Hello there!
Just to be clear, the ship is still Naruto x Jingliu and it won't change unless like half the readers decide to change it. When I asked that question, I meant it as in which character you enjoyed playing as. Anyway, the Caelus ship vote results are as follows. Also I finally learned some ship names. Robin still in the lead with 8 votes. Firefly close behind with 6. Last but not least, March and Topaz at the bottom with 1 vote each. Honestly speaking, I didn't expect Caelus x Robin to have this much traction, considering the duo's meetings (or lack thereof) in cannon. Alas, this is a fanfiction, so you get what you want.
"Tailed beasts/powerful beings"
"speech"
'Thoughts'
"other stuff"
'If Himeko found out what's happening right now, she's going to kill me.' "Ha! For someone as powerful as you, you seem awfully scared of that woman." 'Shut up Kurama. You don't know how overprotective she can get. You don't want to be near her when she's in her mom mode. Well, wither that of if she's out of coffee.' These were the thoughts swirling around Naruto's head after he made his way to where he felt the energy signatures of the junior members of the crew. For some reason they were inside a fight club, which was the last place he had expected to find them. Seeing that he couldn't get them out, he decided to go inside and watch the match. 'If I'm being honest, 'Cold Dragon Young' is not a band name for Dan Heng.' A few minutes later, the trio finished the fight and found Naruto in the crowd before meeting up with him. Once they reached him, he gave them a smile. "Did you enjoy yourselves?"
Dan Heng crossed his arms and looked at him with his signature monotone face. "It was good for releasing pent up stress. Other than that, it was pointless." The others looked bewildered that Dan Heng seemed to have enjoyed himself.
Naruto chuckled. "Well, would you look at that. The stoic and meticulous Dan Heng enjoying himself. And in a fight no less. Guess the world works in mysterious ways." He teased the boy while rubbing his chin in a sagely way at the end. "Anyway, what were you doing at a fight club and where's Sampo? I thought the guy was supposed to help us."
Dan Heng crossed his arms and scoffed. "He brought me here and said that he will give me some more intel if I won the tournament. I expected for it to be a quick battle but halfway through the finals, they joined me. Either way, I don't see Sampo here, so he must have run away."
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go and find him!" March said loudly. Naruto smiled, relived that March's signature positivity hadn't taken a hit. "So where is he?"
Naruto shook his head and closed his eyes. He held onto his chakra coils as they thrummed with the beat of his heart, the sensation bringing a smile to his face, before he let go of them. The result was a single pulse of dense chakra that spread through the area, creating a crystal-clear map of his surroundings and the people in there. While the technique was useful for finding people in a large area, it wasn't any good for battle because the information it gathered takes a while to return and, based on prior experience, he'd likely be dead when it arrived back. Quickly sifting through the information he received, he picked up and honed in on Sampo's silhouette. Once he pinpointed it, Naruto snapped open his eyes and looked directly at where the man was supposed to be hiding. "Come with me. I know where he is." Turning in a random direction, Naruto confidently walked off while the others followed him. Soon, they rounded a corner behind a building and came face to face with Sampo Koski.
"H-hey there friends! You know, if you had told me that it was you, I'd have waved you over with open arms. But alas, I thought that you were robbers coming to rob me. If only I had turned around." Sampo's eccentric voice was filled with a noticeable tinge of nervousness.
Naruto sighed. "March, Dan Heng. I'll leave him to you. I want to have a word with Caelus. Caelus, come with me." The gray-haired boy shared a confused look with the others, who shrugged their shoulders, and followed Naruto somewhere else. After walking for a few seconds, the taller man turned to face him. "I'm going to assume that you don't like beating around the bush, so I'll get straight to the point. Has something been bothering you?"
Caelus looked at him with a confused expression. "What do you mean Mr Naruto? Nothing's bothering me. Just a lot on my mind." As he spoke, his head was dipped down. Naruto put his hand on his shoulder, which made him look at him again.
"Wanna talk about it?" Naruto's gentle expression made Caelus feel reassured and that he could always find support from him, so he decided to spill the beans.
"Back at the Gothe hotel, I had a dream. I heard a voice talking to Cocolia. It sounded like a mix of many voices. It promised her power, a better world, a reprieve from the freeze and many more things. In the end, she fell victim to them. I don't know what the voice was, but whatever it was, it was what compelled her to take this route. She was hesitant at first, but soon, she gave in. And before I woke up at the clinic, I had another dream. It looked like that voice was what made her separate the Underworld from the Overworld."
