusing thought came to mind. 'So he's getting close to her… Maybe Shade's… or Alex's are just meant to be friends with her, haha…'

I wasn't upset, as long as she lived and in the end was happy I would be fine. Still, now that the battle was over I smiled under my mask, knowing that another victory had been achieved. "Hello there…" My smile was gone as the woman's voice rang out behind me.

"Might I ask your name?" I turned around as she crossed her arms, a small smile was on her face.

I didn't bother to hide my voice, what little my mask did should be enough. "Asking for my name before giving your own, kinda rude yeah?" I scratched the back of my head a bit awkwardly.

"Haha, you are right. I'm Angela, you are?" I knew it from her tone, she knew who I was, yet I didn't want to make things weird.

"Name's Shade, glad to meet you… I assume you're with them?" I look over at the twins.

"That's right, Vergil and… Alex. My sons." She looked at them before me, as if giving me one last chance to tell the truth.

"I think my friend Relon told me about you lot, didn't think you would show up at the perfect moment to help us out, haha!" Angela nodded and smiled, taking the chance I looked into her eyes and saw happiness, understanding and calm. 'Huh, guess she won't try to push me. Thanks, mo- Angela.'

"I understand, well I'll let them know who you are… Shade. Just know, Alex uses Shade as an alias." She turned towards them before glancing back at me. "I'll go help them, maybe later you can talk to them?"

"Maybe, if I need to. I'll for now be resting." She nodded and walked over to them to help Tio.

"Urgg… Why did you throw her on me!?" I turned around to see Magilou walking towards me holding her gut, the feeling of guilt returned.

"Sorry, you were the closest person I could trust to catch her. But thanks for not moving." She glared at me before turning her attention at the people around Tio.

"Not gonna see her? Well I guess in a way you are, but man white hair looks odd on you." She said looking closer at Alex.

"My brother from our world has white hair, guess me having black hair only happens if I didn't have a twin brother." I looked at Vergil who was more cheerful than the one I knew.

"Oh right, still odd. Also, was it your plan to shoot yourself like a rocket at this place?" She turned to look at me as I shyly looked away.

"It worked at least, besides I didn't see another way in unless I got shot at a lot more than I already was!" Magilou shook her head.

"At least tell a gal, I would have loved to see how you managed to go that fast!" She threw her arms behind her head before suddenly holding her stomach. "Ow… I think I'm going to go lie down with everyone else…" With that she slowly walked away towards where they were putting everyone else.

"You're Shade? I heard Vergil ask as he walked up to me.

"Yep, Shade Junge. Your mother said you were Vergil?" I asked with my hand extended for a handshake.

He looked at it, then at me before taking it. "That's right, I'm guessing you don't want to deal too much in this world?" He asked with a hint of uncertainty.

"Heh, I plan to save the world and get back to my own. No plans of sticking around I'm afraid, and I'd rather not make too many connections while I am here." I placed a hand on my hip as I looked at him, then at Alex who turned to look at us.

"Well, good to know. Just so you know me and my brother will help, but guess we should get used to working with everyone here…" Vergil looked around, some eyes on them.

"Yeah, good plan. I think I'll take a few hours to rest, maybe head out in the morning to help out with the other battles cause I sure as hell ain't letting people die if I can't help it!"

"Relon and Rinwell will be doing those? I hope they have success, but I think they will be fine." Vergil smirked, then turned around. "I'll be helping my brother with… what's her name?" Before he could turn back around I told him her name.

"Tio Plato… Make sure she's good, yeah?" I said softly, Vergli went quiet, a silent understanding between them as he nodded and then walked back towards the group.

He walked back to them as I turned to walk away myself. It was around 3 o'clock now, if I had to judge, so I went to find an area to relax in for a few hours. It was now turning dark, I sat on the wall in the eastern part of the base, most people were helping out those that were now freed from Zero's control. Some were responding better than others, like Wazy, Lloyd and Dudley who were trying their best to help the others.

Few hours later

It was now turning dark, I sat on the wall in the eastern part of the base, most people were helping out those that were now freed from Zero's control. Some were responding better than others, like Wazy, Lloyd and Dudley who were trying their best to help the others.

Looking at the base now without getting shot at I saw a hanger for Saber's and their vehicles, a few buildings which seemed to only be for sleeping, eating and storage. The hanger seemed to be empty since everything inside was put for the battle.

Last I saw Swin, Nadia and many others were resting in the building set up within the base. Outside the base a few people were using large equipment to dig holes for the dead, not many died compared to the last battle but it still needed to be done.

Sensing him walking over I double check to see if my mask was on before looking his way. "Sup!"

Alex stopped, looked at me then shook his head before jumping up on the wall next to me. "I have a few questions, so let me start with the ice breaker. You're me, yeah?"

