A Reason

The four of us made it to the Virgin Fields, the large array of colorful flowers coming into view, the fields a rainbow spectacle of beauty. The girls gasped in awe and hurried to the first patch of flowers, the translucent lavender bells, the buds of the flower shaped similar to metallic bells.

As the wind blew along the patch of flowers, the buds gently flowed with the currents, letting out a soothing, melodic ring, a soothing aura washing along the fields. The girls calmly listened to its gentle ring, each of them letting out a hum of joy.

"Nox, you really have to come listen to this! It's so cool!" Luciel called out to me, looking over at me in the short distance.

I looked over at Luciel and the others then made my way toward them, the trio making room for me to get a close listen to the bells. I crouched down with them and closed my eyes, listening closely to the flowers' sweet song.

My butterflies began appearing around the flowers, happily fluttering around the lavender bells, harmonizing with them. The song began to sound similar to my mother's lullaby, my heart growing heavy at the soft tune.

I stood up with a soft exhale, stepping away from the flowers and crossed my arms. "Alright, we should be getting on. We don't want the bandits getting away."

Fleur smiled at my focused tone, standing up as well with a soft grunt. "Alright, my prince. We'll start to focus for real, I promise."

"Me too! It's time to set our minds on the mission! Defeat the bad guys. Got it!" Luciel nodded with a determined smile, her eyes sparkling with energy as she looked at me.

"Yeah! Let's get to it! Time to kick some butt!" Effie beamed and hopped up onto her feet, placing her hands upon her hips confidently.

I smiled softly at the three then began trailing forward through the fields, the trio following behind and searching around for the bandits with keen eyes. Looni searched from the air with bright curiosity, her eyes catching something below and she let out a cry from above.

Effie looked up at Looni's cry then jogged ahead, curious about what Looni found. She noticed a few bushes in the distance and hurried toward them, jumping inside then took out her binoculars from her satchel, scouting the area ahead.

As she scanned ahead, she noticed a few bandits running away in fear and hummed with intrigue. "Guys! Ahead, the bandits are running away from something!"

"What?" Fleur asked, walking toward the bushes and crouched down, adjusting a small dial along her sunglasses, white digital reticles upon her lens glowing and enhancing her view.

I walked ahead with curiosity as well, my heart thumping heavily as I began to feel Rebirth Energy nearby, my head beginning to throb and disorienting me. I grunted gently as I began to hear soft whispers in the air, a floral wind spiralling around me.

My butterflies began to shimmer brightly, becoming a floral yellow as if to be responding to a needing call. Fleur, Luciel, and Effie noticed my butterflies shifting colors and noticed my disoriented state, the three hurrying to my aid.

Nox...

My monsters are angered...

My Rebirth Rose...

My monsters...

Help them...

The floral winds slowly washed away, the whispers fading into quietness and my disoriented state coming to an end. I shook my head lightly, my vision slowly becoming clear once more. 'Who the heck was that..? That wasn't Lament...'

"Nox? Are you alright?" Fleur asked, placing her hand upon my back.

"Yeah, I just...heard someone's voice asking for help. Whatever those bandits are doing, they are hurting something that is meant to protect the fields," I said, looking at my butterflies and noticed their floral yellow color.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get to stopping those bandits!" Effie chimed energetically and hopped out of the bush, shaking her entire body to get the twigs and leaves off her.

I walked by Effie, taking a stray leaf out of her hair and adjusted my Steel Buster along my back. "Right. Let's go."

In the distance, a group of bandits fled from a mob of Ents protecting the scarlet red Rebirth Rose within the distance. Another leader bandit with a black bandana over his face watched as his crew scattered from the Ents, letting out a loud laugh of mockery at them.

"You all run at the face of danger?! Scared of a few sentient plants?!" The leader mocked, imbuing fire energy around his blade using the Flame Materia within the blade of his sword.

