<Ⅴ>
Like the day they first met, searching the scent, tracing his wake, the small creature followed the smell it remembered that had been its compass. This weak unique scent led it some days before to the large emerald-armored being who took it on his shoulders, across various dry lands until they finally set foot on chilling smooth glassy surface, surrounded by all sorts of complicating fragrances of meat and smoke, that befuddled its senses, having it lose the scent of its tall emerald armored companion, and strayed away to where numerous legs step and kick around playfully, yet carelessly.
Exhaustedly dodging the feet that noticed it not, the fluffy creature frantically scampered around the slippery floor, looking for places to hide, and focusing all its talents on relocating the special scent of its partner, to no avail.
The wolf cub, struck by hunger and confusion, sat under the large shade of a divan and whined helplessly.
Unaware of the pair of wide curious eyes staring at its back.
" PUPPY!!!" A sharp squeal of delight pierced the creature's keen hearing as ruthless arms wrapped around its neck, dragging the critter with violent force up high, dangling its hind legs in the air.
The tiny critter panicked as it wobbled with its short paws, trying to escape the tight grasp to no avail, feeling the back of its head rubbed against warm hairless skin.
Neliya, Feira, Lucky, and the other girls chatting nearby heard the elated squeal and helpless moans and saw with surprise an unexpected creature in one of the little girl's arms.
Lucky panicked at the sight of the beast in the infant's arms.
" Momo! Drop that! It's a Demon!!"
All the children spun around at the mention of the word.
" Demon?!" The children huddled together, spooked.
" Demon?!" Reina drew out her photon arm pistol which materialized around her wrist, nearly knocking Seito's drink over.
Yuri however was trying her best to retrieve the golden marble fallen out of Lima's locket on the floor at that moment, having no leisure to join their trepidation.
Reina made her way forth to the gathered children and looked down.
" That's no Demon!" Seito the Mighty laughed at all the terrified children, amused by the false alarm.
" That be my friend's companion, The Dog! Such a funny name!"
" Seriously, you call it The dog?" Reina questioned the distasteful naming, putting her photon pistol away. " It looks more like a wolf to me. But...aren't they supposed to be…"
" Whatever it is, at least it doesn't bite. Besides, it's my cohort Vitas' creature, not mine." Seito shrugged.
As the other children resumed their feasting, the girls sat around the one holding the wolf cub most cheerfully, the youngest of the children among the pack, a little girl by the name of Momo, of short blond hair and pink round eyes, who just won't let go of the poor animal.
" So…is it really not a Demon?!" Lucky, the girl with the red hair and crown asked agitatedly.
" I don't like how sharp its teeth are…"
" It's a canine. According to Sensei's book here." Neliya then proceeds to read out the definitions on the page of the thick volume, but young cheerful Momo wasn't listening. She just wants to hug the animal, caressing its soothing soft fur as long as her little arms could carry, even bringing the critter all the way back to the bedding rooms long after the barbeque party's ended, hugging the wolf cub close as she slept with sweet dreams of joy.
The wolf cub, the dog, however, locked behind the girl's arms, could but succumb and join her in ill slumber, wondering why the scent of this little girl was so strange, yet familiar...
After making sure all the children were safely put to bed, Reina secretary walked alone to the lounge where the Mighty Starbreaker was there, seated on a couch near a low table, reading from a hologram projected above the flat surface of the airship Betelgeuses' records.
" I find your ship quite bizarre, secretary." Seito checked the hologram pages again and again.
" Call me Reina." The secretary sat down next to the herculean figure who was more absorbed by what he was seeing, more so what he could not see.
" Your networks are not connected to the main station. Is it broken?" Seito inquired, seriously ere his jolly tone.
" And I can only find records of one Starbreaker, this Firren, here. Which bothers me…who is this girl who is capable of stabbing Archdemon Death's eye?"
Silence.
" Who is she? And where did she come from…?"
" That is top secret that concerns only the Captain. Not me, nor you. Nor anyone else." Reina secretary replied coldly, looking afar avoiding Seito's inquiring eyes.
" Then…why are we disconnected from the Capital, may I ask, Reina secretary?" Seito voiced his words gravely, hoping his intimidation could get him his answers, which was futile before Reina's stinging firm posture.
Seito leaned closer to Reina, with a stare that could terrorize Demons under Beta Grade.
" …Are you… hiding from the Capital, from the Lord, secretary Reina?"
A chilling, intense silence, froze the lounge.
Like lightning, Seito caught a glimpse from the edge of his eye of Reina's hand dashing toward him with an instant glisten upon the minuscule object in her hand which dived down from the side aiming for his neck.
She is also a Starbreaker, Seito deducted with just a millisecond of his sharp observation upon this young woman's moves. Good. There is no obligation for me to stay gentle.
With true lightning speed, Seito did one move, one move only by shooting his sinewy arm forth, grasping Reina's assaulting hand near the elbow, and crushing his fingers deep toward her ulnar.
Reina gave out a faint restrained cry of agony before kicking the low table up to strike the herculean Starbreaker, only to realize her opponent had already placed his brawny foot onto the table, knocking her leg back, throbbing painfully due to impact.
