Southern Frontier

The South Frontier of Echo, tundras and icy plains are common. The lands of the Negative Spirits, and all sorts of twilight creatures.

Black Land
Shion's travels takes him to the tall mountains that mark the edge of the Southern Frontier, at the same time, the curtain of darkness that spread over the horizon is now a blanket that covers the skies so much so that the blue clear skies further north are dim and pale. The very air Shion breathes is laced with thick negative aura, and occasionally he can hear faint whispers of darker spirits lurking just beyond his ability to sense.

"So this is the south," breathes Shion, observing his surroundings, "It reminds me of home... just a little. The air's a little heavier than I'd like, but... It's like after the Dark Samurai entered the lands..."

Off in the mountain pass leading into the lands, there is heavy snowfilled landscapes, in fact, a snow storm seems to be on its way. After a while, heading through this pass and into the snow, a shape ahead of him appears, a cloaked figure. After a moment, the figure emerges, darker than almost any definition of 'dark' he'd seen before. Barely visible on the figure's back is a flickering image of a scythe, which becomes more visible as Shion gets closer. Shion can absolutely not sense anything standing in the figure's presence, as though his senses regarding aura had completely shut down out of nowhere.

"....Stranger... ...you smell of the ill tempered Lord Endlos. Who are you?"

"A possible ambassador," says Shion, shrugging, "Honestly, I'm just making sure there isn't a brewing conflict, but I'm willing to mediate if I need to."

"My business is my own. The king has soured relations of his own accord. He refuses to believe my explanation regarding a incident with one of my subordinates and insists I had something to do with it. If he chooses to be an infantile brat, that's his business, not yours. Sainan has lost his sanity and is not fit for duty. That is a common occurance amongst the spirits here. It is the king who brews conflict, and I shall only heed diplomacy from a direct official, not a stranger swordsman."

"Eh, imagined as much," shrugs Shion again, "Don't get me wrong though, I'm doing this as a neutral party. I could possibly get him to see your side of the story, though that's neither here nor there. Really I'm just here out of curiosity and partially for possible diplomacy, but that's also here nor there."

"....." The figure leaves without a word, disappearing in a flash of red light that for some reason, makes Shion's neck hair stand up sharply.

"Hmmm..." Shion explores the area.

The area is largely bleak, tiny clusters of houses occasionally hidden deep within tight and obscure valleys. Occasionally a ripple of denser air flows by, and he briefly sees spirits flicker in and out of sight, some of them deformed and malevolent in appearance.

"As if the sword struck and the earth bled its agonizing life onto the world, marring its once beautiful flesh with the scars of pain..." recites Shion.

Shion becomes aware of footsteps nearby, but the source isn't clear.

He reacts slightly, a faint distortion present around his body. "Hopefully, a kindred spirit to whom I can recount many a tale..."

The noise continues, until finally a man in battle worn armor appears as though he had popped out of the snow.

"You shouldn't be out in the open. There are too many ravines where you can be spotted and yet the observer is hidden. I've been watching a while now, stranger."

"Ah," he replies, "Though I do not see a reason to conceal myself, I am willing to take advice. May I ask who you are?"

"A native, names aren't important. The negatives will gladly have you for a snack, if you are not cautious. A master one may be, but even the greatest warrior can die from a simple mistake. Perhaps the common spirits do not frighten you, but I would be wary of traveling in open areas. You haven't been attacked yet, have you?"

"Attacked? No. While I was expecting such a thing to happen at some point, it has yet to happen," Shion explains as his form begins to flicker and appear unstable. His presence, too, begins to flicker, as if he was never there in the first place.

"...Beware the Negative Wind Spirits..."

Shion nods before his form and presence are completely erased, his footsteps up to that point fading from the snow.

The man walks down through the ravine he had come, the ravine lay in such a way only at a specific angle could it be seen.

Shion continues onwards, his steps not marking the snow as he looks around.

Occasionally, he spots a well hidden ravine, and occasional houses, but he finds nothing of major significance.

"..." He silently trudges on.

After a few hours of wandering, Shion eventually becomes aware of a strange hooded being seemingly constantly at the far edge of his vision, always behind him. It maintains its distance, even if Shion approaches, it appears to with great ease, remain firmly an exact distance from him. Whatever it is, it is intent on following him, but equally intent to avoid confrontation.

Shion continues to look around, ready to take action if he needs to, but not putting on any aggressive airs.

"I wonder if there are more people to talk to..."

After a while longer, he takes another look, only to find the being is no longer in its prior position.

"Hmm..." He trudges onwards.

When he turns to continue on, the figure floats ahead in his path, now far closer than ever. A strange rippling of the air emits from it at this distance.

"Non-Existence Denizen or Concept Avatar," Shion asks, his eyes becoming grim as he purses his lips into a thin line.

The only response is an eerie laugh, the figure gains strength in appearance and rusted red chains form around, its limbs, head, torso, the whole body is restrained by chains. Out of thin air, several more chains appear like metallic snakes, audibly rattling. At one place on its chest area, all of the chains wrapping its body appear to meet at once place, in a form of 'X'. The figure itself is a robed being, its hood obscures any hint of a head, the insides of the robes are pure black, darker than any seen elsewhere, as if simply staring into its hood was staring into an abyss.

The chains suddenly lurch at him, growing jagged blades at the end, covered in a red aura.

"Of course, the former," he drones, jumping backwards as six swords materialize around him. He grabs two and crosses them. "Inferno Dance: Malefic Burst." Both weapons glow with black and blue flames before Shion's image flickers and he appears behind the figure, jagged crisscrossing lines of blue flame scoring the ground behind him.

The being warps instantaneously to a location opposite of him, and begins rapid firing bursts of destructive energy, each burst causing significant craters. A massive wall of chains forms around them, sealing the combatants off from the outside area, though the area the wall allows them is massive to say the least.

"Counterforce: Destruction Reverse." The flames on Shion's blades gain an unstable quality them as he dashes between the blasts. "Inferno Extension: Gnashing Hellfire Fangs." He makes two slashes with each sword, each slash followed by a black and blue set of teeth comprised of fire and energy that shreds space itself.

The red chains suddenly turn pure red, and the being suddenly Blinks right into Shion's space, which causes him to be shocked by incredibly raw and pure power, which repels him from its space at blinding speeds into the chain wall where he falls down. A series of red sparks fly from its chains, and the being now merely floats around slowly, circling him. As each spark occurs, less time passes between them.

"Heh, you're serious then," he smirks as a sharp feeling permeates the space. He stands back up and wipes his jaw before his demeanor changes entirely. "Luna Knife, Sol Sword, manifest." In place of the two swords he was once holding, a pale silver dagger with a rounded blade appears in one hand while a gold and orange sword with heavy sun motifs appears in the other. The four swords at his waist are replaced by a pair of oddly shaped blades, one with a mangled brown blade, the other with a blade that flares into the shape of an eight pointed star at the tip. "Crescent Fall, Rising Sun." Shion flickers, then vanishes, reappearing just to release a silvery blue wave of energy in the form of a crescent moon from the knife and let the sword glow radiantly.

"''I lok arvd o aaa euy daaaa... Sssssshion... di wv -illia!!" ''The being lets out a gargled tone as the chains glow again and spiral into a mass of countless blades which launch forward at Shion, slicing through the wave of energy, crackling with a red static as they travel.

"Counterforce: Tilt Reversal." Shion thrusts the knife foreward, creating a rippling craterized crescent moon of energy that bursts into into an innumerable nuber of blue spheres that begin to rotate extremely quickly and spin in place, repelling and tearing at all solid objects that come into contact with them.

The being strangely remains still and lets the attack hit it, though after a minute, it seems to absorb the energy. There is a silent pause, and the being seems to be motionless, the chains surrounding it seem limp for a moment. Then...

The being suddenly makes a powerful earth shaking howl that deafens Shion and at the same time pierces his ears, the howl absolutely otherworldly. It continues to howl, as it glows red, and slowly, in the center of their arena, a red light grows on the ground, slowly spreading outward. Once Shion looks up, he sees that the moon is now glowing violently red, as the light now fills the whole arena space.

"Yare yare daze... I'll have to stop using the dull blades," sighs Shion, shaking his head. "Moon Song, Sun Dance." The weapons in Shion's hands change, the knife elongating into a thin sword with a gently curving blade, hooking sharply at the very end while the sword in his other hand coils and twists into what appears to be a longer, serrated corkscrew blade.

"Ingant! Kasack! Itami! Damasu! Seikatsu! Gyakusū! Can you see it...?"

Sudden a massive blast from the moon is fired upon the whole of the arena, beginning to blow a hole down and beyond the crust.

"Rending Slash: Lunar Eclipse." Shion makes a sudden movement that causes him to blur before a thin line of white splits the blast in half, the line traveling across the sky and parting the clouds, doing something similar to the ground before stopping after a certain distance and inverting all that it touched.

The being floats in place after the light fades. After a minute, it speaks.

"SSSsssssshion... ...this one is indeed strong... ....of course it is... ...it defeated one of them, how could it not? Khehehehehheeheeeee...."

"I wonder if it can see the links."

"The links connected to all..."

"Of course it can't... ...none of them see. They are all blind."

The being seems to be strangling communicating both to him and several other voices, which all seem to be coming from the being itself.

"The Neverending Fate. When shall you see the links and see the truth...?"

Its chains grow longer and begin to whip at him, Nonexistence energy surging through them.

"Rending Slash: Moonbeam." Shion makes a slash beyond the speed of light with the thin sword, the slash appearing as a silvery beam of light seconds after he seemingly teleports through the chains. The beam is actually a multitue of extremely acute slashes from the sword,  covered in a replenishing energy field. "...If a real fight is what you want, I'll give you one." Shion's eyes, become the color of sharpened steel as he looks at the being, an aura akin to a sea of swords erupting from him as countless rectangles of light form behind him.

"''Whimsical One... ...The Great Balance... ...The Judge... ....You are all... ...unnecessary..." ''Its voices hisses.

Red eyes glow beneath the hood, and a rush of energy comes out of the being, and the attack Shion unleashed is snuffed out, and suddenly his weapons feel incredibly heavy.

"As are you," taunts Shion, an eerie darkness creeping into his eyes. "The Sword of a Lost Era- No, the Sword Born of Strife, I am." Shion glows with a static like aura as his eyes darken completely and his skin gains a silvery-grey tint. The swords in his hands lose color and fade to black and silver while the rectangles of light behind him become vortexes of a chilling white mist like energy.

''"And that too, is useless. How amusing is your mortal titles, when they so poorly reflect the true meaning... ...you know nothing of pain. Nothing of strife... if you only understood the truth... you would be a sword of destruction." ''Again, his swords feel unnaturally heavy, to the point he cannot lift them.

"Indeed, I am when I choose to be. I know pain well, 'tis a lifelong companion of all that live," he returns, holding and raising  his swords despite their weight. "The wars of one are the wars of many, small errors growing into grand tragedies, all without meaning. And yet it continues and continues and continues until it becomes the very nature of those who sought to avoid it. I am man and I am blade, my weapon and I are one in the same. I am a weapon, forged to fight and made to sever. And yet I am a person who desires peace and wishes no ill will upon those I encounter. A blatant contradiction in the face of many, but one that accepts itself and its dual nature.

"Your words are empty to me, empty and hollow ringing.  The rantings of a nihilist selfishly believing that the only meaning in things is their ultimate return to the origin. If everything is pointless, you haven't truly lived to see anything."

"It is ironic... kesskiadhhagh... that a being like you would preach to me about pain..."

The chains seem to float ominously about the being, no difference in their behavior can be detected, even when one comes close and slices Shion's arm, there is a lack of hostility.

"What's the matter? Why can't you lift your 43445?"

"Is this all there is to the so called, 'Sword of Strife?'"

"Pathetic..."

"Hmm, I guess I could use a bit more power," says Shion, allowing his swords to vanish. A blue and white scabbard appears at his side with no sword within. "I guess I could use the new guy for a bit." He draws the scabbard and creates a makeshift hilt of energy for it before pointing the piece of equipment at the entity.

The being's fingers begin to spasm wildly, as fireballs begin to erupt out of nowhere at Shion, and it begins to move very erratically and swiftly, making it very difficult to keep track of where the fireblasts are coming through.

Shion closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before swiftly and precisely reflecting each fireball sent at him with the scabbard he holds.

The being begins to laugh sporadically, with an almost childlike tone. Its whole figure heaves with the force of its laughter, and red static begins to violently spark around the arena.

"Ah, you're angry aren't you," he asks putting the scabbard at his side as if readying an iaido technique.

The being's chains begin to glow, starting from where the chains all meet together at its chest, flowing outward to its edges, and then it begins to shriek wildly as they now glow solidly, and suddenly Shion feels a horrible twinge as he realizes it has somehow brought him into Nonexistence, as the scene dissolves into static.

After a moment, the being's robes begin to burn away in the environment...

"Great, this place again..." Shion sighs, gathering energy into himself and condensing it. "Enna, Zei, Alritz, Lyth, Kai, Syn..."

The burned away robes reveals a horned child's skeleton, which lets out a horrid shriek, before dissolving away as well, and from the energy surrounding him, a massive black knight appears.

