Chapter 14: Questions answered, and the land of white.
The young girl proved far more resilient than she seemed, resourceful too.
"Rargh!"
*ROAARRR*
The young, now teenaged, girl had ripped the claws off of an Ancient Dragon, and tore the beast to shreds with it, using the detached keratin as a dagger of sorts.
"Did...did I...do good?" she asked, hope welling in her eyes. Over the past few years, she had proven to be worth her weight. Thanks to my training, she had improved by leaps and bounds. And that was not taking in consideration just what made her so special.
"You did well, I'm proud of you."
Her eyes lit up in joy as I praised her. Being that I was technically her guardian, she saw to attempting to make me proud at every moment she could. Perhaps it was out of respect, or out of fear of being abandoned. Regardless, she was just the companion I needed.
When she finally reaches adulthood, she would truly be a force to be reckoned with.
Zed/Noah POV
"So then, out with it. What happened?" my brown-haired companion asked. We had recently returned to the inn, and gathered Compa and Neptune together so that what I said could be conveyed to them at the same time. Once that happened, IF saw fit to start the conversation off. What exactly Neptune and Compa were doing before we got here could be explained later, even if I was morbidly curious. (What were they planning with all that ribbon?) ignoring the burning question I had, I instead decided to answer IF's.
"I encountered Arfoire. You should have seen that, correct?" the girl nodded her head. "Well, yeah. But what I want to know is what the hell was with you standing still like an idiot as she was about to kill you. Not to mention that weird sword you summoned, what the hell did you do?" Neptune and Compa looked at me with their heads tilted in confusion. Before they could ask questions, something I didn't doubt they had, I responded. "She knew how to use Green Heart's divinity. The sheer power she held froze me solid, the reason I didn't move, was because I couldn't." the three of them nodded their heads. "What about the sword you summoned? It looked completely different from the swords you usually use."
Now that, was a difficult question to answer. At least, if I wanted to answer honestly. I would hate to have to lie to them, but I didn't have much of choice. Thankfully neither Compa or Neptune, nor IF, knew of Terminus, or Ban's relation to it. So all I had to do was lie about how I had it.
"Ban gifted it to me as thanks for looking after Compa."
While not the best lie in existence, it was the best I could do. It also made me feel slightly better, seeing as it was a half-truth rather than a full-blown lie. In response to my explanation, I saw IF nod her head, but also give me a questioning look, before shrugging her shoulders. Compa, being the unfortunately gullible girl she was, nodded and smiled. Neptune... did a Neptune, and took things out of context, and proportion. "So, you're telling me that if I help old people out, I get a cool sword? Neat! Come on everyone, let's go help some salty old codgers!" IF and I merely stared at her, while Compa stayed smiling, but shook her head. "I don't think that was the point, Nep-Nep..." the purple-haired girl visibly deflated at the nurse-in-training's words.
"Anyway, what happened next? What was with that strange man?" IF asked. Causing me to inwardly flinch. How could I tell them that not only is there a man stronger than Arfoire pulling the strings, but that he is also my brother? That above all that there existed a being who controlled fate itself, and that it was also responsible for me being here? (Be honest with them, or as honest as you want to be. This decision is yours to make, and so will the consequences be yours alone to deal with. I have no right to get involved here.) Rex spoke, for once being incredibly unhelpful.
After a few seconds of thinking it through, I decided to go with what I did earlier, and give them half-truths.
"That man is working with Arfoire, from what I can tell, he's her leader. He is strong, far stronger than her, and by extension, us." the three of them looked absolutely shocked. IF appeared to recover the quickest from her shock and gestured at me to continue. "From what he told me, his goal is to apparently 'save humanity', how exactly he will achieve that, I haven't the slightest clue." the three of them nodded in confirmation, before once more IF spoke up. "Is there anything else?" she asked. And, of course, there was.
"He gave me the third key fragment, saying the 'fairy' had no use 'being in shackles now'. Presumably the fairy he referred to is Histoire. He also told me to head to Lowee, he wants me to fight one of his allies." the three of them, once again, looked shocked at the information I was giving them, their mouths were all agape in surprise. To my astonishment, Neptune was the first to respond. "Pfft, next thing you're gonna tell us is that Arfoire's boss is your brother!" she shouted humorously.
My silence told them everything.