Locked in a fierce standstill, staring into each other's fiery eyes in silence.
" What is the meaning of this?" Seito the mighty asked calmly.
" Answer me before I crush more than I should."
" I will tell you…" Reina forced an anguishing whisper, too quick for Seito to comprehend.
" But I can't say it out loud…"
Seito leaned closer, directing his ear forward.
She might bite his ear off, Seito surmised, after I break her arm that is.
" Whisper then." Seito bade cooly.
But got no reply.
Seito turned his face to check what was the hold up when the unexpected shot forth.
If it were pain or any kind of sensory retaliation, Seito would have torn Reina's arm off, but what he encountered was far too eccentric for him to react, in a thousand years he would never have anticipated such a move from this opponent before him, yet here he was, caught by surprise and sent to a chaotic ride of emotions and feelings.
Closely intact, were their lips, entwined in a deep tender collision as Reina pressed down, burying herself over Seito's large frame, waiting a whole minute did she ascend from his lying pose.
The bulky fingers loosened their grip around her arm.
Brushing her messy hair back behind her shoulders, Reina waited for the huge hero man to slowly sit back up, trembling in astonishment and sheer distraught in his wide saucer-sized eyes.
" What the…you…why….?!?!"
Images flashing, voices murmuring, high-pitched shouts calling.
His sensations swelled like a tempest and his mind mixed in chaotic feelings, alien and familiar, truth and lies, all colliding ruthlessly in his head.
There, among all the chaos, he saw her, again and again, at various points of a life he had never known before.
" …You…?!"
That was when Seito touched a jarring slim gadget sticking out of the side of his neck.
A syringe, pumped fully in.
Before Seito could comment on his own folly, his world swarmed with darkness and his mind came to a stop.
The whole lounge shuddered as Seito's hulking body hit the ground.
Then silence.
Reina looked up slowly, her blank gaze staring forth from behind the unruly frontlines of her orange hair.
Firren stared back, mouth agape, petrified at the foyer, staring at the appalling scene before his disbelieving eyes.
Commander Firren had never seen tears form in the secretary's eyes.
" Don't tell the Captain." Reina whispered after a long minute of silence.
" I'll tell him myself."
…
...….
After a couple of hours of shallow sleep, the wolf cub snuggled out of Momo's tiny arms, escaping from its restraints, and rested next to the little girl's face, sniffing the weak scent from the satisfactory dreamy smile.
Tilting its head in wonder, the canine was sure it had collected this faint but unique scent before. It was close to the same smell that it had been trying to follow, but slightly variated.
With the new scent collected, the puppy leapt down the mini bed and went on its way, searching for the mysterious scent that its partner, the emerald armored figure possess.
But the wide bedding room was walled on all sides, dark and silent, hard to distinguish the door's position. But still, the young canine sniffed its way, following the air that flowed inward near the floor that came from outside, drafting in from under the sliding door, which would not budge no matter how the critter leapt and smacked the hard surface with its paws.
Sooner than the wolf cub expected, a person woke up, and approached the door which slid open with ease, beaming down a shaft of light upon the floor which the puppy hid away from lest it gets seen and caught again by wild girls.
The wolf pup followed a distance away from the figure and left the room, basking under the dim ceiling lights of the long corridors of glass. Darkness yet enveloped all that existed outside the glass, but the shade slowly grew brighter as the wolf pup followed on until the figure that left the bedroom stopped also and stared outside at the infinite dark.
The canine was confused.
As it slowly got closer, it realized this figure, this tall girl with long purple hair tied into double twintails on both sides, share also the unique scent, not exactly the same but with a stronger essence than any before.
The puppy edged closer and closer, afraid that it might get noticed. But the girl was not at all paying attention to the dog.
She was looking at the skies outside.
Breaking the darkness, drawing out one thin beam that drew out more and more shafts from behind the curtains, until it started to erupt in gold and white, blossoming nonstop only to grow bigger and stronger, pushing all shadow down with its extending rays as the hues change color and what once was of a void, now blooming with light blue infinity. White vaporish puffs painted hither and thither above amongst the blue while the large clusters of clouds billowed down below, the airship sailing upon white waves of cotton.
This was what Lima had wished to see, every day before anyone awakes, craving the sight of clear unfazed sunrise. Finally, she was high enough to behold the majestic lights of warmth, that reminded her of who she once was.
The dawn was sacred to her, waking up each day to see the lights brush off the darkness, hoping one day she will see it, gliding in the middle of that blazing circle—
Wait.
Why is there a dog sitting next to her?
…
...
The wolf pup stared back, seated properly by her feet, panting happily.
This girl's scent is strong, though it may not be the same as the one it intended to follow, hers was close enough.
…
...…..
Impossible.
Lima thought to herself, raising her guard as she backed a few steps away from the animal, which moved forward as much as she moved.
There aren't supposed to be any animals left. How is it possible…?
With a hand placed on her golden locket chained atop her chest, Lima prepared for the worst.
The wolf cub stepped one step forth.
" PUPPY!!!"
It was that cry again! It was her! The one with her arms that wouldn't let go of any poor critter, she awakes!
With a woeful whimper, the terrified canine scampered away, down the glass corridor into the beyond.