"''I shall show you.... ....THE TRUE SWORD OF STRIFE!" ''A voice unlike the others echoes darkly, before the being brings down its gargantuan energy sword upon Shion, who is sent slamming down back into the arena, taking massive damage from the strike. The being descends, once again covered in the same chains, and robes.

It makes a less intense laugh, then begins to silently and slowly circle him, making no directly aggressive moves.

"Counter Guard: Avalon Reversal." The force from the strike sent at Shion is redirected at the figure at over seven times its original speed and force imbued with an power akin to infinite expansion and potential, the damage he took having been restored.

The being seems to idly float and dodge, though some of the floating chains get severed, which dissolve. It looks at the dissolving chains and seems to make a mildly annoyed noise, then the chains regrow.

It continues to circle him.

"Hmm, then my hunch was right. Tidal Dance: Flowing Current." Shion enters a stance with no defensive openings and closes his eyes.

The chains begin to slowly glow again.

A faint flickering quality begins to affect Shion as he maintains his stance.

The chains gain a flickering static and begin to lunge at him, small sharp blades on their ends.

Each chain that nears him is abruptly and clearly severed without Shion appearing to move.

It pulls back the chains, now letting out a more distinct growl of annoyance. The very air itself cracks from the force of the noise, and the immediate space of the being begins to ripple.

Shion shifts his stance to that of a one handed fencing type.

The ripples become bullet like projectiles that begin firing at him from the center of the disturbance, tearing apart anything they touch, even the air.

"How dull," mutters the swordsman as the projectiles are curved away from him then immediately bisected and diced to miniscule pieces.

The figure seems to make a sharp inhaling noise, before a explosion abruptly knocks him off his feet. Its fingers begin to twitch violently, as a red light begins to surround it.

The explosion is abruptly divided into four parts while Shion maintains his stance, even in the air. The sheathe he holds begins to glow with gold and blue light.

The light spreads into a solid dome of red around the being, completely tearing apart the space and time near it. A sickening laugh echoes from the creature.

"Quite done," asks Shion as a multitude of gashes appear on the part of the dome nearest to him. The light manifesting around the sheathe grows brighter and gains an oddly irritating quality.

The gashes appear to have no effect on the shield after a minute, and the being is begining to consolidate energy.

The glow around the sheathe begins to wrap around Shion as well.

Shion's vision begins to violently flicker from normal to red.

"..." Shion tilts the sheathe ever so slightly.

His vision abruptly dies out as a pulse of energy comes from the being.

The being feels an odd disturbance within itself as a more irritating feeling permeates the space.

It automatically cancels out the disturbance. All of his senses abruptly die out.

The irritation only worsens as a radiant light descends from the heavens, the feeling similar to being presented with a distorted reflection of oneself. Shion seems to be completely unaffected by the loss of senses as he points the sheathe and beam upon beam of white pierces through the being, forming corrosive chains of pure white that stagnate and halt what they touch, physical and otherwise.

The light, white beams, and chains all are violently repelled as the being's shield first grows and then explodes, a disruptive wave canceling out all phenomena.

The being glows pure red, then the chains begin to break apart and dissolve, and the cloak beings to burn.

"Ougi: Shirayuki." The heat in the area is rapidly dispelled and the movement of space itself becomes dull and sluggish as a chill older than the origin of life or form permeates the area. The cold is so great that ice is unable to form and that the faintest of breaths results in a flurry of floating ice crystals.

The being continues to fade, ignoring the effects of the technique outright. The last Shion sees is a vague figure of static as the cloak disappears, before it too vanishes, and a summoning rune falls from the center, and crumbles to dust.

The area around Shion is consumed by a powerful blizzard of unnatural cold and the air simply freezes.

"Maybe I put to much into that?" He shrugs and fades back to a near nonexistent state before continuing forward.

For a long time, he discovers little to nothing of interest.

"At least the silence is my company."

Scavengers of the South
Shion continues wandering, few things to see except vast empty snowfields, marred by occasional outcroppings of pure black rock. As he travels though, he comes across a strange location. The black rock continues to appear in frequency, until he sees the first volcanic mountain, spewing forth fire and ash into the sky.

Off in the distance, he sees more such displays in horizon. Scattered at the base of these firey summits are scattered ruins of various degrees of standing, from piles of rubble to recently abandoned. Though if anything actually lives in them, he can't tell.

"Hmm..." Shion flicks a metallic marble into the area.

He gets the sudden feeling that something is present, more specifically that someone is watching, from a nearby mountain overlooking one of the towns.

He flicks several more marbles into the area.

One of the marbles as it flies is suddenly shot by an arrow mere moments after he flicked it, and then an arrow flies dangerously close to his foot.

A marble is shot at the source of the arrow at a much higher speed as Shion exhales deeply. Next to a nearby pillar still standing above the snow, a woman with black hair, and a dim grey eye, along with a glowing bright red eye appears. She appears heavily bandaged, wearing simple clothing, and wields a longbow, with an arrow notched at his location, roughly. Her red eye is fixated almost exactly on him, its glow almost daring him to do it again.

"There are few creatures that can hide from my gaze. Fewer still that cannot be tracked. But there is no being of blood I cannot find. So human, if that's what you truly are, show yourself. I know you're there. Hurry up so I can feast on your blood." She says in a hoarse voice.

"My kin will certainly rejoice at this blessing the Dark Lord grants us."

"Alas, that is not on my agenda, Night Child. A traveller such as I isn't in the position to be consumed at this point and certainly isn't going allow themself to be threatened. Drop your weapon, your arrows msy fly fast, but I assure you that my strike will be faster," says Shion tossing a metallic orb into the air, then catching it and positioning it between his thumb and forefinger. "I'd rather not cause unneeded damage, but don't underestimate me." Though he smiles as he says this, the pressure behind his words is nearly palpable.

"...Do you think I can honestly ignore my thirst after so long? No, I am not leaving without my thirst sated..." She rasps.

"As for your agenda, your agenda is pointless here. The only things this land follows its its own. That is how we have survived these long cruel years. While humans enjoy a life of plenty, we remain in shadows and the cold, hungry. To me you are nothing but food. What hunter am I if I let it get away just because it 'inconveniences' it?"

She draws an arrow, her red eye locking onto the marble, independently of her normal eye, which is focused on the bow. Shion notices the eye is not actually standing still, but moving subtly, at first appearing random, but in fact appearing to be mapping out any potential attack preemptively.

"Oh, and a warning to you... ...my arrows and my bow are not my only weapon... ...you'll find that out soon enough. Enough talk. I have a family to feed."

"You'll regret this decision," he warns, aiming the marble. "You've decided on the wrong prey, 'Hunter'." His smile doesn't fade.

"Say what you will... I would rather die than leave my family to die. Unlike I, they cannot last without blood... ....with this, they will last until the Dark Lord grants us reign over the humans, and then... and then we will never want for food again....!" She rasps.

"...How pitiful. If all you do is hang in the shadows and wait, nothing will be granted to you. If you cannot achieve your goals without another, you have no right to be called a hunter, only a scavenger- a picker of scraps, a simple carrion feeder at best." He fires the marble upwards. "I'll end it thus."

"Apparently you've never been forced to live impoverished. Living as both the hunter and the hunted. Cast out because you were born different. Scavengers we are, but we have no choice. We are too few now to fight as one, and selfish desires plague our clans. Too weak, too hungry. Can you blame us though? What do you know of my goals in the first place? My only desire is to save my family. You are the pitiful one, for judging those born into their plight from the beginning. You have no right to live." She retorts.

She strangely does nothing though, aside from putting her hand in her pocket, and pulling out a vial of red liquid.

"Impoverished? You are correct there, but you clearly know nothing of having to destroy those close to you, living in solitude because you pose too much of a threat to those you are oath bound to protect because of 'shadow' that resides within you.  You claim that being born into plight makes you justified, that only makes you pitiable in the eyes who have experienced hardship and dredged through it. Your circumstance is nothing to one such as I." He casually shifts into a neutral stance.

Something changes in the vampire's red eye, and a red aura comes about her.

"You are not that bright... are you? It is irrelevant, the plight of one is always greater than the plight of others. You will learn that no matter the scale, that pain is pain. Regardless of how or what shape it comes in." She says evenly.

"I am Zinda of the Bloodmist and of the Demonhunter. I hope you pay attention... ...you will need it."

"This skirmish was won before it began. I need not reveal my true hand or name to one who can only detect my presence by smell. It would be best that you pay attention, your enemy is not only me." The passive stance Shion has does not change as he radiates an aura akin to a blade sharpened to perfection and snaps his fingers.

She gives him a bored expression, and she reveals the marble he had launched into the air, which becomes blood in her grasp.

"I don't need to detect you by scent. You revealed yourself in full to me. ...Perhaps I should repeat myself... ...you should really pay attention. You've been out in the open for about ten minutes."

Her red eye shifts again, as Shion becomes personally aware of this fact.

"I am all too aware that you are powerful- -you reek of the Abomination." She says then gestures to the countless ruins around them.

"It is that same creature you fought earlier that laid waste to this region. Though I must say, our hunters have done far better than you fighting it. Did you know it had multiple forms?. You take me as weak, but you don't comprehend quite the extent of my capacity. You didn't even see me grab it from the air, did you? Nor did you even notice my area of affect which dulled your mind. You've been breathing my poison since you walked in here. It shut down your ability, what ever it is, to hide. Right now, you're wide open. You'll have to wait a few hours for the poison to expel from your system.

....Now to buisness... ....give me blood. Or I'll take all of your blood by force. I'm a reasonable woman. Unlike my fellow hunters. Though I doubt they could even notice you."

"Actually, you're quite off. The Abomination you speak of wasn't really challenging, rather I chose to prolong the bout in order to understand it better- I decided I would shatter its chains once I grew bored. The poison you speak of would be vexing were it not for the fact that I had detected long ago and immunized myself to it, being a user of many  poisons myself. Additionally, you seem to think that piling on advantages for yourself helps in the slightest.

"I wonder if you noticed that the quality of the wind has shifted or the metallic tinge to the air or even the shift in density of the ground around you. You claim to have dulled my mind, but you make the mistake of thinking that because something is active it will effect everyone. You also seem to think that I am defenseless without a weapon in hand in this situation and that I rely solely on strength when you clearly haven't fully comprehended the nature of my words... Hmm, it should have reached that point by now...

"Oh and threatening a person whom you don't know is never a good idea, especially when they may be a greater predator than you realize. It's a bad business practice and it leads to many failed agreements and treaties. Still, if that's your way of doing things, so be it." Shion shrugs then straightens his hand.

"Humorous. I believe you are the one who has been threatening me. Since when have I til now actually expressed an intent to kill you? I'm only after blood, swordsman. And also, you're just making baseless assumptions of my character at this point. I never once indicated that I thought that about you. Defenseless or the reliance of strength alone. What I have said, is that you are being incredibly unobservant. And still are. At this rate, the only person who is going to die is you, through sheer stupidity of character. You blindly assume that it is you who have an advantage, not even knowing my power. Tell me something, why would I challenge you? I've already seen your capability while fighting the Abomination. You obviously are more than you seem."

Shion's hand does not respond, in fact both arms are numb.

"But that doesn't change the fact that you underestimated your opponent. As it happens, you aren't even aware of what I've been doing, have you?" Her eye shifts for the third time.

"I told you - pay attention. As a consequence of your arrogance, I'll take your arms now." His arms explode into a fount of blood, pouring all over the ground in waves, leaving only stumps. The blood streams toward Zinda, and she opens the vial, and the blood flows into it, once it has seeped inside, she closes the vial, and a red seal forms on it, and she pockets it.

"Blood Alter." She intones, and her eye shifts for a fourth time, revealing a pentagram, glowing fiercely, and a sensation akin to being boiled alive sets in.

"You really think so?  Unfortunately, my body is not within your range of power, not even my 'blood'." As Shion says this the vial shatters and the blood from his arms flows back into him, cleansed of anything that mixed with it, reforming into the proper shape of him arms. "Oxidation, Titanium Metallurgy, Carbonation, Smelting, Transmutation and Forging. Resultant: Diamond Aventnium." Zinda begins to notice tiny cuts and sear marks on her arms and face.

"Purifying, superheating, cooling, ionizing, restructuring, calcification, crystallization, compression and fold. Resultant: Crystal Dimensium." Shion is no longer affected by the burning sensation, rather it seems to now affect Zinda.

"You can try that again, but I assure you, the result will be entirely different... Hmm, it should be at its apex by now... I'll tell you this: There is a reason I am not drawing my blade." Shion's smile has yet to fade.

The same time as the tiny smears and cuts form, Shion is affected at the same time. The burning sensation returns a thousand fold to Shion, and the effects seem irreversable.

"I'd watch what you're doing," She warns.

The effect only magnifies on Zinda as well.

"Likewise to you," he returns, unphased by the heat or cuts. If anything, the cuts have more of an effect than the burning sensation does, but not by much.

She smiles. "If you're bouncing damage back to me, I'm afraid the only thing we can expect is an endless exponential. You might as well quit." The heat magnifies accordingly.

"Have you gotten a grasp of my power yet?"

"Bouncing back? No, try again." The heat on her end increases to match the heat affecting Shion, who is still unbothered by it.

