Riku and Kei had their wounds healed by Altea after the two finished training a bit more. "So, how'd he do?" Altea asked with a smile.
"I beat him." Riku smiled confidently.
"I'm still superior when it comes to swordplay." Kei mumbled.
"Yeeeaahhh, I still won though." Riku snickered.
"Oh whatever." Kei rolled his eyes.
"You guys act like best friends already." Altea giggled.
"As if I'd ever be friends with that guy!" They shouted in unison. They glared at one another, sparks flying between their gazes.
Altea giggled nervously. "Now now, no fighting in the nursery please..."
"Hmph." They both looked away from one another.
"I'm gonna go find Gina and Haruto." Riku stood up before looking at Kei. "You may be a cocky jerk, but your a pretty awesome fighter. Thanks for the fight." He bowed then looked up to grin at Kei.
Kei's eyes widened slightly and he averted them slowly. "Anytime..." He muttered as Riku walked out.
"He doesn't know, does he?" Altea asked Kei. He stayed silent, letting that be her answer.
Riku walked around the base, looking for the siblings, figuring they would be running around and exploring. The space they were in was rather massive despite the small appearance from the outside, so finding them would be no simple task. "This is definitely the world of someone's magic... I wonder if one of the ten made that giant maze too."
A young girl, around Riku's age, suddenly bumped into Riku. "O-Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention." He said as he looked at the girl. She had long black hair and brown eyes, a figure similar to Artemis'. The girl didn't say anything, just stared at Riku with a faint blush dusting on her cheeks. "Her eyes look just like Reina's..." He frowned at the thought.
"What's wrong Riku..?" The girl tilted her head.
"Oh I'm fine, just recalling recent events." He smiled, not finding it odd that she knew his name since everyone in the resistance knew his name. "I'll be going now. You didn't happen to see a little girl and boy running around with a really pretty yet scary young woman did you?"
The girl paused before giggling. "Oh, Artemis. What'd the children look like..?" She tilted her head, a bit of a shy smile on her face as she averted her eyes.
"Well, the boy had dirty blond hair and bright green eyes. The little girl had black hair and brown..." Riku paused and he suddenly stared at the girl closely.
The girl blushed a bit brighter, her eyes averted still. "Y-Yeah..?" Her smile didn't fade.
"...What's your name..?" Riku muttered.
The girl looked at him directly now, a sweet smile on her face, the same as her mother's. "Gina..." Riku's eyes widened greatly.
"Dangit Gina, you should've waited. I wanted to play a prank on him." Said a young man from behind them both. Riku turned, seeing the bright green eyes and dirty blond hair of Haruto, and though he was bigger, his appearance was practically the same.
"Haruto..?" Riku muttered.
Haruto grinned as bright as his father. "That's my name." Riku paused, staring at the siblings who were now side by side. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, wondering if this was an illusion or if he was seeing things. "It's real buddy. Now I'm older than you." He snickered.
"A-And we're the same age..." Gina's sweet smile turned shy again as she hid behind her brother a little bit.
Riku froze, staring at the two of them, his eyes slowly widening. "How long was I in there?!" Riku held his head. "If Gina's my age then that means she's 17...and that makes Haruto 19... Holy crap it's been a whole decade?!"
"C-Calm down Riku!" Haruto started bursting out laughing and even Gina began to laugh.
"How can I calm down? A whole ten years has passed!" Riku ruffled his own hair, swirls in his eyes.
"Riku calm down, ten years hasn't passed. It's only...um...how do I explain it..?" Haruto muttered as he thought of what to say.
"Ten years has passed, but only for the two of them." Artemis said as she walked over to the trio from the end of the hall.
"Ah, Artemis!" Haruto turned and grinned.
Riku paused, looking back at her. "Just for them..?"
Artemis nodded. "It's magic."
Riku let his arms fall to his sides and he slowly came to a realization. He clenched his fists, turning and walking to Artemis. Once he reached her, he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. "What the hell did you do..?!" Riku glared into her eyes.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. "That's enough." Haruto said sternly, making Riku turn back to meet his intense stare. "We wanted this, okay? So let her go." Haruto frowned. He and Gina hated seeing Riku get like this.
Riku looked to Gina next. "Is that true..?"
Gina nodded. "Yes. Yes it is..."
Riku slowly let go of Artemis and Artemis gently ruffled his hair. "May I explain now..?" She asked, seeming a bit nervous. Riku nodded, completely baffled. "Follow me." Artemis turned around, starting to walk. Riku stood there for a second before turning and following her, Gina and Haruto not far behind. Artemis led Riku to a rather odd looking room. There were several empty pods all around the room, about ten in total, but they were quite small. Riku guessed the pods were what the children were placed in. "Arima!" Artemis called out. "Come here!"
A young man looking no older than 15 stood up from a little platform above the pods. The only thing the small group could see from their viewpoint was the boy's messy black hair. "Oh yeah sure, I'm not busy at all, I can totally come and talk, I'm free 24/7..." The boy continued to complain as he walked down the stairs.
"Who the hell is this kid supposed to be..? He even sounds young." Riku thought to himself.
The boy, still complaining, stopped at the end of the stairs and stopped speaking when he saw Riku. "Oh right. I'm supposed to explain that." The boy had deep blue eyes and had the "emo haircut"; his bangs covered his right eye. His robes were similar to Kei's, but they were white with black details and outlines instead of blue ones, and there was a sword strapped to his waist.
Riku stared at the boy. "Oh please, I don't want to cut into whatever you were doing up there. Please explain." Riku's aura flared. "Now..."
The boy sighed. "Fine fine, don't go getting your panties in a twist." The boy walked over to one of the pods, running his hand over it slowly. "Where to start..?"