" Puppy…!"
" Momo, wait!" Momo the little girl was about to chase after before Lima stopped the 5-year-old infant in her tracks.
" Where did you find that creature?! Is it from outside?!"
The infant shook her head curiously.
" Momo found puppy yesterday in the party. Crying under the sofa."
" What?!" Lima recalled the happenings last night. She must have fallen asleep by that time. But a Demon on board…why hasn't anyone killed it yet?!
" Listen, Momo. Don't get near that thing, so you understand?! That thing is a Demon!"
" But…but the grownups say it isn't Demon." Momo pointed out innocently.
What?! But…it can't be!
" Sister Neliya's book says it's not Demon too."
" But Momo, nothing in that book exists anymore. Nothing we know exists anymore...." Lima tried to argue, but lowered her voice as to realize nothing she said would make Momo understand.
No one would.
They don't remember.
" Just…don't look for it, okay? It will only hurt you…" Lima sighed, turning away, from the infant, from the dawn.
But Momo was adamant.
" It will not hurt Momo…" With puffed cheeks, the little girl went down the corridor, in search of the old friend she thought it was.
…
...….
He was late for morning training. That's a first, Firren thought, as he jogged along the glass passage up the training center. But what he saw last night was also a first he wished to forget.
What was secretary Reina thinking?! Is she out of her mind? Dragging a fellow Starbreaker into this…?!
Reina had refused to tell him any details even after Firren had helped tidy up the ravaged lounge, leaving only one hint as to what she might be planning to do.
" I know him." Reina had answered finally to Firren's countless inquisitions of concern.
" That's all I can tell you."
Can it be...Firren slowed his pace, trying to figure out what has just crossed his upheaved mind.
Reina was trying to make Seito—
Firren's mind paused as soon as his eyes beheld the sight behind the sliding doors to the training center.
Yuri was already there, donned in practicing armor, weapon in hand.
And she was not alone.
The young man, the person under the emerald Starbreaker was there also, standing close to Yuri's presence.
" Morning, commander!" Yuri waved energetically, pulling the young male next to her by the hand to greet Firren.
" Commander, this is—"
" What's the meaning of this!" Firren barked with utmost hostility, breaking the two in front of him apart with his commanding stature quickly in such haste.
" Yuri, what have I told you?!" Firren hissed after he pulled Yuri to a side.
" That man is dangerous!"
" He is not!" Yuri argued, strongly dismayed by her commander's words.
" He's lost things, memories, just like me! And he knows where my mother is!"
" On the contrary, I don't." Vitas admitted, standing a few steps away from them.
Firren scowled back menacingly and Vitas made no more response.
" He agrees to help me, and I too will help him find the memories he'd lost. Win-win!" Yuri reasoned with confidence.
" Wrong, wrong!" Firren denied blatantly, fuming with rage.
" Yuri, that man isn't supposed to be here! He is, He…is…"
" He is what?!" Yuri demanded, her anger slowly rising as Firren thought hard for the words to say.
" I am what?" Vitas asked, curious to know if Firren could help him know more about himself.
After a long, excruciating accepting silence, remembering what he and Captain Bradson had made a pact with, Firren gave a long resentful sigh.
" Fine…" The commander muttered, bothered by too much already.
" Let's start today's sessions…"
…
...….
" What is it you want, Reina?"
Bradson Captain asked calmly, sitting back in his comfy chair, looking up patiently at the secretary standing before his paper-filled desk.
" I want to reoperate what you did." Reina replied firmly, without a trace of hesitance in her voice.
" Your operation on Yuri. I need the Restoration Device Cabinet."
" So you can operate it on Seito…is it?" Bradson Captain helped Reina finish.
Reina's silence assured the Captain of his assumptions.
" No." Bradson refused.
…
...
" Well, now that there are three of us, it will be easier to explain some offensive tactics." Firren swiftly made a plan along the way as he produced his twin hand blades of flame that materialized in nanoparticle form, wrapping around his arms.
" You. Stand still." Firren ushered Vitas to stand in the middle of the arena while Yuri stood by at watched.
Firren came forth, with both weapons raised, intimidatingly.
" Before we strike, we have to observe the enemy fully and find their weak points, so as to plan our next move."
" Can I have weapons too?" Vitas asked politely.
Firren ignored him.
" So, for example, this Demon we see here, standing on two hind legs, two arms, no wings no shields whatsoever. First off, remember, when dealing with thin feeble legs like these, attacking the joints can raise the percentage of breaking their posture."
And Firren smacked Vitas in the knee with his blades.
" Watch it!" Vitas leapt back to a safe distance through his agile instincts, which surprised Firren, but the commander did not show.
" Commander, you are hurting Vitas!"
" Silence! He is not even called—Fine." Firren finally gave in.
" Summon whatever weapon of choice, You, and come with all you've got. I'll demonstrate how it's done."
" Don't mind if I do." with nanoparticles swirling around both arms, Vitas summoned from the training systems a round shield and a long katana, posing his stance with both weapons of offense and defense at the ready.
Firren smirked as his practicing helmet clasped around his face.
Yuri looked on worriedly as the two Starbreakers prepared to clash.
