"Phoenix... I need you to stay here for a while okay? Stay in Izuzunu, protect everyone" Mark spoke. "What? What happened? Are you going somewhere?" Phoenix asked.
Mark answered "I... I have to go... My memories... they're back... How could I forget that moment? All those terrible things…" Mark was about to cry.
"Memories!? What are you talking about?" Phoenix was confused. "I remember... my mom, dad, brother, sister, Quin.... and you" Mark explained "We were all related to each other until the Usagi Empire raided our kingdom, they took my parents... but not yours"
"What happened to mine?" Phoenix wanted to know.
Mark finally turned to Phoenix "They were... killed... in front of me"
Phoenix was shocked but then stopped "Sorry... I can't feel bad for them if I don't even know who they are"
"You'll remember... My father injected me with the serum to wipe my memories clean... and your father did the same thing too... somehow I managed to get my memories back... It was a good life back then" Mark smiled.
"I see... Well, you're not going alone" Phoenix shouted. "Who said I was going alone?" Mark says. Edison comes from the corner "I got almost everything prepared, but let's not leave yet. Maybe leave when Jun gets out? I want to see him out of prison" Edison explained.
"Sure... so starting in a few more weeks... we'll set off to find my hometown, Kujukaeya"
Edison with a confused face "Weird name"
"I'll... stay here in case another war starts; you guys can go. Keep each other safe though" Phoenix leaves the Nightclub and into the paths back to his house.
At Phoenix's house, he sat down on the bedside next to the desk "I guess I'll see Mark soon"
"What happened?" Quin asked as he jumpscared Phoenix. "What the!? Oh... nothing... it was just about him and his memories" He explained.
"He got his memories back?" Quin asked. "Yeah... and it's... it's horrible" Phoenix answered.
Quin wanted to know "What happened?"
Phoenix looked at him with tears filling in his eyes "Usagi Empire... they... they were the ones who killed our families"
RISE OF IZUZUNU
VOLUME 4, CHAPTER 36, RESTART
VALVINA PRISON, FOUR WEEKS LATER
"Your sentence is over. You've stayed for one whole month, Jun" The guard spoke to Jun. Jun gets up from the bed "How long has it... been?" He asks.
"Are dumb or something!? Do you have a peanut as a brain!? I just said one whole month!" The guard shouted.
Jun gets out of the prison and finally goes outside for the first time in forever. Jun looked surprised "The sun, the mountains, the view... I haven't seen any of this in a while" He spoke.
"Hey Jun" Mark held his sword. "You have to go... and you can't come back until you have full gear" He pointed his sword "As you said... back then"
"I know" Jun walks away from the prison and to the opposite side of Izuzunu. He heads west.
"It's been a month... and I forgot that the citizens of Izuzunu still hate me," He said. He quickly stopped and there stood Mikey in front of him.
"Mikey, what are you doing here?" He asked. "I'm gonna help you get all of your gears back" Mikey answered.
"Thanks but, I can do this solo-" Mikey interrupts "You can't stop me"
Jun stood there. "Do you shower?" Mikey asked. "I made a shower room, but we had no soap... so it freaking sucks" Jun answered.
"You should shower," Mikey says. Jun walks past Mikey. Mikey follows him "Let's go make all your armors!!"
Jun begins speedwalking... and then jogging... and then running... and then full sprinting.
"Jun! Wait! What are you doing!?" He shouted. "We gotta go before it gets night! Let's go look for a nearby village or a kingdom!" He shouted.
Moments later, they finally find a village "A village!" Mikey shouted "Finally!"
Jun said nothing. He ran down to the village and stood in the middle of it. "We found shelter to stay the night at," He said.
"Oh, okay" Mikey replied.
"Tomorrow, we'll start mining in that cave" Jun points at a nearby cave. "Mikey... run," Jun says. "What? Why?" Mikey asked. Jun points at the zombie fully sprinting toward Mikey "Aah!"
Suddenly the zombie was shot down with an arrow by a girl on top of the watch tower. Jun and Mikey look up as the girl smiles and waves.
They enter a hotel "Hey" Jun says to a worker at the hotel "I need to stay one night here"
"That'll be 20D/E," She says. Jun stood there with no money at all. Mikey laughs "I don't have money too"
"My name is Jun! The First President of Izuzunu! And I shall get a room!"
"I can't believe that worked," Mikey said as they both walked down the hall with a key.
