CLASH!
Our blades collided audibly, releasing a sharp metallic crack accompanied by a shockwave that blew the grass around us. My eyes widened as I realized that the girl in front of me had not only withstood my blow but had pushed me back.
I tried not to cut her in two since I did not want to kill someone because of a misunderstanding. I thought about scaring her with my strength, sending her away, showing that facing me was a bad idea, but that did not happen.
The bastard was strong, extremely strong! However, I did not know how strong, because she did not demonstrate a power level similar to Neptune or Mars. Well, I guess there is no harm in trying a little harder since she is that strong.
It is not as if I looked for something to vent all the anger and frustration I felt due to recent events, or anything like that. It is not as if this girl had made me furious with her accusations and threats and now I wanted to kick her ass.
My feet slid lightly across the soil, drawing lines in the earth until I planted my boots on the ground and spun my arms, dissipating the tension resulting from the blow.
"Are you ready to open your mouth?" The girl demanded, pointing at me with one of her swords.
"Hump! I'm just getting started!" I replied, assuming a fighting stance and rushing towards the girl, who quickly returned the gesture. Our blades clashed again, and this time she found herself retreating with her feet sliding across the clearing.
"How the hell did you do that?!?" The girl exclaimed, approaching at a hurried pace while dragging her swords across each other, creating a shower of sparks.
"I'm stronger than I look! Why don't you come closer and find out what else I can do?" I said, shifting into a defensive stance.
"It's your funeral then!" The girl replied, closing the distance and unleashing a flurry of swift, brutal blows.
You know, I am no master swordsman, but after training with Jekyll and facing so many robots, I began to realize the precision, technique, and strategy behind each blow, designed to hit the vital points and kill its target as quickly as possible.
However, this girl fought like a lumberjack trying to fall a tree or a butcher trying to cut a bone. She attacked savagely, putting all her strength behind each blow, intending on shredding me.
This could be useful against SHADES or some of the robots, but not against those who knew how to take advantage of the various openings in her fighting style, in other words, me.
However, I will not lie, my arms trembled with every blow I blocked, and I feared the kind of wound those serrated blades would cause. At least Mars tried to hit me with clean cuts, I do not want to imagine how it would end if this girl got what she wanted.
I parried the attacks with Beastbain and the Sword of Mars, stepping back and waiting for the right opportunity, and it soon appeared.
The girl brought both swords together above her head and brought them down with a furious shout, I, on the other hand, raised my weapons in an X position, parrying the blow and deflecting the blades in opposite directions.
The girl staggered backward trying to regain her balance, surprise covering her face as her arms opened in opposite directions. I wasted no time swiping at her, sending her crashing to the ground with a thud accompanied by a pained insult.
"Son of a bitch!"
I ignored the insult and closed the distance, stopping in front of the girl with Beastbain inches from her neck, receiving a glare in return.
"Are you ready to surren... AAAHHH!" My arrogant smile immediately disappeared as I received a powerful knee to the middle of my legs.
The air left my lungs and my eyes popped out of their sockets with spots of light in my vision. The worst pain a man could feel seized my body as I crouched down and held my future children.
"HAHAHA!"
Looking at the source of the noise, I saw the girl standing up, laughing in sadistic glee, reveling in my misery. I do not know what came over me, but I took advantage of her moment of distraction to kick her between the legs as well.
"YOU BITCH!" I shouted, delivering my blow.
Then I realized how stupid that was. Yes, I was strong and the blow would hurt, but she did not have the necessary parts to feel the same pain I felt.
"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"
Nevertheless, to my surprise and confusion, the girl crouched down, putting her legs together and holding her privates as she screamed in pain. Confusion overtook my mind and my face contorted in disbelief, eyes partially closed, and mouth ajar.
"What the..." I muttered, trying to process what I saw, but this line of thought disappeared as I received a powerful kick to the side of my head. My feet left the ground and the world blurred as I flew, landing painfully on the other side of the clearing.
"Jekyll, I need answers, now!" I shouted, rolling aside as I saw the sharp point of a high heel plunge towards my face, and sink into the ground with a thud.
