the last spur

After leading Saya to the rooftop, where he was sure that they wouldn't be spied upon, Alex looked at her.

"I know." Said Saya, looking at him.

Alex stood frozen by here words, looking at her eyes; he lightly brushed her surface thought, confirming him that she was speaking of his magical-side thingy and not something else.

"How?" Asked him, still breathless.

Saya smirked at him, showing for the first time to have the high ground on it and enjoying it. "Susan."

"How" Repeated him, like a broken recorder.

"In my dreams. Ever since the day I fell ill, I started to have dreams showing me this strange creature. It's was only after you returned for the island that I started to see her memories."

"I see." Said him, not knowing how to take the sudden confession. Knowing that Susan could share her dream with her was a good thing telling him that she must be well, and on the other hand, Saya was now aware of his complete origin. It wasn't bothering him much; what was; was the fact he didn't know how to felt about this. He feels like he was betraying Susan in taking another mate, as she had been the first in this case, but he couldn't simply abandon Saya too.

It wasn't him who solved the issue, though, but Saya. Extending her hand, she waited. "The seed."

Hearing her and seeing her motion, he looked incredulously at her. "Yes, I know what it means, and Susan said you would have a way to obtain one, so give me!" Said her impatiently while trying to keep her face straight. She was mostly successful, if not for the slight blush creeping on her face, she was spoking of giving herself entirely to him, after all!

At her words, Alex hears a chime he hadn't for the last month since his arrival.

{[Hidden Objective: Side. "Reality bending wingman!"]

After claiming your first mate and discover another in a new reality, the true power of your bound expresses itself fully, allowing your first mate to enter in contact with new mates through a dream reality.

Condition: obtain the support of both first and future mates to change you're intended fully.

Reward: blessed seed.}

[Completed, unclaimed.]

~~~

Seeing the window, Alex couldn't help the light chuckle escaping his throat before taking Saya hand, pulling her in his arms. Surprised by the sudden attack, she could only let a light squawk before founding herself against his abs due to their height difference.

She suddenly felt lifted in the air, and before she could shout again, she found her mouth closed by Alex one.

Her eyes momently widen before feeling a rush of something running havoc in her, making her putty in his hand. Securing her hold, Saya wrapped her arms around his neck before clumsily responding. The kiss had nothing ardent, just two pair of lips gently brushing against each other, transmitting warmth and love to their partner.

Breaking the hold, Alex softly smiled at her dazzled face before she snaps back and nuzzles in his chest, attempting to hide her fierce blushing face.

"Hold tight." Whispered him to her hear. Her arms tighten around his neck after a fleeting moment. "Take a deep breath and close your eyes." Hearing her follows his instruction, Alex wrapped them with a magic layer before vanishing from the place. "You can open them, now, and remember, Evans retreat could be found on Evans island."

As the words trickle in her hears, she could felt something snap in place. Opening her eyes, she could see the outline of a city on the horizon. Her brain needed a second before registering that it was Tokonosu. Turning to Alex, her words die in her throat as her eyes fall on the house behind.

"What?! W-where are we? How can Tokonosu be so far away!"

"We are on my island, and this is the house I made during the last week, our house. It is simple; it a travel method I came with, rather than use apparition, as its quite uncomfortable. Came." Said him before taking her hand and dragged her to a little clearing on the side.

The place, nestled between the raised side of the mountain, was made of a crown of thick vegetation. With the mountain's crescent-shaped form barely overtaking the trees, Saya felt surrounded by nature and relaxed under the peaceful vibe the place was giving.

As Alex created it, a side of the house, among the small forest's thickest part, the distant sound of humanity was cut off. Inside the ten metres wide clearing, a lightly twisted pathway leads to a stone platform at ground level through the wildflowers filling the place.

Lead to the platform surrounded by three Ash threes whose branches formed a crown over, Saya recognises the ritual circle she saw through Susan memories, but no trace of the statues.

Seeing her face, Alex had a puzzled look before understanding. "The gods had no entry in this world, and I think it time I start to became independent. While they will continue to keep an eye on me, I can let their presence rule my life. I will honour them as my ancestors but will stop to seek acceptance for every little thing."

~~~

Leading her in the circle, Alex claim the reward, making the seed appears in his hand. Prinking their finger with a knife, Alex let their blood drips on the seed. Saya anxiousness started to kick in. Before she could begin to back off and pounder to much, Alex delicately push half the seed through her lips, making her settle and look at his eyes. Lowering his head, Alex rejoins her in a second kiss before bitting it.

As the seed shell was broken, Saya instinctive reflex kicks in and swallow. She felt the liquid seep inside her before ever entering her stomach. A wave of power overtook her, and her shape started to morph. Her clothes rapidly burst from the sudden strain put on them as she swift.

In a few seconds, two similar large creatures stood where the teens were previously standing there. The change, slowly working on Saya in the last three weeks, rapidly complete after the sudden influx of power, radically shifting her mindset, putting an end to Saya life as a human.

Opening her eyes, she looked in awe at Alex sight. His big artic eyes full of compassion and love, the unnaturally fluffy fur and the dangerously glinting hint of fangs showing.

The two cuddled for a moment before Alex retook his human shape. Looking at Saya, he could see that, like Susan, she was different from him. The pattern on her fur wasn't like is. The spots were a watered blue colour, akin to water, while the white fur had a faint strand of green, drawing a windy pattern.