I looked him up and down before shaking my head. "Nope, name's Shade, not Alex."

He took a quick step towards me in anger. "Bullshi…" He sighed and quickly calmed down while backing away. "Fine, but why not show me what's under that mask?"

"I don't take it off, simple. But I will show you my hair." I took off my hood and showed my black hair, even rubbing my hand though it to show it was real. "See, black hair, not white."

He scoffed and turned away. "Whatever, I'll drop it. Now tell me about Tio, there's something I need to know…" He slowly turned to look at me, hoping I would answer.

"Sure, but she's not the person I know so don't think I know everything." I leaned forward as I said that, making it clear to him which he nodded, so I leaned back and gestured to let him ask away.

"I have three main questions, what happened in Kunlun? What's your connection to her? And…why do I sense that connection?" He sat down on the railing the wall had as my eyes widened, like he could tell.

"Huh, well to answer the first. A lot, from what I heard she killed a lot of people, even her own. Being free made her feel that guilt even more, so any healing will be long and hard. Oh, if you see a Silver haired girl with a Tachi, be careful just in case." He looked confused but understood all the same.

"As for my connection…" I looked down and even closed my eyes. "She was a good partner and best friend, she truly understood me before I even had a chance to. A lot happened, but you can say I'm deeply connected to her and wouldn't be here without her. However, what you're feeling, gotta answer that on your own!" I patted him on the shoulder and laughed a little, yet a odd feeling came over me which went away.

"Come on! I hadn't felt like this before, this feels different than friendship!" I stopped laughing and looked at him for a few seconds in silence. 'He's for real? He's into her?'

"Maybe it's…love?" As I say that, I felt a chill go down my spine, why I'm not sure.

"Love? Maybe, but…yeah you're right!" He stood up and walked past me. "I gotta figure this out myself, and I'll help Tio the best I can, you have my word!" Looking over at him I tilted my head a little. 'Dude's me, but doesn't act like me at all. Makes sense in a way, still odd seeing this play out still.'

With a sigh I walked with him, he stopped and turned to me. "Huh? Coming with me or something?"

"I need to check on Magilou, as well as a few others and get an idea of damage done. I'm rested enough that I can do that now." I state matter of factly, but I did want to see how Tio was doing and what Alex was going to do.

"Oh, right. If a girl named Misa starts up a conversation with you, well… sorry in advance."

"Alright…? Well that isn't suspicious at all. Anyway, follow me. I know where Magilou is resting, also is she always annoying?" He whispered that last part as if she was nearby.

"Yes, you get used to it. Kinda." He let out a laugh while shaking his head, reaching out he patted my arm, which caused us to stop as pain shot into us. "The hell!?"

"You too?! Why?!" After a moment it stopped and I turned to look at him, seeing a single strand of black hair fade from his head. 'Shit! Can there not be two people in the same world?!'

"I think I know why, for now let's not interact after this, alright?" I looked at him, he shook his head as he straightened up.

"Fine, I don't like whatever that was, come on…" We made our way to where Tio and Magilou were staying.

Once inside I could sense where Magilou was lying down and walked towards her. As I got close I noticed a bandage wrapping around her waist, from where she was injured. Once again the guilt came.

"Shade, you do care enough to check on me!" She sat up but quickly held her stomach. "Ow…" She gave me a smile and thumbs up despite the pain she was in.

Seeing this made me feel a bit better. "Ok, what's the verdict?"

"Cracked rib, nothing major but I'm using this as my card to get out of battles! So, thanks for throwing a girl on me! Not. Still a dumb plan you made and I'll be relaxing for a day or two, so don't expect my help!" Seeing that she was fine I quickly let go of most of my guilt.

"Sure… well not like I needed much if I'm helping Relon. He should be enough, but who knows what will happen." I sat down in the chair nearby.

"Oh, if you're wondering T-" I held my hand up.

"I know where she's at, Alex is there so no need for me to check on her." I state calmly as I keep tabs on them with my senses.

"Talked to him huh? How'd that go?" I leaned back in the chair and looked at her.

"Well, he might have a crush on Tio and knows who I am. No doubt Relon told them, kinda weird seeing myself like that…" I scratched the back of my head as I glanced at a smiling Magilou.

"Crush~? Well you are coworkers in our world, maybe some office romance~?" She wiggled her eyebrows as she leaned in slowly.

Standing up I turned to walk away. "Nothing there, don't be weird, get rested." I walked away as I heard her pout.

Once outside I saw a small group walking towards me. "Oh, you're Shade right…?" The girl asked as the men behind her stood at attention.

