“C-C-C-CLAU...” She stumbled back, her eyes wide open in shock. It was as if she saw a ghost standing before her, haunting her, each passing day.
“Huh...”
“Hmm...”
Sachiel and Claude were unknown as to why she acted like this. Moreover, she knows who Claude was. How did that happen? This girl was full of mysteries. She was lost on Snowfall Heights, has a large reserve of Soul Energy and knows Claude Magami?
“You know me?” Claude has never met Jumkou Katatoria until now, and when he didn’t get a response from her, he waved his hand in front of her face. “Hello... Earth to Juk, Jukmau... no that wasn’t it, Jamker? Joker- No that ain’t it... Jamkao, Jumk-...Agh, whatever your name i- Hello?”
Her eyes froze onto him, and it did not, waver. This was ‘PTSD’. This was her finally meeting someone that she knew. She knew. Finally, she knew someone. Finally, someone noticed her knowing them. Finally, she stumbled upon someone who she knew that they were alive. Finally, it happened. Finally, she wasn’t alone. Finally, she wasn’t around strangers. Finally, she realized once more that she had a chance. Finally, she realized that-
It didn’t matter.
This Claude Magami that she knew, was in deep shit. Everyone is. She was the only one that knew.
“Jumkou... Jumkou, is there something wrong?” Sachiel shook Jumkou, his black eyes piercing into her.
“He’s... he’s... he’s...” Jumkou was having a panic attack. It was a strong one, in fact. Not even Sachiel could sedate her.
It’s not possible and I won’t believe it.
It’s not possible and I won’t believe it.
Even if I’m here with a newfound purpose, even if everyone I knew is alive again, even in this time.
It’s hard to believe it. It’s hard but I’ve done this so many times, so why am I going crazy!?
A person who I trusted so much but still died, standing before me like nothing happened to him.
Nothing will happen for now.
But what if I fail again?
What if I’m left all alone again?
What if I’m all alone again?
What if I’m all alone again?
What if I’m all alone again!?
What if I’m all alone again!?
What if I’m all alone again!?
What if I’m all alone again!?
What the hell could I possibly do then!?
I’ve done this too many times, I regret it so much!
I regret it but I keep continuing on!
Because a hero is standing before me now.
He gives me hope.
He gives me hope that I know I will lose.
A hope that... I should hold on to.
A hope that I shouldn’t lose.
Hope that I should... pass onto someone.
The one that will save the world.
Flynnigan Shotaro.
Flynnigan Shotaro.
...
Flynnigan Shotaro.
...
Flynnigan Shotaro.
...
Flynnigan Shotaro.
...
...
...
No, he’s here. Claude is here. He’s okay.
I travelled back in time. Of course I’m here. I’m okay. I know I’m okay. I know I will be okay.
Why am I losing my mind over something that...
All those things I said... the Soul can do that anytime. Anything can happen with the Soul.
It has to work.
This time, it has to work.
Her mind was finally cleared, and her view was pristine again. “... S-sorry... I just saw his name on the badge from Soul-Core and it kinda scared me.”
She was in the clear. Nobody heard her panic attack. It was all in her head. But it felt all too real. The fact that she stumbled back, screaming his name. They must’ve heard all of them. But they’re oblivious.
She felt relief washing over her.
“You sure did pick up a strange one, Great Kamisword.” He chuckled. “I think we will be on our way now though. Now that we’ve established our alliance, you can secretly call us when you need to.”
“Euh... yeah... He’s right...” Nanasu had her palms on her face from the previous fear, still unable to shake it off. Was she really a veteran?
“Right. That we shall do, Mr. Magami. We will call whenever needed.” He smiled, nodding in agreement.
“Let’s move!” Claude called the other two.
“Yay... back home!” She jumped in happiness, before realizing that was a VERY rude thing to do. She quickly stopped, frowning and looking down. “S-sorry...”
Mikael would follow, kicking off the wall, having watched the conversation unfold. “Thank you for having us!” He called as he walked away with Claude and Nanasu.
.:. This is too much... I know Claude’s alive now. I’m in 2195, I know that for a fact now. It makes more sense by the minute. I can start searching for him now. .:.
Jumkou sat down, watching them walk away.
