Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Seven: The Party Goes On

Months ago...

Dachii was sitting on the couch in the Tomoko house, a blanket wrapped around his entire body. Konomi gave him a cup of hot chocolate.

"It's Dachii, right?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Takamoto's told us a lot about you recently," Konomi admitted. "I'm really sorry for your loss."

"It's okay. It's all fine..."

"Are you really a human with an Elemental Ability? You've been the talk of the entire town!" she stated. "Was it you that caused all this damage?"

Dachii sighed. "Yes."

Konomi gasped. "Wow, no wonder that scary woman was looking for you! You're like a walking atomic BOMB!"

"Lady...?"

"Yeah! She was super tall, had long hair, was super scary, and had BLACK skin. Like completely. I think she called herself...Eliza?"

Dachii put his head down. "Oh. Her."

"The Royal Family themselves actually came to survey the damage, isn't that crazy?" Konomi remarked. "They NEVER step foot in this place, it's been decades!"

"So you say..."

"Doesn't it feel great to have this much attention? How do you handle it all now? How's Squad S-1? Do you see Takamoto a lot? Do you guys—-?"

A hand gently rested on her shoulder. "Sweetheart, I think it's time you give the boy a little space. Look at him, he's clearly not feeling well."

"Oh, you're right! Sorry, Mother!"

Konomi's face turned red and she returned to the kitchen, while Ms. Tomoko put a plate of food into his lap. "Here, you should eat this."

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry..."

"You will be once you eat," she insisted.

He relented and started eating bits of the food. As he did, Ms. Tomoko carefully studied him.

"My daughter is right, you know. I've overheard the higher-ups talking about you and their future plans involving you. With such a public display of power, you've caught the eyes of most of society. It's nearly impossible for a human to garner such national attention. The last one to ever do so was your grandfather."

"They're wasting their time," Dachii replied. "I just want to go home. That's all."

She gave him a pat on the head. "I know how you feel. I lost my husband years ago, and it's been hurting my entire family ever since."

Then she straightened up. "But this isn't about me. I want you to remember one thing: be careful. Whatever they say to you, whatever they do to do, however they treat you, I've lived far too long to know one thing, they only see you as a weapon. They FEAR you, and thus they want to control you. And if they can't?"

She closed her eyes. "Please, just watch your back."

While Dachii thought about her words, Tomoko opened the front door, a bag in his hands. "Haha! I brought the sweets!"

"Great!" Ms. Tomoko said. "Now I can start making cake."

Dachii looked down at the plate of food in his hands, his mind swirling. "Me? No. They wouldn't. They'd never."

Then, he remembered the blade going through Morino's chest. The plate fell out of his hands, shattering on the ground as everyone watched in shock.

Present Day...

Marachii pushed through the crowd to catch up with Luca, Saori, and Hikari, and once he got to them, he saw it.

It was a high-class gaming area, with various spots for poker, darts, pool, and shuffleboard. There were large groups in each area except for darts, with each player locked into intense matches.

"This looks fun, right?" Hikari asked. "What should we do first?"

"Uh..." Marachii wondered. "I suck at all these games."

"Let's throw darts!" Saori recommended.

"Great idea!" Hikari agreed. "Come on, boys!"

They hurried over to the large dart board, and Marachii quickly leaned into Luca's ear. "Do you know how to throw darts?"

"Only when hunting."

"That's...helpful."

They lined up next to the two girls, who both had a pair of darts in their hands. A referee stepped forward, a whistle in his mouth.

"So, you military kids fixing to play each other?" he asked.

Hikari nodded. "Us girls against those boys."

He stepped aside. "Alright, then. You two, step forward and grab a dart!"

He pointed to Marachii and Luca, and they both picked up a dart from a nearby table, once they did the man prepared to blow his whistle.

"Alright, you with the pink hair, and you with the white hair, line up!"