"Yep and I know you, Rixia Mao. Already changed outfits that quick?" I looked down at her outfit which while still a bit eastern, lost the dreaded vibe it had.

She had black and silver boots that go up to just below her knees, from there it's a dark fabric one piece that goes on the outside of her legs, sides and to her chest where a scarf sits, her inner thighs and stomach had a dark purple to it. Her arms had white puffy sleeves that were tucked into her wrist guards.

"I see we may have met in your world, still it's good to meet you myself! I wanted to say thanks for what you did, I'm…" She looked down and held her wrist. "Still figuring things out, but Lloyd helped me out to at least get my feet on the ground again!"

I shifted in place and placed a hand on my hip as I smiled under my mask. "I'm glad, I know many are still coming to terms with their actions. So, who are they?"

"Oh, they are former members of Heiyue, they still have loyalty to the organization so I'm leading them so we can help everyone!" As she says that all the men behind her nod their heads.

"Ah, right… I don't look forward to dealing with them in my world, but I'll cross that when I get there! I'll get out of your hair now." I stepped aside.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, you saved everyone here after all." She gave me a sweet smile. "But yes, we're going to help treat the sick and wounded, excuse us!" With that she bowed and walked inside with everyone else.

I walked away from that building and found the sleeping quarters where I spotted Nadia and Swin asleep so I left them be, leaving that area I walked towards the hanger where I saw Lloyd.

He was alone and looking inside, his arm in a sling and still wearing the uniform he wore before. Slowly I walked up, but I didn't mask my presence. "Shade…"

"Lloyd, I bet there's a lot going through that head of yours but it seems you're still helping people by the sounds of it." I walked up and stood next to him, looking inside the hanger.

"Ruination is near, Zero knew of your plans to attack the reactors, every movement you make and even where you would go after saving that Sen- Relon… I don't think you have a chance to win if I'm honest."

Glancing over I saw him lower his head before turning away. "Then lie to yourself."

"Huh?" He quickly turned to look at me.

"We'll win, even if it means going against the impossible because what else is there to do? Both myself and Relon will save this world and some guy using a number as a name won't stop us!" I took off my mask as I gave Lloyd a toothy grin.

He was silent, mouth agape and staring at me. "How can you be so optimistic about winning? Zero killed so many with ease and some far more powerful than you! So, how can you be so sure!?" He grabbed my shirt and held on. "I lost Guy, Cecile, and many other friends by my own hand! Because Zero had simply messed with my mind and I was under his thumb for so, so long! So don't go thinking it will be some walk-"

I slapped him which made him let go of me. "Chill, wanna know how we win? By not giving up hope, we have one chance and both me and Relon will stake our lives on it. It's better than wasting away, waiting for our deaths! So, Lloyd. Wanna get over this barrier with us?"

He looked back at me, holding his cheek before letting out a hoarse quiet laugh. "I see, guess you do know me from your world… You're right, what good is wasting away when I can do so much more? I already helped Rixia, but I guess I needed someone to help me first. Thanks, Shade!"

I patted his arm. "There you go, I'm sure people like Elie, Noel or some others need some help getting over this stuff and you're the guy that can do it!"

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, while I do have this pit of guilt inside me I'll deal with it once we beat Zero's ass!"

"Welcome to the club!" We traded fist bumps and he turned to walk away, but before he left I saw him turn to look at me.

"Oh, one more thing! Zero, last I know he still wants you to join him. He may try again for all we know, so be careful!" I placed a hand on my hip and gave a thumbs up.

"I think you know what I will say if he asks again, haha!" With that we waved to each other before he walked away.

"He's gone now, you can come out." I looked over to the corner outside the hanger where Elaine walked out.

She wasn't wearing her old uniform but now wearing a black buttoned shirt, dark shorts, black thigh high leggings, brown leather high-heeled boots, and a long mint green coat with a fanned out collar, belt buckled sleeves and a quilted pattern near the coat tails. A white belt ties her coat around her waist.

"Dang, where did you get that outfit from?" I asked as I never did ask where Rixia and her people got theirs.

"Huh? Oh, your people brought over clothing for us that wanted to get out of those outfits…" She sounded tired, she was quiet and reserved as well. 'She's here to ask about Van, no doubt about it.'

"Huh, that's nice. It does look nice on you, so why hide out nearby?" I got a bit closer to where we were near the wall.

"I wanted to ask you something, about what you said…" 'Called it.'

"About Van?" I leaned on the wall.

"...Yes, you know him and I from your world?" She held her hands in front of her, a nervous look on her face.

"Yes and no, we met once in my world but Van? I met him here." As I say that she stepped forward quickly with a surprised look on her face.

"He's alive!?" She got closer and grabbed my shirt. 'Stop grabbing my shirt!'