While Caelus was explaining his dreams, Naruto put a hand to his chin. 'A voice huh. Maybe it's the same one I heard. If it is, chances are that he can resonate with the Stellaron because of the one in him. This could be both good and bad.' Naruto looked at Caelus and gave him a pat on his shoulder. "That dream was probably because you were resonating with the Stellaron inside you. Chances are, it resonated with the one that's been here and, if your dream is to be believed, Cocolia has been corrupted by it. Thank you for sharing this with me Caelus. Also, how would you feel if I trained you?" Caelus' eyes widened as he looked at Naruto's smiling face. "I mean you've got a Stellaron inside you. I don't know what the Stellaron Hunters were planning for you but I can't leave you defenseless now can I?" That was a lie. He knew what Kafka's script and her goal was, heck he even knew the boy's past with the woman. Despite that, he needed to keep it a secret to not arouse suspicion. "If you accept, I can teach you to harness the power of the Stellaron."
Caelus thought about the offer. It sounded too good to be true. He could learn to harness the power of the Stellaron. He didn't want to admit it, but ever since the space station, he was afraid. He was afraid that something would happen and he would hurt the people who took him in and gave him a home. So, he steeled his resolve and answered, "I'll do it. I want to make sure that nothing will happen to anyone that helped me out." Hearing his answer, Naruto smiled.
"Great! I think we can start when we get a break. Right now, let's get back to the others before they get worried or anything." With that, they turned around and walked back to the others. "Hey guys! Did you get anything from him?"
Dan Heng turned to face him while March kept an eye on the nervous looking Sampo. "Yes we did. He agreed to take us to meet the leader of an organization known as Wildfire. He described them as the Silvermane guards of the Underworld. It was formed when the Underworld was sealed off from the Overworld ten years ago and functions much like the guards in their absence."
Naruto nodded. "Alright then. Lead the way Sampo. And don't try anything funny." He last part of his sentence was punctuated by a swish of his shakujou; creating a thinly veiled threat that was quite obvious.
Sampo chuckled nervously. "A-alright then. Follow me everyone! I will take you to old man Oleg!" With that, he turned and marched off in a random direction while the crew followed him. After looking all around the town, they found no traces of anyone and were about to give up when Sampo decided to try out one more place. "Seele's always around here this time. Let's see if we can find her. If we don't, I guess Wildfire might be avoiding us." The crew followed Sampo up some stairs where there seemed to be some commotion. Up ahead, they saw Bronya, much to their surprise, surrounded by a group of armed thugs. "Vagrants? What are they doing here?" Sampo muttered to himself. "My friends, we can't be bystanders in this drama. You should help her."
That garnered some responses from the crew, which made Naruto sigh. "If you want me, I'll just be over there." The others didn't seem to hear him causing him to sigh again. 'I've been sighing a lot lately. Wonder if something's wrong. I'll ask Kurama later.' Just as he moved in to try and get a handle om the situation, one of the Vagrants took a shot at Bronya, making her dodge. Just before the bullet reached her, purple streaks appeared in the air and cut the bullet into pieces while a purple orb rose from the ground. A second later, the orb slammed into the ground and disappeared into a kaleidoscope of butterflies, revealing a purple haired girl crouched on the ground with a scythe. The move reminded Naruto of the Body Flicker, though this was certainly more impressive. 'I assume this is the Seele that Sampo wanted us to meet.'
Seele moved her s scythe behind her as she glared at the Vagrants. "You dare attack someone on our turf? If you're so gutsy, then how about a round with me?" she moved her scythe to a battle-ready position to emphasize her words. In response, the Vagrants that looked confident a minute ago, ran away, not wanting to face her wrath.
On the way, one of the running Vagrants saw Naruto observing the situation and got an idea. "You're on your own here boss! We aren't fighting her!" Naruto blinked. Seele blinked. The Vagrant smirked.
Two seconds later, he understood the Vagrant's plan when Seele turned to face him. "So you're the whackjob that's been leading them. Your lackeys have been causing us a lot of trouble for us you know? As an enforcer of Wildfire, I have to make sure that you don't interfere with out duties anymore." That was the only warning he got before she lunged at him while he raised his hands to placate her.
Meanwhile back on the Astral Express, Himeko was trying to get back in contact with the others. They had gone offline a day after they had touched down on the planet and she was worried. To her, March, Dan Heng and even Caelus were almost like her own children and she'd be damned before she let anything happen to them. While she was busy, she heard the door to her room open and footsteps walking in before it was closed again. "Did you find anything Himeko?" Welt's calm voice asked.