"About what exactly? I have answers to many questions. Would you like to know the theoretical origin of the universe? The process behind splitting an atom? How to carve a table? Because I still have mostly intact memories of the latter, but we'll need the appropriate tools." Jekyll replied cheerfully.
"No, what I want to know is how my kick worked on that girl! Guy! Man! Woman! I don't know!" I replied, watching the person in question remove her foot from the hole resulting from her stomp.
"Hm... Surgery would be the easiest answer; however, today's medieval society lacks such medical knowledge. This individual is intersexual, which probably caused him or her to suffer even more prejudice than a person in a modern society would."
"And what is an intersexual?!?" I asked, stepping back and dodging another kick aimed at my head.
"It is a person born with two sex organs. You'd better ask the person in front of you how to refer to them, but I'll end the subject here, gender, sports, politics, and religion are subjects I prefer not to discuss, people tend to get too worked up about this kind of subject and cancel each other out on the internet."
I immediately abandoned Jekyll's words, as I had no idea what he talked about after ending the previous subject, and focused on the person trying to kill me.
"Why don't you just tell me what I want to know and make my job easier?!? What happened at the Aerie, and why do I get this strange feeling when I'm around you?!?" The girl exclaimed, trying to slash my chest, but I blocked the blow with one of my swords.
"I'm sorry, but this is a secret, and besides, I doubt you'll believe me! I do not know how to answer the last question. Maybe you're in love with me!" I replied, turning the Sword of Mars in my right hand and punching the girl in the jaw, throwing her head back.
I did not stop my attack and intensified my grip on Beastbain's handle, throwing another punch, this time at the girl's face. She stumbled back a few steps, but stopped for a moment, bringing her right hand up to her nose and touching the blood that dripped from it.
The girl stared at the blood on her hand for a few seconds, before her head came up and she looked at me expressionlessly, but with a disturbing glint in her eye.
A shiver ran through my body and I was about to apologize but found myself unable to do so as the air left my lungs when the girl threw herself at my chest.
We put our weapons away and rolled around the clearing, exchanging punches, kicks, insults, scratches, and bites, until the girl managed to dominate the fight, and I found myself lying on my stomach with her on my back, pinning my arms to the ground.
"ALL RIGHT YOU BASTARD, YOU'RE GOING TO..." The girl shouted, but I ignored her words, focusing on something more important that poked my back.
"JEKYLL! HELP! I DO NOT LIKE THIS KIND OF THING! I DO NOT SWING THAT WAY! IT IS BIGGER THAN I THOUGHT! JEEEEEEEEEEKYLL!" I screamed with all my might as I struggled in fear and desperation, trying to escape the girl's grip.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING TO?!? THERE'S NO ONE HERE!" The girl replied, but I ignored her and continued begging for salvation.
"Will you shut the fuck up, please, I'm not going to kill you and... AAAHHH!" The girl spoke in a more apologetic tone. Suddenly, I felt her grip and weight disappear from my body and I wasted no time in getting up.
I saw the girl lying on her back on the floor; she quickly got up and looked around for something, but quickly turned back towards me after not finding what she looked for.
"There's someone else here, isn't there? That Jekyll, where is he?!?" The girl demanded, retrieving her swords and preparing to fight. I did the same but talked to the Gestalt instead of answering.
"Jekyll, what have you done?"
"I just removed one of my hands through your leg and pulled the girl off you. Don't worry, she didn't see me."
"And why didn't you do that before?"
"I found the scene hilarious and it would be a shame to ruin it so soon."
"Why is everyone against me today? Listen, girl, my friend will not show up, no matter how hard you try, his situation is complicated. I will not tell you what you want, because I do not have to. If it is any consolation, I have not harmed any of the inhabitants of that damned village. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to my house, I'm stinking, hungry, and tired, in no particular order."
"Hump! You're staying here until I rip the answers out of your mouth!" The girl exclaimed, running towards me.
"Then so be it." I replied, feeling the MASO around me.
"Hyde, no!"
"Don't worry; I know what I'm doing." I replied, engulfing Beastbain in flames, much to the girl's surprise.