…
...…..
" The cabinet is broken." Bradson captain replied shortly. " It is far beyond repair."
" Then where is the device?" Reina asked, relentless to back down.
" I want to see it."
" No." The captain shook his head.
" Why?!"
" Because I can't let you do it."
" But you did it on Yuri!" Reina shouted angrily, placing both hands hard on the captain's desk.
" And all of us! If you had restored mine…why can't I restore Seito's Memories?!!"
…
...
Silence enveloped the training hall.
Then it all erupted from the center.
A thundering clash they did, Firren being the first to dive forth with a speeding lunge, weapons piercing forth, striking fully onto the shield that Vitas held firm, only for the commander to sway his shield with his moving flow to the right and revealed his vulnerable side where Firren burst his flame forth, to receive a sudden up twist slash of the katana amongst the thrown flame, seeing that Vitas held leapt near the ceiling and kick-off away miles to the other end of the arena, escaping what would have been burned wounds. Firren dashed back in a recollecting fashion, zigzagging to shoot out a fireball at the exact position of Vitas' landing when he realized one of his flame blades was dysfunctionalized, dematerializing by the slashing attack whence Vitas was escaping his flames!
Firren cursed, casting the powerless weapon aside, and resorted using one side of his blade. He doesn't want to win by resummoning another weapon. That would be tainting his actions.
He can beat this person with all he can.
Vitas wasn't sure what just happened, and was sure, like all the times out there fighting against Demons of all shapes and sizes, he was saved again by the instincts and the secret powers hidden inside of him. But surely he can do better. At least, prove to himself that he can accomplish an ordeal without the help of the unknown. Before Vitas could restance his posture, Firren was already upon him, diving the bladeless arm toward his gut which Vitas tried to evade with the shield pulled back and body turned aside to brass the blow.
But Firren was not aiming to strike. The commander grabbed the shield by the rim with one arm, and with raw strength pulled the shield aside, revealing Vitas' chest as the commander aimed his fiery blade at his face.
Vitas swung his katana forth in retaliation rather than defense, trying to pulverize the other side of Firren's blade, without realizing that was what Firren was waiting for. As the blade dived mid-sail, Firren retracted his weaponed arm, switching his hand sideways, and chopped down ruthlessly at the joint of Vitas' sword holding hand, so hard Vitas couldn't feel his grasp in one whole minute, seeing his katana fall to the ground as the flames came forth toward his face.
" Stop—!"
Firren leapt back quickly before his flames spurred too much out front, fearing it might bring damage upon the unexpected Yuri, who intruded the brawl and dashed in between them two, pushing Vitas out of harm's way.
" Commander! That's enough!" Yuri cried out furiously, tears of anger gathering around her eyes.
" Let's go."
Deactivating their armor and weapons, Yuri helped Vitas up to his feet, and hand in hand, they exited the training center without turning back to bid farewell.
At a loss, Firren could but watch them leave, realizing he himself had gone too far. What is going on with him…not like this, Firren! Not like this…! The young commander cursed himself for his recklessness.
…
...…
" There are detrimental risks impossible to perceive and take precaution of, Reina." Captain Bradson tried his best to persuade his secretary, his expression graver as he continued.
" We are not in safe position to try it anymore. What happened to Yuri…should never have took place. It is best this way."
" It is best to keep them in the dark, in the lie?!"
" In moments like this…Yes." Bradson adamantly nodded despite Reina's acquisitions.
" There are eyes all around us, Reina. And not just the scrutiny I fear…"
" What are you afraid of?!" Reina demanded a solid answer.
To this, Bradson laid back on his chair, closing his eyes for long before he fixed Reina in a serious gaze.
" Have it ever occurred to you, Reina?" Bradson captain proposed a question to his secretary patiently.
" That with the Restoration Device, why is there only the four of us here on this ship, including Yuri who is an exception?"
" You simply can't find the right people to trust." Reina volleyed back aggressively.
" No. I had many options, before you and Firren, and many others after. But why only you two?"
" Why?"
Captain Bradson took a momentary pause before he gave his answer.
To which Reina turned away, exasperated by what she heard, leaving the captain's cabin with heavy angered steps.
…
...…
Losing its captors at long last, the wolf cub slowed down, recalibrating its surroundings by sniffing the air all around.
Wait. The wolf sniffed again. There was a new scent.
The young canine straightened its ears and sharpened its senses.
It was a conflicting scent, an agitating aura, a pheromone animosity that drove the tiny beast angrier and angrier, escalating into a frenzied fury, growling intensifying to a raging roar, as the wolf cub, wild instincts emerged, raced down the corridors in raw fervor.
…
...….
Hoisting with one shoulder, Yuri helped Vitas along the glass corridors, the two of them traversing slowly toward the infirmary.
Summoning parts of his armor out, Vitas stabilized them around his knee, easing the pain and facilitating his walk.
" Wait." Yuri thought Vitas needed some rest, but Vitas was looking above, searching for something beyond the passageway they now reside.
" Do you hear that?"
Yuri focused on her surroundings.