"Yes, he is!" I gently pulled her hands away. "He's with Relon, he was in Longlai with a girl named Shizuna. Trust me there's nothing going on between them." I quickly added which made her blush and look away.

"I didn't need to know that, but thanks… Um, are you planning to go to where Relon is?" She looked at me with a hopeful look.

"Yeah, in the morning. Should get there before they start on any reactors, you can come along to see him." I gave her a soft smile, she gave one in return as well as wiping a tear that was rolling down her cheek.

"He's alive, thanks Aidios!" We shared a nice quiet moment, Elaine basking in joy while I leaned on the wall with a smile.

"What a nice show." My eyes widened as I looked to my left to see a dark mist-like figure stand there, before I could pull out my weapons I was suddenly pulled forward towards it.

"SHIT!?" Elaine quickly reacted by drawing her sword and following me, but before I knew it I had a grip around my neck.

"SHADE!?"

"Don't worry, you aren't dying today, haha! However I do want a nice long chat with you~" Roots went over the nearby wall just as Elaine reached me, they quickly formed a barrier around us and suddenly a dark flash happened.

The grip around my neck was gone and I was in a dome of black roots with the only light coming in was from the moon in the opening above. Nearby was Elaine who looked just as confused and afraid.

"Oh my, an uninvited guest~ Fear not for I won't kill you today." Nearby we both saw a table and chair made of the roots, an empty seat on one side while the other had roots in the shape of a person. "I wish to speak to you, Shade, so please sit~"

"On roots that can kill people? Not a chance!" I pulled out my handguns and stood next to Elaine.

"They won't kill or hurt you, or her. So please sit, I'll answer any questions you have about anything~" Zero's voice came from the figure of roots which slowly moved to lean forward.

"Anything…?" I slowly asked.

"Anything, for you see I want to try one last time to sway you to my side, but I also have my own set of questions~" After a few seconds of thinking, I put up my handguns and walked to the table of roots, giving it a quick touch I was able to tell they didn't hurt me, so I sat down.

"You're sure Shade…?" Elaine asked behind me, her sword still at the ready.

"Gotta play this game for now, besides this may help us." Elaine slowly nodded and put her sword away but kept her hand on the handle.

"Now, let me ask a question first, what are you?" I saw the root figure lean forward.

"I am from the Beyond, a realm of everything. I gained enough power to… let's say, slip by and come here to have a lot of fun~ But you know some of my past thanks to that dying woman, haha!" 'Slip by?'

"Alright, speaking of her… Why turn people, kids into those freaks of nature!" I yelled out as flashes of those beings appeared in my memory.

"That's right, I heard about that… You are sick for even doing that!" Elaine yelled out, venom in her voice.

"Haha! Maybe, but I did do a lot of tests to get them working. Kids were the most successful and lasted longer, but as to why…? I was bored."

"Bored…? I see, yeah you truly are one sick mind…!" I gripped the edge of the 'table' as I looked at him.

"Well, yes. The beyond is home to many things, yet I got bored and hoped over here, now I'm getting bored again and about to hop to another world~ I already thought about that Senate Hunter, his world sounds like fun to mess around in~!"

"YOU WON'T TOUCH HIS WORLD!" I yelled out, breaking off a piece of the 'table' which made him laugh.

"HAHA! That is what I want to see here, anger and rage!" The figure even leaned back to laugh.

"Answer me this, when your countdown reaches the final day, are we able to kill you?" Elaine looked at me before back at the figure.

"Yes, but I'll be more powerful at the same time, so good luck~! I do hope you will put on a good final!"

"The professors, what's the deal with them?" I heard Elaine let out a confused "Huh?" as the figure leaned forward.

"I was waiting for that one, you see when they left Bashton they went to Longlai as you had guessed. Their goal was to see what that boy can do, they watched from afar as you caused a lot of chaos. They are in Roer right now."

"And why keep the Grandmaster alive?" Now Elaine looked at me even more confused.

"She's alive?! Wait, you met her?!" I nodded as I crossed my arms.

"To see what she does, which is quite funny. The Ark, I'll leave it be so I could one day come back to find it for a good little hunt~ If it makes it by…"

"When did you build the reactors? I was told thirty years ago when I first got here, but that's when you first showed up right?" I heard him laugh a little and lean back.

"It is when I first showed up and after a week I saw the promise of this word, so I dug myself into the minds of a few people to get the process going for them which took awhile as you could guess. Still some know it started back then so both are true in a sense~"

"Do you know a way I can leave this world?" I asked the most important question.

"No, how you ended up here is still very unknown to me. Still, join me and one day we can find your home and I'll let you rule it like I do!"

"Fuck no. Next question, why are you trying to get me to join you?" He went quiet, Elaine looking between us, ready to draw her sword.

