Chapter One Hundred Fifty-One: Anew

In an infirmary…

Dachii woke up, finding himself chained to a hospital bed. Marachii was right next to him, rubbing his head.

"Where are we?" Marachii asked.

Dachii sat up, looking around. "Hospital."

Marachii looked at the chains on his arms. "Why are we chained up? I'm getting deja vu…"

A voice cut through the air. "I'm glad to see both of you have awakened! Sorry about the chains, they're just precautions."

Queen Ayame stood in the doorway, a smile plastered on her face. "Your squad has been very worried about you two. I'll have them come in."

The rest of Squad S-1 entered the door, relief and concern on their faces.

"Guys! You're alive!" Hikari exclaimed.

"That's good," Luca remarked. "Would've been a huge loss."

Akari put her hand on both of their chests. "I'm glad you're both safe."

Saori gave both of them a cone of ice cream. "Here, try this! It'll make you feel better!"

Aoki walked up without a word, right before whacking them both in the head with the butt of her sword. "Don't be so stupid next time."

"Ow…" Marachii rubbed his head. "Why me?"

Dachii barely even reacted.

"Those kids," Fujii remarked, smiling. "I remember when I was a kid. Fun times, fun times."

Queen Ayame cleared her throat. "Good, good, now that you've all said your greetings and well wishes, I have a question for you boys."

Her eyes suddenly grew serious, and she walked up to them as their friends retreated back to the door.

"What ARE you?"

Dachii didn't answer, staring blankly ahead, so Marachii spoke up. "Umm…what do you mean, Your Highness? We're humans…?"

Queen Ayame gave him a curious look. "Oh? I know of your mother's origin. She's the child of my wayward sister. But despite my reservations…I don't sense anything Voltian about you two…"

"Mother?" Akari questioned. "What are you talking about?"

She took a good look at Marachii, who gulped. "And back there, your bodies gave off massive amounts of dark energy. The same as Ayana, or whatever you called her—-Runea? But now…"

She put her hand on Marachii's forehead. "Your DNA signature is reading of a human. Just like hers did at first."

Marachii scratched his head. "Well, is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"What is your origin, young ones?" Queen Ayame asked. "I know of your mother, but what of your father? What sort of entity is he?"

Dachii remained silent.

"He's human," Marachii answered. "He and our older brother, Takashii, died five years ago, back in Estrium."

Queen Ayame paused for a moment, while everyone else looked on. "Interesting. I think it's worth taking a further look into him and your…origins. Because no human I know of could do what you two did out there. But you both don't fully seem…inhuman."

Then she patted their heads. "Great work, though!"

"Thanks…?" Marachii replied, awkwardly.

She then turned and hit the door. "Once all the scans are complete and they prove you two aren't currently dangerous, you can leave. You might want to talk with that girl who caused all of this, as well."

"Where is she?" Fujii asked.

"In the most secure prison we have," Queen Ayame stated.

"Don't tell me…"

She nodded. "Zettai Kangoku Prison. Deep in the Kangoku District."

"Makes sense," Fujii said. "But can it reliably hold someone as powerful as her? She worked me DRY out there!"

"Her powers have currently been sealed," Queen Ayame explained. "Once the seal breaks, we'll have to figure that out. But in the meantime, she's trapped."

"Get some rest, you guys," Akari suggested. "We'll be back later."

"Yep!" Fujii agreed. "Then it's onto more training!"

Luca, Hikari, Marachii, and Saori all groaned.

"What?" Fujii questioned. "There's stronger guys to come, we need to level you all up!"

Akari looked at her hand. "Yeah. That sounds nice."

Meanwhile, outside the castle…

Malkrith, Vashka, Alarax, and Throme analyzed the damage to the castle and the buildings surrounding it. Alarax shook his head. "I told those stupid Voltians. No wonder they demanded our help so badly."

"The scale of destruction…" Malkrith noted. "Ha! Even I have never caused so much chaos in one sitting!"

"I feel ya," Vashka agreed. "Would take at least a dozen orcs and a full day's work to replicate something like this."

