The results of their expedition would come a few days later in the form of an angry cat rushè waiting for the council at the gates. Impatiently she tapped her foot until they came into sight, then she stomped towards them, namely Pro, digging her finger in her chest like a knight jousting with a lance, "Alright jackass! You have a lot to answer and you don't have a choice in the matter or you'll be detained."
Cocoa had this cute kinda nasally voice making her sound more like a dork than she actually was, and occasionally her voice cracked from her sickness. Her uniform was the most different of all wearing a dark red hoodie that had 'I <3 coffee' written on it and under a black coat, and the usual Nokken plaid skirt.
"Stop smiling dumbass! I'm speaking to you so show some respect." Cocoa said as she jabbed her finger into Pro's chest again, this time making sure it hurt. Gachi muttered some snarky remarks about "respect".
Luka brushed aside her jousting hand for Pro. "What do you want to know?"
Cocoa put her hands in her pockets. "After I told her off, I was suddenly taken to another damn world."
"Are you possibly using drugs? Perhaps you ran into a telephone pole."
"I know what I saw! It was…" Cocoa shivered. "...Spooky. You know what, I'll just get you idiots expelled for sure. My Dad can do anything I want."
"Your dad doesn't even like you." Pro bluntly replied, causing Cocoa to freeze up for a moment, unable to formulate a sentence having been struck back so hard in the heart.
Luka took the chance to lean in closer to her ear whispering. "Meet us at the school roof during lunch break. We'll explain it there."
"Kya!"
And they continued onward leaving Cocoa flustered, and for their words to settle in before she decided. The school day began; Pro rested her head on her hand, bored and listening to the teacher go on about the history lesson. This particular topic being the origins of rushès. A coincidental topic that drew in Pro's attention the further the tale went on.
"The War of Lilies was the first appearance of rushès where they accompanied the great dragon Leanne on her journey to spread the new dragonic religion. Being religious travelers who were native to northern France, they did not participate in the start of the war between house Noka and Fournier." The teacher drew their respective symbols being the white lily of Noka, a flower commonly grown in the north, and the purple iris, a flower popular among the nobles that resided in France. It was a war between the riches who were 'blessed' with magic and the common folk, talentless and completely outclassed by their masters. Where house Fournier wanted to establish a strict hierarchical system where magic remained on top and the talentless remained forever at the bottom--it was Leanne and her Church that joined in arms with house Noka to reject such a world that would eventually lead to high discrimination. Rushès were born with magic, having a separate nervous system called magic circuits which made them naturally better than man holding the same power. Magic circuits eventually became less commonplace as time went on and magic started to be ingrained in both races. As for who won the war,
"House Fournier ended up surrendering after losing most of its territory to Noka and a peaceful agreement to not divide people based on their magic was made." The male teacher crossed out both house symbols and in the middle, drew a cross with two bars--cross of lorraine as it is known today. "Filling the gap left by nobles--a new order formed…"
A student beside Pro raised his hand asking, "I thought dragons were humanity's natural enemy. Why was one helping us?"
An excellent question. "Before the war on dragons, they were brilliant creatures that came to humanity as a guide, wanting us to reach the stars and above. It's said the great dragon Leanne was the one who gave the gift of magic hence the reason why they assisted in stopping the war. Their reasons for turning are as hazy as the entire war is. But what could be said is that the dragons then and before were different."
The boy student rubbed his chin thinking out loud. "Maybe those dragons weren't allied with Leanne in the first place… maybe they were having their own war and brought it to us…"
It was an interesting theory that got the class thinking, and for Pro, she had the means to further look into finding out more about the dragons. If there was an intelligent one she could find in the superdimension she could find out more about the dragon's true purpose.
"Heh, how about this," the teacher smirked. "Leanne wasn't the only great dragon in the world. There were many others that were just as true as she was. Ms. Momomeno, can you name 2 others..?"
Silence…
"Erm… Ms Momomeno?" He repeated slowly.