= = =
On a remote planet in the Eastern Region of the Known Galaxy, stood the 500-meter wide and 400-meter-tall headquarters of a long-known body in the galaxy. White Eye.
The planet carried a rather vigorous storm in these parts, especially on the glacier of the planet, which was the only place on the planet that was habitable for human standards.
Everywhere else was a scorching hot surface of volcanic ash that could burn your body in nanoseconds.
However, the White Eye have found their way to live inside here, and their place in the galaxy, as well as their selected planet, is the reason as to why their headquarters have not been touched for decades.
Enter, the large and wide lounge of the White Eye headquarters, in the western wing. This wing is where the barracks were located, as well as the detainment area for any captured criminals or people that had bounties.
Ken Magami found himself really beat inside after taking the brunt of his higher-ups. Having failed his assassination attempt, he couldn’t help but wonder what Rakoji Kovac might be up to now due to his incompetence to kill him.
Rakoji was just as strong as him, but he was smarter for sure. Rakoji had used the stampede as a wall that separated him and Ken and made a run for it. Ken just managed to escape the planet, but was now designated as a first-rate criminal, or otherwise.
The most wanted in the Envia Dome of Mars.
“Kuh... what a wreck...” Ken was laying on one of the sofas in the lounge room, closing his eyes and cringing at himself. He had his head laying on his left arm and his right was over his face, obstructing his view.
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How could he have let Rakoji escape? Was he demoted? No. But he had to live with the regret of taking on the assassination attempt.
Not that he had much choice in the matter. He was forced, regardless. Had he refused, he would’ve been demoted, or worse-case scenario; branded as a traitor of White Eye.
The lounge room was eerily quiet. Nobody said a thing and the only people occupying it were Ken and another girl. She lay on the other side of the lounge room, on one of the better sofas. She was reading a book and had a Walkman, listening to old music from the 2000s.
She had long, bright, silky silver hair and her eyes were pink. She was a well-known member of White Eye.
Ken yawned, taking his arm out of his face; only to be greeted by his old partner staring down at him.
“Hey Kenny!” The partner stared straight down at him.
“AH!” Kenny was left scared shitless, falling from the sofa and hitting the floor face down. He then grumbled, realizing that it was Revvie. But the fact that he hit the floor face down gave him a new painful sensation, and he hated it.
“Fuckin’... why are you here, Revvie? You scared the crap out of me.” He got back up on the sofa, sitting up this time instead of laying down.
“I really got nothing to do. I just happened to saw you come in here, all chewed up, so I thought I’d cheer you up!” She sat down next to Ken, a big smile on her face that never changes. It seemed innocent, something even Ken gets soothed at the sight of it.
“I failed my assassination attempt, let one slip and now I’m totally beat because of it.”
“That’s surprising!”
“... What a way to rub it in.” He crossed his arms, looking away from Revvie. It was clear that he was still sulking about it, and now with Revvie rubbing salt on his wound, he was cringing even more now.
.:. That’s surprising, huh? I’d like to see you handle him. .:.
“Was your partner not with you?” Revvie asked.
“Strad? He punched in home without me, deciding to drag me out to do the job. All alone.”
Revvie frowned at the thought of it, before smiling again and wrapping her arm around his shoulders. “To be fair though. You could’ve taken the promotion that was offered a while ago and you would’ve still been partners. Why did you choose to lay low?”
Ken thought for a moment, and he pondered on his brother. Claude Magami. A captain, alongside a few other people, overseeing their own personal squad in Soul-Core.
“I just want to avoid my brother. He’s an idiot.” He said, imagining Claude doing something stupid in the process. But then, his gaze lingered on the girl with long, silky bright, silver hair.
“Who’s that?”
Revvie reeled her arm in and looked at him in confusion. “Ehhh??” She stood up, widened eyes and open mouth now overwriting the big smile she had. “Did you hit your head during your mission or what?”
“...No?”
“You’re for real? You’re telling me that you don’t know who that is??”
The girl laying down on the other sofa overheard their conversation, Revvie’s scream being louder than the song she was listening to on her Walkman. She continued reading a book, which was science-fantasy oriented. It had illustrations as well.
She was reading what used to be light novels originating from a long-lost country on Earth.
“Revvie, of course I don’t! I don’t stare at girls!”