Hikari and Luca both lined up at the markers in front of them, and the referee looked between them. "Ready? Throw!"

He blew his whistle and Luca and Hikari threw their darts at the same time. Luca hit the 20-marker, while Hikari hit the double ring ahead of it, knocking Luca's dart out in the process.

"Yes, forty points!"

"Bullshit, she knocked my dart out—!"

"Next!" the referee demanded. "You two, step up!"

Marachii and Saori went up next, both lining up their darts. "Ready? Throw!"

Saori threw her dart, but Marachii secretly used his arm to scan the dartboard.

"Elara?" he whispered. "What's the best way I should throw to get a big score?"

"Place your right foot forward and lean into your throw in a controlled motion."

"Alright," he thought. "Bullseye, bullseye, bullseye..."

Saori's dart hit the 18-marker, while Marachii threw his and managed to hit the inner bullseye. "YES! I got it!"

"Aww," Saori moaned. "I want a bullseye!"

"It's okay," Hikari reassured her. "We'll still win! What's the score?"

"42 to 50," the ref confirmed. "The goal is to get to zero points. You each have one throw left."

Luca whispered to Marachii. "She won't get me again. Focus on the safer spots. I'll handle her."

He got back to his spot, dart raised. Hikari briefly looked at him before lining up her own dart. As soon as the referee blew his whistle, they launched their darts, with Luca landing on the inner ring of the 16-marker and Hikari landing on the 15-marker.

"Lucky," Hikari scoffed.

"Sure, whatever you say," Luca shot back.

Once they were done, Hikari whispered something into Saori's ear, and Luca pulled Marachii aside in response. "They're plotting. The only way they can win is if they hit a triple on the nine. All you have to do is hit the 18-mark."

"Okay," Marachii replied.

Once he and Saori stepped forward, the referee made an announcement. "Last throw! If you don't hit zero, lowest score wins! Ready?"

Marachii took a deep breath. "18. 18. 18."

"Throw!"

Marachii zipped his dart straight for the 18-mark, while Saori tried to hit the triple 9-marker, hitting the bullseye instead. Marachii's dart knocked hers out and hit the 12-mark.

"Oops."

"Hey!" Saori cried. "That's not fair!"

The referee glanced at the board. "They've ended up with six. You've ended up with twenty-seven. These lads win!"

Marachii pumped his fist up. "Yes! We did it! We finally beat the girls in something!"

Luca patted Hikari on the shoulder. "Better luck next time. How does it feel to lose?"

She waved him off, putting a hand on her hip. "It's fine, we'll just play something else! We'll beat you two in these other games, I promise!"

"Hah. Accept your defeat—"

They heard the sound of heavy footsteps behind them, and even the referee backed away as the four turned around, coming face-to-face with the Monster King himself.

"Hello, kids. Do you want to play a GAME?"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Ball Room, Fujii was sitting at a table with a group of women, drinking beers as they all laughed and conversed with him. Aoki was sitting next to him, groaning and visibly embarrassed.

"So, then I FREEZE the guy, and his head's sticking out, so he's yelling at me, talking a lot of nonsense, while my co-workers are handling his little minions, and then he breaks free, and I KICK his ass."

The girls all gasped. "Wow, Mr. Fujii, really?"

Aoki put her head down. "Please, sir, can we do anything else? Anything besides THIS?"

He wrapped an arm around Aoki, pointing to her. "And she? She's my thousand-year-old killing machine! You girls wouldn't LIVE long enough to hear all the stories about her! Maybe the time we raided an orc village, explored the bottom of the Sunken Sea, or fought those crazy 10-headed monsters! Hey, one time, this dragon tried to flirt with her, and she—-!"

"Sir!" Aoki blurted out, her face flustered.

Fujii laughed. "Anyway, you girls catch my drift!"

Aoki banged her head across the table. "Can. We. Please. Leave?"

Just then, a big figure sat down at the table, causing all the girls to jump back and run. "Well, well, well. Look who it is? Kenshi Fujii."

