(The first Fate of 2025 and we shall see where the scales of fate lie for our heroes. Now without further ado, let the wheels of fate turn.)
Bold = English Conversations
Bold Italics = Japanese Conversations
Fate 38
The first thing Makoto felt as she slowly opened her eyes was a sensation of being wet on her back. Normally this would be enough for her to immediately wake up but she simply wanted to remain asleep. This quickly changed when she felt a splash of water, quite severe in nature smack her in the face, forcing her to wake up and see that she was near a river rapid, prompting her to quickly get out of the water before she could find herself getting swept away by the current.
Makoto had to shake her head several times to shake off the sense of drowsiness she had felt. The sounds of the river rapids ringing on her ears as she had to compose and take in her surroundings. As she stood up, she felt a shiver hit her as she looked down and instinctively covered herself when she realized she was completely naked. It was then she realized that she was back in reality which meant that Sora was no longer possessing her body… and that she had no clothes.
"Fuck me…" Makoto swore as she looked at a bunch of leaves, wondering if she needed to reenact an Adam and Eve Situation with her clothes. She thought about it and was considering just going out naked until she had a thought. If she could see a future where she is able to move anywhere she wanted, she must be able to foresee a future where she had clothes. Closing her eyes, she could easily see a future where she did have said clothes and tried to go to said future only to still feel a breeze hit her privates, making her sigh as it appears that while Sora is able to move towards objects, objects did not come back.
"Must I really go out looking like this?" Makoto thought as she knew the first thing people would ask when they saw her like this would be to question if she had gone insane and if she knew the importance clothes had. At the very least, she now knew she had another reason to beat up Izanami now as she thought about laying on the ground, stopping when she remembered that she was naked and she would feel every inch of rock and soil all over her body, including her genitals.
As she debated whether to lie down on the ground or just stand around awkwardly, she could feel a buzz hit her mind. She knew immediately that this was the special communications she and Sora had and immediately answered it. "Makoto! Thank gods you're alright." Sora immediately shouted through the communications. Even though he knew himself that there was no reason to shout, the fact that he must have been worried about her safety made him forget such a thing was not necessary in the first place.
"Yeah… somehow I am alive." Makoto said as she scratched the back of her head. "But right now, I have no clue where I am and I am naked right now. I tried to use Balmung to go to a future where I had clothes but turns out that is not how it works." Makoto explained as she could hear Sora grunt in understanding, processing what she had just told him. Makoto paused for a moment before furrowing her brows. "And a certain someone was the one responsible for ripping all of my clothes off my body." Makoto commented as she could hear Sora attempt to whistle but fail to do so.
"To be fair… I may have gotten a bit heated on my part…" Sora explained as Makoto sighed before making a small smile. "Hey at the very least you protected me, that's what you were trying to do in the first place no?" Makoto questioned as Sora simply grunted again, answering her question as she couldn't help but tease him a little. "Still, if you like to play rough with me you know you can do that in bed with me too you know." Makoto said as Sora immediately shrieked in her ear.
"C-Come on now! Now's not the time for sex jokes while our lives are in danger… and also I am starting to realize how much of a wild sex fiend you can really be Makoto." Sora commented as Makoto couldn't help but giggle upon hearing Sora make that statement. "In any case… can you tell me your general location right now? I may be able to determine something if you can give me a few rough landmarks." Sora said as Makoto knew that Sora would least likely be able to find her but it wouldn't hurt to do so.
"Right now I can tell that I am in some forest area that has a bunch of river rapids. I may most likely be in one of the forests that are between hierarchical cities." Makoto explained as she could hear Sora's footsteps at that moment. "What about the sky? What does that look like to you?" Sora questioned as Makoto looked up to the sky and saw nothing but clear blue skies. "It looks like I am back at the inside of the embryo… I cannot really say that the sky is going to be a good way of indicating where I am." Makoto explained as Sora scratched his head at that.
"Maybe I can have Caroline determine where you are from your communicator." Sora suggested as Makoto thought about what he said. "Do that when we finish talking… in the meantime… let's just relax a little. I did have to go through quite a fight for my life." Makoto suggested as using her tail, she laid on some grass, using her tail as a comfy cushion even if it was not ideal. "That is true… you did get dragged into two fights without any consent." Sora said as Makoto couldn't help but wonder about Sora himself. "Since you asked me, Where are you right now?"