"...I'll give you a hint..." She says. "Look on your chest." Upon looking down, Shion sees the same symbol that is in Zinda's eye, though it is barely visible.

"If you have heard of the principle of the voodoo doll, then you should be within the realm of vaguely understanding what it is that has happened. You see, if you were to kill me- -in any manner, shape or form cause a form of 'harm' to me, the effect will unfortunately, be applied to you at the same moment. And also... ...any harm I do to myself...." She slices her neck, and a similar cut opens on Shion's. "Is also done to you. That is the... ...basic idea of this situation. But it's more complicated than that..."

"Hmm... Magnesium, Benzene, Sulfur, Ammonium Nitrate and Hydrogen." A greenish blue flame appears around Shion. "Pentagram... Hmm... Glory of the Ten Powers, Claimh Solais, Onimaru Kunitsuna and Caledfwlch." A soothing aura envelopes Shion, though it serves as a severe irritant for Zinda.

"Are you.... ...slow?" She asks, as the aura shatters like glass, and Shion is violently ill.

"There is something you aren't getting, and I should clarify it. You cannot win against me. You see, each time my eye has shifted, I have gained a stronger bond with you. First it was your blood..." His blood starts boiling. "Then it was your body..." Paralysis sets in. "Then your soul..." His vision grows dim. "And the nail in the coffin... your existence." This time nothing happens, but the hairs on his neck stand up.

"My power is called Blood Alter. It is a high class combination of life manipulation and blood magic. It works by the 'poison' still circulating inside you. You see, you mentioned you became immune to it, but that's not actually true. The truth is that it behaves like the retrovirus. In other words, even if your body made antibodies, in one second the poison will have made over ten thousand variations since it started. My eye detects this poison in your system and allows me to synchronize with you. As I said, there are four phases of this. The longer the battle, the less likely you can kill me without offing yourself.

I believe that is your weakness above all. You take way too long to carry out your powers. Even if your power is far more formidable than mine initially, you wasted your chance to defeat me. By the second phase, the only hopes of defeating me lie in spiritual and existence powers. But now, I'm basically immune to you. Though it does have a flaw: if you leave the area of effect of this poison, it wears off in three hours, and my eyes lose their progress. In other words, my power resets. However, three hours is plenty of time for me to take my leave after this battle and be long gone.

I am not trying to fight you. You picked the fight with me. If I was serious, both our heads would be rolling on the floor right now. Will you cease your nonsense? I just wanted blood, an ounce at the most. Shion, you're a good fighter in practice, but if your execution is too slow, well, someone else's will get you first. Now... I believe we should reintroduce ourselves..."

She says, then her eyes go blank, and the ill feeling and the immediate effects she had just cast upon him fade. She falls to the ground, and makes a oddly... wooden sound.

From the shadows of the nearest building, the real Zinda appears, looking down at her doll.

"I am the leader of the Bloodmist clan of the vampires of Echo, Zinda. But I told you that already. Shall we start on a more friendly tone, or do I need to play with you some more? Forgive my confrontational behavior, but as I may have mentioned, my family starves, and I am rather desperate for nourishment myself. Continue where we left off if you wish, it will serve you no purpose. Why are you here in these lands?"

"Unfortunately, a retrovirus cannot spread if there is nothing to spread from or to," says Shion, yawning as the aura returns and covers a much larger area. "Your blood magic is also useless. Think back to when I was listing forging terms not to long ago, that wasn't to change the air quality or add an unknown agent to this space, that was only a byproduct of what I did. You see, my forte is changing the battlefield, internally and externally, not swords or assassination or diplomacy, those are just things I prefer. When you first tried to take my arms, I slightly modified myself, when you applied your voodoo I modified myself again and again, making the me from then entirely different from the current me, physically, spiritually and composition wise. Essentially, the me you became immune to is an obsolete existence. Your virus lacks a host to connect to or spread from and blood magic tends to fail when there is no blood to affect. You could try again, but as I said before, it won't work the way you want it to.

"That being said, you are the one who instigated this in the first place. I recognized that someone was here so I used the marbles, precious little thungs they are, to triangulate the location of any possible life, you were the one who fired an arrow, then demanded that I give you something in such a way that it came across as a threat. Then you continued in such a way that I met the challenge set do to your misconstrued words. If you've been paying attention, you'd notice I've purposely moved slowly rather than turning this place into a sea of chaos and swords and that I've chosen reactions over direct attacks. I wonder why that is, it obviously isn't because I'm not really in the mood to fight as opposed to explore- No, that would be too convenient and unreasonable~." Shion chuckles to himself.

"You have nothing to laugh about. You apparently misinterpreted severely what you were just told." She points at him, and over half of his body glows red. She lowers her finger, and the glow disappears.

"Don't get such a swelled head. I knew that's what you're doing. When I said poison, did you really think that was literal? When I said retrovirus, did you think that's what it actually was? Or are you just that damn stupid? If my technique was merely a physiological move, what you described would be effective. But as you have clearly failed to understand, the virus became a part of you. Every time you change yourself? The 'virus' changed to become effective against your changes. Change, change, and change again, it'll just counter you. My magic is not 'voodoo'. I mentioned it as a way to describe the effect I had put on you. That does not make it voodoo. You are obsolete to me."

She turns her back on him. "What you percieve and what is fact are two different things. Do not be so arrogant. You won't live much longer if you do. Hmmph. I was hoping you would be reasonable. I have no interest in killing a fool. Goodbye. I'm sparing your life."

She turns and walks away, the doll disappearing.

If the people of the North have such empty minded people like him, we will win with ease.

Shion laughs again, "I really doubt you understand what I've really done, only the most basic version of it, evolving  'virus' or not. That aside, you cannot kill that which eternal lies and your words are your own enemy, Night Child. Had you asked as opposed to attempted to force, the result would have been different entirely, but most never let that thought cross their mind first. That aside, what I choose to laugh at and when I choose to is up to me, regardless of situation. While you say that you've spared me, you lack the real means to damage me in such a way that I would get serious or choose to go on the offensive. Additionally, you've yet to comprehend my true nature or at least the nature of my current blade, but I don't blame you, I'm the type to make others insult the intelligence of a species when I'm in a jovial mood.

"But seriously, change your approach. Were it my teacher, brother in arms or partner, this place would have been razed or worse. That being said..." He snaps his fingers abd something akin to a small meteorite strikes the ground directly before Zinda. "There, that should sate you for a month or so, assuming you don't gorge yourself feeding. Think of it as an apology for misinterpreting you, I was at fault as well." The object appears to be a torso sized crystal the color of fresh blood. Shion then glides past Zinda, looking for a coastline area.

Mountains, snow, volcanoes, next should be the sea or lack thereof.q

She says nothing of his words, but watches him go. "You won't find much further south. The north land and the south land have never been fully explored. An endless tomb of ice is all that awaits further on past the southern most mountains. Most believe it insidiously bad luck to even attempt to cross the Endless Plain that lies beyond."

She touches the crystal with a hand, closing her eyes.

"So lack thereof then... Well a sea of land is still a sea~." He continues onwards fading away as if he were never there in the first place. Strangely, Zinda can no longer smell him by blood. The crystal mass glows on contact and a faint trickle of deep red liquid comes from it.

Zinda looks over the crystal, then draws forth her magic to summon it to her strong hold in the mountain. She then trudges through the snow up toward a hidden cave.

Shion continues onwards silently. ''Hmmm, that drive seems to be reacting... Is 'that' ability activating? If so I'm losing what time I have left with her...''

He finds little else than rugged wild, scattered shelters, some abandoned, but some locked up. Occasional humanoid prints can be seen.

He only travels onwards.

Endless Ice
As Shion travels, all he encounters is endless ice past the vast barren mountain ranges, though after some time, he can hear the ringing of bells.

"Hmm... Another relapse is eminent." Shion seems to be focusing on something entirely different.

The bells change in their frequency, pitch, and distance continually, but he never sees the source.

"Stability returning, but the drive is active." Shion's skin loses its faint metallic tint.

Shion is gradually able to discern patterns amongst the ringing, too precise to be the result of mere movements.

"All of this chatter is doing a number on my headache..." He sighs and plops down, clearing his mind of his issues.

After a while further, he feels the presence of a few scattered individuals moving among the near seamless icesheets.

"Ah, finally showing themselves..." He closes his eyes and rests for a bit.

He eventually hears a very soft set of footprints, as one of them comes close to a few feet from him.

"You've business with me?"

A female figure wearing cloth over their whole body emerges from the snow's white haze, crawling on all fours with a faint jingle of a bell. The only characteristic he can make of her is her black hair and glowing blue eyes. She appears taller than an average shapeshifter. On her back is a tachi blade strapped against her form.

"You bare a scent of the La'parsa. The... ...Revered Ones." She seems to have a poor dialect of the common tongue.

"Ah? Well that has two cannotations." Shion stretches. "Anything else?"

"Why do you travel White Sands?"

"The number of reasons I could give is innumerable, but if I were to choose one it would be boredom and restlessness rolled into one." He shrugs.

The rest of her companions soon accompany her forward, various males and females with similar levels of covering as she.

A male soon speaks. "Are you lost or otherwise in need of shelter?"

"Lost, maybe, probably. In need of shelter, no. The temperature is rather relaxing."

"We can take you to our encampment if you would prefer it. So long as you tell us of how the La'parsa fair."

"I wonder... They could be fairly well off, they could be under assault by elder gods from before sentient mortal life became widespread..." He clutches his head as a violet symbol forms on his forehead. "If the name Caess means anything to you, her curse was lifted. That and the one on her children."

The male pauses. "The name scratches memory, but not instinctively familiar. ...Curse.... We will speak more at camp. Caess is.... ....La'parsa?"

"I'd assume so, but we barely interacted." The symbol pulses faintly, almost like a heartbeat.

The group becomes slightly uneasy. "...Do you fair well?"

"I have a splitting headache and everything is moving at about a thousandth of the normal speed. Can't really say. The drive isn't doing anything unusual."

"..." The male starts off back into the snow, the others regard him unsure.

Shion only lays back.

"Do you wish to accompany us?"

"Is there a place where I would be able to be alone?"

"Yes."

"So long as I am granted a space to be alone, then I guess I could accompany you. Otherwise your best bet would be to clear out of the area within the next ten kilometers."

"Very well." They depart.

"To stay or to go... Eh, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt." Shion picks himself up and follows soundlessly.

The tribe doesn't seem to communicate vocally, merely by the sound of their bells as they travel the featureless snow.

Shion simply follows along. ''Hmm, maybe I should revert my blood back from Aqua Vitae... Later.''

Eventually the group reaches a white cliffface along a range of mountains, about this time, light erupts into being all across the landscape as the sea of blackness rips into nothing.

''Ah, he's moving... Too bad fighting is a no until my symptoms stop.''

The group continues on, a bit faster than before, until they reach a village carved into the icewall of the cliff, surrounded by smaller igloos all around, a small ice wall serves as the only border, tall enough for the village to use as defense against wildlife, not much else.

Minimalist. Shion glances around briefly.

The soft sound of flutes can be heard as they approach, a soft melody flowing with the cold wind rather than against it. One of the females seems to be leading him to a more remote section of the village with his request in mind.

Southbound Now North
Drake appears in the air above a stretch of powdery white snow, and falls down onto a hill. He eventually rolls to a stop, and notices he's landed in the middle of a thick pine forest.

''Drake stands up and takes a look around, sighing in slight annoyance. ''"Great... I can't tell if I'm any closer." ''Drake looks up at the sun. ''"Rise in East, set in West... Unless that's changed in Echo as well, and if I recall..." After a moment of discussing to himself, Drake turns towards the direction he needs to go and continues walking through the forest.

After a while, he starts to hear a sound akin to bells.

''Natrually, Drake follows the sound. ''"Huh, guess I've ran into a town..."

He finds no town, but only more forest. The ringing seems to be getting louder, but is just as elusive as mist.

"...Echo, I love this place, but my God this world can be confusing..." Drake continues to follow to the source of the sound.

After a little bit farther, the distant tone of the bells seem to stop, and becomes very distinctive right above him in the trees.'

After a moment, Drake takes a couple of steps back and looks up at whatever is causing the noise.

In the next moment, a form rushes through the overgrowth and tackles him, Drake finds himself pinned by a black haired woman with glowing blue eyes, apart from this, he can't tell much about her due to her body being covered in cloth from head to toe, a small opening in her headwear allows for him to see the eyes but nothing more. After a quiet moment she speaks.

"Where do you come from?" He finds that she has rather powerful muscles, getting her off is not going to be easy, though she doesn't carry a strictly dangerous air.

''Drake chuckles. ''"...Heh, I should have seen that trap a mile away, I guess my senses have dulled a bit..." ''Drake looks directly at the eyes and tilts his head. ''"...Fairy-shapeshifter?" He curiously asks.

"...La'parsa." Drake notices she has a rather cold aura about her. "Where you from?"

"Specific birth place or... Becuase if not, I just teleported here from the North."

She tilts her head for a moment, then gets off him. "You mentioned the Fey?"

"...Yeah? Why?" Drake fixes his shirt and jacket before looking back at what so easily fooled him.