The figure shifted and it felt like I could see a smile on it. "I can't read you, the moment you stepped in here I tried and yet something is stopping me, even now… Why is that? I want to know so badly and yet I can't tell what it is at all, joining me will bring whatever it is on my side and we'll see how much fun that is!"

"Ah, crazy reason. What else did I expect? I'm done here." I stood up and so did the figure, yet looking at it a sense of unease came over me. 'He's smiling, but that isn't it… wait.'

Staring at the figure, I think back to what was said during our conversation. "Wait… 'if the Ark makes it by'? You slipped by? By what?" If I could see the smile this thing had, I would think even I would be scared, yet all I could do is sense it within it's form.

"Hehe… HAHAHA! By the S̵̵̶̶̸̷̸̮̭̈̐ë̷̵̵̷̸̸̺̒ṗ̸̶̴̴̸̴͉̦t̷̷̶̷̶̷͋͜͜-̵̸̸̷̸̷̢̆͠T̸̴̵̵̶̜̍e̵̶̴̵̴̸̠͎̊r̵̵̵̵̴̵̻͖̈́ṙ̷̷̴̸̷̸̨̘î̴̷̶̶̴̴̵̪͔͝o̸̸̵̷̵̡͘n̷̴̵̵̸͉̈́ Oh? Guess that would be giving it away now~" The words he said, for some reason that part was like my very brain couldn't understand it.

"That was pointless! Know what, I'm leaving and going to help Relon put an end to your bullshit!" I glanced at Elaine who nodded back at me.

"You wish, you see I can't let you ruin the show for that boy. So, stay and wait here for me, will you~?" The table and chairs go into the round as the open air above has more roots there now.

"Not a chance, whatever you got planned for Relon isn't happening!" I pull out my scythe as Elaine draws her sword.

"You will not stop us Zero! We will stop you and save everyone, so we can all be happy for once!"

"Heh, maybe you tagging along is a good thing~"

"Huh? AHHH!?" Elaine gets pulled away towards the edge of the dome and hits the wall, knocking her out and roots block her in and cover where she was lying.

"YOU BASTARD! I'll cut my way out!" As I swung my scythe suddenly I sensed large monsters around me, coming through the roots, slowly the sky above closed leaving me in total darkness.

"You can sense things, this should be easy. I'll be watching from my chair up here as you fight for me. Fight and fight until I say we're done~! I want to see how far you can go, oh and saving the girl will make me kill her, so fight for me and put on a show and I'll let her go when I know you won't interfere with those battles~! HAHA!"

I couldn't see yet I sensed small, large and medium monsters around me. Pulling out my handgun I fired which for a brief moment allowed me to see, last I saw it was just around 8 o'clock, so if he plans to keep me here until Relon won. 'I'm going to be here all night, fighting…'

"Fine! I'll show you what's to come you asshole! In my own style!" I shot to my left, blowing the brains out of some monster, the flash allowed me to see what the thing looked like, which was something not of this world.

"Nasty little things, aren't you?!" A low crawling monsters shot out at me from below, with ease I jumped into the air and landed near its tail shooting it in the back I then quickly turn to shot three more heading my way.

Pulling out my scythe I swung it at more that was coming at me. "Eat this!" I swung and sliced open its mouth, as I pulled away it came with so I used it to bash a few out of my way before it fell off the blade.

Jumping into the air again I shot a few more times before smashing the back of my scythe into a group of monsters, causing blood to go everywhere. "Ew, it smells!" Looking over my shoulder I sense even more coming my way.

"This is going to be a long night… Alright, let's do it!" I rushed in, hoping that I could last all night.

I lost track of time not long after that, for what felt like forever I swung and threw my scythe, shot my guns and dodged and blocked attacks from monsters. I took hits and quickly healed, the monsters were horrid creatures that seemed like they didn't see light or rather, weren't even alive at all which I only saw from the flashes of light my guns made.

They didn't stop coming and all the while he spoke. "Oh, using your power over lighting to bring back your scythe using the magnetic pull? How interesting~"

I rolled out the way and shot what attacked me, quickly I flipped out the way as a monster from behind attacked where I just stood. "Behind you, haha!"

At some point they branched off and were getting close to where Elaine was, so I had to defend her as well now. "Oh, they are getting close to that woman~!"

I was getting tired and slow, so a monster with almost ten legs had nearly cut me in half. "Almost got you that one did~!"

"Didn't someone ever tell you your voice is worse than a cat having its tail stepped on!" I yelled out as I crushed another monster with the back of my scythe before staggering back a little. Never had I fought for this long and I was drained of energy, my breathing was heavy and I was sweating now, yet I wasn't about to lose now.

