Chapter One Hundred Forty-Two: Friendship

In the Hallow…

Fujii effortlessly carved through his opponents, Aoki and Marachii by his side.

"We need to regroup! If that kid's getting us out of here, we gotta make sure everyone makes it!"

Marachii's hands and head were grabbed by a few cultists, one of whom seemed very interested in him.

"Well…well…well…" he spoke. "You resemble the Destroyer. A relative, perhaps?"

"Get off!" Marachii demanded, striking at the man with metal tendrils that sent him flying. More cultists grabbed him, and Aoki quickly swooped in and unleashed a devastating spinning slash attack that caused them all to fall to the ground, grabbing their necks.

"Marachii, don't get swept by these things!" Aoki insisted.

"That's what I'm trying to do!" Marachii shouted back.

As more cultists emerged, Luca tore through them in his gorilla form, with Hikari and Saori on his back.

"Alright, that's most of us," Fujii counted. "Now we just need Dachii, Akari, and Ayana."

He heard screaming in the near distance. "That's definitely them. Let's move, group!"

On the other side of the wall of cultists, Dachii was holding Ayana, who appeared to be heavily wounded. She was covering her left eye with her right hand, and Dachii tried to feel for her left arm, but below the elbow, it was GONE. Even her left leg, below the knee, was no longer there.

"Ayana!" he called out. "Wake up!"

Shun approached slowly, analyzing her. "Ahh, she seems to have gotten the worst of it. Losing appendages. At least it's only half. Could be worse, but she is human. Those wounds will most assuredly never heal."

Akari fired off an energy blast at him before turning her attention towards Ayana. "She…didn't regenerate? I thought…but she…why would she…?"

Ayana's body started to shiver, and Dachii's mind immediately flashed back to Batango. "No…she's dying…no…!"

Shun laughed. "Please. Even for a human, that's hardly enough to kill her. It's called Curse Magic, not Kill——!"

"SHUT UP!"

Dachii delivered a powerful blow to Shun's face, knocking a few teeth out and causing him to go flying down the street. He turned his attention back to Ayana.

"Ayana! Can you hear me?"

Akari was as stiff as a statue. "This isn't right…she's…not…"

Dachii looked at Akari. "Come on! We need to get her out of here!"

Akari composed herself. "Right, right! General Fujii! Can you hear us?"

Fujii cut through a wave of cultists, the others right behind him. "Loud and clear! Let's retreat, soldiers!"

He noticed the severely wounded Ayana. "What the hell happened to her?"

"She took a curse to the face," Dachii explained, his passive and apathetic tone returning. "We need to get her out of here."

Dachii slung her over his back.

"I see, where's that kid with the portal? We need an escape!" Fujii declared.

Hikari rushed over to the direction of the well. "I'll check on him!"

Dachii followed his group as they headed for the well. "Don't worry, Ayana…you'll be fine."

She briefly woke up, noticing herself on Dachii's back. "D…Dachii?"

She stared at him for a long time, an unreadable look on her face, before she rested her head on his shoulder. "Alright…I trust you."

Hikari reached the well. "Isamu? Is everything going well?"

"Yeah!" he replied. "I need…a few…more…minutes…!"

Hikari looked back at Tenma, who was now flanked by Shun, Kugutsu, and Kugutsu's puppet, along with hundreds of other cultists. "I don't know if we HAVE a few more minutes!"

Once the others caught up, Fujii used his Element and Magic together to form a large field of ice from both sides, covering the group.

"That should hold them for a little while. Do your thing, kid!"

Isamu strained himself as he hurried to finish the chanting, and Tenma punched the ice a few times, causing it to crack.

"Kenshi! You think you can escape your past? The boy WILL destroy our people if you don't silence him! What kind of warrior betrays his own homeland?"

"It's not betrayal," Fujii corrected. "You're just too superstitious."

Tenma delivered a powerful punch to the ice, shattering it completely. "Do not run, Kenshi!"

Fujii knocked him back with a blast of ice just as a portal appeared in the well.

"It's ready!" Isamu announced. "Jump in!"

Luca, Hikari, and Saori all rushed to jump inside, while Akari tugged on Dachii's arm.

"Come on! If we're going to escape and get her help, it has to be now!"

She pulled him and the unconscious Ayana into the well with her, disappearing. Aoki waited for Fujii, who was busy fending off Tenma. "Sir, are you coming?"

"Yeah! Go! Ahead!"

"No way! Not till you do!"

Fujii delivered a powerful slash to Tenma's gut. "Ugh. Stubborn girl."