Ringing afar, tingling vaguely but constant, light chimes beyond. Lifting and lowering gracefully, short intervals into long sonorous tune, it was the same melody. The one that Yuri had heard from the secret chambers of Captain Bradson's cabin.
Watching the clouds floating by, they both sat down, collecting the rich mellow reverberations into their ears.
" It's from grandpapa Bradson's cabin." Yuri whispered. " I have heard it before. Once when I sneaked into his cabin days before, and…somewhere longer before. But I don't remember anymore."
" It's a Piano."
" What?" Yuri looked up in surprise.
Vitas looked back, also as surprised as she was.
" What…what is it you just said…Pi..?"
Vitas wasn't sure. It came out of nowhere, with the melodious sounds that flowed into him, moving his lips, like a thought inserted into his mind, controlling his lips and emitting his voice to speak out the one word that he did not understand nor remember.
" …Piano…" Vitas whispered again, perplexed by himself,
and by the voice that told him so.
How? What is this…sensation?
Remembrance? Familiarity? No…it's something else, someone else—
" Piano…?" Yuri repeated in wonder. " Can it be…you've also heard of this sound before?"
" I am not sure…"
Vitas quickly stood up slowly, as the gentle tinglings subsided to a close.
" I can't remember…"
But he does. It was coming back to him, little by little, in voices, in whispers, lighting up various parts of the once dark shards of memory into a cracked piece of the whole picture.
He pushed them away, feeling a deep dread emerging with what was yet to come, forcing them out of his mind.
Not now, Vitas…not now...
As they strolled far away from the aisle, a hovering shape followed illusively, eyeing them with one lifeless robotic mono eye before vanishing back into the shades.
…
...…..
When Yuri brought Vitas to the dining center for breakfast, the halls were already crowded with voices and chatter ranting about.
" Attention! Attention, friends and folk!"
Yuri looked to the head of one of the long tables, to see Neo standing up at the front, his close advisor Kai by his right and the silent Tricia by his right, rallying the fluctuating attention of the vigorous children to focus on what he was about to speak.
Androids which served breakfast in organized trays moved around accordingly, putting them before the children as they sat quietly, ready to listen to their lead Neo's morning speech.
Yuri and Vitas quickly sat down in reverence of this responsible youngster, curious to hear what there is to be heard.
" Thank you. My friends, comrades." Neo began.
" First off, we have spent a safe night within the protection of the Starbreakers and their Captain of this ship that agreed to provide us shelter, we owe them our thanks. Me and Kai had discussed ways to repay their kindness, when its is settled we will let you know."
The children all nodded in agreement, willing to help out in ways they can achieve.
" Secondly, we must not forget our mentor, our Sensei's teachings, and Sensei's warnings: Fend off Demons, and beware the Starbreakers. Though we may be safe for now, it doesn't mean we are always safe. We all know what Demons and Starbreakers are capable of, do not let that slip out of our minds. Remember, we must stay cautious. We must stay together. When one of us has a problem, it is Our problem. We stick together, Hand in Hand, to all ends!"
" Hand in hand!" agreed the children wholeheartedly, clapping in unison.
Yuri and Vitas clapped along, sitting a few tables away as the androids served them their trays of decent breakfast unfrozen food.
" Lastly, we must remember our quest, our mission, that is to seek our lost Sensei, and help search for the lost child Sensei tried to save! If there is a slight chance Sensei might be somewhere, we'll look into it! For Sensei, everyone!"
" For our Sensei!"
Neo nodded assuringly to his folk as he turned to Kai.
Kai stood up to all.
" If anyone has met with any problems that need our assistance, or has anything you just want to say to us all, now is your time. Anyone?"
Most of the children were content and silent and waited.
" Rio should help fix the weapons he broke." Feira the manufacturer girl raised a hand and spoke out loud, earning jeers and laughs among the children, which made Rio blush in embarrassment.
Tricia the silent one chuckled with them.
" Rio, be responsible and help Feira out." Neo ordered his younger brother and Rio could but agree.
" Anyone else?" Kai asked again.
This time, nervously, a small hand slowly raised.
Yuri noticed it was Neliya, the timid one who had some requests to ask.
" I…I wish to visit the ship library…" Neliya spoke, trying her best to raise her volume.
" Sure." Kai and Neo exchanged looks.
" I don't see why not."
" But…it is locked." Neliya pointed out, surprising the others.
Yuri knew there was a library hall deep down close to the storage basements, but she hadn't visited yet. Why would that place be locked, Yuri wondered.
" I'll ask the captain if we could enter." Neo decided after a short consideration.
" Neliya."
" Ye…Yes!" The shy girl squeaked, jolted by the sudden call of her name by the stern leader of the pack.
" Tell me when you are ready. I'll accompany you to ask permission from the captain."
" …Thank…you…" Neliya sat down quickly, rose red all over her face.
And the children began to dine, resuming cheerful chat in leisure atmosphere.
Yuri and Vitas started to eat as well, when the children saw them and invited them enthusiastically to join their meal. The two Starbreakers agreed wholeheartedly.
Lima however, could not take her eyes off this man Starbreaker, fixed in a silent confronting frown.
" Can I have a look at your shield later, Starbreaker sir?" Feira suddenly asked Vitas curiously as they all gathered to enjoy the food.