"RUAHHHHHHH!" I ran forward while swinging my scythe around, slicing through dozens of monsters, turning around I fired rounds into those near Elaine before swinging around to get those now near me again.

I was nearing my limit, or rather how far I could go past it. As I shot another monster in the head I could sense the figure of Zero standing up.

"HAHAHAHA! This has been a good show, but it seems the show with that Senate Hunter is nearing its climax so I should go see to him. I did have fun watching you fight for me, you would be a fine companion for me~"

The monsters stopped and went back into the roots and a bit of the ceiling opened up to show a bright sunny day above, the light blinding me. "What…!? It's time already! And what the hell do you plan to do with him!?"

"You'll see, but let me ask this before I go. Join me, final offer." The root figure floated down towards me and stood before me, reaching out its hand.

Slowly I walked forward, raising my hand and pointing my gun at its head. "Fuck off and die." I fired at its head which caused the roots to blow up and stacker around the floor, finally taking a breath I stood there. I didn't hear his voice anymore so seeing that I had a chance to calm down I fell to my knees.

"Damn it… Elaine, you awake?" I called out over my shoulder, glancing over I saw the roots around her gone and she slowly stood up. 'With the roots gone she should be able to get up…'

"Y-Yeah… I'm awake and fine, what about you?" She got up and ran over to check up on me.

"I'm alive and can move, we need to get out of here and back to everyone else quickly! Huh?" I heard the sound of an airship engine getting closer, looking up above us I saw the airship Pater-Mater is in fly closer before hovering.

"Shade, Elaine!? We're here!" I heard the voice of Swin call out to us from the airship.

"I knew that dome was sus!" Nadia's voice chimed in.

"Well duh! It was tall and well rounded, it doesn't take a genius to see that!" Magilou's voice yells over now, breaking any tension that was here.

"Heh, glad to see you're fine, now fly down and pick us up quickly! We're heading west to Relon!" I yelled out as I stood up with Elaine's help.

Magilou's POV

With a sigh I got up and walked out into the warm night, the moon was bright and the air smelled of the remnants of blood and battle. "I want to go home…!" I say to myself while holding my stomach, the meds easing the pain.

Looking up I see the now destroyed reactor still smoking, with a smile I started walking towards the cafeteria to eat before calling it a night, yet I felt like something was off. "Hmm… too warm here!"

Walking into the building I grabbed a tray and went through the line to get food, which wasn't to my horror. Still I sat down and ate in silence, silence I disliked so after eating I went to find Shade. "Do, do, do~"

I looked in the hanger, medical area and every other building. Asked the large chest easterner who I swore looked familiar and even his double. Nothing, that's when I overheard that the girl that landed on me was missing as well. "Hmm… This is going to be a long night, oh woe is me!"

Not long after a meeting was called, myself, Swin, Nadia, Rufus and Shirley were there. "Last person to see him was Lloyd, that was by the hanger. Since then he, as well as that Elaine girl, hasn't been seen, looking around the place we saw roots oddly extending to the nearby wall which no doubt means some weird shit happened!" Shirley called out as she leaned on the table.

"Chances are that Zero somehow took him and Elaine, shade makes sense but why her?" Rufus comments, crossing his leg over the other.

"Who knows, maybe they were getting frisky~!" I say with a grin which caused most to shake their head.

"Not a bad theory, but I think they were together and discussing something when they were taken. I noticed Elaine looking at him from afar, why that I'm not sure about at all." Nadia shrugs then leans back, using her bear as a pillow. 'Lucky! I want a pillow!'

"I may be able to help?" Looking at the door I saw his double and Tio walk in, Sha- uh, Alex was supporting her as she walked with a bad limp.

"Once I heard the news I told Tio and she forced me to bring her here, sorry…" S…Alex said as he glanced at her.

"You didn't have to come all the way here, Alex here could have delivered your message." Rufus states calmly.

"I know, but he saved me, all of us at this base! I'm just doing my part now…" Everyone looked at her, seeing Rufus and Shirley both nod, Tio continued. "At the top of the reactor he asked Elaine if she knew a guy named Van, does that mean something?"

"Oh, Blue Streak! Yeah we know, he should be with Relon." I say as I twiddle my thumbs.

"Chances are she went to speak to her about him, doesn't help us figure out where they went." Swin remarks before looking at Tio. "Do you have any idea?" I could sense a small edge to his voice as he said that. 'Oh what fun~!'

"If you said there were roots by the walls, meaning they were taken deep into the eastern lands. You'll need an airship or a very powerful weapon to get past." Alex quickly raised his free hand.

"I can go, my sword is tough enough!"