He grabbed her and jumped into the well, but not before addressing Isamu. "Hey, kid! You're not so bad! If you ever want a new home, just come to our place!"

"What…?"

And then Fujii was gone as Tenma reached the well. The portal then closed.

"They escaped, sir," Shun remarked. "Should we go after them?"

Tenma shook his head. "They'll most assuredly be at the castle before long. Even for us, that many forces will be a hassle. And besides, there will be other opportunities to get the Destroyer. Now then…"

He turned his attention to Isamu. "What will I do with YOU?"

Isamu gulped.

Meanwhile, back in Voltiana…

Squad S-1 landed on top of the roof where the final battle of the hunt occurred. Fujii noticed the wrecked factory nearby. "Yeah, that's coming out of my paycheck."

Saori tugged on Fujii's arm. "Mister! Miss Ayana is coughing up blood!"

Fujii noticed the blood dripping from Ayana's mouth. "No time to waste. Let's get to the castle!"

Soon, they were at the entrance of the castle, where a bunch of nervous guests and Xar were waiting for them.

"Finally, you've returned!" Xar exclaimed. "You were gone for hours, did you know how worried we were?"

"Didn't feel that long," Fujii shrugged.

Xar pointed to the sky, which was going dark. "…Oh."

Dachii stepped forward. "She needs help, like now."

"Is that Lady Ayana?" Xar realized.

"Hi…Xar…" Ayana mumbled. "Tell the Queen…I said hello…"

Then she passed out again. Xar motioned to his guards nearby. "Bring her to the infirmary, ASAP!"

The guards took her off Dachii's back and quickly transported her into the castle.

"You all must come in," Xar insisted. "The Queen wants to see you."

"Then let's not keep her waiting," Fujii agreed.

They followed Xar into the castle and into the throne room, where Queen Ayame and her husband Ayrad were sitting, Atomu at their side.

"By the stars!" she exclaimed. "You've all returned in one piece! Thank goodness!"

"You can say that again," King Ayrad said. "We almost had a heart attack waiting for you guys to show up!"

"Sorry…" Fujii chuckled. "A bit of complications happened. And we had to get Ayana treated, she got hurt."

Akari had a conflicted look on her face.

"My, my!" Queen Ayame gasped. "Hurt? Will she be alright?"

"Yeah," Fujii confirmed. "But her wounds are very bad. They'll be hard for her to get accustomed to."

Akari raised her hand. "It was me, Mother. She got hurt protecting me."

Most of her teammates looked at her, while Dachii remained silent.

"I'm sorry," Akari continued. "My pride wouldn't let me trust her after all that happened, and she saved my life."

The King and Queen pondered this information carefully.

"Don't worry, dear," Queen Ayame assured. "We would never hold this against you, and I'm sure Ayana doesn't either! Now, Fujii, I will need you to brief me on everything that happened. Dachii, I would like you and your brother to join us for dinner tonight. I have something I would like to discuss. In the meantime, everyone can wait in the Ballroom!"

They bowed, except Dachii, and headed out of the throne room, while Fujii remained. Ayame gestured Atomu out as well. "Go and join your sister, son. This talk is for me and your father."

"Yes, Mother."

He left as well.

Inside the Ballroom…

Every guest was waiting for the group as they entered, and they were swarmed as soon as they entered through the doors. Nishiyama, Tetsuya, Tsugumi, Yoritomo, and the Generals all burst through the crowd.

"You guys made it back safe!" Nishiyama exclaimed. "Mina and I were going crazy over what happened to you guys!"

She pulled an embarrassed Mina along. "Was not."

Tetsuya put a hand on Dachii's shoulder. "Glad you're safe, man! And guess what? My brother was so mad about how we crushed him in the Hunt, he went home and locked himself in his room!"

"That's cool," Dachii said, still as bland as ever.

Tsugumi pushed past Tetsuya. "Sorry…about attacking you."

"It's fine."

She looked at him for a long while before taking a deep breath. "You…should visit our house sometime."

"Okay."

Yoritomo laughed a laugh of relief. "I should have known a mission with Fujii at the head would go smoothly! Let's have a toast to them!"

A bunch of guests cheered.

"I wouldn't say smoothly," Marachii murmured. "Hey, where's Akari?"

"Who knows," Aoki replied. "And who cares."

Arata stormed up to the group, grabbing Dachii by his collar. "Hey! I don't appreciate how you did me in that fight back there. We're gonna need a rematch!"

"Okay," Dachii said, still emotionless.

"Yeah…yeah! Meet me outside!"

As Dachii prepared to follow Arata outside, Marachii stopped him. "Don't bother with him."