" What?" Vitas nearly dropped his fork.
" You shield. It generates an invisible wall that can block Demons! How does it work?!" Feira asked, edging on for answers for research purposes.
" I…I don't know. Sorry." Vitas apologized.
" Then, how about your armor too? It's cool and all, but where do you store them?" Another kid eagerly asked.
" My armor is stored here." Yuri answered, showing them curious children an obscure blue wristband around her hand.
" Where?" The children asked.
" In this wristband. It will materialize when we summon it out, but before that, we have to first connect to the armor in some way…I think…"
Yuri wasn't one hundred percent sure.
It's her mother's armor after all.
" Mine is kept here." Vitas showed them around his neck, a dark green metallic band shining above his collarbones.
" It comes out naturally, but…I don't really know how I got this armor and what connections we have…perhaps we really need to check the library."
Vitas decided, knocking his fist to his other palm.
" There is just too much we do not know. There might be answers in a place full of information."
" Right…!" Yuri suddenly remembered.
" There might also be answers to the whereabouts of The Land of Light! Why haven't I thought of that!? The library must have all we need!"
" Land of Light…?" Neliya asked curiously, feeling that was not the first time she had met with the mysterious location. Maybe I should look it up, in Sensei's book back in the bedding rooms…Neliya decided.
" By the way…" Vitas has something he would like to ask the children.
" Did any of you happen to have seen a wolf cub? You know, a four-legged ball of fur that runs around…"
Lima, sitting next to Yuri, stopped in mid-sip of her soup and listened carefully.
So that beast is yours…Lima wondered.
" PUPPY!" Momo the youngest of the children stood up and cried out excitedly.
" …Yeah. Do you know where it went?" Vitas asked.
" Momo…lost it…" Momo sadly sat back down.
" It's that beast we have been chasing all morning!" Lucky scoffed annoyedly, being dragged by Momo to help fetch the puppy back.
" Momo wants it so badly! But that thing growls and seems to be hostile! Are you sure it's not a Demon?"
" It's not a Demon!" Vitas hurriedly clarified.
" It…It is he that woke me up from slumber in the wild. In some way, it led me and Seito here. It is my partner, which Seito and I call The Dog."
" The Dog…?" Everyone seemed to have opinions on the mundane name.
" But it's mean. It barks and threatens to bite us." Lucky unamusedly recalled her encounter some minutes ago.
" I don't know what's up with it. We were just walking towards it and it flips and lashes out at us like we are Demons!"
Maybe it is a Demon in disguise, Lima thought to herself.
Vitas was troubled.
" That never happened to us before…Maybe I should go look for The Dog myself."
" You should give it a better name." Lucky suggested.
" You alright, Lima?"
Yuri noticed the silence in Lima and leaned closer to her.
" What's wrong?"
" …Who is Vitas?" Lima whispered cautiously, leaning close to Yuri's ear so as not to be heard.
" Oh, he is a Starbreaker like me, who has lost his memories. We share…some memories in common…"
Yuri replied, not sure how to describe the feelings she felt when those memories of him flashed out when she met Vitas.
Lima perplexedly looked at the young man of the emerald armor. She was sure she had seen him before, yet…something was quite wrong for him being here…
" He is not…"
Stopping halfway in her whisper, Lima decided to stay silent, observing with her own eyes who this man really is. And whether his creature is a Demon.
" Hey, does anyone know where the Mighty Starbreaker Hero is?" Rio asked curiously.
" I want to learn from him the ways to throw lightning cooly!"
" Seito? He should be here…" Vitas and Yuri both looked around, seeing no sign of the big hero man in the dining hall.
" Strange. I was hoping to learn from him also…he might still be in his room." Yuri hummed in wonder.
Vitas shrugged, having only the option to accept the assumption, unable to imagine that Seito was now kept in highly secured captivity, within a large cylindrical container.
…
...…
Reina checked the vitals displayed before her on the hologram, hovering above the steel container.
Soon, she prayed, placing her hand gently on the cold surface of the device, casting a shadow upon Seito's unconscious face under the glass with her palm.
I'll help you remember…Seito!
…
...….
Thus, after breakfast, Yuri and Vitas split up with some children who were eager to follow.
Yuri, Neliya, and Neo headed to Bradson Captain's cabin to ask for the library entrance;
Vitas, Momo, and Lucky went to find The Dog, or wolf cub, while Lima secretly followed behind.
Before they went to seek the captain, Neliya wished to fetch the thick Sensei's book with her in her room to look up something.
Never would Neliya assume that the book one day disappear from her grasp.
" Neliya? You got it?" Yuri knocked on the door as she walked into the spacious bedding room with four beds placed symmetrically. Neliya was kneeling close to her bed, dumbstruck and trembling with eyes blank and wide in terror.
The little girl's pale face was unmistakable even from the entrance of the room.
" It's…It's gone…" Neliya whimpered powerlessly, tears pouring out in seconds.
Yuri blanched in horror, peering down to each and every bed vehemently, but no thick book in sight.
" What's going on?!" Neo asked, coming into the room impatiently, to see the two searching the whole room frantically.