"Haha! She fell asleep again!" A student from the back of the classroom yelled out. Gachi had her face flat on her desk drooling in a deep sleep. It made the teacher sigh but it was something he was used to.
"Heheh… well what about you Mr. Ikura? Can you answer the question?"
"There's the True Dragon Clotaire and the True Dragon Nyarlathotep. A lot about Clotaire has been scratched from history. As for Nyarlathoep, I heard that if you say his name then you'll be cursed with a terrible plague that makes you lose your tongue and eventually your perception." He said in a creepy tone to scare the students around his seats.
"Waaah, Kyokai you're so brave!" A girl hugged herself in fear.
"Blah! Sounds like a rumor to scare people. I-I still wouldn't say his name though." A boy sitting behind faked his courage.
Their different reactions made the teacher chuckle. "That's correct Mr. Ikura. But I'm sure that the story about Nyarla is something of its time. He was quite the vexing dragon that tricked people for riches."
Hopefully they wouldn't have to fight such a powerful dragon. All of the dragons they faced so far were mindless beasts that were one trick ponies. Eventually they would face stronger beasts but not one so powerful that saying its name was lethal itself. Soon the ringing bell signified lunch break and everyone left the classroom to hang out with their friends or eat alone in peace. For Murakumo, they had to meet with a disgruntled Cocoa on the school roof to explain what she saw.
Immediately she stomped toward Luka "You have a lot of nerve whispering in my ear like that!"
She shrugged it off, though she was embarrassed herself for doing it. "It was the only way to get you to listen."
"What a load of crap from the baby who carried around her little dollie." Her ears then perked up with her tail. "Speaking of which, why are you talking so normally now? And where's that doll of yours?"
"It's a long story." Luka nervously shifted her gaze away. It really was an absurdist story and Cocoa was here to know about the superdimension not Cynthia and her whereabouts. Again, just to tease her, Luka tried to trick her by once more saying that all she saw was an illusion to which Cocoa swiftly jabbed her in the side with a tight fist. And there she fell so gracefully defeated. She must've known where a person's weak spot was because Luka was writhing after the unexpected strike.
"Anyone else want to test me?!"
Gachi and Pro frantically shook their heads, intimidated by her shift in attitude. Crossing his arms was Kyokai being the one who was left to explain the superdimension and dragons and shadows, going in depth about the severity of the world's despair and the need to get stronger to slay every dragon.
He raised a finger. "We can help fix your dilemma with your father but you have to promise not to tell anyone about this, understand?"
"My dad..?" Cocoa paused for a brief moment. "You can… Can you really…?"
Without warning the roof doors burst open and out came who else but the loudest member of them all, Maine, and Remy.
"Hiya–-" She then gasped dramatically upon seeing Cocoa with them. A gasp of mixed fear and excitement. "Th-th-that's..!"
"Shhh! Don't be loud, we're in the middle of something." Gachi moved over to Maine, stepping over Luka's body on the way, and motioned to their new cat guest. "Cocoa knows about the superdimension and we're going to help her a little."
Maine's tail started to wag uncontrollably. "Oh? A quest! Count me in!"
"T-take me too." Luka managed to stand back to her feet despite hurting immensely. "Tell Sophie I won't be able to make practice."
Kyokai scratched his hair. "Practice? Oh right, you were helping with her request. I suppose we can swap places for a while."
Maine skipped over to Cocoa and wrapped her arms around the girl. "And Pro-chan will also be joining. Trust in us Cocoa, we'll make your problems all go away--agh!"
A swift elbow struck her stomach. "Don't touch me dog."
"She's… A wild cat…" Then Maine fell just like Luka did.
As terribly goofy as they were, they were quick to make plans and able to adapt to sudden different situations in the snap of a finger. Able to understand each other's line of thinking without the need for endless trails of words; they were more than just students in a council but a group of friends. A group of friends Cocoa never had. Having grown up with a barrier between her and the people she could see but never touch due to being the prime minister's daughter. At times she believed it to be an unwillingness to connect with others having little reason to value other's lives. For the council to be so willing to help her yet receive nothing in return, in fact, risking being dismantled and taken away for their illegal practices of magic if she spread the word--it was weird they trusted her so much. A world under their own and dragons returning to end the world all sounded far-fetched but if there was a way to change her father, some way to get the love he gave when she was younger back, then she'd go through anything just for it.