As we cut away from Makoto, we now go to where Sora was. Previously he had been in the 6th Hierarchical City of Ibukido, using his contract with Makoto and his role as Nox Nyctores to possess and control Makoto. When Sora had regained his consciousness, he had expected to be at the same park he had left but somehow, that simple expectation was somehow not to be expected. "I don't know if you will believe me if I say this… but I am back at Otsu right now." Sora said as he swore he could hear a pin drop from Makoto's side.
As he allowed Makoto to process what she had just heard, Sora decided to take a look of his surroundings to process and think for a bit. He was not joking when he said he was in the 1st free city of Otsu. It had been a long time since he had stepped into the city while there was some hustle and bustle, the last time he had been to Otsu, the entire town was nothing but a ghost town, a city under siege by the NOL for their own gains.
'I wonder if everyone else is here right now.' Sora thought, his mind traveling to a group of people that he hoped were safe in Otsu, Pikaka, Neko and Derrick. The Otsu four were always capable of handling themselves but ever since he was young, he had never seen Neko or Derrick in an actual fight. Pikaka herself was more than capable of handling herself, having lived in Otsu her entire life but the more he thought about the current situation he was in, the more he couldn't help but worry for what he saw as his first family.
"Are...Are you fucking with me right now?" Makoto questioned, wondering if Sora really was fucking with her at that moment. "I am not. I am really at Otsu right now. It looks like my body was moved to a different location from where we were originally." Sora explained as he knew that Makoto needed some answers. "I suspect that our locations may have been changed and the person responsible for doing so was Izanami." Sora suggested as Makoto thought about what he said and concluded herself that he was probably correct.
"In that case… we must have survived fighting against that woman and what she told us before was indeed the truth." Makoto said as Sora nodded his head at that. "But Noel? Why Noel of all people?" Sora questioned, wondering what could Noel have done to be involved in Izanami's plot. Makoto thought about explaining to Sora what she had experienced before nodding her head to herself. "If I remember the details correctly… The master unit uses Noel as a conduit to do whatever it needs. Whatever Noel desires tend to reflect the true desires of the Azure." Makoto explained as Sora scratched his head at that.
"Conduit? You trying to suggest that Noel's basically part of Amaterasu's system?" Sora questioned as Makoto's affirming grunt was enough for Sora to begin pondering on what she had just agreed. "What role does Noel play in this system?" Sora questioned as Makoto pondered on that. "I know that I said that Noel's desires reflect the Azure's… but how much of that is actually true?" Makoto questioned to herself.
Sora could choose to tell Makoto to not focus on this topic and instead convince her to relax but something told him that Makoto wanted to think a bit deeper about this. "What are you trying to suggest? That it's only using Noel as a way to see what is going around in the world and change it from her point of view?" Sora questioned as Makoto continued to ponder hearing what he had just said. "Well that is one way of looking at it… though it makes me wonder about something." Makoto said as Sora couldn't help but become curious about her thoughts.
Makoto: If Noellie really is just the Azure's eyes, then why did Izanami said that she was the reason why our wishes were not being granted?
Sora: Could it be a way for her to get people to go after Noel and eliminate her from the equation? I am pretty sure that we aren't the only people who she has told this information to.
Makoto: That's one reason but I doubt that is the only reason. And if that is the case, then we would have people both fighting with and against Noel and while that may be part of Izanami's bigger plan of killing the world, something tells me that there is more to things than it seems
Sora: You know… you could be right about that
Makoto: Ahgh, I wish that Gothic little girl Rachel was around so we can ask her questions about this stuff. It has been a while since we last saw her anyways.
"You are right, Rachel's explanations would be helpful here but at the same time, we should try to figure out some of this stuff on our own." Sora said, Makoto sighing in agreement. "So if the goal is to pit people against each other… why not just offer up the Azure as some grand prize?" Sora questioned as Makoto remembered a detail given by Izanami. "Because Izanami said that any wishes that would be granted by the Azure would simply be undone by Noel… but I don't think that Noel would have that kind of power to just straight up deny someone's wish." Makoto explained as Sora nodded his head at that statement, having found a nice stone stairs to sit on.