In minutes, Neo rallied the children and began a massive search, scouring each and every corner of the ship.
" I'll look into it." Bradson promised through the speakers of the caller situated on nearly each corner of the ship after Yuri described the plight to the captain.
Immediately, androids roamed here and there, with scan lights drawing wide circles as they dashed along corridors and passageways. Yuri and Neliya followed one of the scanning droids worriedly, while Neo searched each part before the android started scanning.
" …I…I am sorry…" Neliya apologized sorrowfully to the leader of the children, feeling it was her fault for losing such an important blessing from their beloved mentor. She deserved to be punished, or more so marooned…
" I shouldn't have left the book alone…I shouldn't have…"
" Neliya."
"...yes…?"
" You apologize to no one. Whoever took that book should be sorry. And I'll make him pay for each page if anything happens to your book."
Neo vowed, a firm intense vow, moving forth searching each and every room at the lead.
Neliya wiped away her tears and helped him search.
…
....
It is like deleting save files from old software, Reina told herself as she switched the power levers on. Delete all the redundant toxicities and leave the rest. Easy as that.
The Restoration device rumbled in activation, shuddering aggressively within the stuffed lab. Reina was confident the androids have fixed the device properly, but each shudder still send a jolt down her spine. The ominous feeling is futile before her resolve, fear is not going to stop her days, months, and years of longing to bring the lost back.
With a chance like this in hand, fear is the last thing to pull her back.
It should work just fine.
She is living proof. He should make it as well.
Screens hovered up to her vision with multiple thin-lined orbs mashed together in different colors flashed out successively in stereoscopic fashion before her. Reina picked one of the orbs in red flare out from the rest, swiping it to the side of the screen. It's just deleting files.
Easy as that.
It will soon be over.
…
....
After more than an hour, the androids still haven't scanned out the designated target.
" We'll find it very soon." Yuri comforted Neliya, whose tears welled more and more around her eyes, but Neliya wouldn't let them flow.
" They found it!!" Rio shouted suddenly at the front. Yuri, Neliya, and Neo burst forth to where Rio pointed.
" They found the Dog!"
Neo would have given his brother a punch through the stomach if Yuri hadn't stopped him.
But still, Yuri and the others followed and saw that Vitas and Lucky were also on the run, apparently not getting their hands on the wolf cub yet.
" What happened?" Yuri asked Vitas as they ran together along the glass corridors after the runaway pup.
" I don't know!" Vitas too was in shock. " The Dog seems angered, and won't let us get near him…The Dog is rogue!"
" Maybe because it hates its own name…!" Lucky managed to reply, trying hard to catch up with the two Starbreakers' speed.
" What does 'Dog' mean anyways?! It sounds stupid!" Lucky asked incredulously, panting hard behind.
" Yeah, Vitas. What does that name mean?" Yuri asked, to which Vitas was surprised at first by the questions asked.
" What…?? It's…It's what it's called…is it not?" Vitas looked around for approval but all he got were confused glances back at him. Let was when Vitas realized something he could not put to words but surely felt in his mind.
" Over Here!" Yuri recognized Lima's voice calling not far away at a hall down to their right.
They dashed to a wide circular arena at the rear end of the Betelgeuse, at one end was walled with darkened glass, with two exits on both sides, where one Yuri, Vitas, and the others stood, and the other end was Lima.
Neliya panted exasperatedly as she strolled forth to catch up, gasping in surprise at where they now stood.
" This…This is the library!" Neliya squeaked, catching her breath at the same time.
" It's right there…behind the glass…"
The obscured glass doors were sealed shut, before there, the wolf cub was, growling ferociously, baring its fangs and displaying grave malice at the glass gateway where someone stood, leaning helplessly at the door in front of the raging critter.
" Momo!!" Yuri gasped trying to dash forth yet stopped as sharp ruthless barking penetrated their eardrums, stupifying them in fear that the wolf cub might lunge forth at the little girl and tear the infant apart.
Lima's hand was already upon her golden necklace, ready to unleash the powers hidden within that locket that only she herself could harness to its full potential.
She knew this creature doesn't belong here. It is but a mere Demon disguising in the form of an old friendly kind…She is ready, to end this vile beast's devilish scheme.
…
...
The virtual orbs lined with thin red lines were nearly all pulled out of the center and gathered aside.
It is done. Reina inhaled in relief, exhaling with pride and relaxation.
With a smile, she switched the power lever off and the Restoration Device opened its steel cabinet lids majestically, steam and foam sizzling out from within.
It's time to wake up, Seito.
…
...
Lima stepped forward, her steps accelerating to a prance, a rushing strike toward the frenzying creature.
But before Lima could exceed dashing speeds, Vitas stopped them all with a hand, which summoned his shield in mid-air, hovering right on top of the frenzied wolf cub, trapping it in a tubular pillar of air, locking it within from harming anyone nearby.
The tiny critter sensed the barrier around it and barked with such haste, whining at the same time as if begging to be let out.
Lucky quickly hugged Momo out of the scene to safety.
" Didn't I tell to not run away on your own?!" Lucky scalded worriedly. " You could have got yourself eaten!!"
Momo shook her head in disagreement, fighting to get back to the trapped wolf's side.