"Hell no!" Shirley yells out as she bangs on the table. "You and your brother are heading to Roer so we can set up camps for when we kick Zero's ass, letting you run wild now when an airship is good enough is not happening!"

"She's right, while we did have a plan for you and your brother not being here, as of now you are needed. However, which is why I sent a message beforehand to have Shade's airship come this way." Rufus smirked as in that moment the sounds of an airship slowly got closer.

"Magilou, Swin, Nadia. You three will get on and look for him, you are closer to him then others and I don't want no damn buts! Got it!?" Shirley yelled out, glancing between myself and them.

"Haha… HAHA!" I laughed as I stood, wiping a tear from my eye as I looked at Shirley. "I was already going, I really want to just lie down and rest but he's… my friend, so no need to tell me to go!"

"We're also going even if you didn't tell us, we cooked food together so we're a team! Right S?" Nadia and Swin stepped forward.

"Yeah, plus both of them are in danger until we find them and right now we're the only ones that are able to do it!" Swin smiles, clutching his fist in front of him as Nadia nods in approval.

"Alright then! That's what I want to see, contact us once you find him and make sure he and Elaine are okay, got it!?" Shirley rests her hands on her hips as she grins at us.

"RIGHT!" As we turned to leave I felt an odd feeling, one I hadn't felt in a long, long time.

Once on the ship we took off towards the east, using flashlight and spot lights to look around in the dark. Roots were everywhere as far the eye can see and I couldn't see any signs of battle, after an hour Swin was looking at a map of Calvard to try to figure out where we were.

"I think… we're by this town called Creil." Nadia glanced over his shoulder.

"Well doesn't help us at all, we're not sure how far they were taken." Nadia sat next to him as he put the map down and sighed.

"True, we're looking for a needle in a haystack. No clues to help and for all we know he could be in Nord or Liberl, you have any idea Magilou?" Swin looked up at me as I shrugged.

"I got nothing, maybe they were eaten by a dragon?! Or swallowed by the earth itself! Or maybe they betrayed us!" I threw my arms out in a dramatic fashion like a pro, nailing the tension and drama of the moment.

"I knew you had a screw loose somewhere, but I think they forgot to put them in the package." Nadia said while looking at me like I was a thing.

"Hey! I have all of my screws, I tell you, you just don't understand me at all!" I slumped in my seat while crossing my arms.

Soon it became midnight and we searched for so long that I couldn't even tell which way was east or west. Then it became 2AM, Nadia had taken three naps and Swin only had one. I've stayed awake for a long time now and would use the high powered flashlights they gave us to look around.

Soon I fell asleep on the main seat, after waking from my nap I saw it was 5AM. The airship landed in a safe spot at some point to gather more orbal energy, so for another hour we did nothing but eat what little we had on the airship. Finally, around 9AM we saw something odd now that we had the sun's light.

"That looks sus…" Nadia comments as we fly around it.

"It's a perfect sphere of roots, if this isn't what we are looking for then I'll be scared of what it's supposed to be." I say as I lean on the railing, trying to get a closer look.

"I can't hear anything from within, should we try hitting it with arts?" Swin suggests but Nadia only shakes her head.

"Nah, all we can do is wait to see what comes from this. I think they are in there, so we should wait!" Nadia then walks over to lay down against the wall, with a sigh Swin joins her.

Looking back at the dome of roots below I sat down on the ground where I could keep an eye on it while making myself comfortable. 'I know you're there, just hurry up and bust out!'

Moments later: Shade's POV

Once they got low enough to land the back hatch opened and both me and Elaine walked in. "Pater-Mater, Trista now!" I yell out as the hatch closes behind me.

As we walked into the cockpit Swin, Nadia and Magilou walk up. "What happened?" Swin asks as he helps me to sit down.

"Zero grabbed us and we had a chat with him, before it turned into hours upon hours of fighting… I'm drained!" I felt my body relax a little and my breathing began to steady.

"You should consider yourself lucky we found you, otherwise you would have to cut your way out!" Magilou smiled as she looked proud of herself.

"You're the one that hardly got sleep and was always looking around, plus the first person to agree to come along~" Nadia teased Magilou who in turn quickly turned to stop the girl from saying anything else.

"Stop! I uh, needed him to get me home! Without him I'm stuck here!" Magilou glanced at me before looking away.

Under my mask I smiled at how bad she was hiding it, looking around the room I noticed it was just them three. "Only you three came to find me? Makes sense, you are the closest to me… What's the situation?"

Swin looked at the radio. "No idea, they haven't contacted us but we should contact them since we found you."

Just then from the ship a few beeps and boops. "HUH!?" Nadia jumps back. 'Huh? Oh, did he not talk once while they were on?'

"That's Pater-Mater, an AI." Swin looked at Nadia, shook his head then back at me.