"So Noel's the key to something… maybe the key to letting people's wishes get granted or in this case, stopping people from having their desires fulfilled." Sora said as Makoto scratched her head. "I know we are getting close but I think we need to cut Noel from all of this. Noel's part of it but not the full reason." Makoto said as Sora pondered on what they could be missing. It was then he remembered a crucial detail that seemed to slip out of their minds.
"Could it have something to do with Noel being the successor of the Azure?" Sora's simple suggestion was enough to cause Makoto's mind to race as things that didn't make sense before were now clicking, like a eureka moment as she would have kissed Sora if they were not separated. "That's right, We were told that Noel's the successor of the Azure… so that means that she should by some extent be able to influence the kinds of wishes that are granted to people."
"But in that case, since she is the successor of the Azure… Who is she succeeding from? Is the Azure really just a thing or is there someone else involved in all of this?" Sora questioned as the dots began to connect more and more of the two. "We both know that Amaterasu's where the Azure originates from… are you trying to say that Amaterasu's not just that mechanical god thing… but there's someone inside there?"
"It sorta makes sense. If I remember my mythology correct, Amaterasu did seal herself inside a cave once." Sora said as Makoto couldn't help but ponder about what Sora had said. "Regardless, we both know that Noel's the successor of the Azure and that most likely there is someone inside the mechanical thing we call Amaterasu that is the current possessor of the Azure. That's probably the real goal of Izanami in all of this, to force the real owner of Amaterasu out to kill her." Sora suggested as Makoto couldn't help but bite her lips upon hearing that.
"If that is the case, then Noellie's in danger isn't she?" Makoto said as Sora nodded his head. "And not to mention that right now she's separate from her murakumo self, Mu-12… but that now makes me wonder why are they separate in the first place." Sora pondered as Makoto thought about what he said. "Regardless, we now know that there are two Noels running around the place and people will be after the both of them." Makoto said as Sora nodded his head upon hearing that.
"So does this mean that us being separated right now is a good thing as we both may be able to potentially find the two Noels sooner than if we had been together?" Sora questioned as Makoto pondered on that. "I don't know if it's faster or slower per say, but knowing that there are two out there, we are going to need to cover a lot of ground quickly otherwise the situation may devolve out of our control." Makoto answered as Sora scratched his head, realizing that Makoto did indeed have a point.
"Well… I think that is enough of our current situation for now…" Sora said as he could hear Makoto exhale out deeply as she was exhaling out the worries inside her soul. "Good because I need to figure out how I am going to get into a hierarchical city without being seen as a fucking stripper right now." Makoto said as Sora thought about what she had said as Sora couldn't help but make a soft suggestion. "Think you can just make yourself a pair of clothes out of your astral stuff? If you can do hands and fake Black Beast heads, you should be able to do something like clothes." Sora suggested.
"… You know, other than the fact then those things usually being still visible, It's worth trying I guess." Makoto said as she stood up, feeling the breeze hit her as she closed her eyes and began to focus on manifesting an astral pair of clothes she could wear. She imagined her usual attire of a top that exposed her underboob, skirt and panties, long pair of stockings that were paired with boots and her recent new jacket that she found. As she focused on this image in her mind, she could feel something wrap around her.
As she felt this sensation, she resisted the urge to fight back against it, allowing it to fully envelop her. When she felt the sensation end, she opened her eyes and couldn't help but gasp in shock. Just before she was naked and exposed to the elements but now she was wearing a red version of her normal attire. She was even more shocked when she touched the fabrics of the cloth and realize it was not an astral image like her fists or Black Beasts but instead real cloth. This revelation made her eyes widen as she couldn't believe she was wearing clothes that were made from an astral image she had on her head.
"Woah…" Makoto audibly said as she couldn't believe what she was experiencing. Here she was, before having been completely naked but now she was wearing clothes that were made from an astral image of her mind. "Hey Sora… somehow your idea actually worked." Makoto responded, hearing a shocked gasp come from Sora's voice as he couldn't believe what he had just heard. "Wait am I hearing that right?.. wait… are you just messing with me right now?" Sora questioned, understandably confused as Makoto cleared her throat, making it clear that she was not messing with him.