"Are you fucking kidding!?" IF cursed, causing Compa to tell her off for saying 'bad words'. "Bad Iffy, no swearing!" Neptune for her part, was looking surprisingly remorseful. "Sorry about that Zeddy." the girl apologised, looking like a kicked puppy. After giving the three a second to process the information, as well as petting Neptune to help alleviate her guilt, I continued speaking. "As Neptune managed to guess, the man that appeared did in fact reveal himself to be my brother. It's why he revealed so much as well as why he gave me the key fragment."
I spoke, before laughing mirthlessly. "Not only do I know his name, I even know my own. My real one, that is." my statement caused the three of them to tilt their heads in confusion. "Your name isn't Zeddy, Zeddy?" Compa asked. "Yeah, have you been lyin' to us mister!?" Neptune shouted, pointing her index finger at me accusingly. Thankfully, I could tell she spoke jokingly. IF simply raised her one of her eyebrows. While Neptune's statement hurt a bit considering I was technically lying to them right now, I ignored the feeling and continued my explanation. "As it turns out, my name is 'Noah', quite different from 'Zed' hmm? Regardless, the man's name is Jin. After revealing this, he, along with an unconscious Arfoire, left through a vortex." all three of my companions took a moment to process the information.
"Pfft, I still think 'Zeddy' is the cooler name, I'm stickin' with it." that is, until Neptune did what she normally does, that being defy all known expectations. Compa and IF both nodded in agreement. "Yeah, 'Zeddy' is a much cuter name!" Compa spoke. Looking at IF, her response was a teasing smile. "What she said." (That went well.) I was expecting far more complications, the fact that there wasn't, was something I was grateful for. What I said next wasn't something I took any joy in, but it was still something that they needed to know.
"i believe now would be the perfect time to reveal just what Jin has done. He is seemingly Arfoire's superior, who just so happens to be Ganache's. And Ganache was one of the people who kept Noire trapped in one of Avenir's labs. You three know of Avenir running businesses out, but I have yet to tell you of their truly horrific crimes." the three of them looked at me questioningly. Despite this, I continued.
"They kept Noire down there because they were using her blood in some truly disgusting experiments." Compa, IF and Neptune, all three of my companions looked both apprehensive, and morbidly curious. "They would force regular people to eat the flesh of monsters, before injecting them with a mysterious substance. The result was the person's body warping into that of a horrific monster." they all looked visibly sick at my explanation. Despite that, I continued. "From what I know, their goal was to create strong god-like beings to fight for them." their nausea quickly turned to anger, even Compa, the kindest girl I knew, looked frustrated.
Before anything could happen, I quickly spoke up. "I know you are all angry at what I've told you, believe me, I am as well. But getting frustrated and wrathful over their despicable actions will change nothing. All we can do is put a stop to them, but to do that, we'll need to keep a level head." I was also angry, remembering what I saw in that damn lab wasn't pleasant in the slightest, but with how things were progressing, the three of them needed to know.
"So, uh, what's our next move?" Neptune eventually asked, calming down the quickest. My response was just as quick, being that I already knew what we had to do. "Simple, we head for Lowee. We need answers, and rescuing Histoire will give us them, besides, wasn't that our original goal? To free her?" Compa nodded and smiled at my response, as did Neptune. Whilst IF gave me a look that suggested she had more questions. "Compa, Neptune, get ready to leave. I have to speak to IF in private for a moment." I spoke.
The two girls did as I asked and swiftly headed upstairs to collect their things. "You look as if you have questions." I spoke. IF looked me in the eyes with a serious expression on her face. "That's because I do. Something tells me you aren't being entirely truthful here." I looked at her questioningly. "What makes you say that?" I asked, inwardly wondering what I did to give myself away. "it's that sword you used. With what I saw it do, there's no way Compa's grandfather simply gave it to you. No one would give a weapon that powerful away so easily." I winced at her words. She was right, but I wouldn't, couldn't, tell her. She would hate me; she would most definitley tell Compa! I couldn't let that happen!
My heart wouldn't be able to handle their hatred.
They were my friends, my family.
They were all I had!
So even if it meant lying to them, even if it betrayed their trust in me, I couldn't let them find out.
Ever.
Ban, his death still weighed on me, it always would. I loved Neptune, I loved her so deeply, but I couldn't tell her my feelings, she deserved better. She did not deserve a murderer as a loved one. Nor did IF deserve one as a friend. Compa, the sweet and innocent girl. I didn't know if her feelings for me were familial or romantic, but she too, did not deserve a monster like me.
They deserved to know what I did, they, Compa especially, deserved to know I murdered Ban. But I was a coward.