From a nearby table, Throme, Alarax, Vashka, and Malkrith were busy conversing.

"The boy's returned," Vashka acknowledged.

"Sadly," Alarax muttered.

"Brother!" Throme chastised. "Let's try to be more friendly. Queen Ayame says she wants peace! That doesn't sound so bad, does it?"

Malkrith gestured to Squad S-1. "Yeah, she says it. But her own Masquerade got attacked. It seems this nation's got a lot of enemies, and she wants us to form an alliance."

"If it can benefit my homeland," Vashka remarked. "I won't hesitate to accept."

"Indeed," Throme nodded. "Us dwarves could use the resources she's offering to rebuild."

Alarax stopped her. "Their primary foes are the Zharians. It would be suicidal to jump into a war between them. I know from experience."

"Zharians?" Vashka lifted an eyebrow. "Haven't heard much of 'em, but my daughter has told me stories."

"They're said to be strong, war-loving, and twisted creatures," Malkrith remarked. "Some have honor, some don't. They usually keep to themselves, unless you're a Voltian. If you meet one, better hope you're not of Voltian blood. Or that they aren't a sick bastard."

"Hmm…" Vashka wondered. "Time'll tell."

Himeka was busy prying her sister for information. "How scary was it? Did you almost die? How'd you fight? Were there any cool demons down there? Did you cry?"

"Sis!"

Himeka shook her repeatedly but a hand on her shoulder interrupted her. "Young lady."

She turned around, noticing her dad, Hayato. "We need to have a word."

"Eek! Dad, wait!"

He pulled her off to the side as the rest of Hikari's family gathered around her.

"Don't worry about them," her mom laughed. "He's still a bit upset with her."

Hinata smiled when she saw Dachii. "And you must be Dachii! My husband and I are big fans of you. Thank you for sticking by my daughter."

She gave him a hug and Dachii stood there. "Okay."

Shinjii and Toru marched through the crowd, while Naito hung back.

"Nice work, runts!" Shinjii congratulated.

"I don't care about work," Toru scoffed, pointing a finger at Dachii. "You cost us the win in the Hunt by getting yourself captured. Do better next time."

"Okay," Dachii blandly agreed.

"Where's Nakada?" Marachii asked. "Usually she'd be here at a time like this!"

"She's with your mother," Toru explained.

"Mom let her in?"

"No, it's very likely she snuck in. She'd better be grateful she was so close to Morino. Any of us would have to deal with her wrath, and that gets PAINFULLY annoying."

"Yeah, you're right about that," Marachii said.

"Now come, fools," Toru motioned. "Enjoy the rest of the masquerade."

As he led them to sit down, Kiyota watched it all from the balcony before turning away.

"Idiots. It's not over yet."

Sometime later, inside the infirmary…

Ayana woke up to find her wounded limbs and eye bandaged, but the pain seemed to have significantly dulled. A nurse stood over her. "Good! You're awake now!"

"What happened?" Ayana asked.

"You had some very serious injuries, so I bandaged them up and applied my magic, which dulls all pain and discomfort. You should be able to leave soon, but make sure you take this walker!"

She gave Ayana a metal walker to use to her around, and Ayana sat up, examining it. "Well, I thank you, ma'am."

The nurse gave a curt nod. "Also, the princess is here to see you! I'll leave you to it!"

"Ehh?"

"Hi, Ayana."

Ayana nearly fell off her bed, and she noticed Akari sitting in a seat next to her. "What are you doing here? I didn't poison or hurt anyone, I swear!"

"No, no," Akari clarified. "I just wanted to apologize, for being so hostile to you. I realize now it almost cost me my life and cost you your body, so I just wanted to make it clear that I understand now that you're not a bad person, and that I was wrong to judge you as such because of my past experiences."

"It's okay," Ayana beamed. "I understand."

Akari nervously scratched at her arm. "Well…uh…"

Ayana lifted an eyebrow as Akari struggled to find the right words.

"I'm…appreciative of you saving me…and I…"

Ayana tilted her head as Akari finally got it out.

"Do…you want to be friends?" Akari asked.

"Sure thing!" Ayana agreed.

Akari relaxed a little, offering her hand, but Ayana hugged her with her remaining arm instead.

"Oh!"

Instead of pulling away, Akari sighed for a moment, before hugging her back.

"You know…" Akari said. "You could always join us at dinner…"

"That sounds good," Ayana replied. "Just…let me change out of these hospital clothes first."

Akari nodded and left the room, and soon as she was outside, she took a deep breath. "Maybe…this won't be so bad. Just…maybe."

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