As he slashed down at the Ents, one of my butterflies flew ahead and began to shine brightly, blooming into a large yellow shield shaped as a rose. The bandit grunted in surprise as his blade crashed into my shield, forcing him to leap backwards for distance.

He searched around for where the butterfly came from, his body sensing an attack coming from the left of him then he instinctively slashed to his side, but only cut the wind. Behind him, I grabbed him by his collar then tossed him to the side, causing him to roll on his side.

I watched as the man recovered onto his feet, my hand ready upon my sword for combat. "You all are upsetting the fields. It's time for you all to go home."

The man scoffed at me, watching as Fleur, Luciel, and Effie came to my assistance then readied his sword once again. "Well, well... Prince Nox. I suppose you are here to stop me, but it's far too late for that!"

"I found what I was looking for specifically. The infamous Rebirth Flower," The man said, glancing back at the large rose petal behind him being guarded by a small army of Ents. "A single petal of this is enough to grant someone a full month of Rebirth capabilities. Imagine the entire damn thing!"

"You're a fool if you think those monsters are going to allow you to do such a thing, Reid! No amount of money is worth getting your very soul taken away for tampering with a Dark Lord's Bud!" Fleur retorted, stepping forward in protest.

"Only fools live in fear of a Dark Lord nowadays! The Original Ten fell, and even then with an army big enough, even humans can take down a Dark Lord! It's all a mindset!" Reid laughed, turning around to face the Ents once more.

"Are we dead ass right now? Like, did he not hear the part where she said his soul might be taken away?" Effie asked, glancing at each of us to see if we were also seeing the Idiocracy of Reid's actions.

Nox...

Protect my Bud...

I shall soon bloom again...

But not yet...

Through you...

I shall bloom...

I heard the same nurturing tone speaking to me through the whispering winds, my gaze shifting toward the Ents, who stood firm in their ground to protect their sacred mother. I began marching forward and stood in front of Reid, readying my sword to strike him down.

"Oh..? The Prince of a Fallen Kingdom has chosen to protect Monsters?" Reid taunted, stepping backwards and immediately accepting my challenge, his blade ready with a reverse grip.

I gestured for the three girls to protect the Ents behind me and took on my Avenger Stance, spreading my legs apart to take on a more firm stance. The trio nodded at my gesture, hurrying behind me and Luciel used one of her Warden Butterflies to cast a basic elemental barrier around the Rebirth Rose.

"You call them monsters, but I see them as Guardians. Just so you know...you don't kill a Dark Lord, you only simply delay the inevitable," I said, floral energy spiralling around my body as my butterflies began to flutter around me in a serene manner.

Nox...

Your Butterflies...

They've changed your Dark Lord Abilities...

They are now Nature Butterflies...

Use them to stop the bandits...

Adjust to my blessing...

I nodded at the gentle whispers, watching as two more bandits came to aid Reid with rifles equipped with Flame Materia. With my Sovereign Butterflies shifted into Nature Butterflies, I was at a severe disadvantage to fire based attacks, but something in me knew to not worry.

"Fire!" Reid commanded, hopping out of the way of the line of fire as his goons began to fire multiple rounds at me.

I held my blade in front of me to block the bullets then charged toward the first goon, scooping him up with a sweeping slash then planted a butterfly upon his shoulder. While he was suspended in the air, I launched him away with a flourishing circular slash.

The second goon charged at me with a swing with his rifle, but I quickly parried his attack then my body became a light yellow silhouette and reappeared behind him, catching him off guard. I planted a butterfly upon his back then made him eat dirt with a kick to his back.

Reid crossed his arms as he watched me take on both of his allies at once, an interested expression playing on his face. He noticed the butterflies upon his goons' body, wondering what they were for. 'Missing for two years...and he's still able to fight like it's nothing..'

"Yeah! Give it to 'em like that, Nox! Bam! Pow!" Effie cheered from the sidelines, throwing punches and kicks into the air with vibrancy.