So, for as long as I lived, they would never know.
"Well, whether you believe me or not, he gave me that sword. I didn't even know it was as powerful as it was. I didn't even unsheathe it of my own will, my body forced itself to before Arfoire could kill me. Try as you like, I am as unknowing of the sword and its abilities as everyone else." I answered, once again speaking in half truths. IF in response, gave me a suspicious look, before apparently thinking things over and sighing. "Fine, I believe you. Now let's go get our things and go. If I remember correctly, Lowee should align with Leanbox in a few minutes, so we'll need to hurry up." the brown-haired girl responded.
As we were apparently on a time limit, I did as she suggested, and hurried to the best of my abilities, as did the others. Within mere moments, the four of us were ready to leave. "Everyone got their stuff?" IF asked. "Yup!" "Yes Iffy." Neptune and Compa responded, whilst I nodded my head. "Good, then let's go." and we were off. Thankfully, at the speed we were traveling at, we made it to the bridge with some time to spare. "Prepare yourselves. From what I know, Lowee earned its name of the 'land of white serenity.' so be prepared for the cold." IF warned. Compa and I nodded our heads, but Neptune only smiled mischievously.
"it's alllll good Iffy, I have Zeddy as a heater!" she shouted, before hugging me from behind, snuggling into the back of my shirt. Something I equally hated and enjoyed. IF rolled her eyes at the display, whilst Compa reacted quite differently. "No cheating Nep-Nep, get off of Zeddy!" she shouted, her face in an odd, but not that surprising, cute pout. (Wait...what does she mean 'cheating' is there a bet between those two?)
IF POV
Whilst the other two girls were preoccupied with Zed, I decided to sneakily call someone. Scrolling through my many contacts, I selected a particular number and pressed the 'call' option. "Hey, it's me. I need you to look into something." I whispered. "What is it Windwalker?" "I need you to search for someone, a relative of a close friend." I replied. "Who is it?" they asked. "The grandfather of a girl by the name of Compa. As far I I know, he lives in Leanbox. My group and I are currently headed for Lowee, so if you could search whilst I'm gone, I'd appreciate it." I answered.
After a moment of waiting, my contact spoke. "Fine, I expect the regular though." "That's fair. Good luck." I then ended the call. I knew Zed was a good person, I trusted him. But something told me he wasn't telling the full truth, even when I asked about it. I wanted to ignore that feeling, the one that told me he was lying somehow, but I just couldn't.
{His sins must come to light.}
(Shut up!)
I was getting more and more annoyed at the voice in my head. I still didn't know who, or what, it was. And at this point, I didn't care, all I could do is put up with it until it went away. Regardless, I needed to know the full story, and I would find it.
Zed/Noah POV
When we eventually crossed over to Lowee, I immediately took notice of the change in temperature. As IF had pointed out earlier, it was infact, cold. Freezing, to be specific. Thankfully, I was able to use my Septima to keep me warm by creating small flames to surround myself in. Since Neptune was essentially glued to my back, she too, felt their effects, even Compa was fortunate, being that with Suzaku lying on her shoulders and summoning flames himself, the cold had no effect on her. IF, however, was not so lucky. "A-and h-here I thought m-my coat would h-help, d-dammit!" the girl was freezing in the icy-cold weather.
Fortunately for the freezing girl, she was friends with me. Therefore, with a snap of my fingers numerous small, golden-orange flames began to surround her, quickly heating the girl up. "T-thanks Zed," "you are welcome." and so we continued walking, now no longer dealing with the unforgivable cold.
To our surprise, however, what met us at our destination was not a flourishing city in the snow, nor a serene village.
But a ruin.
"What the hell?"
"What happened?"
I stayed silent, not wishing to wake the girl on my back, but I was no less surprised. Where there should have been numerous buildings, and an abundance of people, was instead a desolate ruin devoid of any and all life. Scanning over the ruined buildings, I took notice of numerous scorch marks on a number of the structures, yet I could not see any heat sources, much less anything akin to flames.
"Let's look for any survivors." IF suggested. "O-okay Iffy." Compa replied. The girl being obviously shaken by the sight. I merely nodded my head and began searching. I started by lifting large pieces of inconspicuous rubble on what I presumed was once a house. Looking underneath and noticing nothing however, I quickly dropped the ruined piece of housing. Doing the same to other nearby structures lead to the same results, absolutely nothing. In a way, it was actually a good thing. Nothing underneath the rubble meant no bodies, no corpses of villagers crushed by falling debris.