They met at the walkway behind School.
"Hey Cocoa, lighten up! Not everything is work ya know!"
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Meeting at what seemed like an unfavorable time. Pro, followed by Gachi, Maine, and Luka, spotted two boys around Cocoa. They teased the small rushè by holding her papers up where she couldn't reach.
"Give me my papers back!" Cocoa shouted trying to grab her homework one of the boys had stolen. He raised it high, too high for her to reach even when she jumped. "Just let me copy off of it. Just once!"
Cocoa tried jumping and stretching her arms to its limits but nothing worked. Her arms fell from exhaustion and she readied her fist to punch him in the gut. "Give it back you bastard!"
"She's so cute when she's angry hehe!"
"It's alright kitty~ once I'm done with this I'll give it back haha!"
But the two boys ran off with her stolen homework before she could hit them. Powerless, she kicked the ground vigorously cursing like a sailor before realizing the council members behind her, then she scoffed. "What?! Got something to say moron?" And shook her head disregarding that secondary problem "Whatever…"
"Those guys…" Pro trailed off.
Maine cracked her fists. "You let them take your homework like that? Come on, let's go–-"
"It doesn't matter!" Cocoa interrupted her rant. "I wanna see my Dad in the other world you talked about. Take me there now."
She was insistent and wasn't budging aside. Pro took out her phone while the others scouted for her to make sure they weren't being watched. Thankfully there was an option to choose between going to forest Shibuya or paradise Shinjuku on the app. There was no indication of where exactly in Shinjuku it would take her or how to choose which locations were saved. For now she envisioned the last place they stopped at, the strange empty shantytown they left Maine at, then transferred.
Cocoa was the only one to look around curiously at the ruined city, far different from the real Shinjuku while the council armed themselves with the only tools at their disposal. Bamboo swords taken from the gymnasium where the kendo club took place. The weapons were sturdy enough for a short expedition but not meant for any combat encounters with a dragon. They were left to rely on their magic which they were still unskilled at.
The tempest in question, the same one Pro was notified of before, was by a foundation further in the empty town they were in. Her phone had a grid map and red dot indicating where they stood. She lead the way.
Again, just like their first time coming here, there weren't any monsters or encounters with another musketeer. For a paradise it was certainly empty and all the more strange for it. On the walk, Gachi saw Cocoa falling behind and slowed her speed to talk and tease her a little to loosen her up.
"Hey Cocoa~"
Cocoa groaned, feeling her annoying presence. "Go away tired eyes."
Gachi made cat paws with her hands "Nya-nya! You act like such a tsundere. Are you ever nice to anyone?"
"Only my mother." Cocoa replied, causing Gachi's eyes to sparkle "Ooh! I wonder what she did to get your kindness. I should ask her hehe!"
"She's dead."
This created an awkward silence between the two. Until Gachi let out a nervous laughter, "I...uh…" she struggled to find something to say. "Sorry to hear about that…"
"Are you upset?" Before Gachi even had the chance to respond, Cocoa stopped and glared at her. "Then get this through your head well, we aren't friends and we never will be. Don't ever ask me a stupid question like that ever again!"
Cocoa's harshness didn't spare anyone. Gachi narrowed her eyes and backed away from the rushè and for the others that overheard them from ahead, they shared a collective worry. Maine quickly changed their attention to a grey man sitting on a bench in front of a fountain. He was colorless and his head hung low sitting like a failure of a man, of a human. Cocoa was the first to run towards this man she recognized as her father, his shadow at least, while the others followed closely behind. They chose not to involve themselves in her moment, choosing to scout the area for danger while she talked.