I raised the flaming sword and brought it down as the girl approached, too fast to stop, but I was not aiming at her. I pinned Beastbain to the ground and spun around, raising a cloud of dust, dirt, and flames, temporarily blinding the girl.
I ran towards the exit of the clearing, ignoring the insults the girl hurled while shielding her eyes. Strangely, I heard a different voice speaking amidst the insults, a male voice.
"HAHAHA! That was a fun fight, brat! See you later!"
-Seafront-
The inhabitants of Seafront gathered on the town beach, watching the flaming wreckage and smoke slowly sinking into the sea. Men, women, and children argued incessantly in fear, curiosity, and surprise, exchanging theories about what had happened.
Everyone saw the strange metallic serpent falling from the bridge towards the water, the great metallic being leaping off the serpent towards something, only for a powerful red beam to send it towards a submerged tomb with a deafening explosion.
Perhaps a lunatic's inventions had gotten out of hand. Maybe the SHADES were responsible for what happened. Perhaps aliens were attacking the planet.
Well, no one could answer that, except for a group of people approaching the wreckage in a ship similar to all the others on the outside, but extremely advanced on the inside.
Most of the crew gathered on the deck of the ship, near a small crane on the opposite side to the beach. The crew was young and immaculate in appearance, wearing clothes from different professions, but with some wearing an unfamiliar white uniform.
Poor Heinrich was in that crew, listening to the shouts of his superiors through a small rectangular metallic device as thin as paper.
"Can you explain how this happened a second time?!" A female voice demanded, making Heinrich cringe with fear.
"W-well, I can tell you that there's no longer any doubt, someone is searching for the facilities, and consequently, the other grimoires." Heinrich replied.
"That's obvious now, but who, and why?"
"I can't think of a motive yet, but I guess that one of our people decided to act on their own. We made a point of hiding the facilities from the Replicants, and none of them possesses the ability to get past the AIs' defenses."
"Maybe someone got tired of waiting for the project to finish; after all, it was delayed for a few years."
"Millennia, I'd say. However, I have good news; our divers found the ruins of the underwater facility and recovered some information from what remained of N.E.P.T.U.N.E. Most of it is corrupted, but the technicians have said that some images, recordings, and audio can be recovered, but they haven't given a time estimate."
"Hm... Well, anything else?"
Suddenly, the ship rocked and the crane stopped, removing a large figure from the water, an extremely damaged and melted spider-legged robot, with its chest open and revealing a partially destroyed metal sphere with something written on it, M.A.R.S.
"Let's just say the technicians will have a long day's work trying to recover something from this one." Heinrich replied, receiving the sound of the call ending in return.
Sighing with relief, Heinrich ordered the robot to be stored deep in the ship.
Then the ship set sail, disappearing from the inhabitants of Seafront and following the region's rocky coastline until it reached a distant point where the stonewall opened sideways, revealing a facility built inside.
The ship docked at a metal dock, with several people in white uniforms rushing around, passing through automatic doors or suspended walkways.
The uniformed people wasted no time in placing the robot on a floating platform and taking it deeper into the facility, passing through labyrinthine corridors and rooms full of workers and equipment too advanced for today's society.
Finally, they left the robot in a spacious white room. Then a new group of people entered, wearing gray uniforms and protective gear.
With the press of a button on a solitary terminal, the floor and walls opened up, revealing tables and shelves full of common and unknown tools, with the ceiling being the last to open just above the robot, revealing a series of articulated mechanical arms.
With a nod, everyone in the room began the operation.
-Nier's Village-
I closed and locked the door behind me, sweating profusely and breathing heavily, and walked towards the sofa while throwing my things on the floor.
The swords were in one corner of the room, and the bag with Zon and the other Grimoire were in the opposite corner, so I removed my boots and threw myself face down on the sofa, sinking my face into a cushion.
"Well, we've had an exciting day." Jekyll said, sliding off my body and sitting down on the edge of the sofa.
"Hump! Exciting is not the word I would use, terrible, scary, deadly, annoying, anything but exciting." I replied, rolling over and staring at the Gestalt.
"I'm sorry for the dangers we've been through. I assumed Neptune was an isolated case, but Mars proved me wrong." Jekyll spoke apologetically, looking away.