He notices a necklace of small metal bells that jingle with her movements, and a set of feathers woven into a headpiece that reminds him of Aoi.

"Take you." She turns toward the North and begins walking.

"Woah hold on, I may need your help with something... Specifically directions."

She turns her head back at him. "Take you to Fey. Help?"

"...Why do you seem offended by that."

"Offend? No." She continues walking.

''Drake shrugs and follows the woman. ''"So... You have a limited vocabulary with human language, alright then... Can I get a name?"

"Emlha." As she walks, he can hear her dingling bells.

''After a moment, it starts to get on his nerves. ''"Well... Emlha, can you take those bells off?"

"Negative."

Drake just sighs in response, eventually creating a fireball and beginning to toy around with it.

She continues to guide him North with a silent affinity with the land which makes him seem loud and clumsy with ease.

"...I do question why you're helping a total stranger go to the Moonlight palace."

"I know your intention is pure."

"Can't argue with that... So thank you." Drake says before letting the fireball dissipate.

They continue for a few more hours, the envoirment gradually gets warmer.

"So how come you rushed me? Thought I was an attacker?" Drake asks.

"Better to know than to assume."

"So it wouldn't be a first that something like this has happened?"

"Strange happenings? Common."

"I see... So, can I ask about... I assume you call it clan?"

"We Perma, live nowhere. Live among snow and ice. La'parsa are beloved to us." The air is considerably warmer, he can start to see areas without snow from atop the hill they most recently climbed.

"Huh... I guess we're closer than I thought. Once more, thanks for helping me out." ''After a moment, Drake sighs. ''"My heart's getting heavy, telling them what happened isn't going to end well."

"Honesty and open heart bridges even great ravine."

"If you say so... Y'know... I probably know I way to the palace now, if you want to go back, then that's ok." Drake says as he examines his surrounding area.

She disappears in a whirl of snow and ice. Beyond him a country of rolling hills and plains stretches out. In the distance is a small mountain range, which strikes him as familiar.

Drake faintly smiles as he takes in his surroundings, his wings sprout out and stretch before Drake flies slower than usual towards the mountain range.

As he flies closer, he eventually notices a wall between two large mountains, and a gate, the entrance of the Moonlight Shire.

"Well... Here goes..." Drake flies faster towards the entrance, he mentally prepares himself for anything that may happen.

Two guards hail him.

''Drake lands in front of the two guards, his wings folding up as he looks at them. ''"Hello."

They pause for a moment, then suddenly bow. "Drake Ryunexo, you have returned. Do you require an escort to the palace?"

Drake ponders for a moment before silently nodding towards the two.

"Alright then, follow us." They begin to walk on the road behind them, motioning to other guards, who take their place.

''He follows the guards and takes a look around, but sinks his head down as thousands upon thousands of thoughts cloud his mind. 'This... Is going to be tough.'''

Upon reaching the palace gates, the guards leave. "Good day to you sir."

"Thank you." Drake looks at the gates before he begins to open them himself.

Upon opening them, his face is tackled by a yellow blur.

"Drakey!"

''Drake chuckles and hugs the yellow blur. ''"Hello to you to, Aiko, it's nice to see you again."

"You're back again! Can I have a ride?" She says, sitting on his shoulder.

"Sure, but not for long, I need to talk to your parents... But for now." Drake begins racing around at a suitable pace for Aiko.

"Wheeeee~!"

"So, how has everything been over here?" Drake asks while he stretches out his wings and hovers around.

"Same, lots of scary storms in South. Michiko is set to return to New Vince... *sniff*."

"Oh, is she? Huh... Any idea to when she will be going? And storms in the South... Yeah, I've noticed." Drake says as he picks Aiko up and begins lightly throwing her up and catching her with ease.

''"Wheeee!" ''She giggles.

"A few days." He hears Michiko's aristocratic voice speak up.

''Drake turns to look at Michiko. ''"Oh hello Michi, nice to see you again."

"You as well. ...How is Nori?"

''By this moment, Drake lands and puts Aiko down, he then looks at Michiko. ''"We need to talk... You, Momoka, Osamu and I."

Her face falls. "...Oh..." She looks away for a moment.

''Drake looks at Aiko. ''"I'll be back to play with you soon, alright?" ''Drake then begins to walk past Michiko. ''"We'll need somewhere to talk away from the others." He whispers to Michiko as to not let Aiko hear.

She nods quietly, and begins to walk him into the palace.

Drake stays equally as silent as he follows Michiko, his guilt finally starting to build up with each step he takes.

Michiko offers him her hand.

"No thanks..." Drake says as he clenches his hands together.

Michiko takes him to the throne room, where Osamu and Momoka sit. Upon seeing him, Momoka gets out of her seat and rushes forth, embracing him.

"Welcome back Drake."

He just stays silent and doesn't move, not even a bit.

After a moment of silence, she silently pats his back, as though comforting him.

"...Show him, Michiko." Momoka says quietly after a moment.

Drake looks at Momoka with a slight confusion before turning his head towards Michiko.

In Michiko's left hand is the hilt of a japanese katana, with a yellow color scheme... ...Lightning Slayer. Drake can see the pain that Michiko was previously hiding while she holds it.

"Oh..." ''A silent moment passes before Drake speaks up again, his tone filled with despair. ''"I'm sorry..."

Osamu speaks up. "Remember what I said before Drake?" His voice is impartial.

"Yes... And I still plan to stick to that, even if it kills me, Osamu." Drake responds.

"Then you are not yet a fool. And I doubt it would kill you."

''Drake suddenly bows to Osamu. ''"I'm greatful for your words, Osamu, I truly am..." ''Drake then stands back up and looks at Michiko. ''"Could I hold it?"

Michiko looks at the blade with a mixed expression of deep pain, revulsion, and despair.

"Michiko, I promise you - this entire family, that they will see Noriko again with no harm..." ''Drake glances at the Slayer before opening his palm. ''

She gingerly holds the hilt toward him.

Drake hesitates at first but then wraps his hand onto the handle of the Slayer.

Almost immediately he feels the strong rebuke of the blade in the form of a powerful electric current.

''He falls to his knees as lightning sporadically arcs around his entire right arm, but he continues to hold onto it for a few moments before having to let go. He gasps for air as a trickle of blood escapes his mouth, he then begins to talk again after coughing. ''"My God... So that's how it feels... Jesus..." Drake looks at the Slayer for a moment with slight shock.

Momoka places a hand on him.

"I'm fine... Just wasn't expecting that..." ''Drake stands back up and sighs. ''"So... Do the others know about this?"

"Michiko and Kumiko, as well as Akarui and Mabushii. We haven't told Haruko.... She's her twin so..." Momoka trails off.

"So basically... Aiko, Hoshiko, and Haruko, alright."

"Yes... we felt it best they didn't know... ...not yet."

"I understand..." Drake says before sighing.

"We appreciate you came. What exactly happened to you two though?"

"Phoenix happened... Looks like White wanted her Slayer back, they sent Torrent and a Chaos Engine with my DNA... As you can tell, that was a fight we didn't win."

"...Stay a while, Drake." Momoka says gently but firmly.

''Drake blinks once Momoka says that, but faintly smiles and nods. ''"...Sure, thank you."

She pats him on the head, and gives him a warm hug. "I'll prepare your room. Entertain Aiko a while will you? She's been more rowdy since you've left."

"I will." Drake hugs Momoka back then looks at Osamu and Michiko before walking back to Aiko.

He finds no sign of Aiko, but he does find the fish tank with the great white shark.

''Drake looks at the shark before chuckling. ''"Aiko, I know you're hiding in his mouth..."

''"Damn it Bruce!" ''Aiko leaps out of the shark's mouth, tackling Drake in a blur. "Stay! Don't leave again!"

"Don't worry, I'll be here for a while." Drake says while ruffiling her hair.

"Yeaaaaaa!" She hugs him hard.

''He laughs and hugs Aiko back. ''"So then, what do you wanna do?"

"Hide and seek!"

"Sure... But no hiding in Bruce's mouth, ok?"

"Awwww...."

"Well, I would let you, but I would find you instantly, anywhere else in the palace is good to go though."

"Wheee!" She runs off, jumping off his head.

Drake begins to count to thirty, once he does, he recalls to his last game of hide and seek with Aiko and decides to check the air ducts for her.

He finds no sign of her in the ducts.

"Hmm... Noriko used to hide amongst cutlery..." Drake then makes his way to the kitchen and takes a look around.

He finds nothing, though he hears rustling in a room.

"Hehe, found you..." Drake goes into the room and examines it, a small smirk on his face as he does so.

The room appears to be a small dinning room, with various assorted potted plants.

''He chuckles once more as he wonders around the room. ''"Oh I wonder where Aiko is..."

"He hee hee~"

''After a moment, Drake begins to look in each of the empty pots, only to stop right at the one Aiko is hiding in. ''"Hmm... Maybe she's not here... Oh well, I guess I'll go back to the kitchen and make some lemon cake." Drake says while slowly walking back to the entrance of the room.

He hears a giggle, and a rustle from one of the plants.

''He eventually turns back and walks towards said plant, he looks at it for a moment before shrugging. ''"Fooound you."

Nothing happens.

''Drake blinks before looking around. ''"Aiko? I know you're in here..."

He notices a tiny wing sticking out of a flower.

"Ah..." ''Drake chuckles as he walks towards the flower and cups his hands around it and Aiko. ''

She starts to squirm.

"Found you!" Drake exclaims before sitting her up on his shoulder.

Drake notices that Aiko is incredibly tiny comparied to Noriko and the others in fairy form, she is only as big as his thumb.

''Drake lightly strokes Aiko's back with his pinky finger while chuckling. ''"So now that I found you, how about I make some of that cake for you?"

"Hahaha! Yeaaaaaaaaaaaa~!"

''They then make their way to the kitchen, with Aiko bobbing up and down on Drake's shoulder each time he takes a step. They soon make it to the kitchen and Drake starts looking around, gathering up tools and ingredients to make the cake.''

While he is getting the flour, Aiko climbs his ear.

"Aiko, what are you doing?!" Drake says as he squirms, causing the flour to go everywhere.

The flour sticks to him, making him rather white. "Spooooooooky ghost!" Aiko cheers, crawling into his hair.

"...Welp, the chiefs are gonna kill me..." Drake shrugs and continues making the cake.

Aiko for the meantime seems content to crawl in his hair.

''Half an hour passes as a small lemon cake, perfect for Aiko comes out of the oven. Drake tops the cake with a thin icing before laying it on the table. ''"There we go, dig in little fairy."

She crawls out of his hair and next to the plate, sniffing it.

"What? Is something wrong, it's lemon cake..." Drake says, a bit confused by Aiko's actions.

Aiko takes a bite out of it with a sudden smile.

''Drake smiles as well. ''"I'm glad you like it, I guess I'm getting good with cooking... Huh."

She appears to be stuffing her face, face literally in the cake as she eats.

''In response, he lightly laughs and take a small piece out of the cake and eats it. He then waits until Aiko is finished eating.''

Before long her tiny belly gets too full, and she plops down next to the cake, rubbing her tiny tummy, which has grown significantly due to all of the cake.

"Oooooooh.... cake...."

''Drake picks Aiko up and lays her on his palm. ''"So, now what do you want to do?"

"*Burp* Can I lay down?"

''He smiles and begins walking to Aiko's bedroom. ''"Sure, I'm guessing you want to go to your room?"

She makes another tiny burp in response, though she hugs his thumb.

"I'll take that as a yes." ''Drake pets Aiko lightly before reaching her room, he opens the door and enters. ''

Aiko is still hugging his thumb.

''Drake makes his way to Aiko's bed and chuckles as he watches Aiko hug his thumb. ''"So you missed me a lot, didn't you?"

She hugs him harder.

He sits on her bed and waits until she finishes hugging his thumb.

She eventually lets go of it and looks up at him.

''Drake places Aiko on her bed and stands up. ''"I have to get some training done, as for you, if you need to rest, then go ahead... I'll play with you soon, alright?"

"Awww..."

"Yeah I know, I don't want to go either, but there's something big coming up and I want to be prepared for it. I'll be in the courtyard if you want to play, but only after you rest, Aiko."

"Awwwwwww...."

''He only faintly smiles and ruffles her hair. ''"I know I know, but this is very important."

She starts wizzing around his head like a rocket.

''Drake rolls his eyes and plucks her out of the air and sits her in his hair, he then starts walking to the courtyard. ''"Alright alright, you won."

"Yea!"

''Once they reach the courtyard, Drake finds an open space and sits down in a meditating position, Praxi comes out of Drake's soul and hovers around Aiko. ''"I just need to do something... Praxi will keep you company." Once he says that, Drake gains tribal markings all over his body as he closes his eyes, though Aiko can notice one eye still glowing a bright white.

Aiko pokes the werelight curiously. Praxi shimmers in rainbow colors in response.

''Around an hour or so passes until Drake suddenly takes a long sigh, contemplating what he just saw... After a few moments, he looks at Aiko.''

"...Big brother...?"

''Drake stands up, his head looking down at the floor. ''"Aiko... Please leave the courtyard."

She doesn't understand his meaning or intent, but starts running off skipping. "Alright I'll go to bed!"