"Is our country really popular worldwide?" He asks Jun. "Maybe. You stay in this room and I'll stay in this one. Tomorrow, I'll knock on the door, and if you don't wake up, I'm gonna break in and slap you" Jun said.
Jun opens the door to his room and closes it. Mikey walks into his room and closes it too. Jun lights up the lanterns on the walls to find himself in a small room.
"This is the size of Irene's house," He says. Irene's house was pretty small. Jun puts his stuff down and lies down on the bed.
The next day, Jun and Mikey are in the cave systems fighting brutes. "Your left! Mikey!" Jun shouted. Mikey dodges the zombies and slices its body in half.
"Oh look, metal!" Mikey points.
He grabs some metal and fires it to make it into a helmet. Then grabs a hammer and begins smacking the metal as the heat weakens the metal. They had a whole blacksmith room in the cave system.
"Almost all my armors are back," Jun says. "Let's go into this part of the cave" Jun walks into the darkness.
HOURS LATER
Jun and Mikey walk around the caves, tracing their steps to find the way out. Jun warned as they walked down the side of a cliff in the cave "Be careful, don't fall to the ground before you experience the most intense moment of your life before dying"
Mikey slowly walks on the cliffside, leaning against the wall and into another cave where the exit should be.
Jun follows him "This has been an adventure," Jun says. "Yeah.. especially finally being out of that prison cell for you," Mikey said as he mined through the stones.
Jun says "To be honest, I didn't know how to react when he told me I could finally get out.. I just... sat there"
"It's all the stupid ass citizen's fault" Mikey replied. "I agree" Jun reacted to the comment.
"I wonder how everyone's doing in Izuzunu. I'm gonna have to visit every LCI member to see if they're okay" Jun laughs.
"Yeah" Mikey laughs back "Everything's fine in Izuzunu and your house hasn't been touched since you left"
"I see" Jun hits a hard object with his shovel "Oh? I think I hit a rock"
Jun smacks his hands on the front desk of the explorer "How much for me to spellbind my armor?" He asks.
"Uhm... I'd say about... 1,000 to 2,000D/E" She replied.
"What?" Jun asked. "Damn it" Mikey shouted. "Is there any other way I could get it for free or 10D/E?" Jun asked.
"No. Just 500" She answered. Jun then walks out of the library "Fine" He said.
"Jun... how will you get the spellbinds for your armors now?" Mikey asked. "I'm gonna... go to Xuanyu" Jun answered.
"What!? But you can't go to town!" Mikey shouted. "He doesn't live near town, so nobody would even know," Jun says.
Mikey realized he did move out "You're right"
XUANYU'S HOUSE
"Okay... sure... I guess I'll help" Xuanyu agreed to help him get the spellbinding liquids he wanted. "Yes!" Mikey shouted.
"I'll go get it" Xuanyu leaves "Watch my house for me I guess" Xuanyu closes the doors.
"Tomorrow, we're gonna celebrate the new month, will you join us?" Mikey asks.
"Yeah... but hopefully the citizens don't mind," Jun said. Mikey looks down "By the way, it's not your fault" Mikey spoke.
"Yeah, I know it's not... I don't care about the war anymore, it's the citizens I care about" Jun replied.
"Oh," Mikey says. "Jun!? It's been a month!" 07 shouted outside the house.
Jun opens the doors as 07 and Nugget enter the house "It's been so long" They all smiled at each other.
"Yeah, I haven't seen you guys in a while," Jun said "I've been isolated from everyone"
"Where's Xuanyu? And why are you here?" Nugget asked.
"Xuanyu left to get me spellbinding liquids for my armor" Jun answered.
"Oh, I see" Nugget understood. "I'm back!" Xuanyu opens the doors and places down a bucket filled with the liquids.
"That is a lot. Sorry, I don't know how to pay you" Jun says. "Yeah, don't worry, you don't have to pay me back" Xuanyu shook his head.
"Alright... let's start spellbinding everything I have" Jun stood up from the chairs. "Finally, I got my entire armor set back, and I'm spellbinding it! I can finally... go home"
"Yeah," Xuanyu chuckles. "I haven't cleaned my room in a long time" Jun added.
"Yeah," Xuanyu chuckles as he pulls out Jun's old sword. The sword that Jun gave to Xuanyu to take care of.
"Jun, you ready to go home?" Xuanyu asks. Jun looked at his sword and grabbed it as he smiled "Yeah... let's go"
TO BE CONTINUED..