"I wonder what those butterflies do now...he isn't using them to warp himself anywhere like he usually does," Fleur questioned, using her sunglasses to record every second of the action.

Luciel glanced back at the Rebirth Rose and the army of Ents, wondering if it had anything to do with the strange bud behind them. "I wonder if they are connected with the rose.."

I dodged the next line of fire then blocked a fiery punch from the second goon with my blade, grunting softly as I slid backwards. I stood up straight and readied my sword again, the blade gleaming beneath the sunlight above.

"This guy...I can barely touched him! He's warping!" The goon exclaimed, taking aim at me once again with soft pants, stepping backwards to create more space.

"I'm almost out of bullets as well, we should've brought more artillery if we knew the Prince would be here..." The second goon groaned softly, his breathing also coming out in short pants.

I scoffed softly at the two, my eyes faintly glowing an amber light as I began to awaken my Dark Lord Abilities, the floral yellow energy flowing around my body slightly shifting in gradients between yellow and dark green. "Seems you two are getting tired, how about I send you two to sleep.."

I activated the butterflies upon their bodies, their graceful bodies glowing brightly and sapping away their energy before flying back toward me. Both goons let out a soft groan as they fell to the ground, both of them too tired to even move a muscle.

The two butterflies shifted into two tiny dark green seeds, the same size as their original form and hovered around me. The seeds hummed with nature energy, each seed boosting my strength for as long as they remained seeds.

'What the heck was that? What ability even was that..?' Reid asked mentally, his gaze shifting between me and his allies with genuine confusion.

"Don't you ever think for a second that you had any chance against me, Reid. What you saw was just a taste of Nature's Power, Nutrient Absorption," I said, keeping my blade ready for anything Reid had in store.

Luciel immediately caught on to my power and gasped softly, her eyes widening with recognition. "Nature's Power..? His Dark Lord Abilities changed into the Dark Lord of Nature's! He's using Floria's power..!"

"What? How is that possible? He's using Dark Lord Abilities without being filled with Grief?" Fleur asked, her mind split between confusion and awe.

"Well, I guess the main act has to show up and take down the Prince," Reid scoffed as he walked out onto the battlefield, fiery orbs appearing around him and his Flame Materia glowing brightly within his blade.

I got into my stance, my gaze focused upon Reid and my sword glowing brightly with a natural light. I dashed forward with a large slash, but Reid parried my attack then blocked my follow up with a strained chuckle, his feet skidding backwards as he locked blades with me.

Reid broke the lock, pushing my sword to the ground then landed a disorienting right hook to my jaw, causing me to stumble backwards. He grabbed one of his orbs and pressed it against my stomach, the orb lighting up and detonating into a blazing explosion.

"Nox!" Luciel gasped, covering her mouth in distress as she watched the explosion launch me away.

I grunted as my back hit the ground, but I rolled backwards onto my feet and readied my blade again to block Reid's aggressive strikes. Clash after clash, his pure offense began to generate heat waves that slowly began to wear down my floral energy, my butterflies scattering away from me to avoid the heat.

"What's the matter, Nox!? You can't handle the heat?" Reid laughed, leaping into the air to throw a wild kick aimed at my head.

I blocked his kick with my sword, pushing him away then twirled around with a giant swing, landing my mark upon Reid's torso and sending him flying. I twirled around once more, gripping my broadsword with both hands before flinging it toward Reid.

A stream of floral yellow energy followed behind my sword, allowing me to warp directly toward it and grab the handle while airborne. I twirled into position for my Dawn Braver, slashing downward with deliverance toward Reid.

Reid grunted heavily as he blocked my attack, the force of our clash sending the both of us crashing to the ground. At the last moment, Reid rolled out of the way of my attack, my blade crashing down and releasing a burst of light within a small area.