''When she completely leaves the area, Drake's hands get coated in completely black fire as he clenches his fists and smashes the ground which causes the entire courtyard to crack up. ''"No..." ''Drake keeps punching the ground in frustration for around five minutes, he then roars which lets out an explosion of black fire, which only gets domed in by Drake's own energy, saving everyone around him. And for another twenty minutes, Drake just collapses onto his back, still taking in everything he witnessed. ''"I swear Noriko... I'll get you back..."

"Hmm, sounds like you need help." The voice echoes in Drake's head. "Hold on, I'll be there in just a second." Within a second, the black clad figure from before appears, holding a silver tree branch with blue lines engraved in it. He taps Drake's forehead and his eyes crinkle. "You're too young to have experienced something like that... Get up."

"Oh... It's you..." ''Drake stands up on his feet and looks at the figure. ''"So, what is it this time?" Drake asks.

"To give you a bit of help." He points at the shield, then Kurai and Shizuka. "Might as well optimize your stuff and awaken some of your potential in the process, as you are now revenge is outside of your reach."

''Drake sighs as he realises that the figure has a point, he nods in agreement. ''"Ok ok... When do we start then."

"Now, it is sudden, but it's best to prepare sooner rather than later," he says. "If you have anything you need to do, I'd handle it before we begin."

''Drake's expression changes to a surprised one. ''"But I just... Arrived..." ''Drake's head tilts down as he goes silent for a moment, he then sighs. ''"Yeah, just give me a moment." ''He then starts to make his way towards Aiko's room once more. ''"Seems like I'll never be able to just relax here, something is always going on... For better or for worse..." He approaches the door and opens it slowly, as not to wake Aiko up, he then walks into her room.

Aiko sleeps quietly, cuddled with a teddy bear.

''Drake walks over to Aiko as Praxi merges out of him. ''"Keep her company, alright?" ''He whispers, Praxi nods in response as Drake leans over and lightly kisses Aiko's head before walking out of the room without a sound. ''"Goodnight, Aiko..." ''Drake then makes his way towards the figure. ''"Alright, I'm ready."

"Initial Domain: Null." The space around the figure and Drake ripples and warps until they are in a completely black spaces with countless tiny lights in the distance. "The first thing I'm going to do is Hone your weapons- rather, I'm going to reforge them from scratch based on your preferences to improve their quality and increase their overall parameters. Don't worry about the spirit or power within them being damaged, those components will be unaffected."

''In response, Drake unsheathes both Shizuka and Kurai and places them down in front of the figure. ''"If you're going to completely reforge my blades, then could you at least forge Kurai to resemble a design I had in my head for a while now?"

"Not an issue. Explain it, I'd prefer not to pry further into your mind."

"I can do better." ''Drake says as rune circles form on his hands, he holds them out in front of him which causes a strange technology infused hologram to spawn in the air. ''"This allows me to design blades perfectly, I can get the weight, materials, what the blade will feel like when holding it, the fold lines, the list goes on... So if you give me a minute..." ''Drake begins working on a design, he creates a flame-like pommel, the katana handle, and then he designs a dragon skull as the handguard and sleave for the blade; which in itself is coloured a dark red and is covered with black tribal markings, the blunt spine constrasts the sharpness of the blades edge. Drake steps back and smirks as his design. ''"Yeah... Something exactly or akin to this will be great."

"Oh, thought it would be more complex. Then again, simple is best." He shrugs. "Any design for the other?"

"Not for the time being - No, Shizuka is created from enhanced crystal so be careful... So, how will you be able to completely reforge my blades yet still keep them... As them, their spirit and abilities and all?"

"It's something you pick up on after a few hundred thousand hours spent smithing and only smithing. As long as the spirits have something to tether with, they are in no harm. The abilities on the other hand will be lost, then reapplied if they are only linked to the weapon's structure because, well that will be lost. Now if they are linked to the spirits, there's no danger." The figure gently picks up the swords and inspects them. "Huh, not shabby at all. One last question, what do you want added to these two? I already have a couple of things in mind, but I want your input."

"I'm... Not actually sure, I mean, Kurai is a Slayer which is handy with two elements; fire and darkness... Shizuka just helps me manipulate the other elements as well as being a back up blade, I don't think I can think of anything ability wise that can be added. What did you have planned for them?"

"Linking them to you, where only you or designated people can use them as more than cutting tools. Honing Kurai to have a Seithr Edge, an attribute that would make it effective against things that absorb elements and grant it the ability to pierce defenses on par with the Old Dragon Emperor. Honing Shizuka to amplify Kurai's power while sheathed and grant it a healing effect on allies. Hone both to increase their sharpness and durability. Hone both to never dull. Oh and awaken the power within the spirits to their full potential."

''Drake perks up at the mention of both the Old Dragon Emperor and 'awaken the power within the spirits'. ''"Huh... If you don't mind, I may have a few questions to ask once you're done honing these blades... And about the Weapon that you crafted, I assume."

"Thema: Telos." The weapons are encased in white light akin to starlight and disappear. "Ask away, we've plenty of time in this space."

"The Old Dragon Emperor... Guessing he's a being from your time?"

"Yeah, he was a good man. Made the choice go Dormant like the others did. Now its just the six of us."

"Six of you? ...Ok, I have to ask, who or what are you?"

"Collectively, we have no name, only the title the people we hail from left in legend, the Forge Lords. We craft more than weapons, rather entire universes are within our power. If we had any to be compared to, it would be the one governing this universe, though we make an effort to not be known on a large scale. That's one of the terms of our agreement with the guy governing this place: To not interfere on a large scale with his works and not attempt to usurp his right as head of the universe in exchange for a place to spread our many creations and allow them to interact with the works of others. That being said, none of us have even a slight interest in doing things that don't involve our creations, people related to them or the seldom few who can identify us and give us a task more than simply crafting tools of revenge or destruction." The figure's tone is solemn. "I myself am referred to as Solais, based off of the ancient sword of legend, Claiomh Solais. I am the Forgelord of Space- rather all of my creations involve the components that make up space and what lies within space..."

"So... To put it simply, the Forge Lords are few of the many gods of this universe... So, Solais then, and your creations basically created the space around us. Well don't I feel lucky." ''Drake says before seemingly going into thought on what Solais said. ''"Crafting tools of revenge or destruction... Then why are you honing my weapons, and why was that Weapon given to me? I am by nature, destructive... And currently, in a sense, revenge is what I'm after..."

"Because, it's a change of pace and because you didn't ask me to forge a weapon that would likely comsume you in order for your revenge to completed. Another reason is the little guy. Most importantly is the fact that you have something that you want to protect, do you not?"

"...Someone, I need to protect. But despite the advantages you're giving to my blades, I'm afraid it might not be enough... So... Can we discuss about the Weapon?"

"This will take a while to explain, so I'm going to break this up." Solais sighs. "The little guy is far more than a shield if you can't already tell. He's a weapon that is nearly peerless, save three others of equal quality and one of far greater quality. These are known as the Four Sacred Weapons or the Four for short. The little guy himself is the least offense oriented of the Four, but that only means he has the capacity to defend on a level beyond the others," Solais begins. "Past that extra defensive capacity is power that is nearly incalculable if used properly. The black shell, for example, can erase instances from existence if not resisted, while the blue shell can obliterate things on a star system's scale if enough power is stored and released at the perfect moment."

"Huh... So potentially, the weapon is capable of a godlike defence while offering an offense that's pretty insane..." ''Drake takes out the weapon and looks at it. ''"So, you keep mentioning it as a he... So does this have a name?"

"Yes, but he'll tell you when he's ready." Solais gestures for Drake to put on the shield. "How used to his base form are you? That will determine what I'll need to teach you before I give you a few pointers for other things."

"You mean... How well I can use a shield? Well..." ''Drake equips the shield on his left arm then looks at Solais. ''"It's been a while since I've used one properly, but it's done a unique thing where when I smash it to the ground..." ''As the example, Drake slams the face of the shield to the floor, causing the pitch black dome to form around Drake. ''"It does this..." Solais can just hear over the muffled voice of Drake.

"It's good you can do that, but can you change his form and shift which mode he is in?"

"Uuuh..." ''Drake pauses and sighs. ''"...No."

"Alright, repeat after me," instructs the forgelord. "Insula."

"Insula."

The shield glows blue and transforms into a slightly smaller shield with a sapphire colored shell with silver trim on the rim. A milky white gem rests in the center, humming faintly. Drake feels that the defensive aura the shield had has shifted to offense.

"Ok... Now, that's new... So what exactly will this do?"

"Explode when commanded- More so release a powerful burst of energy that ignores resistances and grows more powerful as it absorbs more energy from attacks." Solais paces the area. "Now, say Divis."

"Hmm..." ''Drake forms a rune circle on the floor which spawns a target dummy, Drake then points the shields face towards it. ''"Divis!"

Rather than doing what Solais said it would, the shield shrinks and wraps around Drake's arm to form a gauntlet of the same color as the shell with a small buckler attached to it. Thousands of blue and silver shards float around him listlessly for a moment before swarming the the dummy and engulfing it in what could be described as thousands of tiny explosions ringing off in quick succession.

''Drake takes a step back in awe then looks at the gauntlet. ''"That's amazing... But, it didn't do as you said..."

"That's because the command I told you only shifts his form into that state. Now because you expected the explosion, the little guy made due on that." Solais shrugs. "The command for explosion would be Burst. That being said, any shield ability is amplified while in Divis mode. The downside is that you can't change shield forms while in Divis mode."

"Huh... Well if this amplifies any shield ability while in this mode, the what's the point in changing the forms?" Drake asks curiously while he keeps doing the same attack to the dummy.

"You aren't able to use the secondary abilities, like the Adamant Wall. You sacrifice one option for more of the other. Besides, for the later shields it takes energy to maintain Divis mode for long durations."

"...Why do I feel there is a steep learning curve to getting to grips with this weapon. So... I guess I'm gonna see how Adamant Wall works next?"

"You've already used it. What you will be learning next is the Blast Raid." Solais draws a line with the branch he brought, leaving a white line in the air. "Say Murgis."

Drake then turns towards the white line and repeats the word.

The shards of shield reform into the shield, returning to its original form.

"Now, slam the shield into the ground as you would for the Adamant Wall."

Drake nods and slams the shield into the ground.

The moment he does, he feels a slight pull on his entire being before over a dozen meteoric energy explosions detonate ahead of him, topped off by an actual meteor falling with dozens of tiny meteorites. The gem in the center of the shield dulls afterwards.

''After everything has died down, Drake regains his composure and looks at Solais. ''"Woah... That was... Insane..."

"The Blast Raid should be a last resort, nothing can defend against it without being on the level of a Mid-Tier god of Warding or Protection or above. That being said, you have two uses a day as you are now, so be very wise about them," Solais explains. "On to the next form, Blados."

"So, do I have to have a trust bond with this weapon, or does it feed of an energy reserve?" ''Drake shrugs. ''"Blados."

"Both."

The shield takes on a more hexagonal shape as it shifts from sapphire and silver to scarlet and gold in coloration. The gem in the center shifts to a murky black stone.

"...Just a question, how many forms does this weapon hold? And what's special about this one?"

"Theoretically, unlimited. By default, five," answers Solais. "This shield in particular may be to your liking because it normally can act as up to six swords at once."

''Drake blinks as he looks at the shield. ''"Hence the name that you have to use to activate it... Huh, so, these will float around me, deflecting sword strikes, I assume?"

"If you use them defensively, yes. Use them offensively and you have a multidirectional offensive front.

"...I think I like this the most." ''Drake says with a grin. ''"So how do I activate the blades?"

"The deploy command is Draw, the offensive command would be Hunt while the defensive command would be Repel. As you are now, you're limited to one or the other, but with practice you'll be able to control how many defend and how many attack. Now, enter Divis mode if you would."

"Alright then." ''Once Drake says the phrase, the shield turns back into the gauntlet. ''"Ok, so I'm guessing I say Draw?"

As he does, thousands of tiny hexagons and triangles detach from the shield, forming a cloud of faint red around him.

"In Divis mode, you'll have access to all of these micro blades. You'll have to master controlling them on an individual level in order to get the most use out of them, especially if you like monomolecular blades. Admittedly, these should be much, much smaller, but you've only just started exploring the shield, so blades this size are understandable." Solais draws another line.

''Drake looks at the line then at the thousands of tiny blades. ''"Funny how I've done something similar to this..." Drake then begins twiddling his finger around, with the armada of blades seemingly following his finger.

"Play around with them for a bit, then return him to his base form after you're done, I have two things I need to teach you about this form when you're ready."

Drake watches the blades float around before his smirk widens, he starts doing Cyanican martial arts, with the blades following his fists and feet with a slight delay.

Solais waits patiently.

''After a moment, Solais notices how Drake is having exceptional ease controlling the multitude of blades. ''"So is there any other notes I should require about this weapon?"

"Each blade can be extended and act as a high frequency energy weapon or a shield capable of negating energy and magic based attacks towards your person."

''Once that has been said, Drake attempts to form the blades back into a shield that levitates around himself. ''"Alright... I think I have the hang of this, so what's the next form?"

"I've yet to go over the secondary abilities of this form."