Revvie crossed her arms, holding back a laugh. “Wh- Pffgg... What... what does that have to do with anything!?”
“Can you just stop teasing me and tell me who she is?”
“Right, right... That right there is Megami Duvet, also known as ‘Thousand Leaves’. She’s very well-known amongst us White Eye for being powerful. I heard that she had a fundamental-grade Soul.”
“... Didn’t know we had someone like that.”
Revvie chuckled, looking away and towards someone as they walked in. “A Hybrid-Type’s this dense?” She chuckled again, but was interrupted by Ken walking past her and towards the guy walking in.
“Hey Strad!” The person waved back.
“Tch! You!” Ken stopped before him, obstructing his way and getting up all over his face. “You left me on a job all by myself!”
The person who walked in was Haruto Stradale, the current partner of Ken Magami. He was the person who left Ken to assassinate Rakoji all by himself, but it failed miserably. Ken was trying to pin the blame on someone, while he couldn’t do the job himself.
“Ken, I was... reflecting... on some serious issues.”
Ken was visibly seething, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. “Oh- Serious issue, huh!? Well you’re gonna have a serious issue alright!”
“Hey! Keep it down or take your stupid drama outside. I can’t hear outside.” The girl behind Ken’s sofa finally blurted out, gripping her book tightly. She was annoyed by Ken’s frantic rage, but as it quieted down, she returned to reading.
“Eh?” Ken looked over to the girl.
“We’re sorry.” Strad simply said. “Reading is a good way to remain balanced with the mind, is it not?” Strad smiled, seeing her reading a book.
“I agree.” Megami smiled back. “It soothes me and my Soul. I’ve been dedicating my free time to a lot of reading. Ah! Can’t forget music!”
Strad nodded, stroking his chin.
Ken got angry at Megami’s ‘carefreeness’, staring at Megami. .:. Who the hell... does she think she is?? Talking me down like this... This has nothing to do with you, why do you interfere, huh!? Bitch!? .:.
However, Ken shook his head and fixed his attention back to Strad. “Have you seen the news lately? Apparently Testharia met the brunt of an intruder a week ago. And it wasn’t just some normal intruder. Rumour has it, it was the same guy behind the Progen City incident.”
“... That is something, indeed.”
Revvie’s watch received an urgent meeting alert and sprinted away, without saying anything. Megami was the first one to catch her running away and chuckled. She closed her book as she heard Ken talking about Testharia.
It was not Testharia that met the brunt, but it was Dankasho. Dankasho’s main military base, which stood close to Zephite City, was attacked by CHAOS, the Synthetic-Class, wanted by every major body in the galaxy.
But something unprecedented happened that caught the attention of half of the galaxy. The ‘perpetrator’ seemed to be controlled by something. Or else, was taken over. This wasn’t publicly disclosed, but it was to Testharian people only.
But even Earthlings knew about the same phenomena that happened during the parade in Progen City. The same perpetrator was controlled, or taken over, before creating destruction.
This was on the forefront of the news for years, as people with good knowledge of the Soul were researching and trying to understand the phenomena that happened in Progen City and Dankasho. But to no avail, nobody knew.
The Soul remains an unsolved mystery for millions of years.
Megami, Strad and Ken were all thinking about it.
“Chaos, was it?” Megami stood up, walking over to Strad and Ken.
“That’s what it says on Testharian news. They’re being so... secretive about it.” Ken put a hand on his chin, thinking about it. Testharian news was deemed secretive by ‘foreigners’. That is because Testharians believe that anything that happens on Testharia, stays in Testharia.
Nothing is publicly disclosed to Testharia unless it is an emergency that will affect other bodies too. One example of this was the Testharian Civil War. 30 years ago, separatists led by Lantisul Arbitrum had taken control over half of Tristate City, including the main docking station and hangar.
Lantisul had the thought to conquer Dankasho and other neighbouring planets while he was at it, which was an emergency needed to be publicly disclosed through main galaxy radio transmissions.
However, no one came to help or taken notice of the emergency, as the foreigners do not believe of any emergencies happening within the planet.
But this was one was different. This wasn’t some ordinary civil war, or a civil unrest. This was about Chaos, A Synthetic-Class that plagued the galaxy for years, and is still going around. This was about an attack initiated on Testharia that came from a ‘foreigner’.