"Hey, don't talk like that; we're all in this together. I am the one who needs to improve to keep up with Zon and you. Besides, we did better than in Atlantis, we almost died fewer times today." I replied, smiling at the Gestalt, who laughed slightly at my joke.
"And you still complain about my inappropriate jokes in dangerous situations. Get some rest, Hyde; I'll give you a few days off from training to recover."
"Thanks! Before I fall asleep, do you think Zon will wake up and we'll meet that damned girl again?"
"I'm sure Zon will wake up at some point, he just needs to get his MASO back, and considering our luck, I do not doubt that we'll meet the young lady from before again, I just hope it's on better terms."
"I doubt that very much. See you later Jekyll." I said, feeling my eyelids become heavy.
"Likewise Hyde." Jekyll replied, nodding at me.
Then darkness overtook me.
-XXXXXX-
The days passed and Zon still did not wake up, the same went for the other Grimoire, but the appearance of both gradually improved, with light movements and a magical glow appearing on their covers.
Jekyll took advantage of our free time to train me in my MASO control since I was still in no condition to train in melee combat.
"You can do it, Hyde, just close your eyes and focus on the particles around you." The Gestalt encouraged me as I stood in front of the wood-burning stove.
I opened the bottom of the stove beforehand, revealing the partially burnt wood inside, then stopped a few meters from the opening, eyes closed and holding Beastbain with both hands.
I felt the MASO moving around me and accumulating on the sword; I heard the crackle of the flames and felt their heat. Then I opened my eyes and pointed the sword at the wood.
Nothing happened for a moment until the sword glowed and a bright orange beam shot from the blade towards the stove, hitting the wood and igniting it.
I felt a mixture of joy and disappointment, joy that I improved at controlling MASO, but disappointment that I could not do something similar to Jekyll's slashes of darkness.
However, the various compliments the Gestalt gave me lifted me out of my bad mood. Putting that aside, I headed for the counter next to the stove and prepared my lunch with my new kitchen utensil, much to Jekyll's dismay.
The Sword of Mars also worked with MASO, but in a different way to the flaming Beastbain, taking on an intense orange color and heating up to an absurd temperature, capable of easily cutting through rock and metal.
Jekyll called the sword the best blowtorch in the world, and explained to me what a blowtorch was and what it was for. Speaking of explanations, Jekyll continued his teachings about the old world; I learned more about vehicles, history, science, technology, and much more.
I now knew that the projectiles fired from guns were called bullets, and about their purpose on the battlefield. It was frightening how human beings have invented efficient ways of killing each other, I think certain things will ever change, no matter the era.
I used the Sword of Mars to cut up pieces of meat, vegetables, and greens, pouring them into a pot filled with water, salt, and spices on the stove, a stew recipe that Jekyll had taught me.
I put my utensils aside and washed my hands in a bucket of water, turning to Jekyll who watched me while sitting at the kitchen table.
I stared at the Gestalt for a few seconds, analyzing its humanoid appearance, resembling an extremely tall person, thin, naked, and made of darkness covered in glowing yellow lines, a frightening figure. Can't he change shape as he wishes?
"Something wrong Hyde? You've been staring at me for a while."
"Nothing, I was just wondering if you could, I don't know, please, don't take this the wrong way, but could you change your form into something less frightening, something more human? I have nothing against your appearance, but I am afraid that someone might see you by accident. Maybe if you look more human you'll have time to hide or trick someone before they realize you're a SHADE." I said politely, hoping he would not be offended by my words.
Jekyll went silent for a few seconds, rhythmically tapping the table with the palms of his hands, and then he stopped and looked at himself. For a moment, I thought he was angry with me, but I stared surprised when he stood up and changed his form in front of me.
Jekyll's height decreased, but he remained tall; I would say he was about six feet tall. His body also gained more mass, going from scrawny to lean.
However, the biggest surprise came when he created clothes, the darkness left his body, creating a long trench coat with long sleeves, black gloves and boots, a black button-down shirt with a black vest buttoned on top, a bow tie, black pants, short, messy black hair, and a large top hat on top of his head.