"Oh? And what might those be?"

"Under the Slay command, Blade Rave. Under Repel, it is Avenging Smite. The activation is the same as Adamant Wall and Blast Raid, but it should be noted that this activation method is only a requirement for so long as you lack his name."

''Solais can see Drake's confusion in his face as he tries to wrap his mind around this weapon. ''"...Ooook, so... Slay: Blade Rave...?"

The shield glows ominously as a giant blade erupts from the ground, piercing through what could have been the sky line in an instant. The blade then vanishes in a flash of light and is replaced by a cloud of glowing swords that wildly and viciously dance through the air before forming into a massive ring of swords, with two glowing especially bright near the center.

"...I love these variations, so, the two blades, are they representations of Kurai and Shizuka?"

"That is an accurate assumption. Once the two of them are complete, it would be good for you to try that once more. Maybe you'll get more out of it that way."

''Drake looks at Solais. ''"Once they're complete... That may take a while... But for now." ''Drake grabs the two phantom blades in front of him and begins to move around, the ring of blades following him perfectly, to test the capabilities, rune circles form around him and summons phantoms equipped with their own swords, they all go and strike for Drake. And as he expected, the ring of blades deflect each and every attack just by mental thought alone. ''"Heh, I think I have the hang of this."

"I'd explain the other skill, but let's wait for that one," says Solais, "Instead, say Gravitas."

''Drake nods and says the phrase. ''"Gravitas... So this affects gravity, I wonder how."

"Not entirely on the mark," comments Solais as the shield turns gold and the gem in the center shifts to a lavender color.

''Drake examines the new colouration of the shield before slightly tilting his head. ''"So what does this do then?"

"This is the Shield of Authority. It's a little special compared to the other three forms in the sense that it can use their abilities... Well modified versions of their abilities. In addition, it has the Command and Overrule abilities, which make it more of a tactical tool."

"How many features does this weapon have exactly? It's getting a bit overwhelming..."

"Infinite possibilities, but five presets. This is the penultimate preset and the last one I can actually allow you to demo without repercussions... The final shield is powerful, but it can consume you if you use it as things are now."

"I see... Well, let's get this over with... What commands does this have?"

"All of the prior commands can be used in this form. In addition, authoritative phrases such as kneel or halt will have power over those of weaker willed beings. Most importantly is Overrule, which completely negates abilities and skills of individuals who you surpass in a self determined way."

"Woah... Shame I can't have this in the gauntlet form, that seems the easiest to be agile with... So how exactly am I going to test out these new commands?"

"I'll summon a few 'dummies'," says Solias. "The Divis mode of this shield has no any of the abilities it normally has. Instead it boosts all of your parameters and breaks the limiter on Authority in exchange for draining your energy." He flicks a finger and six spectral figures appear.

''Drake looks at the figures before looking at the shield. ''"Divis!" He then commands the figures to kneel.

The drain is almost immediately noticed as Drake's energy is gradually siphoned. In exchange however, the figures collapse to their knees before any form of resistance can be felt. The shield has transformed into a clawed golden gauntlet and armlet that extends up Drake's shoulder. A violet mantle hangs from his back and an amethyst gem is sewn into the center.

''Drake smirks as he moves his arm around, testing the armlet. ''"And I just say Divis to stop the command?"

"You can call it off at will."

"Ok..." ''Drake commands the command to stop, causing the armlet to form back into the golden shield. ''"And there we go."

"Anything else you wanna know before I tell you about one more function that you can activate?"

"I don't think so, so then... I'm guessing this has the biggest risk to go with it?"

"The fifth form, yes. What I'm going to explain to you isn't that though." Solais glances at the shield before continuing. "Initiate Star Modus. Progression Four."

The shield glows and a spectral set of gauntlets materialize on Drake's arms while greaves appear on his legs. He immediately feels much, much lighter and like something deep within him has awakened. He feels like all of his parameters have permanently risen and like the extent of this abilities have increased.

''Upon feeling the sudden surge, Drake's wings form and stretch out, he then flaps his wings once and instantly disappears, speeding off around the void at insane speeds before stretching out his wings once more, making him stop in front of Solais. ''"I feel like I'm gonna be using this... A lot." Drake says in a prideful tone.

"Probably. Your swords are almost ready."

"So, progression four... Meaning there's three previous ones, and I'm guessing one after?"

"Indeed. Progression Five is locked for now, the other three determine how much power the claws will exhibit."

"Ah, so what's just stopping me from going straight to the Forth Progression?"

"Nothing, but it's best you acquaint yourself with them in your own time."

''Drake simply nods before looking at the shield. ''"Right... And how do I 'sheath' this?"

"Disengage Star Modus."

Drake repeats the phrase, hoping that it somehow shrinks the shield down or any other method to store it.

The shield glows brightly before shrinking down to a cuff on his wrist.

"For future reference, Minimize is the command you are looking for."

"Minimize... Alright." ''After a bit of silence, Drake sighs and slightly looks down to the floor. ''"If you are capable of visions like I am, do you think this would be capable of what I want to accomplish?"

"That depends on you. I could have made it to where there was no chance for you to fail in your endeavors, but that would be bending the rules beyond acceptability," says Solais, "Use what you have, learn to use what is at your disposal to its full potential and adapt to your enemies. That will be more useful than a new tool on its own, regardless of power."

"Right..." ''Drake mutters before shaking his head, he looks back at Solais. ''"So, my blades?"

"Just a bit longer, they'll be ready soon- Just in time too."

''Drake raises one of his eyebrows. ''"What do you mean just in time?"

"It begins."

''Drake blinks before his eye glows white, his eyes then widen before nodding at Solais. ''"Ah... I see, well then... I imagine this will be the last I see of you?" Drake asks, his tone of voice suddenly becoming more confident and bold, almost like he's already ready for the incoming event.

"Maybe." Two discs of light appear, slowly releasing a pair of swords, one red and demonic, the other blue and two-thirds of the length of the first, with a completely straight blade and simple design as opposed to the ornate design of the red sword. Soon after emerge sheathes for both, the sheathe for the blue blade being longer than it and the red sword and with a defined point as well, whereas the red sword's sheath is simple if ornate. Both seem to radiate with an unusual power.

''Upon seeing the finished blades and sheathes, Drake reaches out and grabs them, the second he grabs Kurai; His natural eye colour glows deep red before he test both blades out. He feels much faster and stronger when swinging the blades, he notices how the blades feel perfect, and for a test, he disables his healing factor and cuts his arm, a blue glow forms around the cut as it heals. Drake chuckles and 'fastens them both to each side of his belt, he then chuckles and looks at Solais. ''"Thank you... So, I'm noticing something... Unnatural about the blades, care to explain?"

"Mark of the artisan. An innate ability granted by me forging your weapons is the ability to reduce things to zero. How that works, I'll leave to you to discover."

"...Ok." ''Drake blinks in slight confusion before looking around. ''"So... When we leave this place, where are we gonna end up?"

"The exact place we were before or a little ways away."

''Drake sighs in relief when he hears that he won't stray too far away from the Palace. ''"Ok... Don't have to leave just yet then, thank you once more."

"Think nothing of it."

Drake simply nods in response before asking Solais for them to leave.

With a word, the space dissolves and Drake finds himself back in the courtyard of the palace, alone.

''He unsheathes Kurai and examines it, a pleased expression on his face before he sheathes it once more before stretching. ''"Ok, so that's starting... I need to get ready." He says to himself before he begins training.

He hears footsteps echo from the stairway.

"Hmm? Aiko? Is that you?" Drake stops and turns towards the stairway.

He sees Michiko walking down the stairway.

"Oh, Michiko... Hey." Drake says, eventually walking up to her.

She is grimly silent, holding Lightning Slayer tightly as she walks.

''Drake looks at the Slayer before looking back at Michiko. ''"...What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm leaving. I am not letting her suffer."

''His eyes open up, slightly stunned but expected something like this to happen, he tilts his head down and sighs. ''"Michiko, I understand fully... But there's no way, you'll die..."

"I'm going to New Vince, Azure, hell, even the Capital, but I am not staying here when God knows how she feels right now."

''Drake goes quiet for a moment. ''"...And the others know about what you're going to do?"

"I'm an adult, Drake."

"Doesn't matter, I think your family would like to know if you're going on a suicide mission."

"It's not a suicide mission. I'm going to our allies, they will help..."

"Your allies? Who do you think can stand up to Phoenix? Do you think that getting allies will change things?" Drake's voice slowly raises, his tone becoming more agitated.

"Don't get in my way, Drake. I need to do this."

''Drake shakes his head. ''"I'm sorry, but I won't let another member from the Moonlight family die."

"..." Drake feels a rush of wind as Michiko soars past him at lightning speed.

"MICHIKO!" Drake quickly sprouts his wings and takes flight, chasing after her.

He is struck promptly on the forehead with a bolt of lightning.

''Due to the force, Drake crashes to the floor but instantly gets back up and chases her, he clenches his fists, flickers like a flame then suddenly appears right behind her before grabbing her leg and throwing her behind him. ''"You need to think this through, Michiko! You WILL die!"

She lands on her feet, and tosses her hair back, a strange sparkling effect is seen as she does so.

''Drake lands and stands in her way, he sighs and looks directly at her. ''"I will not let you waste your life like this, and if I have to use force..." ''Drake places his hand on Kurai. ''"I don't want to do this."

She raises her hand toward him and strikes him with a blinding flash of light.

Drake quickly shields his eyes before jumping into the air, he then dives down and slams her with his heel.

A series of quick nimble strikes to his body knock him out, and when he wakes up she is nowhere to be seen.

''After getting back up, wiping any dust off of him, he growls. ''"...And now to find her... New Vince... That better be close." Drake flies up and quickly scans the area.

"Evening." A old male's voice speaks beside him.

"What is it, kinda busy right now." Drake responds almost instantly, still scanning the area and cursing at Michiko in his native tongue.

"I will handle the Ambassador. She'll listen to her Emperor. You passed into my territory, yet we had no arrivals that matched your description. What happened?"

"...I swear, if I turn to look at you... And you're that God damn eye..."

"I am here in the flesh. What happened?"

"She went off to New Vince to gather allies so that she can save her sister. That explain it enough?"

"No. Why did you not come to the city?"

"...Oh, you're talking about that." ''Drake glances to his side. ''"If you must know, we encountered a Phoenix member and a Chaos Engine on our way there. A fight errupted, and we lost." ''The Grand Eye can start to sense a slight tone of hostility in Drake's words. ''"Noriko was taken to Yosai, Kana, Seriah and I ended up North, to Azayakana's Tower."

"...Aza, huh? We've not heard from her since she left our founding father." The man beside him looks very old, with black irises and white pupils, yet has a tranquil air about him. Silver but well kempt hair adorns his face in the form of long hair and beard. He wears decent clothing and holds an elegant staff.

"...Phoenix... ...one of my life's greatest regrets. It would seem that my former students cannot help themselves but turn to wickedness. The student shuns the teachings of the master..." His face tightens slightly. "Oh lovely Nyusatsu, why did you believe in that man...?" He muses.

"..." ''Drake lands then looks at the Grand Eye. ''"So you taught the founders of Phoenix..." ''Drake just shakes his head. ''"Well at least you regret Phoenix rather than enforce them." ''Drake says rather impassively. ''

"My daughter and son in law... ...and yes. Not just them. Many including Shinwa Dragonclaw, the current White. I have lived by a benefit of the doubt belief... never judge for a ancestor's previous mistakes... Needless to say, I have made many poor choices as Emperor. ...I have one question. What was her fate?"

''Drake goes silent for a long while before speaking up. ''"...All I know, is that getting her back will not be easy."

"Very well. I have things to do." He disappears.

"Yeah I'm sure you do... Now..." ''Drake flies up as high as he can, tribal patterns form around Drake's eyes as he looks around, extending his vision tenfold, he eventually spots New Vince. ''"There..." Drake's wings flap once and he's sent speeding towards the city.

Darkened Moon
Drake arrives at the palace, a new moon making the area much darker than usual. The glowing crystals and flora seem to be very dim by comparison to the last he saw them.

"...This better be a seasonal thing..." Drake enters into the palace and wonders around the halls, still thinking if letting Michiko go was a good idea.

He soon finds that something is in his hair again, giggling.

''Drake lightly smiles and plucks Aiko out of his hair, he dangles her in front of him and chuckles. ''"Hey there Aiko."

"Hey Christmas Tree!"

''Drake places Aiko on his shoulder and continues to walk around. ''"...Still don't know what Christmas actually is, but hey, did you sleep well?"

"I did!"

"Ok, that's good to hear. What do you want to do then?"

"I wanna decorate the Christmas tree!"

"...Please tell me you're talking about an actual tree and not me, right?"

"''But your hair is so spiky!" ''

"It's not spiky... It's messy..." ''Drake sighs. ''"But if you want, then go ahead."

Aiko leaps into his hair again.

''He rolls his eyes and wanders around again, letting Aiko mess around with his hair as much as she pleases... To Drake's slight annoyance.''

He comes across various paintings of the royal clan.

''Drake smiles lightly upon seeing them. ''"Must be nice being part of royalty, eh, Aiko?"

"I guess so?"