The red-haired navigator sighed. "No. I didn't find anything. It's like they just disappeared from the face of the planet. I don't know how it happened but it has."
Welt almost laughed at Himeko's words. 'I mean she's not wrong. They are underground.' "Don't worry too much. Naruto's with them. He can keep them safe. Meanwhile, I'll try to see if we can do something about the interference from the Stellaron." With that, Welt walked out of her room, hoping that she could find some solace soon. "You better hurry Naruto. We're all worried here. Especially Himeko."
Clang!
Seele's scythe clashed with Naruto's shakujou, blocking a downward slash coming for his head. "Can we please talk about this!" Seele's answer was to push her weapon towards Naruto, who broke the lock and sidestepped the attack. "Ok then." He deflected sideways slash to the face and leaned backwards to avoid another. Jumping back to buy himself a few seconds, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath and exhaled. Snapping open his eyes, he slid his hand to the bottom of the shakujou and swiped upwards, deflecting another downward strike. When Seele recovered from the shock, she felt a pressure descend on the area and saw that Naruto's eyes were focused on her own, almost like he was trying to read her. She dismissed the unsettling feeling in her stomach and dashed forward, aiming a strike at his torso. In response, Naruto just raised his shakujou and moved it above his head before he brought it down on the head of her scythe, causing it to impale itself on the ground. Just as she registered what just happened, she saw the round end of her opponent's weapon heading for her stomach, causing her to jump away.
"Not bad." The words sent a chill down her spine. He tried to lift her weapon but found that she couldn't. "I just wanted to talk but it this is your definition of talking; I think we can work something out." Naruto hooked his shakujou on the scythe and pulled it out of the ground. Seele moved in to attack again, but a kick to her stomach sent her flying. She spun around midair, using her weapon to slow herself down, and landed in a crouch. She glared up at the blond still standing right where he was at the start before closing her eyes.
"Disappear among the sea of butterflies." She snapped open her eyes, revealing a pair of sharp red eyes. "Illusions of the past!" She dashed at the blond fast enough to leave behind an afterimage. To the others, it looked like a purple streak dashing at the blond and leaving behind multiple copies that slashed all at the same time, kicking up a cloud of dust. Jumping out of the fray, Seele looked at the dust cloud with a smirk. When the dust cleared however, her smirk dropped when she saw Naruto standing where he was with just a small cut on his arm.
"Now can we talk?" Unwillingly, Seele decided to back down and gave a nod. "Good. Sampo, you're up. I'm tired." Saying that, he moved towards Bronya. "How are you feeling?" The silver haired girl looked at him confusedly. "Ya'know, after you stabbed me? It isn't easy to deal with that kind of thing." Bronya looked at his chest with a guilty face, only to be surprised when she saw no bandages or anything. Seeing her reaction, Naruto chuckled. "Don't worry. I heal fast. I would give you back your weapon, but if I do, Seele over there will probably try to kill me." With that, she moved to lean on the short wall near the stairs. He might not be the best when it came emotions but he knew what killing someone for the first time felt like. So, he had unconsciously resolved to help her as much as possible. Or as Kurama put it, Naruto's 'little-sibling-adoption syndrome' had started acting up again. He sat down by the wall and closed his eyes. Of course he wasn't actually tired, but he'd rather not reveal his full capabilities just yet. A second later, he was pulled into the familiar surroundings of his mindscape. Opening his eyes, he saw Welt sitting in front of him. "Not that I don't like seeing a friend but is there any particular reason you called me here?"
Welt crossed his arms. "Yes there is. Himeko is overworking herself again. If this keeps up, we'll have to make a stop somewhere just to get her some coffee." Both of them thought about Himeko as a younger sibling because of their past experiences (though they never bothered telling her) and it worried them to see her overwork herself like this.
Naruto nodded. "So you need us to hurry?" Welt nodded his head. "I'll try my best. I can't be sure but once we return from the Underworld, we should be able to contact the express again." With that, Naruto disappeared from his mindscape.
Outside his mindscape, Naruto opened his eyes and saw everyone standing around him. "Is watching me sleep the hottest entertainment out there, or are you guys just plain old creeps?" Everyone backed away at his comment and Naruto took the chance to stand up and stretch his arms. "That's better. So where were we?"
"We were going to go into the mines to meet up with the leader of Wildfire, Oleg. Hopefully, he'll give us some information on the Stellaron. We also explained the situation to Seele so you won't have to worry about her trying to kill you anymore." Naruto nodded at Caelus' explanation while Seele glared at the latter.