"How does it feel to the touch? Is it phasing right through you?" Sora questioned as he couldn't help but be both curious and amazed by what she was getting to experience. "Well… it's strange. I know it's something I made through my astral projection but it feels like the real thing. Like the day I first got the outfit though one thing about it is the color of it. Everything's now red and black now." Makoto commented as Sora couldn't help but become curious upon hearing that.
"Red and Black? Could it be that you have been affected by me possessing your body?" Sora questioned as Makoto couldn't help but out of curiosity try to produce a Black Beast head. As soon as she did, she couldn't help but find that she had developed a much better picture on what a Black Beast looked like from just basic appearances she saw and suddenly, in front of manifested a real Black Beast, not one of an astral projection but a real Black Beast head with a drooping mouth and derpy eyes.
"K-Kevin?" Makoto said surprised as she was surprised to have Kevin simply lick her at that moment, letting her know it was him as she couldn't help but be genuinely surprised by the reveal. "Wait, Kevin's with you right now?!" Sora said, surprised to hear that Kevin had somehow teleported to where Makoto was. Sora closed his eyes and focused, trying to summon Kevin to his side. As he did, Makoto saw the 'harmless' Black Beast head simply look at her before jumping into the ground and vanishing from her eyes.
As soon as that happened, Kevin manifested beside Sora, it's derpy eyes blinking towards him as it was examining it's current surroundings. It was clear that it was disorientated from it's current surroundings that it was just in as Sora simply nodded his head towards Kevin, the Black Beast acknowledging him through it's confusion. "Is Kevin with you right now?" Makoto questioned, hoping to get an answer from Sora.
"He sure is and what's more. It actually looks confused." Sora explained as Makoto couldn't believe what she had just heard. A piece of the Black Beast, a being capable of utter destruction, was looking around it's surroundings like it was a child that got lost in the candy store. She couldn't believe that was the answer that Sora had given her but at the same time she couldn't help but feel like she needed to test this even further.
"Can you try having Kevin hold onto something?" Makoto questioned. It didn't take long for Sora to figure out what Makoto was trying to immediately look around find a piece of a trash lid that had fallen over and gave it to Kevin who bit it gently on it's mouth. Makoto from the other side focused as Sora gave her a grunt, letting her know that the item was now in Kevin's mouth. Closing her eyes, she began to focus as Sora watched as Kevin in front of him began to sink down into the ground, moving back to where it was originally standing with Makoto, the item not in it's mouth.
"… try giving something to Kevin but this time tell me what are you giving to Kevin." Sora said, realizing that further experimentation was needed to be conclusive. Makoto looked around her surroundings before finding quite a big rock the size of her fist and holding it to Kevin, the Black Beast wrapping it around it's tongue gently. "I just gave Kevin a giant rock the side of my fist. It's got it on it's mouth right now." Makoto explained as she soon saw the Black Beast head sink back into the ground, this time the rock disappearing from her sight.
As soon as Kevin reemerged from Sora's line of sight, Kevin gently unwrapped the rock it had on it's mouth, strangely devoid of any kind of saliva that a normal creature would have produced as it looked at Sora with the eyes of a dog having given it's master a stick. Sora wished he had food at that moment but simply went with the tried and true option of petting the Black Beast head gently on the head, a sign of letting it know it did a good job.
"It looks like that Kevin can serve as a way to transport items in it's mouth so long as we let each other know what is it we are moving." Sora said as Makoto couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised by this news. She knew that there existed teleportation magic and normally that would be reserved for high powerful mages or in hierarchical cities where they had reserved the magical circles needed for such transport so having Kevin being able to move stuff for them was a big deal.
"...We are not going to try and put ourselves inside of Kevin to test if we can move each other from different spots with him?" Makoto questioned as Kevin looked at Makoto upon hearing that and tried to cutely lick it's tongue around it's mouth, making it look like it was eager to give it a try as Makoto couldn't help but shiver upon seeing that, not expecting such a 'cute' and 'harmless' thing like Kevin to think about such a thing.
"I mean… I am willing to try it if you want me to but at the same time I do want to explore Otsu on my own for a bit. There's a few people I want to make sure are doing alright right now and nothing bad has happened to them." Sora explained as Makoto could accept such a reason as an excuse for him to leave her for a bit. "That's alright with me. I think that's the best call anyways, we need to figure out what is going on around here… heh… look at us, trying to relax but we just end up talking about doing work again." Makoto said, finding some irony in the fact that this was supposed to be the time that both her and Sora were supposed to relax and not focus on the mission.