She was hesitant to go through with this now faced with his despair. Stammering and trying to choose what to say. Something rude? Something genuine? But what took her out of her thoughts was him saying her name softly.
"Cocoa…"
Her heart tensed and she wanted to cry but held those intense feelings behind a facade, snickering and forcing herself to grin. "You look like a wreck old man. Life getting you down?"
Her father sighed. "I've made too many mistakes. I'm sure you're aware of that."
Cocoa didn't expect this response and lashed out, raising her fist and shouting, "You won't get my sympathy! Your apologies will get you nowhere. For killing my mom, treating me like crap, trying to make me become just as corrupt as you!"
"You really think I did all that? There's… more to the story."
"I already know the full story, don't try to make things up!" Cocoa turned away. "In fact, I don't wanna hear any of your bullshit. Dog, get rid of him for me."
"Dog..?" Maine narrowed her eyes in disbelief.
Cocoa's father continued speaking, "I didn't want to kill your mother. I was forced to… by the Tokyo Magic Government Agency."
This intrigued the group.
"They were going to blackmail me if I didn't. I was a shady man before but after your mother suffered from that crash, I realized my mistakes. It was too late then."
"Then why were you acting like such a jerk to me? Your own daughter! Burdening me with expectations I couldn't even achieve." Cocoa questioned.
"I want you to be just like her. She was… perfect. Perfect at everything." He struggled to find the right words. But it was too late to ask anymore questions as an arrow from afar pierced his head, killing him--the shadow. His body dissipated into ash.
"No!" Cocoa reached out to grab what was vanishing but Maine pulled her back to avoid another arrow. The arrow was shot from a building's rooftop but Luka and Pro couldn't find which one meaning their culprit had already escaped, and their rival had shown herself. Landing from seemingly nowhere then dashing faster than an ordinary person could towards Pro and Luka, from her poncho a hidden fist sprung out faster than the two could react.
But just in time or by sheer luck, Gachi stepped in to block the gauntlet-covered fist with her sword. The bamboo started to blend from the impact and both recoiled back as a result.
She came to a skidding halt "Damn. Whoever this is, they're strong."
"You again…" The stranger pointed at Pro. "I see you brought more friends of yours. What are you here for?!"
"Why should we tell you when you killed her father?" Pro readied her sword along with Luka. Maine held Cocoa back as best she could in a tight hold.
"Argh! Let me kill her! I'll beat her senseless! Freaking asshole!"
"Chill out will ya!"
The poncho wearing stranger stood in a battle stance with her fists raised. Silver metal gauntlets were her choice of weapon. "He was the source of the tempest and like all tempests, the cause of despair and dragons to rage. But most of all he was a traitor."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Questioned Luka but she wouldn't be getting any answers out of this mysterious girl eager to fight and beat them for some unknown reason. Cynthia was right to not trust anyone they encountered in this world, everyone was hostile and had their own motives and goals they wanted out of here. The poncho wearing strange dashed forward once again but this time Pro and Luka were ready, or were they?
They gripped their swords tightly to block an oncoming punch but the stranger's fist maneuvered around Pro's sword and grabbed her by the collar and she was pulled closer then thrown back like a ragdoll. She was sent rolling back uncontrollably and crashed into a wall which was the only way she was going to stop. Luka instinctively backed away to get space between her and her opponent and reorganized herself. Together with Gachi, they both charged in with their weapons raised to attack in one strike–-
And the stranger would smirk then shout, "Claymore!"
--A wide slash more swift than wind blew them away and cut their swords cleanly in two. Now in her hand she wielded a thick claymore with ease. Summoned presumably from her own link sign, but a single slash wasn't all that weapon could do. She tossed it up and held it by the blade, using the momentum to spin and pummel Luka with the cross guard and handle. Blood lashed from her bruised head and she stumbled off her feet defeated.