Naruto gave a smirk. "Well then, lead the way."
The crew (+ Bronya and Sampo) followed Seele into the Great mine and on the way, Seele explained the situation. Apparently, the Fragmentum had disrupted a lot of the mining activities in the area and led to a lot of people to leave their homes, which in turn made the Vagrants settle in the Great Mine. "That's not all. For a while now, there have been huge clashes between the miners and the Vagrants which has brought the mining to a halt. To handle the situation, Chief Oleg asked me to take care of the town and took the rest of Wildfire to the mine. With some luck, we should be able to find him. This mine is the biggest source of Geomarrow in the Underworld and the lifeline of everyone here. We have to send ore to the Overworld for supplies." As they moved ahead, Seele stood back. When Naruto was passing from the end of the group, Seele spoke. "Hey, can I talk to you? In private?" Naruto looked at the others, who were staring at them, and nodded his head. He lifted his shakujou and slammed it on the ground, making a blue barrier appear around them. Seeing Seele looking around, he explained that it was a sound barrier that lets them speak privately. "Look, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for attacking you out of nowhere."
Naruto blinked. "So you wanted to talk me privately just to say sorry?" Seele nodded. Naruto smiled and instinctively patted her head. "Don't worry about it. I've had worse." With that, Naruto dropped the barrier and joined the others before she could cut off his hand for giving her a head pat.
Seele rejoined the group and they led the group through the mine. When they went inside, they saw Natasha standing with a group of people. "What's Natasha doing here? If she's here, the situation could be worse than I thought. Come on!" Seele muttered before she jogged up to the good doctor while the others followed. "Nat! What's the situation? And where's Oleg?"
Natasha turned to look at the group, her eyes instinctively scanning them for any wounds. They briefly stopped at a bit of blood on Naruto's arm but it didn't look major, so she ignored it. "Hello Seele, and Sampo's guests. Glad to see that you've already met. I haven't seen Oleg, but the miners said that they saw him take a group further in. As for the situation, the miners want an explanation. The area ahead is part of a Vagrant dwelling and they've sealed off the entrance to try to keep the angry miners away. I came here to see if I can help any of the wounded."
Seele looked bewildered. "How did the situation escalate this much?" While they were talking, Bronya was listening intently. When Naruto was resting, Seele had accused her of living the easy life in the Overworld while leaving the Underworlders to fend for themselves. Initially, she had refused, but after seeing this, she was starting to feel guilty and the more she thought about it, the heavier it got.
Natasha looked at the mine and sighed. "Sometime ago, the first mining team found a large vein of Geomarrow and from what I gathered, it was the biggest in 30 years."
Seele's eyes widened while Naruto's narrowed. News like this should be big, so he wondered why he didn't hear anyone talking about. Luckly the purple haired girl stepped in for him. "Really? This is big news! How come I didn't hear of this."
"Well, most of the mines have been closed because of the Fragmentum which left people out of work. They were afraid that the news of this discovery would be too overwhelming. Unfortunately, word got out to the Vagrants and some local gangs blackmailed some miners for a little hush money. I think you can guess what happened from there." Natasha's explanation put a lot of things in perspective. "That's how it started. Are you guys going to lend a helping hand?"
Seele was quick to seize the opportunity. "Well, I was escorting them to see Chief Oleg, but considering that I'm doing them a favor, how about a favor in return?" Naruto chuckled at Seele's proposition.
"Seems like a fair deal. What about you guys?" The crew instantly agreed with March saying something about being knights in shining armor, which was promptly ignored. After some careful contemplation, Bronya also agreed. "Should we give her a weapon? I mean I doubt it is a good idea to walk around here unarmed and if she can't help us, she's just dead weight." Bronya seemed offended by that last comment but he did make a good point.
Natasha thought for a second and looked at Naruto. "Maybe you're right. Do you have a weapon for her?" He nodded and summoned Bronya's gun and handed it to her. "Picked this up before going under. No stabbing me this time, got it?" Bronya nodded embarrassedly while the doctor's eyes narrowed. "Alright then. Lead the way Seele."
3550 words. Not as many as I would have like but I'll take it.
Took me a while to write this but it worked out. I might take me a while to upload anything new because I have to take care of other stuff and this comes out as a lesser priority. Don't worry, I won't discontinue this. I'm not that cruel. Some reviews would be appreciated though. The number of reviews in my other fic seem to have dropped, so I'm worried that no one is reading it. Either way, sorry for the shorter chapter, and I'll see you in the next one!