Throme nervously clasped her hands. "See? That's why I think we should work with Queen Ayame and the others! What if they target us next, because we attended the Masquerade?"

Alarax grumbled. "Fine. Only because I'm not tryna be left alone if there's another war."

"Great! Thanks, brother!"

Malkrith laughed. "I look forward to seeing what…benefits she can provide us."

"That'll be a treat," Vashka added. "Drain the lil' old queen dry of all the gold and glitter she's got!"

Alarax slapped his forehead. "Scavengers."

Xar walked up to them. "Since the event is now functionally over, you may all leave. Do you need an escort of guards to walk with you?"

"Nope," Vashka declined. "That's weakling behavior."

"I agree," Malkrith said. "My monsters will slaughter any fool who dares to lay a finger on me."

"Me and Throme can handle ourselves," Alarax grumbled. "Damn elves."

Xar sighed. "Well, we hope to hear from you all again soon, and take care!"

They all left, leaving Xar alone. Kia suddenly ran up to him. "Hey! Guard! Where are my children?"

"It's XAR," he corrected. "And they should be recovering in the infirmary right now."

"The infirmary?" Kia gasped. "Are they hurt?"

"No, just exhausted, but they should be fine—-!"

Kia was already gone. "That woman is even crazier than the Queen."

The other Generals dropped beside him, and Atomu broke off from them. "Xar, the death toll is easily in the thousands. 78% of the entire district is destroyed, and the power is out across the nation. It's horrific."

Xar took a moment to ponder the information.

"On the bright side," Nakada interjected. "Most of the district safely made it out, and there was minimal to no harm to Asuka or Shonora."

"That's a relief," Xar replied. "But still, with what happened today, we've lost a lot of public trust and safety, and it will take time to rebuild."

"Then we shall rebuild it," Toru declared. "We must not have a failure on this massive scale again. We must stamp out the threat before it ever rears its unlikely head!"

"Aye!" the other generals agreed.

"Knowing this pattern," Xar noted. "I can only worry about who is next."

"Whoever it is, we'll smash them!" Shinjii boasted.

"I hope, Kumagai," Xar worried. "I hope."

Meanwhile, inside the Infirmary…

Marachii and Dachii were once again woken up by the sound of their worried mother. "Dachii! Marachii! Thank goodness you're unharmed!"

"Hey, Mom," Marachii greeted.

Dachii gave a bland wave.

"It was very reckless of you two to leave that table without my permission, don't ever do that again!" Kia warned. "Or you're both grounded!"

Marachii tensed up. "Come on, Mom!"

The nurse inside gently approached Kia. "Ma'am, could you please step out for a moment, I'm trying to use my magic to scan and make sure they're all clear to go, and you're interrupting the process just a bit—-!"

"Back off, little girl!"

"Hey!" the girl snapped back. "That's rude!"

Kia lifted the chain on Dachii's wrist. "Why are my children chained up, WOMAN?"

"Because Queen Ayame ordered it for their and everyone else's safety! It's a logical move!"

"Logical, you say?" Kia repeated. "Take them off, now."

"But—-!"

The nurse backed away, as Kia's eyes seemed to burn with a cold rage. "Fine, fine! One moment!"

She got the key to the chains and unlocked them, freeing the two boys as Kia hugged them. Marachii suddenly had a thought. "Hey Mom, why did our bodies change to black back there? We looked like…Zharians for a moment, and there was this weird guy in our heads telling us to…rise?"

Kia's eyes went wide and Marachii noticed. "So you do know something about it! Mom, what is it?"

Kia looked away. "Son, there are some things I can't tell you right now."

"Why not?" Marachii asked.

"Because it's dangerous," Kia admitted. "Not only for you two, but for these…Voltians to know as well. And if your enemies have caught wind of this information…"

She looked up. "It will be bad."

"Are we…like them?" Marachii asked.

Kia shook her head. "No, no! But it's…complicated. Your dad understood."

"Dad knew about this?"

"Yes. His past may very well be the reason why…THAT day happened."

"How much do you know?" Marachii pried. "Mom, we need the information!"

"I'll tell you soon," Kia promised. "But I can't right now."