But that did create the question of where exactly the people went as well as what exactly happened to them. After a while of fruitless searching, I began to look for the others. (Hopefully they have found something.) while it was good to not see any bodies, the lack of anything other than rubble was quite eerie. Thankfully I was able to meet back up with the two girls quite quickly, as it seemed we all conveniently decided to walk to the same place. "Find anything?" IF asked us. I shook my head whilst Compa also answered in the negative. "Nope."
This was bad. (Just where could all those people have gone?) "Nnnngaaahhh mornin', anything happen while I was sleeping?" Neptune spoke, waking up from her nap on my back. The purple-haired girl climbed off of my back and began looking around, her face quickly morphing into one of worry. "What happened here?" she asked. "That is what we have been trying to figure out. There are ruined buildings everywhere, but no people." I replied, causing the goddess of Planeptune to wince. "Geez, that's more than a little creepy."
"Yep, we've been looking for ages, but there's no sign of anyone." IF replied. "Makes you wonder what happened here." Compa spoke.
*Crunch*
Turning our eyes to the source of the noise, we could see something human-like in the distance. "Hey look, a person!" Neptune shouted, before running towards them. "Let's go, I guess." IF shrugged. Compa and I nodded and followed the purple-haired girl. As we got closer and closer to the figure, we were able to quickly realise just what it was. It was indeed a person. They had long, light blue hair that was tied into a low ponytail, and a face that was covered by a sleek, sliver, featureless mask with eyeholes. The person looked to be male and had electric blue eyes. At their side was what looked to be a sheathed sword.
"Excuse me mister, do you have any idea where all the people ar-" Neptune was interrupted, as the mysterious man had unsheathed his blade and placed it at her throat. "Woah there buddy, I'm friendly, I swear!" the purple-haired girl shouted, surprised at the sudden act of aggression. "Out of my way, Goddess of Planeptune. While I would love nothing more than to cut you down here and now, you are not who I am looking for." the man spoke. In an attempt to be careful, as to not make the man do anything hasty, I asked a question. "And who are you looking for exactly?"
The man immediately looked at me. His eyes widened in recognition. "You. Lord Jin wishes for you to test your mettle against mine. Come, let us duel on more even ground." he spoke. (So, this must be 'Blade' then.) "IF, Compa, Neptune, this must be Blade, the man my brother wished for me to fight. I suggest you three back away from us for now, I'll be back in a moment." I suggested.
The three girls, though reluctant, backed away. "Good luck Zeddy!" "Don't lose, okay?" "If you lose, you'll be banned from pudding! So don't, okay?" they all spoke. "Ha, who exactly do you think you are talking to? I cannot lose." I responded, hoping to ease their worries. The man now recognised as Blade looked back at us. "We shall see. Follow me, Sir Noah." he spoke, before walking off. Following him lead me into an open area coated with a thin layer of frost. "This place lacks any of the thick obtrusive snow, making it the closest thing to the perfect battleground." Blade spoke, before walking to the opposite side of me.
"Now then." he began, unsheathing his sword. "Are you ready?" he finished. Summoning one of my own blades, as well as my wing, I placed my weapon in front of me, and took my usual stance. "Indeed." I replied. "Very well then, let us begin!"
(play Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX (shortened to simply 'iX' in future) OST- Thunderstorm.)
Rushing forwards, I took the initiative with a diagonal strike to my opponent's chest, which my foe strangely took head on.
*bzzzzztt*
As my blade hit however, I noticed something strange. The area where my blade landed was not flesh, but blue particles akin to motes of electricity. When my weapon passed through the man, I was shocked to see no visible damage.
"Hmph, foolish." my foe spoke, before he attacked. His blade was fast, almost too fast for me to handle. Fortunately, through the use of an inelegant roll backwards, I was able to avoid the strike.
*CLANG!*
Blade slashed outwards once more, the attack fortunately being interrupted by my weapon, the edge of his sword meeting my own. "Your strength is...not terrible, I suppose, but not nearly enough." suddenly the force behind his sword doubled, and I felt myself faltering. Rolling to the side, I heard the sound of his sword's edge slicing through the ground. "To say nothing of your lack of skill." still on the ground, my eyes widened at the sight of his blade cutting through the earth like butter as the sword's edge came directly at me. Quickly bringing up my weapon, I placed it in the path of the incoming attack.
!