The yellow lines that covered his body disappeared, giving way to a pair of sharp, yellow and shiny eyes.
"How do I look?"
I signaled for Jekyll to spin, and the Gestalt did as I asked.
"You'll be able to pass for human if you're seen from behind, or a distance, and don't try to speak."
"Better than nothing, I guess. I kind of like my new shape, I've always wanted to dress like this, but those clothes stopped being fashionable a long time ago." Jekyll shrugged, sitting down again.
"Do you think I could get something like that?"
"Yes, you can, but we'd need a talented seamstress with quality fabric, money wouldn't be a problem."
I was about to reply, but a movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention, and the same for Jekyll. Zon moved.
We ran to the coffee table and watched the book move, until its pages opened and the book let out a long yawn, before floating and tumbling sleepily from side to side.
Zon looked around, letting out an occasional grumble, until the mask on its cover focused on us.
"Is breakfast ready yet?"
"ZON!" I shouted, hugging the book.
"LET ME GO BRAT!" Zon shouted with his usual anger, I never thought I would miss his shouts and insults.
"It's already noon, you've slept long enough, you lazy bastard." Jekyll replied, turning away.
"SHUT UP, ink stain!" Zon exclaimed, escaping from my hug.
"I thought you'd never wake up after fainting in the fight against Mars." I replied, calming down and smiling at the book.
"TSK! I just used more energy than I should have. No big deal, but I hit the old rust can, didn't I?" Zon asked.
"Yes, you sent it to the bottom of the sea."
"Great, but what about the other Grimoire? Did it wake up too?" Zon asked, turning to the book in question on the table.
"It hasn't woken up yet, but Jekyll said its energy is returning."
"Hm... Maybe it just needs a push." Zon replied, opening his pages and accumulating magic.
"ZON NO!" Jekyll and I shouted, running towards the book, but it was too late.
Zon fired a bolt of magic, the weakest I saw so far, hitting the Grimoire and knocking it off the table. A few seconds passed in silence while the scorched Grimoire lay motionless on the floor.
Jekyll and I scolded the book, getting into an argument and praying that the Grimoire was still alive. However, we stopped talking as soon as a firm female voice caught our attention.
"Hello? Who are you? Where am I?"
Turning towards the source of the noise, we saw the white Grimoire floating and staring at us.
"You see? I was right, but you doubted me! My plan was a success!" Zon exclaimed arrogantly.
"Your plans consist of destroying everything in your path like a brute!" Jekyll replied.
"Zon is that you?" White Grimoire asked, approaching the red book.
"Blank?" Zon asked, approaching as well.
The two Grimoires stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, probably wondering what to say after so long apart, but any warm reunion that might have happened died the moment Blank hit Zon with a magical barrier.
"Where's your discipline soldier?!? Is that any way to refer to your superior?!? I'm Captain Blank to you; now give me five hundred push-ups." Blank replied in a Mars-like tone, surprising all of us, except for Zon who sighed frustrated.
"Better get ready brat, she's a pain in the ass." Zon replied tiredly, flying away thanks to another magical barrier.
"That's a thousand push-ups now!" Blank shouted.
"Who is she?" I asked the red book, backing away as soon as the white book turned in my direction.
"I'm Captain Blank, leader of the old 13th Crusader Squadron that fought in the war against the Legion, and you, young man?"
"My name is Hyde, and this is Jekyll!" I said nervously, nodding to the book, which then turned to face the Gestalt next to me.
"Considering that the creature isn't attacking us, I suppose it's our ally."
"Exactly, but there's a long story behind it."
"Better bring the beer, because we will stay here for a while!" Zon shouted with all his might.
"We don't have any beer!" I shouted back.
"Then you'd better go and buy some!"
"No one will drink during the service while I'm here!" Blank shouted, interrupting us both.
"We're not crusaders anymore, you old hag!" Zon exclaimed.
"What did you call me?!?" Blank replied, embarking on another argument with Zon.
Meanwhile, Jekyll and I just watched, wondering if it was a good idea to bring yet another Grimoire into our dysfunctional little group.