"Hmm... ...So what exactly ARE you doing to my hair..."

"''I am all the decoration you could want!" ''She glows brightly as she says this.

''Drake chuckles. ''"Yeah, I guess so."

"''Twinkle twinkle little star!" ''She lets off a tiny spark.

"How I wonder what you are... Heh." Drake's smile grows as he looks up at the paintings one more time before walking off somewhere else.

Drake soon catches a glimpse of a painting that is familiar to him.

''He turns towards it and takes a step back. ''"Huh... The one of Noriko and I... That seemed like it was yesterday, how time flies fast." He looks at Noriko's face and her delicate smile, causing his smile to widen. "Such a beautiful painting..."

"''How is big sis doing?" ''Aiko asks.

''Aiko notices Drake going silent, almost finding hard to say the right words. He eventually just lightly chuckles. ''"She's in a band, they're currently on tour in Fantasy, you should hear what she's like with a guitar, it's insane."

"Mom won't let me learn..."

"Oh? Why won't she?"

"Because I'm too little, because she doesn't think it proper for a little princess..."

''In response, Drake begins walking out to the courtyard to a small corner, he sits down and opens his HSC and takes out the guitar that he got from Yosai, he applies some runes to it which shrinks it down to Aiko's normal size, perfect for her. ''"Alright, we'll keep this our little secret, shall we?" Drake says with a smirk.

Drake soon learns unlike her big sister, Aiko has absolutely no talent at guitar. A dying donkey would sound more pleasant.

''After a few cringey notes, Drake creates an energy construct resembling a guitar. ''"Now... I'm not as good as your sister, but I can teach you a few things..." He starts playing a four note tune that changes a bit each time, he plays it slowly enough for Aiko to catch on what he's doing while making it pleasing to hear.

Aiko still manages to be terrible.

''"This is technically cheating... Buuut..." Drake taps both of Aiko's hands as two small runes form on her hands. ''"Ok, try now?"

She tries again.

''This time, she seemingly manages to get the hang of the tune, but at times, Drake 'deactivates' the runes so that she returns to normal, then plays good again. He keeps alternating until he thinks Aiko actually has the hang of it.''

"Yeaaa!"

He happily laughs as he plays alongside Aiko, providing a different tune that goes with the one Aiko is playing.

She giggles in response.

"You're doing great, Aiko, you'll be a rocking guitarist in no time." Drake says, patting Aiko on the head.

"Hee hee."

''Drake's energy construct fades away as he stands back up and looks at Aiko. ''"So, I'm guessing you still want to play your guitar, right? That guitar belongs to you know, and just keep practicing, but just make sure that you keep it a secret between us, ok?" ''He says with a soft smile, he gives her a hug before having to walk off once more. ''"I have some spells to learn, so I'll be away from the palace for a bit, I'll miss you." ''He says before sprouting out his wings and takes flight away from the palace. ''

''After a short while of flying, he comes to a dense forest and lands, he opens up his HSC and takes out his spell book. Soon Corruption forms from his shadow as he looks at Drake. "So... What could be so bad for you to be this far away from the Palace?" Drake looks back at him and smirks. ''"The Vitae and Heroa Arts."

''Corruption crosses his arms and looks at the book. "Are you sure you're able to even to do those? They're restricted to them afterall, so unless you have a way to bypass the restriction, I don't see how you're going to succeed."''

"Oh, it won't be using them exactly, it'll be replicating what they do, after all, what they do isn't exactly unique... It's just a few spells spliced into one. Now if you could help, that'll be great..." ''And with that, Drake starts to read the pages of his book, creating multiple rune circles, patterns and begins speaking in his native tongue, with Corruption helping from time to time. But eventually to no avail, Drake sits back and sighs looking at the rune circle. ''"...Y'know, this looks similar to what re-awoke you..." ''Drake then looks up and begins to reminisce on his time at Downation, before realising something, he stands and packs everything up but starts to reform and change the runes on his circle. ''"Right.... That should do it."

''"Expecting to go somewhere?" Corruption asks, standing next to Drake on the circle.''

"Yeah, Fantasy... Say goodbye to Echo for a while, Corruption, you're gonna miss it." The runes begin to glow as the two suddenly disappear...

Another Return
After a very long journey, they arrive near the Moonlight Clan.

"Finally..." ''He lands in front of the gates and smiles. ''"It's always nice to be back here. Let's hope the others are alright."

Kanashimi lands after him. "Right..." The guards posted seem to notice them and open the gates.

He walks through and folds his wings back up before taking a look around as usual.

Drake feels a mental tug toward a tall isolated hill.

He looks up at it then sightly sighs as he flies over to it.

He finds the Ancient standing under a tree.

"You asked for me? What is it?"

"Heh... You chose a nice place to be, but to get to the point. I need training, a lot of it."

"I assume this is related to soul manipulation to save her? ...In truth, this place is more fitting for our situation than you possible could have noticed. ...You do realize what is here, right?"

"...It's here? But I thought that she took it with her..."

"Not the Slayer, but the physical location of the Kanjo God of Lightning's seal. When Phoenix first sealed the Kanjo, they sealed them in very specific locations. The first Lightning Slayer sealed Kaminari under the Moonlight Glade."

''Drake blinks. ''"...I know how to get there, there was an entrance in the room I was staying in while I was here... I wonder if it's still open though."

"It is. I can teach you very little on what I've already shown, but I can tell you we have an opportunity to make progress as of this moment. Fear not however, in my presence, there are few if none who can detect you or what we are currently discussing. The Yellow one, for instance, cannot perceive us right now."

''That produces a smirk from Drake. ''"That's nice and all but what exactly are you planning to do concerning the seal?"

"The seal itself must be left alone, else we will break the already fractured entity into more pieces, which will not prove useful. Instead, once we enter the seal, we must attempt to vaguely define the two beings that were merged. The fact that they are not one solid uniform being is a blessing in disguise, if they had formed into a brand new person, there is little we could do. As they are undefined, it will be up to you and your memory to guide my power so that we can begin division."

"So basically we're putting the pieces of Noriko back together... And trust me, I'll be able to distinguish Noriko from Kaminari, so, do you want to start right now?"

"That depends if you want to try and sneak past your future sisters in law."

"...Knowing them... That's nigh impossbile."

"I would probably sate that issue before moving on."

''Drake just smiles and nods. ''"Thanks, I don't know how long I'll be." He then walks down the hill and into the palace.

Soon after, he hears footsteps, and Kumiko, Noriko's eldest sister, appears down the hall.

''He gives an idle wave at her. ''"Oh, hey there."

"I see you returned."

"Yeah, thought it would be nice to visit the family... So has everyone been?"

"Ok. It's all we can do from making Aiko worry though. She's been wanting to see Noriko play in that band you talked about."

"Oh... Yeah... I do too." ''He takes a look around. ''"...Any chance I could see her?"

"Aye. She's in her room."

"Alright then." He then says goodbye to her then trails off to Aiko's room.

He begins to hear horrible noise coming from Aiko's room. She doesn't seem to have gotten any better.

"...Note to self... Make sure Noriko teaches her." ''He knocks then opens the door, peaking his head through. ''"Hey there little one."

He hears a huge gasp before his face is tackled by a blur of blonde hair.

''Drake laughs as he pries Aiko off of his face and holds her up. ''"It's great to see you too, Aiko."

"You're back! Yeaaaa!"

''He has a smile on his face as he pulls her close for a hug. ''"So how have you been?"

"Fine... still not any better."

"I'm sure that you'll be a great guitarist, Aiko."

"You mean like big sis?"

"Yes, just like big sis."

They hear a knock at the door. "May I come in you two?"

''Drake looks over at the door. ''"Sure, I think Aiko wouldn't mind."

The door opens, revealing Haruko. "Oh, so Kumiko was right, you're here."

Upon seeing her, he goes dead quiet and looks rather distressed but doesn't even move.

She nervously holds out what looks like a large folder full of what looks like paintings. "I thought you'd like to look at some things with me. And just talk. ....I figured it might help."

''After a moment he shakes his head rather quickly then gives off a soft smile. ''"Yeah, I would, thanks... So I guess I'll come with you then?"

"Aye. Do you want to come along Aiko?"

"Nah, I got my guitar." She plays a note so horrible it sounds like metal grinding on metal, and Haruko flinches. "R-Right."

''Drake just pats Aiko's head before walking besies Haruko. ''"Don't worry, Aiko, you'll be amazing." ''He then looks at Haruko. ''"Alright, let's go."

She walks back out into the hall, toward her room.

''He follows her, taking a look at the folder. ''"So how many is in there?"

"A lot."

"Alright... Do you want to sit somewhere or keep walking around?"

"My room." She walks for a bit more before looking at Drake. "It's hard, isn't it?"

''He nods. ''"Yeah... I'm sorry for the grief you're experiencing..."

"It's alright... I'll manage."

"Ok... So where did you get the folder?"

"It's like a photo album... it's the older paintings of the family, so we compile them when there's new ones to be put up."

"You guys have a lot of paintings... I doubt a young Noriko was easy to keep still during these."

She giggles. "Neither was I. Michiko was the only force that stopped us. That and Kumiko. She's more upset than you realize about it, mainly because she's the first born and has basically held every single one of us as babies at some point."

"I wouldn't exactly know how that feels... But I can imagine how much that is destroying her on the inside, it's admirable to see how well the family keeps their composure about it."

"...You've not been around much, so you really couldn't say that with confidence," She says slowly, he can tell he said something wrong. They arrive at her room, and Haruko takes a shaky breath before walking in.

He follows into the room, opting to sit on the edge of the bed.

She slowly opens the folder, and takes out a painting of two small babies, with a young girl who looks like Michiko. "That's her." She says, pointing to the baby on the right.

"Huh... I'm surprised the artist managed to paint that, was Noriko energetic even back then?"

"We both were. Identical twins and all. They had to get us while we were asleep, else we'd just endlessly squirm and want to play things. Later we were like Aiko and they had to keep up with us if they wanted us to do things. I remember when Nori stole an entire cookie jar filled with chocolate chips and the resulting chase pretty much kept everyone occupied. Especially once we switched to trick them. They didn't catch us til midnight."

''Drake's smile widens until it turns into a small laugh. ''"Two Aikos running around causing trouble, that must have been a nightmare for the others. Also switching each other, that's genius."

She smiles faintly. "It was her idea to begin with." She pulls out another painting and laughs. "You weren't the only Christmas Tree in our family." She says, showing him a picture of Michiko with two bright yellow balls of light in her hair, looking displeased.

"So was Michiko the one who always had to make sure you and Nori weren't turning everyone into a light show?" ''He focuses on Michiko in the painting. ''"Was she always like this?"

"Nah, we were pulling her hair. Michi played with us even when she got older. She... ...kinda stopped after Nori went away..."

"Oh... What about the brothers? Did they keep playing with you?"

"Not really. They were always sorta quiet by comparison. Like Dad." She turns quiet, almost thoughtful for a moment.

''Drake looks over at her. ''"Something on your mind?"

"I was thinking about what's been happening lately... what with Noriko and all... about why our family was picked by Phoenix in the first place. ...I wonder if it was by design..."

''His expression is now curious. ''"Design...?"

"When we were little, we were taught an ancient saying of sorts handed down from the mother of the Kanjo, Kukyo. It describes the elements and their relationships with another. ...In some of its lines, it almost starts to sound like a prophesy. ...It's very long."

"I think we have more than enough time, I don't mind hearing it." Drake responds, interested in the saying.

She takes a long, deep breath before she begins to recite. "The First Phase, it encompasses all, precedes all. Hungering, it laments, yet despises that which gives it sustenance. Lonely it wanders, and the second Phase cannot breach its cold heart. The path of many, but mastered by none.

Path of the lonely, of the ones without heart, the grim truth.

''The Second Phase, it reveals the truth and brings out the earth and all its splendor. It coaxes, yet lurks with hidden malice. Prodigy, yet the first born heeds the silver hand, to which all fail and falter. The object of perfection, the staple of civilization. Rejected by the lost.''

Path of the virtue, it hides the truth in its glamour and veil.

''The Third Phase, it cradles the fourth and is the bed of all that walks and crawls. Mighty it stands, but its foundations are endless and enduring, not even it may be free from its own might. No matter how much it may desire to be free, it eternally envies the Fourth and the Fifth.''

Path of the Enduring, a shield whose strength shall be broken with time.

''The Fourth Phase, it is the blessing of life, which divides the Third. It is the blanket of the Third, flowing and free. It is the kin of the Fifth, and master of the Sixth. It envies the Third, for it may only flow, only travel, it lacks the Third's foundation.''

''Path of the quiet mind, but wandering heart. Its promise scalded by fire.''

''The Fifth Phase, it is without master, it is endless expanse and cousin of the void. By its hand the Fourth nurtures the Third, and with its other it tears the Third apart. A soft whisper, a great breath of life. Its claws can destroy even mountains with time.''

Path of the vagabond, masterless, without unity or form, a mindless force, the price of freedom.

''The Sixth Phase, it is the rampaging heart without question. The enemy of entropy, the herald of life, its char brings inevitable death.''

''Fearful of the Fourth, it is the heart of the conquerer, the lover, of hate, and of anger. It and the Eighth are the masters of the eternal war.''