Only for his sword to completely cut through mine, leaving me weaponless. Mindlessly throwing a feather tag backwards, I teleported away from my foe, and began chanting.
"Luminous swords point towards heaven."
"Regret cannot stop their revelation."
"Accept your righteous ruin!"
"Rexcalibur!"
As the giant radiant sword formed and fell upon my enemy, I was once again shocked. As my blade fell, it encountered a giant electric blue sphere with a triplet of lighter blue orbs surrounding it. As my summoned blade made contact with the strange blue sphere, it began disappearing, until it fizzled out of existence completely. I blinked to refresh my eyes-
*FWOOSH*
Only to narrowly dodge a strike from my foe, who somehow managed to close the distance between us. "You can use skills as well? I would be impressed, had it not been so weak. What does lord Jin see in you?" my foe questioned, shaking his head. "Let me show you a true blade!" he then began to chant as he attacked.
"Sacred sword agleam."
I quickly summoned another sword and blocked one of his strikes. And then another, and another.
"Barbarous and bathed in blue."
Azure electricity began to gather around Blade, as I continued to endure his strikes.
"Cleaving right from wrong!"
Electricity began to gather in Blade's empty hand as I disengaged to create distance.
"Luxcalibur!"
An azure blade, equal in size to my Rexcalibur, formed in his previously empty hand. As he swung, I attempted to dodge backwards in order to avoid the summoned blade.
*SCHLICK*
*BZZT*
"ARGH!"
However, I was too slow, and the edge of his lightning blade sliced through me.
Pain, a sharp, cold, piercing pain. That Is what I felt. The agony being so much that I immediately fell on my hands and knees. (What the fuck? HOW!?) with my own blade dispelled, I brought my right hand to where the pain originated. Only to feel a sticky, warm liquid.
My own blood.
I looked up in shock at my opponent, who was staring at me, disappointment clear in his eyes. "I expected better from Lord Jin's own brother." he walked until he was directly in front of me. "No matter, if you are this weak, he has no use for you." I could hear his sword cut through the air as he placed it above himself, gripping it with both hands.
*CLUNK*
*FSSSS*
Suddenly a spherical object appeared and began producing smoke. I felt a pair of arms wrap around me. "I'll take you somewhere safe." a foreign voice whispered. I hadn't the strength to argue as the mysterious person dragged me away. Immediately afterwards, I began to feel immense fatigue. Before I passed out completely however, I heard my foe speak one final sentence.
"Next time I hope you prove stronger, Sir Noah."
[location change- Zed/Noah's dreamscape]
"Welcome, how do you like my sunrise palace?" I opened my eyes to be greeted by an unfamiliar sight, and a familiar voice. "Rex?" I asked. The man in front of me spoke. "Indeed, it is me. I simply added a few changes to your mindscape, a lot better than a black void, isn't it?" the now-identified Rex replied. Looking around, 'palace' was the correct term. The floor below me was an untarnished black marble, the walls around me were decorated in such splendid décor, that I wondered just whose mindscape it was.
Looking directly at Rex, I noticed he was a man the same height as me. With tied up orange hair with green tips and green eyes. His skin was tanned and unblemished. Looking at his outfit, he wore a pair of black suit trousers, and smart-looking, black, heeled shoes. He had a white dress shirt that had four black buttons and a black, twin-tailed long coat with gold accents that was buttoned up. The ends of his trousers, as well as the shoulders of his coat, were plated with some sort of gold-coloured material, and a blood-red sash was wrapped around his waist. "I'm flattered that you find me so interesting, but what would Neptune think?" he spoke smugly.
(That little...) "Shut it, I didn't know what you looked like until now." I replied, finding myself being ruder than usual. "Oh my, how rude. Regardless, I do think we should get down to business. I have an idea on what exactly that foe of ours was."
"Okay, spit it out then." I stated simply. Rex laughed melodiously. "From the use of Prevasion, to the usage of the Luxcalibur and Astralsphere skills, it's apparent that our foe is in possession of a Septima. A particularly powerful one at that." he spoke, pausing momentarily. "Look, can't you just get straight to the point?" I spoke impatiently. The man in front of me laughed off my rudeness and continued. "The Azure Striker, a Septima that grants the user power over lightning." he spoke. "What's 'Prevasion'?" I asked, confused on the term. While the other two terms were understandable, being a sword similar to mine, as well as a sphere of electricity, the other one was not so obvious.