"I agree… but it cannot be helped. I don't know why but I find it a bit hard to think about relaxing without you by my side." Sora said, making Makoto's heart flutter as she couldn't help but lightly slap herself in the face for falling for such a teenage cliché but at the same time found Sora's words to be harmless. "Oh Sora. I do deeply appreciate how you can be so cheesy with your flirting sometimes." Makoto said, making the man scratch his head upon hearing the comment.
"But it's true. I do genuinely feel that way right now." Sora said, reaffirming that his words were not some romantic flirting but genuinely how he felt deep inside. "I know Sora. I feel the same way right now." Makoto said as she couldn't help but sit down next a tree and close her eyes. As she did, she focused on trying to feel Sora's senses from where she was, not because she was trying to experiment with anything that may have changed about her but more because she genuinely missed feeling him near her.
"Gods I know it's only going to be for a short bit but at the same time I cannot help but worry that our time in Ibukido is going to be the last time I see you." Makoto said, remembering Izanami's words and realizing that she may have some truth in them. Technically, her desire with Sora is genuinely something that defies the wishes of the Azure and she is not sure if it's permanent. What if the Master Unit manages to rip Sora away from her hands once again, how would she feel about that if she could even regain her memories at that moment.
Sora did not bother trying to rush his words at that moment as he decided to sit near a park bench and look at the cold Otsunian sky. He saw snow rain from the heavens, something he has not seen for a while. He thought about his next choice of words before nodding his head. "How about when this is all over, you move to Otsu with me and we try to start a brand new business together." Sora said, surprising her with his talk about the future.
"I know that the situation is not yet over but I still need to help you regain your past so people do remember you as Makoto Nanaya. But that is a goal… not a dream that I want us to have together." Sora explained as Makoto couldn't help but feel genuinely touched by Sora's choice of words. He must have known that their future right now was incredibly hazy and that such dreams do not always guarantee of happening but the fact that Sora was daring to dream at that moment was something genuinely touching to her.
"You know… you could start something like a restaurant with your cooking skills. Or if that is not something you want to do you can always try passing down the knowledge you have to the next generation. Sure it may all be mercenary work but there are people who do want to carve their own legacies out there. Why not try to help them instead of taking their lives?" Makoto explained as Sora couldn't help but smile at the suggestions she was giving him at that moment as he looked at his hands.
On one hand he was staring at a normal human hand, representing his human side. On the other, a metallic prosthetic that also hid a dark secret with it that represented everything that was not human at this point. If a person like him, a Lost Nox Nyctores given a body and life can actually find the meaning to human life then maybe he can actually consider the options that Makoto had just given him. "You know… I wouldn't mind doing both. I would run a training center with one hand and start a restaurant with the other." Sora joked as Makoto chuckled upon hearing that.
"Come on now, have you ever heard about overworking?" Makoto joked as she had to be frank, it's been a few months since she saw a real break from her line of work and after this whole mess was over, she couldn't help but feel ready to take a long break for herself as Sora audibly shook his head for her. "I just don't think I do good waiting around and doing nothing… unless I have a certain woman by my side that will not let me stress myself." Sora said as Makoto giggled upon hearing that. "What, you considering me to be the responsible one now?" Makoto said as Sora chuckled back, the two of them just enjoying the brief time they had to themselves, just being able to not think about their mission and focus on themselves.
But alas, such things must come to an end as Sora cleared his throat and stood up from his seat. "After I finish checking out what I want to check out, I will start searching for the Noels on my end." Sora said as Makoto immediately dropped the look of calm she had on her face, assuming a similar serious expression that Sora had currently. "I will do the same after I figure out where I am. Judging from the vegetation, I should be near some sort of civilization on my end. Just not sure if it's a hierarchical city or not." Makoto explained as Sora gave a grunt of approval from his end.
"Ah, what about Bullet? Should we try and contacting her?" Makoto questioned as Sora thought about it before making his decision. "I say we let her operate on her own for the time being. She could have tried contacting us on this frequency but something tells me that whatever she is doing right now she wants to handle that on her own. So we will leave her on her own and focus on what we can do in the meantime." Sora said. Makoto considered going against what Sora had suggested but it appeared that Sora was speaking from some sort of experience about this and decided that he should be trusted for this case and no other questions should be asked.