-Seafront, Year?-
Only ancient ruins remained of the coastal town of Seafront, most of it consumed by the sea, and its only inhabitants being strange round-headed machines with glowing red eyes.
Suddenly, two flying metallic vehicles swooped over the city, leaving two individuals dressed in black, a boy and a girl, on the ground, with a strange floating box hovering next to each.
"POD, which way to our objective?" The boy in black asked, looking at the floating box, even though a black blindfold covered his eyes.
"Claim: Calculating fastest route... Fastest route found, sending to visor's map." The POD replied monotonously.
"Then let's go." The girl, also blindfolded, spoke.
Then both individuals ran through the ruins of Seafront, cutting through all the machines in their path until they reached the town hall, where the PODs of both scanned the mayor's office until they found a mechanism under the desk, activated by a button.
However, since the mechanism wore out, the girl destroyed the desk with a blow from her giant gauntlets, revealing a long staircase. Nodding, the boy and girl descended the staircase, arriving at a long dark corridor.
"POD, light the way please." The boy spoke and the POD obeyed, turning on a light on its side.
Then the boy and girl continued forward, destroying a large metal door at the end of the hallway and arriving at a facility full of docks and rusty ships.
"Claim: The signal is close." The girl's POD spoke.
Then they both followed the POD into an old, dusty, and rusty room, where they found a large robot on a kind of metal platform. There were signs of repair on the robot, although it looked as if the process stopped halfway a long time ago.
The PODs split up, one accessing the terminal present in the room while the other scanned the robot, removing a metal sphere from its chest.
"Claim: Installation data recovered, but extremely corrupted, the recovery process will be complex." The girl's POD spoke.
"Claim: Signal source recovered, the human automaton known as M.A.R.S. is in our possession." The boy's POD spoke shortly afterward.
"Perfect, Commander White will be happy with a successful mission." The girl said, leaving the room with the POD accompanying her.
"Maybe then she'll stop making us work so hard, I'm getting tired of so many missions." The boy replied.
"2S!" The girl shouted.
"What's the matter, 9D, it's true!" The boy shouted back.
Then 2S and 9D returned to the docks, stopping as the water bubbled and a large machine emerged from the blue depths, revealing a big metallic squid.
"This can never be easy, can it?" 2S asked sarcastically.
"For once I agree with you." 9D replied in the same tone.
-XXXXXX-
Alternative Scene: Lunar Spectators
"I still find it hard to believe we're here." I said to Jekyll as I walked through the corridors of the base.
"You said the same thing when the aliens arrived on the planet." Jekyll replied.
"I know, but look around; we're in an underground city on the moon, with a legion of androids and the remaining humans! Neptune, Mars, Uranus, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and everything they threw at us isn't even close to it, no one from the past would believe us if we said we'd get to the moon one day!" I exclaimed, drawing the attention of the androids and humans walking down the corridor.
"I think I better go to the observatory before we attract more attention." Jekyll responded and I agreed.
So I continued on my way, talking to Jekyll and greeting the familiar androids and humans I encountered until I reached the observatory, a large circular room with a glass dome and a hole in its center with a holographic globe floating on top.
I touched the globe and spun it quickly with a movement of my finger, stopping it with a touch right over South America, or the Kingdom of the Night, since the world stopped spinning, specifically in Brazil.
"You're bored, aren't you?"
"You can bet! I never imagined I would miss facing crazy AIs, killer robots, and out-of-control SHADES. I miss the old days."
"At least the twins and Emil are still somewhere on Earth."
"Do you think we should steal a drop pod and visit the planet?"
"The council of humanity and Yorha would be furious."
"That wasn't a no."
A holographic screen opened over Brazil and I controlled it, zooming in and out until I found something interesting.
A couple having a date in a field of Lunar Tears, the man knelt in front of the woman, revealing a box with a ring inside. The woman jumped on top of the man and the two rolled through the field of flowers, hugging and laughing.
"Look at this, I envy this guy." I commented, smiling at the scene.
"It is a shame we can't take a photo."
"But we could talk to them."
"To the Night Kingdom?"
"To the Kingdom of Night."
"Let's search for a drop pod."
END OF CHAPTER