"Damnnit damnnit..!" Pro struggled to get back to her feet after being thrown with the force of a speeding car. She had to use her magic, all of it, even if it would hurt to stop whoever this person was. Outclassed physically, she had the upper hand when it came to spells. Making a finger gun during her sprint, she took aim and exclaimed her spell, "Betfire!" a torrential wave of flames shot out towards the stranger who didn't look afraid of the spell at all. She jumped higher than the flame reached and landed once the fire passed.
"Shit!" Pro muttered under her breath and her heart skipped a beat along with her body falling completely drained, she fell face down on the ground after a single spell. It was beyond embarrassing to fail during their most desperate moment. All that remained was Gachi who, without a sword, couldn't do much in battle. Having both of her friends beaten so easily and without a proper sword, fear started to seep into Gachi. She stepped back slowly then more and more as the stranger made her approach and the air tense around her.
Luka could only watch the sky. She was dizzy and probably on the verge of death. It felt that way and she thought if she closed her eyes then all was over.
"Am I seriously going to die..? There's so much I haven't figured out like…"
Cynthia came to the front of her mind when it came to remembering the past.
Even though she told herself she wasn't going to dwell on it, those memories still bothered her deep down. Something about the past she forgot because it didn't make sense. What key was missing, or more specifically, what piece of her personality was missing? It had to be the thirst for violence and killing. This feeling was at its strongest when she fought the first dragon and Cynthia was nearby watching her. The reason that memory was so hazy is because she succumbed to this feeling, the need to kill, and thus that dragon was cut into millions of pieces.
She touched her bloodied hair and raised her hand over her face to look at the blood. Cynthia would probably laugh at her if she saw her like this, beat without much of a fight and at her weakest. Luka had to get up, so she did. Ignoring the pain throughout her body, she exclaimed,
"Pro! Get up!"
Her voice had this echoing effect that brought chills to the stranger's spine and she grew even more anxious when Pro heeded her call, standing back to her feet with what little strength she had. If they were going to transform themselves from student to dragon slayers they would have to drop the act, all the baggage of being a normal high school goody two shoes. To give up their past lives of normalcy forever, that's what Cynthia expected of them. This was their dark transformation.
"What are you doing?! Forget fighting, Pro get us out of here!" Shouted Maine.
"Grraaah!" Luka made a mad dash toward the stranger holding her broken sword in a reverse grip. Once in reach she hopped forward and slashed down her weapon which the stranger caught with one hand, and flipped her upwards sending her into the air.
The stranger jumped high into the air chasing Luka but Pro had thrown down the barbed wire card below her and sprouting out came a plethora of wires sent into the sky, wrapping around the stranger and pulling her down before she struck Luka back to the ground.
"I got your back!" Gachi ran to catch her before she crashed.
Pro put her foot on the stranger and pointed a finger gun at her face. The tip of her finger was ignited with a burning flame that burned the girl's cheek "Who are you?"
"Tch! I don't have to tell you anything!"
Maine winced at a sharp sound that went off in her head. "Pro back away!"
But Pro was too slow to avoid the arrow shot at her shoulder, the pain was enough to knock her out of her limit breaking state and again she fell to the ground. This time before all her strength was lost, she took out her phone to transfer the ground out of the area and back to the path behind the school. The transfer was instant and Cocoa had to do a double take to make sure they were in the right location after the abrupt and jarring change of scenery.
Nonetheless she broke free from Maine's grip and stepped towards Luka "You moron, all of you are morons! Why didn't you stop her, why didn't you kill her right then and there?!"
"Shut up!" Luka grabbed her tightly by her hood causing her to yelp. "Maybe I should kill you instead for being so--!" She stopped mid sentence coughing out blood then passing out and falling on her side.
Still, Cocoa was left shaken by the intensity radiating out of the girl. It was a completely different side of her that was a far departure from the quiet and stupid girl Cocoa believed her to be. What made things worse was that they were all severely hurt for defending her. Just like the first big problem they solved, they were putting their lives on the line for the sake of the school, and for menial reward. It was a lot to take in and think about but Cocoa didn't want to dwell on the fact that they had it worse than anyone could imagine. And so she turned tail and ran away from it all.