Noting the difference for later, he crafted a sheet for Saya to cover herself while she morphed back. Catching the exhausted female from her first transformation, Alex brought her to his bed before leaving her there.

~~~

Alex exit the room after leaving a note for her, telling her that he left something to eat in the kitchen. Entering his workshop, Alex started to craft several pieces of materials.

Half an hour later, Alex appears, disillusioned, near the barricade raised on the Japanese side, fifty meters from the highway entrance. Taking out the parts of the larger craft he made shortly before, Alex started to raise his door. The block of concrete separating the two ways was turned in to a five-meter tall tower, followed by two on each side, forming a gantry.

The opening and macadam beneath were removed and closed with half-a-meter thick reinforced steel shutters. Closed, Alex stared to inscribe the runes strengthening the whole while adding several arrays. Sensories wards were put on the towers, linked to an automatic defence system. Anyone unauthorised approaching forty meters to the gates would trigger a warning message. At thirty, the in-built defence system would appear and fire at twenty-five, killing anything crossing the boundary.

As the wards protecting the island stopped just after the door, anything able to pass the defensive system would not touch the gates. It also means that trying to climb the highway on the side was futile, as the bubble extends further than the gate, as the wardstones were lower. The gate wasn't necessary as a defensive measure but would clean any strangling zombies and give the peoples he know would try to invade a warning, as otherwise, they would try to cross if there was nothing to stop them.

The soldiers posted fifty meters afar weren't a problem, as confundus fields had been raised, making them overlook everything from is side.

~~~

After Alex was done with the gate, he entered each of the three towers and started working. Inside them, Alex installed unit cells on the walls. Those caissons were to store the corpses of inferies the defence system would kill, and the automat would harvest when no further threat was detected invading the system's boundary.

Those cells were made of simple glass and steel and would rest on a magically expanded structure similar to morgue units. While they appear barely thicker than ten centimetres, the inside was magically expanded by runes, and each unit able to store 500 2*1*1 cell, auto-sizing arrays for larger specimens. Each of the four walls had twelve units, bringing a tower to 24,000 cells.

The automaton was a simple construct, made to collect the corpse outside, retrieve the bolt shout by the defence system, and store the corpse in cells. An underground room made thank to expansion charms had the required system to operate the different action. This was a grim contraption, but Alex was unwilling to leave festering corpses at the door of his home and was reluctant to leave them unused.

Since he arrived here, Alex had been working on storing his breath in canisters for an airborne strike. He was still unable to tell if his poison would affect the inferies, thus the cells. If it has, this will allow him to farm mithril without feeling like committing genocide. The ashes he would also gather would play a crucial part in the group's survival he would most likely pick.

The crops would grow faster and larger with the magical fertiliser, but he was hoping in mutating plant into magical ones. If he were successful, Alex would be able to use his extensive knowledge of potions the clan create, and with the husbandry project, the animals too could evolve with feeding on the magical crops.

~~~

His project done, he returned to the island and made a diner for him and Saya. After briefly looking for her, he found her exploring the house, wearing the clothes he made for her.

"I need to furnish the house." Sigh him, seeing the first basement shelves awfully empty.

-The compensation from Ichirou and the rest should be transferred rapidly to your account, with enough chance, you will have it this weekend be able to start buying bulk rapidly.- Hearing CS, Alex remember that he was now, without any docks, having deconstructed the shaky piers used by the village here.

"Better get this done; that way, I will be able to receive all this here and not need to pass through Japanese administration and laws to import all this."

After bringing Saya back to school and promising to take her back the following weekend to start teaching her some introductory magic, Alex returned to the island and built a docking area and temporary warehouses to avoid suspicion.

As CS predicted, Alex received a warning from his bank that several million Euros' payments had been made from the Japanese government. He was thankful that it was an international bank, rather than a local, Japanese one, knowing they would have slapped him with all the taxes they could get off, to skin his accounts, still sore of the lost he made them submit.

Those millions didn't stay more than two days on his accounts, as all was spent on everything he could quickly get. The quantity was enormous, and would need several containers of a cargo ship to deliver. Alex also received another surprise in the form of Ichirou. The man had been slapped with a portkey from an imperioused British official after he confounded the group of investigators send.

The man was stunned as soon as he appears in the rooms Alex made for him and shortly turned into mithril and ashes.

-I think that the first time he would contribute to the world so selflessly.-

~~~

The following three weeks would pass rapidly for Alex. The cargo arrived and was delivered two weeks later, leaving him with substantial resources to survive the soon-to-be apocalypse. Saya and Alex discover that Saya couldn't use his branch magic, but the elemental one, not dissimilar with Avatar. The mystery of her fur pattern was solved when they found out that she had minor control over wind and water. Alex used his experience with the agamenti spell and the exercise he did to control the water, bending it to is will. For now, Saya wasn't able to control anything else than a hand-sized globe of water, but Alex positive reinforcement and rewards of cuddling sessions was a great motivation.

On the negative side, Alex discovers that the professor brought by Yuriko had blabbered to both governments, and Alex faced demand on both sides with relinquishing the text. With the rapidly building up magic, he knows that the outbreak would happen before anything serious happen, so he ignores both.

At school, the rumours concerning Alex ramps up after it was found that the teacher he slammed on the desk had a cracked spine and was in a coma, while Kyoshiro had needed to take sick leave to let his neck heal properly. He took great pleasure to refuse Shido demand of knowing where his father was kept and visit him.

After keeping an eye on the building magic in the air, Alex narrowed the possibility of the outbreak start each day, and on May 5, 2004 morning, Alex was suddenly woken from the feeling of something snapping in the air. Raising to a sitting position, Alex impassive face seems to peer at something.

"Here it comes."