'What the hell...As soon as I start gaining the upperhand, he starts warping. Hmph, let's me know he's scared,' Reid thought to himself, readying his sword once more with an arrogant smirk upon his face.

I readied my sword behind me, charging it up with floral energy then slashed down in front of me, emitting a beam of floral energy that travelled toward Reid. His eyes widening with surprise, Reid quickly guarded against my sword beam, grunting heavily as the recoil knocked him back.

I began slashing rapidly, releasing three more floral beams then sliced downward, emitting a larger floral beam that cut through the ground, one of my seeds vanishing and returning as a butterfly due to my enhancement. Reid guarded against the first three beams, but the last caught him off guard and struck him, resulting in a massive floral explosion.

The debris slowly fell to the ground, the smoke cloud slowly disappearing into the wind. Suddenly, two infernal wolves dashed out of the flames, both of them flanking me from both sides with a slash of their claws.

I grunted as I blocked the first slice then parried the second, but as I prepared my retaliation, Reid appeared in front of me in the midst of the chaos, catching me off guard. 'Crap, I don't have enough time to warp away..!'

"You're too slow, now accept my Brimstone Blaze!" Reid laughed, staggering me with a powerful slash then sliced with his dagger, two fiery delayed slashes striking my body and inflicting a burn statis onto my very aura.

He sheathed his dagger then twirled around to build momentum, flames bursting into shades of magenta and violet spiralling around his hands, then struck my chest, sending me flying backwards. I grunted as I crashed through Luciel's barrier, the girls and Ents scattering to evade my missile like trajectory.

Vines emerged from the Rebirth Rose and wrapped around my body, safely pulling me down to the soft bud. I grunted softly as I tried to move, the burning sensation around my body preventing any form of movement.

"There! How did you like that? That's the power of the Baelfyr House! You thought for a second that because you had some lineage abilities, you had a chance of beating me? How insulting!" Reid boasted, his laugh echoing throughout the fields.

"Oh..? The boss is actually winning..?" One bandit asked with disbelief, coming out of hiding behind a tree.

"Yeah! You all see that! We completely have them now!" Another bellowed, charging back to the battlefield to aid Reid.

Fleur sucked her teeth and let out a soft groan as she watched the cowardly bandits now rally at the leverage Reid created. "Ugh...there's no way these guys are actually getting the upperhand here! Now they all show up when Reid gets one good hit in!"

"We have to worry the bandits and the Brimstone Wolves along with Reid... After Reid used Nox to break my barrier, I need more time to recharge," Luciel said, looking over to Fleur and held her scepter close to her chest.

"C'mon! It can't be that bad! There's only like...eight of them and four...three of us, plus Looni! We can definitely take them!" Effie exclaimed, trying her best to find some positive to the situation.

Reid chuckled at the sounds of concern from the three girls, pointing his sword at them with a smug grin. "Now, now girls. Let's play nice... I will spare you three the embarrassment if you just simply move aside."

"Face it! There's no winning in this situation! My group are all armed with firearms, and don't think about it, Fleur. Your gunpower isn't enough to deal with all of us, darling," Reid chuckled, directing his gaze to Fleur's defiant glare.

"Tch...that nickname is only for Nox to call me, not some bogus clown like you!" Fleur yelled, using five of her butterflies to transform it into a Gatling Gun. "Leave these fields, felons!"

Reid smirked as Fleur began rapidly firing rounds of light bullets and readied his sword then began deflecting her wave of bullets, each round flying aimlessly behind him across the fields. He bolted forward, his body fading and reappearing in front of Fleur like a haunting ghoul, a wicked grin plastered upon his face.

"You should've gotten out of the way!" Reid sneered, slashing down at Fleur with his blazing edge, Fleur's eyes widening in shaking fear.

Before his blade could strike Fleur, Effie intercepted his attack with her shuriken, four butterflies appearing around her as she readied herself for battle. She pushed Reid away from her leader, her blue butterfly lighting up and shifting her chakra into Water Chakra.