Fujii blinked a few times, recognizing the giant figure. "Alarax! Long time no see, buddy, I was JUST talking about you! How are the dwarves doing?"

"You'd know, wouldn't you? The way you and your lackeys ran us out of our home!"

Aoki tugged on Fujii's arm. "Who's this?"

"This is my old pal Alarax! Dwarf Prince, and a bit on the angry side, you know? He nearly killed Dachii, but it's all in good fun!"

Aoki's eyes briefly shifted red. "He nearly WHAT?"

Alarax pointed a finger at her. "And what's this? Another ignorant chick under your control, obsessed with you to death enough to carry out vicious crimes in your name? She and the princess sleep in the same room, or is she just the lapdog?"

"That's it," Aoki stated, pulling out her sword and standing up. Fujii put an arm out to stop her, still drunk and smiling.

"Come on, man. This is a formal event! No need to be so hostile! Can't we all get along for just one day?"

"You sound like my sister," Alarax muttered. "Whatever. Where's that Dachii boy at? He owes me for ripping apart my castle."

"Don't worry about where he is," Aoki growled. "If you touch him, I'll HURT you."

Alarax broke into a laugh of his own. "She's funny! Where did you find her? Her taste is terrible though. Ponytails are no longer in style."

He ripped the band off of Aoki's hair, and her hair dropped all into her face as Fujii gasped. "Woah. I haven't seen you like that in YEARS."

"Okay, HE'S DEAD!"

Fujii had to do his best to hold her back from attacking Alarax as he continued to laugh in her face. She swung her blade at him, but he simply leaned back and evaded it.

"Weak."

"I'll show you weak!"

A dwarf girl sat down next to him, her hands held up. "Sorry about him! Please don't skewer my brother! He doesn't know any better!"

Aoki temporarily calmed down. "Hmph!"

"Hey, it's Throme, right?" Fujii recalled. "Glad to see you make it in!"

"I'm glad to be here," Throme replied. "Thanks for having us! As much as my brother may think otherwise, we don't hold any grudge against you guys for the events in the past."

"Good, good," Fujii said. "We humbly appreciate it."

Aoki folded her arms. "We don't."

"She's a little upset, don't mind her."

Throme giggled. "She reminds me a lot of my brother."

Fujii looked between the two. "Yeah, they both do have that fire to them, don't they? Wouldn't they make a great couple?"

Aoki and Alarax both nearly jumped at the thought, and quickly opened their mouths at the same time. "WHAT? EW!"

"Hehe, in any case, would we be able to talk to Dachii? Me and my brother would like to exchange a few words with him."

"He's outside," Fujii pointed. "He's not much for talking these days though, so I wouldn't expect too much."

"That's fine," Throme said. "Thank you."

She pulled Alarax along with her, and Aoki immediately whirled on Fujii. "Sir! Why would you tell them that?"

"Heh, I'm sure they won't try to kill him with Akari and Atomu there! Mostly sure."

Aoki grabbed Fujii by his shoulders. "Listen, we're going to take you to sober up, okay? No more drinking!"

"Aww, man."

Outside, in The Garden...

Akari held up a dazzling white flower to Dachii's face. "Do you like the flowers, Dachii? My mom prepared some for you to take home if you want?"

"They're alright," Dachii remarked.

She picked up a delicate purple one. "How about this one? It's pretty rare. You should try smelling it, it has a scent like berries."

She gave it to him to hold, and he reluctantly did. But once he put the flower to his nose, his mind began to spin, and everything went black.

In an unknown place...

And just like that, Dachii was somewhere else. A shadowy realm, almost like a void. And in front of him was a man sitting on a dark throne, facing away from him.

"What the hell is this?" Dachii demanded. "Who the hell are you?"

The throne turned around, revealing a Morino with dark black eyes.

"Welcome, Dachii. I've been expecting you."

—-