"Which will be to find where Noel and Mu might be and meetup afterwards?" Makoto said as Sora nodded his head. "I am not sure if we should meet with the others even if we find Noel. Something in my gut tells me that there will be fighting on all sides for Noel and she will not be safe no matter where Noel goes." Sora said, Makoto biting her lips and unable to help but agree with that statement. "So I will go find the Otsu four in Otsu and convince them to protect the Noels in our place. That way, anybody we trust will be allowed inside the city and the Otsu four will be able to protect the two." Sora suggested as Makoto couldn't help but wonder about that suggestion.
"But aren't the Otsu four part of the chosen? They wouldn't take the chance to get their wish granted down like that." Makoto said as Sora took a deep breath. "That's why I am going to go and have a nice conversation with them. It's only right that as an Otsunian, I handle the negotiation with Otsunians." Sora explained as Makoto knew there was no need to further elaborate at that point, knowing that Sora was resolved to do whatever it took to protect Noel at this rate.
"In any case, I should get going for now. Do remember to update me on the details of things when you can." Sora said, wanting to get started as Makoto merely nodded her head on her end. "Hey Sora… Don't push yourself out there." Makoto said, prompting Sora to grunt and nod his head back towards her as the call ended. Makoto closed her eyes and laid her back on a tree. She thought about their plan and how they were going to execute it as she felt something in her tail. She instinctively ruffled her tail and immediately felt the object in question.
Pulling the object out of her tail, she saw what had been shoved inside her tail. A cracked blue sphere, severed in half through a clean break. She couldn't help but admire how pretty it was but her mind couldn't help but wonder where this object could have come from. It was then her mind flashed to when Izanami tossed something towards her and Sora's way and soon the dots began to connect in her mind.
As Makoto held the blue sphere piece in her hand, Sora was doing the same for his own piece. He couldn't help but be curious as to why Izanami would think to gift him such a thing in the first place. There shouldn't be much need to do so in the first place. 'Just what are you planning Izanami…' Sora thought as he couldn't help but wonder what this broken blue sphere could even mean. It was at that moment Sora could hear distinct footsteps ring in his ear as he couldn't help but turn his head towards the direction of the noises made.
The first thing to catch Sora's eyes was the individual's flamboyant pink kimono outfit, his long purple hair styled in a manner that was designed to catch someone's attention. He also had what looked to be a long flowing cloth wrapped around him as they revealed a fan concealed in his sleeves, using it to conceal their mouth as he could feel their gaze focus on him. Sora did not know who this person was but he could sense that this person was deeply interested in them.
"Pardon me, but are you perhaps the one they call the Continuum Error?" The person asked, their formal tone hiding what was a serious question as Sora simply nodded his head, not assuming a battle stance as he did not sense the intent to kill or fight but at the same time he knew that the person in front of him would easily cut him down if he had acted in a hasty manner. "My… you are indeed a normal person. I did not expect to find you in this city of vice and lust." The person continued as Sora did not know how to address this person due to their formal choice of attire. "I don't want to be rude here, but I wish to know who I am talking to at this moment." Sora questioned as the fan was closed, revealing a smile on this person's face.
"Amane Nishiki… and I have come for a simple interview."
GREETINGS LOST SHEEP OF FANFICTION! AND HAPPY LATE 2025 TO YOU ALL! I know I said that this chapter would be a later release on my end but I do hope that you can forgive me for making it this late of a release. With the new year coming and me feeling the urge to take small breaks here and there I felt that the small gap between chapters was worth it to ensure that you all got work that I can be proud off. So with that said, I hope that 2025 continues on as worthwhile it is.
SO WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT!? HOW WILL SORA'S FATE INTERTWINE WITH AMANE NISHIKI!? WHAT COULD THIS MAN WANT FROM SORA IN A SIMPLE INTERVIEW!? AND WILL THE WORDS THAT THESE TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGE WITH EACH OTHER HAVE THE POSSIBILITY TO CHANGE HOW THINGS FOLLOW FOR EVERYONE INVOLVED!? ALL THIS AND MORE WHEN FATE RETURNS