"Prevasion is an ability that allows the user to avoid incoming damage. It does this by momentarily turning the user's body into pure electricity. From what I could tell this 'Blade' has extraordinary control over his Septima, seeing as he could partially transform his body." the man explained. (at least I now know why my attacks did shit...but how do I counter something like that?) "Is there any way to bypass it?" I asked. If there wasn't, I was screwed. Fortunately, the well-dressed man smiled, something I took as a good thing.
"Fortunately, yes. From the fact that Lowee is still standing it can be gathered that our foe has not yet reached the level of a Primal Dragon, therefore the weaknesses of the Azure Striker Septima should still be something we can exploit." he spoke, causing me no small amount of relief. "And what are these weaknesses?" I asked curiously. The man in front of me smiled once more, something I noticed he did a lot, before speaking again. "Simple, limited EPP reserves, and water."
...what?
(Is he being serious, water? Of all things?) while I had no idea what 'EPP' was, I understood, and was underwhelmed by, the latter. "Water?" I questioned. "Yes, should anyone in possession of the Azure Striker Septima be submerged in water, they would find themselves unwilling to make use of their abilities, that is, unless they wished to short-circuit themselves." the flamboyant man explained. Now understanding what he meant, I moved the subject over to the more unknown term.
"What's 'EPP'?" I asked. Considering Rex mentioned 'reserves', I could only guess that it was something involving the energy that Blade produced. "Ah, well, it stands for 'Electronic Psychokinesis Points' it is essentially the amount of energy Blade can produce. With limited reserves of it, should a battle last long enough, there is a chance he would run out temporarily, preventing him from using his Septima." his almost ever-present smile then turned apologetic. "Though unfortunately, while we don't know how deep his reserves go, it can only be presumed that they are not shallow. Meaning that relying on him to run himself out of EPP is incredibly unlikely."
With that option rendered useless, only the other remained. "So what? I'm supposed to find a water pistol and spray him until he can't do shit?" funnily enough, I was also pretty sure that trying to use water wouldn't do anything anyway. With the incredibly low temperatures on Lowee, the water would more than likely freeze before making contact. (So, what in the hell do I do then?) it was equally frustrating and despair-inducing. How exactly could I hope to best someone who could not be harmed?
"Oh! Pardon me, but I do believe I have a solution." Thankfully, it appeared Rex had an idea. "Oh yeah? What is it?" I asked. "Simple, we need to catch him off-guard." Huh? "What do you mean?" I questioned. (What would doing that accomplish?) "In order for him to bypass attacks using Prevasion he needs to be aware of when an opponent is attacking. Because he is not yet a Primal Dragon, he lacks the ability to automatically use Prevasion. Therefore, if we strike while he is unaware, then we will be able to damage him." Rex answered.
(That's...surprisingly simple.) I was surprised I didn't think of it myself. (Wait a minute...) Rex appeared to know quite a bit about this 'Azure Striker' so... "Why didn't you mention any of this while I was fighting him?" I asked. Information like that would have been really useful then. "At the time I thought he was intending to end your life, with how much you struggled against him, I did not wish to distract you." like usual, Rex had a point. (Well shit.) "Er, anyway, is there anything you could do to help? I could really use any and all help I can get my hands on." I asked the orange-haired man, who responded with his usual smile.
"Indeed I can. The Azure Striker is not the only one who has access to such an ability. I have an ability that Is functionally the same, which I had titled 'Vibratio'." he began to explain, causing me to feel a little better about my situation. "Though..." of course there was something, there always was. "Unlike me, you don't have the years required to master said ability. As you can probably imagine, transforming your entire body into pure energy temporarily is no easy feat, especially if you wish to do so safel-"
For a second, everything around me went blurry, colours and shapes momentarily disappearing and reappearing, the mindscape itself, warping and twisting.
"Ah, I see, you are waking. Farewell for now, partner. We shall speak again at a later date; I still have some work to do around here." Rex spoke, his usual smile present. I felt everything around me begin to disappear as I began to wake up.
"I wonder how long it will take... perhaps he will prove stronger yet."
END OF CHAPTER
An: Here we have the clash of Golden flame and Azure lightning! …. yeah no, apologies for the lackadaisical fight scene, I tried my best, but I don't think I did my intentions justice, even though the fight itself took days to write.
Apologies for those waiting for the encounter with Blanc-I mean the angry muffin. It will be happening next chapter though; I hope not to disappoint.
Questions for the audience: How do you think the interaction with Blanc will go, and what would you all think of extra backstory chapters for Jin, later down the line?