Marachii groaned, but Dachii just sat on his bed, unmoving. Kia put a hand on his cheek. "Dachii, are you alright?"

His hand forced itself into a thumbs-up.

"He's been like that ever since the fight was over," Marachii said. "I think all this stress has reverted him back to how he was before the Masquerade started."

"My poor boy," Kia comforted. "Maybe what you need is a break."

"What I need," Dachii corrected. "Is to see Runea."

"Hmm? What for?"

"Reasons," Dachii stated.

"Well, you're in luck!" Fujii appeared in the doorway. "The Queen is taking us to the Kangoku District! Come on and tag along!"

Dachii got up, while Marachii hung back. "You guys go on ahead. My body is a little sore right now."

Fujii noticed Kia. "Oh! Kia! Hello."

Kia gave him a death glare. "Don't get my son hurt, you understand?"

He nodded. "Would never dream! Now bye!"

Inside a prison…

Runea, now back as Ayana, sat on an iron bed in a straitjacket, with cameras all watching her, various cannons pointed at her, and iron bars with a laser grid in front of them. There was a group of armed guards watching her cell with every passing second.

"Man," one guard worried. "Is she as dangerous as they say?"

"Of course she is!" another replied. "She totally wrecked Aleora and killed scores of people! It took all of Squad S-1's power just to slow her, and the QUEEN had to get involved!"

"Man," the third spoke. "I hope she doesn't break out. She's a monster!"

Runea scoffed. "I can hear you, you know."

They all jumped back. "Mind your business…prisoner!"

"Huh, if I'm not mistaken, you were talking about me," she remarked. "That IS my business."

"Excuse us, guards."

The guards heard a commanding female voice and they all bowed. "Yes, Your Highness!"

Runea lifted an eyebrow as Queen Ayame, Fujii, Dachii, and Haruto all walked up to her cell. "Isn't this cute? The infallible Queen, the evil son of a bitch, poor little Dachii, and Haruto! Where'd they pick you up from?"

"The wreckage you caused," Haruto answered. "How could you do it? How could you betray us like this? You nearly killed me and Dachii, all for what?"

She had a conflicted look on her face before she shifted back to her coldness. "I said I was sorry about that."

"Sorry only means so much when you're slaughtering countless people and hurting your friends, if we can even call ourselves your friends. Was it all a lie? Was I some plot in your plan to get to Dachii? All these years I've known you?"

Runea stood up. "Of course not! I only found out Dachii was the Holder this year! How could I use you for years if Dachii's power only manifested in recent times?"

"But duty over loyalty, huh," Haruto stated. "Friends be damned."

Runea winced before turning to Dachii. "And like I said, Dachii. I do like you, a lot. Sorry about all the harm I did to you."

"It's fine," Dachii said, emotionless. "Nothing can hurt me anymore. It's all an illusion."

"Don't say that!" Runea insisted. "After all, once I brought you back I planned to cure your spirits! Especially since the one standing behind you won't do anything more than use you for his own amusement, then kill you once his Queen says do so."

Runea eyed Fujii. "Isn't that right, Kenshi? All that harm you've done on order from Kings and Queens? Does it make you feel good? Does it make you feel special?"

Fujii walked right up to her cell, his expression more serious than Dachii had ever seen. "Don't act like you're the only victim in this. When your people started this war by killing my father and abducting my mother, they signed away all rights to a peaceful ending. You wanted blood, you got it. Now. Where did you take her? My mother?"

Runea attempted to shrug. "Don't know. If you're lucky, she's still alive."

Fujii banged his hand on the cell bars. "Don't toy with me, girl! Answer my question!"

Runea laughed. "No."

Queen Ayame put a hand on his shoulder. "Please calm down, Kenshi."

"Right," he said, stepping back.

"Ritsuka," she inquired.

"That's Runea to you," Runea interrupted.

"Yes, yes, whatever. Runea, are you the only one to have infiltrated our nation? Are there more of you? Any more plans to wreak havoc on our land?"