"We knew it was AI controlling it, but didn't know it would talk…"

"That means it heard everything we did and talk about, it knows our dirty secrets~" Nadia teased as she looked at Swin.

"And what 'dirty secrets' do you mean exactly?" Which resulted in a pout from Nadia.

"Shade what did the AI say?" Elaine asked, rubbing her eyes slightly.

"No idea, I know when it says yes and no. Pater-Mater, can we use the radio?" Since it talked when Swin mentioned it, could that be the reason.

Two beeps were what came back and on the monitor was the current energy level which was all put into getting to Trista. "Shit, you've been flying awhile. Seems once we get to Trista we'll be staying there for a bit, if we get there with this much power…" A single beep was heard. "Good, I trust you!"

"Ah. two for no and one for yes. Good idea, also you said you talked to Zero. Did you learn anything?" Nadia asks, sitting down with Swin sitting next to her.

"Yeah, might as well tell you while we head to Trista." For the rest of the ride, which wasn't but an hour, I told them what I had asked and what I got as an answer. Soon Pater-Mater alerted us that we were closing in on Trista, but what I saw wasn't what I was expecting.

In the far distance I saw purple flames in the sky and even on the ground where Trista's reactor should be. "Relon… damn it!"

"What the hell is that!?" Magilou yelled out and even took a step back.

"Is… everyone there okay?" Elaine looked at Nadia and Swin, looking for an answer.

"No idea, since we hadn't had contact with Rufus we have no idea what's going on…" Swin reached down to hold Nadia's hand.

"Oh, um. Plus, this seems like it happened moments ago, unless they used magic to get out, I don't see how anyone is alive…" Nadia gripped Swin's hand with her own.

We got ever so closer, seeing how it was affecting everything around it I took no chances here. Reaching into my pockets I took out everything I had and handed it to Magilou. "Hold on to these, I'm going to jump in and find him!"

"What!? I know you can't die, but you'll be burning alive until this stops or you run out of it!" Looking at Magilou, I looked back at the fire to see a spot that wasn't touched and had people.

Putting my scythe, guns and mask on the chair I moved to the door. "There's a spot! Land outside the fire radius and if it goes away quickly move in!"

"Right!" Most of them shouted as I opened the door, feeling the heat from here.

Looking down I waited until the ship was right over the spot and then jumped down, quickly I spotted three faces I knew and one I didn't. As I landed I felt my legs almost give out, what rest I got would hardly be enough to do much here. Glancing down I saw an unconscious Arios. 'Wasn't expecting him here, where's everyone else?'

"Where…?" I glanced over at Shizuna as she stood up.

"The purple fire!" Shizuna exclaims with a point. "Relon's underground causing the fire! Get him! We can't breathe in this air!" 'She's not upset, not as much as if Van had died, meaning he isn't here.'

"Alright, there's a lot I want to ask here, mostly since you're here…" I turned my attention to another face I knew, Vita. "But I need to help that idiot first!" I turned away and ran towards what was left of the entrance to this place.

"Just this much… I can barely manage!" Vita grunts, lifting her staff to get assistance from both girls. "Save him!" She shouts, firing off a blue sphere.

Dwindling, the faint light veers past me to hit the dome. In that split moment, an entrance opened. Quickly I dived in even while sensing no floor on the other side.

"RAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!" As I went down, flames covering my body and burning my flesh, I heard the screams of what sounded like a broken man. 'Relon!'

As I neared the button I heard him again. "LAURAAAAAAAA!" A sense of dread washed over me, a sense of familiarity to what was going on. 'It's just like what happened, on that day…'

I landed on the ground with a thud, pain throughout my entire body as it healed the flesh. Seems the area around Relon was safe from his flames, so I slowly healed. 'I sense him, along with many others, but not as many as a base should have…'

"Son of a- Relon, what the hell…?" As I finally opened my eyes, my fears came true. Everyone was from class VII, but one wasn't alive, Laura. "Oh…" I stood up slowly and walked towards Relon.

"Sh-Shade…!" Relon called out, looking like a mess, even his own tears were disintegrating from the heat.

"Laura… heh, I wanted to see if you were tough in this world as well." I looked towards Relon, knowing I had to stop him for now. 'Sorry buddy, I'll be there when you wake up though!'

"Relon, I'd wish someone did this to me back then so I'm doing it for you!" I pulled my arm back and sent it straight into his face, knocking him out cold and in that instant the fire around us went away. 'Just, what happened here…?'

Walks back after planning the Van and Elaine ship this story. And done… that was… a long time coming. Not much to say other then hopefully by years end this collab will be done and then it's back to… looks at paper The story of Zero, right that. Sighs I fear for when I get to act 2 of this story.