''Path of the passionate, of those whose souls shall become the kindled and ash. Upon the path hopes and dreams are the fuel, and ultimate victim.''

''The Seventh Phase, the core of life. Instant and fleeting, power and brilliance is its domain. It is the spark of all things, the one heart, the infinite expanse, but fleeting and fragile.''

Path of the fleeting, they arrive and are gone, their power is the greatest, yet shall be quick to expire, nothing but the sacrificial lamb.

''The Eighth Phase, herald of entropy and end of all. Bitter and in pain, it is devoid itself of the power of Seven, and so all shall and will become the Eighth, boundless winter.''

Unite unto the world the Eight Phases, remember their names, and their faces, for they are the championed paths, and the ones who shaped the world, and shall now make it unmade.

The boundless now bound, and the infinite now finite, recall the name of Time."

''Haruko can clearly tell that Drake is unsure how to respond, it seems as if he's still taking it all in but after a moment he returns to reality. ''"You were taught to remember and recite the saying? That's... A lot, was there a reason to why you had to learn that?"

"I couldn't tell you..."

"Oh... Because you don't know why or just can't tell anyone?"

"I don't know why, Drake."

"Ok ok..." To pass the awkward moment, Drake fishes into the folder and pulls out another painting at random.

The picture is a family picture of Momoka, Osamu, Kumiko, Akarui, Mabushii, Michiko, Noriko and Haruko, and a little baby in Momoka's arms. By the looks of Noriko and Haruko, they appear age ten.

''Drake gets a faint smile and mutters under his breath. ''"Such a sweet family..." ''He then chuckles. ''"Seven children... Quick question; are all the royal families this big?"

"Yeah. Some get really complicated."

''After a moment, Drake just gives out a laugh. ''"I remember meeting one of them... Eisen I think his name was, him and Kana... Oooooh man that was fun to watch."

Meanwhile...

Kanashimi, a bit lost, is wandering the halls looking for Drake.

"Need some help?" She hears a voice behind her.

In the next minute, Drake can hear a faint cry of alarm from the hall.

''Drake perks his head up towards the door, he lays down the paintings. ''"...Speak of the devil, this may have to wait." He places a hand on Kurai's pommel and makes his way to the hall.

He finds Kanashimi fallen onto her rear, with Eisen standing nearby, scratching his head in confusion.

"Oh, hello Mr. Ryunexo," He says when he notices Drake. "I thought she was lost so I offered my help. ...Then she fell on the floor."

"Nice to meet you too, and trust me, she appreciates the generosity..." ''He walks over and looks down at Kanashimi. ''"I thought you were beside me, what happened?"

"...I may have been distracted by some paintings."

"And somehow I'm not surprised..." ''He turns to looks at Eisen. ''"So what brought you all the way here?"

"All the way here? The families all have access to each other's valleys. Though mainly in this case I noticed you in the area and decided to greet you all."

"That's kind of you." ''He then reaches down and pulls Kanashimi back up onto her feet. ''"Well since you and Kana are here, you two could spend some time together."

Kanashimi pales. "Not doing it."

Eisen tilts his head.

"Sorry Kana, I have stuff I need doing so I can't babysit you while you get lost looking at paintings... Besides, I'm sure that Eisen wouldn't mind after the lovely time you two had at the party." He gives Kanashimi a teasing smile.

Kanashimi's eyes narrow, Eisen looks slightly confused. "Is everything alright?"

"If I said yes I would be lying... So yes." ''He then turns back and begins to walk towards Haruko's room once more. ''"And please don't kill him."

Eisen looks at Kanashimi. "...How about something to eat?" Kanashimi quietly looks at him. "...We'll even make it a challenge."

Kanashimi's face wearily breaks into a faint smirk. "Your funeral."

''Eventually Drake reenters her room. ''"Sorry about that, had to deal with a couple's quarrel."

Haruko smiles faintly. "Don't expect much of a family blessing on his end."

"Hmm? Why's that?"

"He isn't entitled to his family's crown. He's a prince only in name. I don't know the exact reason, just that they don't approve of him much."

"That's a shame... He seems like a kind hearted person... Any idea who is entitled to their crown?"

"Just about everyone else in his family but him."

"Well... Aren't they just a bit... Harsh to say the least."

"Not everyone is nice here."

"I guess so..." ''Drake lets out a small sigh then looks over at the paintings. ''"Any others you want me to see?"

She pulls out a picture of the family all gathered in a rose garden, though Noriko isn't in this one.

"Oh... So after she went... When was this taken?"

"Sometime after Hoshiko was born, a little while before Aiko."

"Hmm... Where is the garden?"

"Toward the back."

''He gives off a faint smirk. ''"I'm sure I've mentioned this with Momoka, but I'm surprised and impressed you guys don't use cameras for these."

"What's that?"

''Drake blinks. ''"Oh... Right... Forgot about that... I probably have one in my HSC if you want to see it."

She tilts her head. "Oh... ok?"

''He pulls out his HSC and opens it up, a panel hovers out with an object resembling a camera. Drake takes it out and closes his HSC, after preping it up he points it at Haruko. ''"Ok, do a pose, a smile, anything, ok? Just remember to stay still."

She stares at it, bewildered, her fairy wings sprout out.

''Drake then gives a smirk and presses down a button, a sudden flash emits from the camera and soon after. The picture is displayed on the HSC. ''"And there you go... Granted the flash wasn't exactly needed but it's fun to do that."

She appears to have reeled back in alarm and is rapidly blinking.

"Woah, Haruko, calm down... It's just a picture."

"My eyes..."

"Oh, right." ''He chuckles. ''"But yeah, what do you think?"

She looks at the picture and shrugs.

"I guess it's not for everyone."

''He stores the camera and photo in the HSC and puts it away. ''"Gotta admit, quicker than a painting isn't it?"

"Yes, doesn't really feel personal though."

"How come?"

"There wasn't anything creative or passionate, it was just then and there and done."

"Eh... To each their own... Anyways, is that all you wanted to show?"

"I suppose so."

''He gives a smile and hugs her. ''"Thanks for sharing them, it means a lot."

She blushes faintly and returns the hug. "It was my pleasure."

Drake then walks off, he then takes a look around and wanders off to the room he used to stay in.

The room looks clean and tidy, almost as if he was always welcomed here.

"...God I love this family." ''He then gives a content sigh but then looks over at the wall, more specifically the hidden doorway. He approaches it and presses against it in an attempt to open it up.''

He has a hard time pushing it until a white hand presses against it and it slams open, he turns to find the owner is The Ancient.

"...I'll just assume that you had some sort of magic while doing that... But anyways, nice of you to show."

"Brute force with a microinstant strike. You are ready?"

''Without hesitation, Drake enters through and begins walking down the staircase. ''"Yep."

"When we reach the pit, do not jump in right away."

"Of course, but why?"

"It will be very difficult for me to properly protect us from observation if you are too hasty. This is a matter of unimaginable delicacy."

"So keep at your pace, alright." ''He slows down, walking down beside him. ''"So have you been down here before?"

"I don't need to have been to know what it is and what it means." The glint of light off of his eyes is strong at the present. "The Kanjo are all sealed across the realm in eight prisons. In a perfect circular formation."

"Ok, so by doing what we're doing... This is going to break that formation, and I assume they'll be something of a ripple affect with the other seals?"

"That would be a decent conclusion in some cases but no. The nature of this circle is insidious in that intrusion will alert the current leader or leaders of Phoenix."

"...And we're attempting to do this without alerting them, well the risk is certainly there..."

"Once inside, the danger becomes if we are detected, we could be stuck inside."

"Oh... So, let's recap... We're trying to get inside the seal and trying to tell the fragments of Noriko and Kaminari apart, right?"

"Yes. Once we do that, we need to give their beings a form of divide."

"A form of divide?"

"Yes, we need to give the collective entity two parts, ones we can contact easily and know who is whom."

"Oh... That'll be easy."

"Except if every facet of the beings mixed together is as small as an atom."

"Well, shouldn't be as different as what we did with Void, right?"

"It wasn't an actual soul with emotions, memories, thoughts, and the like."

"Well let's just hope for the best."

"You'd best give your best," The Ancient corrects.

"This is for her, it will be my all."

"Very well. We've arrived." They are standing on the edge of the yawning portal into the depths of Echo. "Gather your thoughts, mind, and soul. This endeavor will not come easy. Tell me when you are ready to take the plunge."

''Drake closes his eyes and slows his breathing down, he clenches his fists. ''"I'm ready." He steps forwards and falls down into the portal.

The Ancient follows close behind, and soon Drake starts to feel strangely light, as if gravity was becoming weaker.

''Soon he reopens his eyes. ''"Hmm... This wasn't like this the last time I came down here... At least I don't think so... But we may need to watch out, Kaminari had a habit of firing lightning at me."

"She was always a tempermental one when it came to trust, espeically with Phoenix..."

''When Drake next speaks, his tone sounds aggravated. ''"Yeah... And it's Eien of all people she put her trust in for some... Reason." He groans.

"Eien... the Observer was not always as psychopathic or indeed insane as he is now. Events such as your own culminated into that. She married and trusted a man far different that what exists now."

"I very much highly doubt both him and I been through similar situations as one another, but the fact that he married a God... I don't exactly know how to feel about that."

"His sister, his children," He speaks simply in response. "All but one of his children survived, and they are the only reason Noriko is here today. I should think you two are on a very similar path."

''Drake slows his descent and looks at The Ancient. ''"If you believe that's what you should think, then I'd advise you change your thoughts... Eien's path lead him to insanity and he lost the ones he loved, permanently meanwhile I plan on not losing Noriko by any means once I get her back."

"I would not say they are all gone... ...in fact, it is most likely that Eien has his children alive... ...in a similar state to your lover. Not by choice. Further more... it's that exact same outlook, methodology by any means that got him where he is now. Remember that in any other life, you could just as easily be filling his place."

"Disagree with me if you want, but I can think of one clear difference between Eien and I; I can accomplish what he couldn't with ease. Trust me, I won't turn out to be like him, it would be disgraceful to end up a pitiful mess."

The Ancient says nothing further, as they begin to drop down into a massive chamber.

''As Drake finally lands, he scans the area. ''"Now this is more familiar... I guess you'll be leading the way?"

"No need... look."

Just below them is a gargantuan vortex of writhing, unstable yellow energy akin to lightning, spinning and whirling at immense speeds. They are just high enough to avoid getting pulled into the incredibly powerful howling wind below.

''The Ancient notices Drake distort once more as he stares into the vortex but emotionless. ''"...Already, I can sense her fragments among Kaminari's... And among the agony that they're both feeling."

"They haven't noticed... that's good. Wait for a moment. I need to verify something."

"Yeah... Ok." Drake just keeps focused, slowly noting out each of Noriko's fragments.

"Right then... approach, but do not get sucked in."

''He slowly hovers down and get as close as he can to the vortex, he stops at around arms length, not taking his look away from it. ''"Ok, now what."

The Ancient floats down near him. "Gather your thoughts, steel your mind. Don't let your thoughts wander for even an instant. This will take all of your concentration and beyond."

''Drake simply nods and The Ancient can feel Drake just completely shut himself away from everything... All concentrated on the vortex, the runes on him glow white, even his eyes fully glow white. Drake gives a small nod, notioning The Ancient to move onto the next step.''

"Concentrate on the identity of the first being you notice."

"Already been doing that, Noriko first off."

"Try to recall your strongest emotional attachment to her to form a link between you and the closest particle of her being."

''Drake closes his eyes and thinks... Back from when he awoke at Yosai, to meeting her, to listening to her play the guitar, to cause mischief for the other Phoenix members, to promising to be by her side, to going all the way to New Vince with her, to their confession, their kiss, to meeting her family and to the eventual fight that tore them apart, everything goes through his mind. The spirit inside him roars in anguish but he slowly opens his eyes once more. ''"Done."

"Capture it and use the energy of that connection to pull in the other pieces, slowly."

It takes him a moment but he manages to secure the closest fragment of Noriko's spirit using the energy of his attachment with her, afterwards he uses that fragment as a magnet, slowly pulling in other fragments of her.

Red Rose, Red Thorn
Eisen quietly notes Kanashimi's behavior after she's done eating, and frowns slightly. She seems deliberately trying to avoid talking or in general looking at him.

"You know I won't bite, you know. I'm not a vampire."

"Uh huh..."

"You can drop the act, you know."

"..." Kanashimi silently turns toward him when he says this, and he has to control an urge to smile. He can see in her eyes an unwilling confirmation, as though her eyes were silently trying to demand an explanation, even as her face tried to give away nothing.

"What are-"

"-You talking about? I'm talking about how you deny yourself and try to act tough. You think being a girl makes you weak, that emotions don't matter as long as you can hide them. I'm not stupid, plus it helps to be able to sense the wan and wax of the temperament of the soul. I can read you like a book."

Kanashimi's mouth is agape, she's at a complete loss for words.

"Well? I'm right, aren't I?"

"I..."

"It's ok to express yourself you know. You don't have to hide."

"..."

"I'll tell you what. You tell me what's bothering, you, and I'll say nothing to anyone else."

Kanashimi seems to be torn.