Runea shook her head. "Aside from those weird cult guys following me, there's no one from my side in your precious little land. But be warned…"

Her eyes grew menacing. "The others are going to see this. And once they do, they won't be happy. Dachii, do you want to know something?"

"Huh," Dachii responded.

"If you really are one of us," she said. "You'll notice this very soon. That little vengeance of yours won't work out. Zharians are immortal."

Dachii briefly appeared stunned before his cold look reappeared.

"Impossible," Fujii rejected. "I've seen many of you die! Even Ionix, Nullus, all of them!"

Runea shook her head. "They can be killed. But they can't die. They will reform, in time. Maybe a long time. Except for my sister."

"And why the hell is that?" Fujii demanded.

"Because, jerk! She's an older one! They weren't blessed with immortality yet! Titan only did that after you all started murdering our kind! But it's fine. You all struggled to beat me…"

She began to laugh. "How will you handle yourselves when THEY come?"

Meanwhile, inside Titan's castle…

"NO! Not Ritsuka! NO!"

"She's not dead, Melodar."

"But they have her! Who knows what those demons will do to her?"

The remaining members of the Elite were gathered in Titan's throne room, while Titan was sitting in his throne, eerily silent and as if he were inactive. Radiux was busy talking to Melodar, who seemed distressed.

"Get it together," Radiux said. "If they wanted to kill her, they'd have attempted to do it when she was outside. She'll be rescued, soon enough."

"Easy for you to say, if they took your sister, what'd you do?" Melodar asked.

"Blow that place to smithereens," Radiux admitted.

"EXACTLY."

"Why'd you have to bring me into it?" Mysteria whined.

Sirena sat in a corner, twiddling her thumbs. "I miss Runea, she was always so nice…"

Galeth was hanging upside down from the ceiling. "Yeah! She was dope! But she was always so serious, so consumed with revenge! It made her lose her flow!"

Vortessia flipped her hair out of her face, sitting at the table with her legs crossed. "She has plenty of flow. She's just too emotional. Unlikely myself. I wish she had let me go along with her, so I could have helped her level that disgusting place."

Ravos's hair lit on fire as he laughed. "Man, I wanna fight Dachii again! Maybe he's gotten better!"

Ohara stood by Titan's throne. "We should wage war for our comrade. We must reduce their precious kingdom into a nation of ash! A failure of an Elite is an unforgivable sin! One we must atone for her!"

He slammed his hammer on the ground, which shook the entire room. Akuma entered the room, and everyone turned their attention to him.

"Good, you're back!" Ohara cheered. "Watching over these tiny brats was getting tiresome! The Master is still asleep."

"Indeed, thank you, Ohara…" Akuma stated. "We will need to rescue Runea…but not yet. First, we need to strengthen our army. If the King and Queen are taking a more active approach and gathering allies, we need to be prepared."

"How do you propose we do that?" Ohara wondered. "We could go in force, and pummel that place to the ground!"

"Soon," Akuma agreed. "But first, we must revive our Master. Without Deity, he won't have long before he starts destabilizing again. We need to bring him his final artifact, the Armor of Chaos."

"Whoa, I thought it was destroyed long ago!" Galeth gasped. "That super cool legendary armor still exists?"

Akuma nodded. "And it's not just in any place, it's among the humans. It resides in Estrium."

Everyone in the room gasped. Akuma looked to Melodar.

"Uta," he commanded. "I think you'll be best to get it."

Melodar pointed to himself. "Me? Why?"

"Your music can draw the people out of their houses, and influence their mortal minds to give up any knowledge they hold."

Melodar stayed silent for a moment before saluting. "Aye, aye! I'll make sure it's a show they'll never forget! But guys, promise you'll save my friend when the time comes, alright?"

Akuma nodded. "We will. Her absence is a major blow to us."

"Good. I'll be back with that armor, so you guys just kick your feet up and enjoy the show!"

He left, and Vortessia shook her head. "That boy is going to make such a mess."

"I know," Akuma agreed. "That's why he's going."

Akuma turned away, muttering to himself. "Because Dachii…can't help but always find himself in a mess. And for a mess this big, he'll be bound to be en route."

——