Reid leaped backwards once again then pointed his weapon at Effie, Luciel, and Fleur. "Everyone, strike them down!"

With a rallying roar, the bandits began to charge toward the three women, Effie and Fleur standing guard in front of Luciel to protect her while she recharged. The two let out their battle cries and charged forward as well, their butterflies soaring behind them in sync.

The first wave of bandits charged toward the two girls, swinging their blunt weapons at their heads, aiming to knock them down in one blow. The two evaded their strikes with quick movements and retaliated with hard blow, knocking the bandits down in a few heavy blows.

"Incoming!" A bandit called out from the back lines, taking a few grenades out of his pockets and hurled them toward Effie and Fleur.

Fleur outstretched her arm, a sniper assembling within her sleeve, then she began firing heavy bullets at the grenades, causing them to explode in mid air. A cloud of smoke began to form around the group, obscuring their vision from one another.

Fleur took off her sunglasses, her eyes glowing a beautiful scarlet red, her pupil evolving into a golden reticle. She highlighted the last four bandits within the smoke then readied herself for a surprise attack. "Effie, let's do this!"

"Alright!" Effie laughed cheerfully, hopping up and down to charge up kinetic energy around her body.

The two sprinted forward and leaped into the air, Looni swooping down and landing on the ground to clear the smoke cloud and intimidate the bandits. Fleur grabbed Effie's hand and threw her toward the bandits with a twirl, one of her Mirage Butterflies flying after Effie and shifting into a clone of Fleur.

Effie formed a large orb of water beneath her and Fleur's clone, the two stomping down upon the orb and detonating it into a massive water explosion. The waves washed over the fields, putting out any stray flames and forcing Effie, Fleur, and Reid to leap backwards.

Reid chuckled softly at the girls' display of synergy and applauded them sarcastically, a mocking laugh filling the air. "What a show you ladies put on, but I know after all that...you are too tired to even deal with me."

Effie stood up straight with courage, her eyes shining with a youthful conviction. "We will protect these fields no matter what! You're outnumbered now!"

Reid snapped his fingers, two Brimstone Wolves forming at his side by the flames of his very aura. The two wolves got into hostile stances, both of them growling and snarling at the girls. "Outnumbered you say? Well, let me even the odds!"

The wolves howled loudly then charged toward Effie and Fleur, leaping toward them with blazing slashes with their claws. The ground began to rumble loudly, a large root emerging from the ground and intercepting the wolves' attacks.

The girls both glanced back in shock, noticing a humanoid monster standing tall behind Luciel. She was a vibrantly green haired woman, her decency protected only by leaves with her back set into the crown of a tree with yellow flowers. Her body from the thighs down and past her wrists transitioned into thick wooden segments, resembling a large tree.

I slowly pushed myself off the Rebirth Rose, floral energy slowly consuming my body, shifting in hues between dark green and yellow with hints of ethereal red particles flowing around me. I landed on the ground calmly, my hand covering my right eye as whispers filled my mind.

You can use it...

Don't let Lament steer you away...

From your lineage...

I grunted softly as floral green roots began to protrude from my lower back, taking place of my Hateful Thorns. Everyone watched as I began to truly awaken my Dark Lord lineage, my butterflies becoming a sun yellow hue.

"Sephiroth..." I began, looking up at her and meeting her cool gaze. I stood up straight with a nod, letting her know I was okay. "Protect the girls...I will put an end to this."

Sephiroth nodded at my proposal, extending her roots to grab Fleur and Effie and pull them away from the battle zone. The girls each watched in awe of my new Dark Lord Form, each step I took leaving behind a floral trail.

Reid stared at me in disbelief, his eyes wide with a mix of awe and doubt, the doubt that the Prince of Exzodia could have such powerful traces Lament. I said nothing, only taking on my stance with my Deep Roots swaying behind me, ready for battle.