Testharia had no reason to be secretive about it. In fact, it would help them a lot to publicly disclose about the incident explain everything.
That would make the Testharians more likely to be on the radar of everyone in the Known Galaxy, and that could lead to new business opportunities as well. They could even be branded as the best planet for tourists. It's a nice planet with nice people and a democratic political system.
But Megami knew why Testharia was being so secretive. They were afraid. Not only because of the Synthetic-Class, but also because it would draw way too much attention to the planet.
They have been enclosed off the galaxy for many, many years, and this would change things for sure. Not only would they be involuntarily attracted to the Dark Intrinium and Soul-Core war, but they would also be a point of interest for space pirates, unnecessary trade, ambushes and worse, destruction.
They didn’t want that. They had no desire to get involved in any wars, especially the ones between major bodies. But they were allied with Dark Intrinium, that makes them part of the war.
And now that they broke the contract, and are allied with Soul-Core, that hasn't changed. In fact, that would make them more prone to a Dark Intrinium invasion sooner or later.
"I understand why they would keep it a secret for the most part. But you can't expect your neighbours not to find out, right?" Megami said.
"Testharia's been an unchartered territory for centuries, and if this spreads like wildfire, then you'll have to face the consequences. Not to mention, they are not too fond of us in the first place."
"Is that why they're doing it? Because they care about their own goddamn skin? To hell with that!" Ken got angry.
"If this thing turns out to be something serious, then it is their duty to let the rest of us know about it, right? Dark Intrinium, White Eye, Macabre Flugel, The Septo, you name it! They all put bounties on his head! Why are they keeping quiet about it when we could gather necessary information to catch that guy!? What is Testharia hiding from the rest of us? Why don't they let us help?"
Strad frowned at Ken's words. "That is a very good question."
"It's not that they're hiding something. They're scared. They don't want to draw attention to themselves. They've been off the radar for millenia, and now that they're exposed, they're afraid of getting attacked or robbed." Megami reiterated.
"Think about it, rookie. If you ruled over your own people for years and now some alien attacked your planet and almost destroyed it, would you tell everyone else? You'd keep it to yourself."
"You're making them sound like aliens, Miss Duvet." Strad said, frowning at her. "We were once all connected to Earth, and we all share the same history. They are not aliens, they are just... different."
"It sounds stupid... Finally, we could've gotten a lead on that guy but nooo... The Testharians must be secretive and shit..." Ken was visibly sulking, crossing his arms.
"Oh please..." Megami groaned. "As long as he doesn't attack us, we have no reason to worry about it. In fact, he seems to be picky with his targets. Plus, if you chase something, you'll find less of it. And if you find less of it, it means that it's going to be harder to find. It's simple psychology."
"... Could this person say anything more that's annoying?" Ken turned to Strad, obviously talking about Megami. All she did was tilt her head while she stared at her, questioning his anger directed at her.
"...What's the matter, boy? You got your verbal beatdown from the higher-ups, it's unnecessary to keep being angry about it, and direct it towards us. Best you could do is take it as fuel for motivation. You'll learn a lot from it."
"..." His face was in a droopy expression as he repeated the words 'shut up' inside his head. "I... I just forgot to buy some groceries for my sister." He walked past Strad and ran off. It was quick, and before anyone could realize what was happening, he was gone.
"You have a fairly angry person as your partner, Strad." She turned to Strad, smiling a bit. She didn't mean no harm to both.
"Aah, he's such a handful sometimes." Strad sighed, crossing his arms. "You shouldn't be so harsh on him, you know. Our dynamic is what makes us perfect as partners. If he weren't so angry, and I weren't so calm, we would never work out."
She chuckled, dropping her book in her back. "Both you and Ken are level-headed. I would sulk too if I failed my mission. And besides, that's how life goes. You can't get everything you want. Like I said, take the anger you got from your failure as fuel for motivation."
She waved at Strad. "I'll be on patrol now." She left the lounge, leaving Strad all alone. As she was walking in the corridor towards the eastern wing. But before she could take the stairs to the eastern wing, her watch also got a meeting alert.
“Mgh...” She frowned. “What happened now?” She sighed, taking a detour to the meeting room. She hated how her usual routine got interrupted. She had a real disdain for stuff like that.