" Puppy isn't hurting me!"
Momo shouted despite everyone's disbelief.
" Puppy isn't hurting Momo! Puppy is…Puppy is…"
…
...…..
" Seito…?"
The herculean man opened his eyes.
" Seito, it's me. Reina. Seito?....Seito?!"
The man's eyes were so wide.
bulging as if bursting at any second. Muscles tensing, veins popping, teeth clenching.
It was only when the instant crushing of the brink of the cabinet by the man's bare hands did Reina realize something was terribly wrong.
…
...…..
Vitas silently fixed his focusing gaze on the wolf cub who wouldn't give in, trying all it could to break out of the wind barrier and fight its way into the black gates of the library.
Yuri and Lima both noticed it too
" That's weird…" Vitas followed his furry partner's angered gaze, staring at the library walled behind murky glass.
" Why is it trying to get in the library…?" Yuri asked.
But before they could figure out what was going on, Androids rushed into the wide arena, weapons raised, pointing forward at the obscured glass doorway.
" They are gonna destroy the Dog Demon!" Rio cheered victoriously.
" Wait!" Vitas shouted to the Androids. " Something's not right!"
…
...…..
" Seito! Listen—"
With a disoriented roar that came from the depth of his broad-chested body, this huge muscular man shot straight up from his prostrating pose, smashing the device under him and sending devastating blows on nothing before him, boxing things that Reina didn't see, but haunted this big man so.
" No…NO….NONONO!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
Then his words were drowned by his own screams and roars and he fought the invisible with his unbreakable fists, pulverizing everything in his wake and shattering equipment with his insane touch.
How did things come to this…how did it come to this?
…
...…
Turning around to check the walls behind her in drastic haste, Yuri found a caller device on the wall and rushed to contact the Captain as quickly as she could.
" Grandpapa, wait! Don't shoot!"
" I am not shooting the animal, Yuri."
Yuri was relieved, at the same time confused by the Captain's answer.
" Then…why…?"
" Yuri, lead the children out of there as soon as possible. NOW."
As soon as the Captain's words ceased,
The dark gateway shattered with thundering force, blasting shards and piercing glass all over them with a shock wave that sent all the children to the floor, rocking the arena with vehement impulse.
Yuri stepped forth, Starbreaker armor materializing out of her wrist seal and enveloped her body, barricading the children from harm.
Lima curled up and forced herself low, burying her face deep within her arms, facing the ground.
Vitas leapt forward at dashing speed with his shield fully activated, repelling all that came forth, and stood his ground firm, pushing against the current that blasted upon the whole perimeter until it subsided into an abrupt silence.
They looked up.
What stared back was a lifeless, cold round piece of glass fixed in front of a red mono eye that stared back at them observantly scanning them all at the same time. The cylindrical robotic head was seated on top of a legless armed pod droid that looked like none other, designed drastically different than any android on the Betelgeuse, like a machine entity from a gravely different universe.
Six geared arms curled around its metal chest plate, holding onto a dozen of books.
Among them, Yuri saw, was a thick familiar volume, locked behind the cruel robotic hands.
Neliya's eyes widened in astonished horror.
…
...….
Reina summoned her materializing Starbreaker armor around her wrists and leapt forth to stop the man from destroying the lab and himself, misjudging the speed and reflex of this berserker and flew straight into the large grabbing hand that slammed her to the floor, crushing her windpipes with those bulging fingers.
Even with the Starbreaker armor around her neck, the force of the madman's hands dented the armor deep, obstructing her trachea and Reina's world swirled and blurred.
How did it come to this, Reina could but wonder as her vision slowly darkened.
…
...…..
" Sensei's book!!!" Neliya screamed and without a second thought, Neo rushed out behind Yuri, racing toward the foreign hover droid, lunging his body up and grabbed hold of Sensei's book in a rough grasp, pulling with all his juvenile might.
Yuri and Vitas both rushed forth to help, only to hear the desperate loud shout of the old captain through the caller on the wall cry out.
" STAY BACK!"
Before it happened, Yuri saw the red mono eye glimpsed in ominous threatening vibe.
And then it came, a cry so low so high, deafening and like whisper, emitting throughout the arena a vibrating scourge that forced the children, even the two Starbreakers to the floor, powerless and in agony affront this unseen wave attack emanating out of the hovering droid's body.
Yuri had never felt such pain before. It was like her whole body being flipped inside out inch by inch starting from the belly, wrenching all her vital organs and squeezing her body like drying a mop.
Yuri tried to crawl up and run, but couldn't.
Everyone has fallen, including Lima, Vitas…everyone…
And as sudden as it came, the vibration stopped.
Air started to flow once more.
Time reared back on track as the children groaned and moaned in intense suffering.
…
...…..
Reina crawled out of the unconscious body of the fallen man and set her back on the cracked wall, breathing extensively, as her breath slowed and drastically pull longer, restrainingly, into sobs.
…
...…..
Yuri forced her body up, persevering the pain all over her insides, to see that the droid was gone.
There, at the far end of the library,
was a large hole in the wall.
Violent breeze swept across her ruined blue hair.
[...to be continued]