"Honestly...yeah, not much I can add to that. He's right." Anya admitted, "Again, look how last time turned out." she showed her wounds, "Could've gone worse compared to Kaci."

"Honestly, I'm quite interested in a little bit of sidetracking in the same way you two do it...could be quite fun!" Terna got excited.

"Don't you worry, we will be doing something similar, but way more organized. This one, I did for charity anyways."

Lass remembered all about the 'love potion' this was for, "Charity my ass. I don't accept that anyways."

"But you quickly accepted me in my version 2.0. I now see what your priorities are, Mr Acceptance." Anya smugged.

"We should've burned her at the stake now that I think about it, the same way as the Laventanish Inquisition did." Lass pointed out.

"Anya's new assets aside...where to next?" Yuno asked.

"Straight to Gardard. We can't keep slowing down again and again, we have to get going, and especially when it means that slowing down can lead to someone getting hurt!" Ikarisa worryingly said.

"At least you've calmed down," Lass whispered.

A loud growl was then heard from Ikarisa's side, everyone initially getting scared at the thought of having gotten her agitated again, before they realized that she was blushing instead, giving them mixed signals about the situation.

"Uh...what was that?" Yuno looked around.

The growling persisted, echoing a second time before Anya leaned forward, having a small grasp of what it could be.

"Risa...are you hungry, perhaps?" Anya asked.

"A little..." Ikarisa blushed.

"Let's stop for now. The mission is important, but getting everywhere in one piece is also a priority!" Terna said.

Ikarisa sighed, not showing much of any opposition compared to what she was saying before, "Fine, fine...let's stop for a bit, but only after an hour or so to make a proper distance from the previous location. I can't have this stop-and-go all the time, so I'll endure a little bit."

"I wish that Delpha's airport wasn't shut down after Neviro and everything took over, not to inconvenience you guys." Terna apologized.

"Nah, you kidding? Being out in the open, driving along the fields is much better, despite the hiccups." You pointed it out.

Terna looked around as everyone agreed, "Glad you guys feel like so! I always did say that the best part about travelling was the way there and not the destination!"

Once again, finding an appropriate stopping point, after couple of hours of driving away, Ikarisa finally couldn't resist anymore and paused at the side again. Not bothering to set much up, they sat around as Lass took the cooking lead this time, firing up a portable electric burner instead of lighting up a fire. Beginning to put all the materials he found together before letting them rest on the heat, making the most out of everything he found.

"Alright, this should be enough. Fifteen more minutes on the fire and we should be good to go." Lass stepped away from the burner, "Great call on the portable burner, can't be slamming two rocks together all the time when we're in a hurry."

"So what's for breakfast big guy?"

"Whatever I found in the trunk labelled as eatable. As far as supplies go, we've got the car, the weapons, and the weapon maintenance equipment, all at a very well-thought-out level. But no food. Great." Lass sighed.

"I guess we were all a little too overexcited and forgot about the basics, huh?" Terna giggled.

"I guess so...the market was right next to the city entrance too." Ikarisa frowned and grabbed her belly.

"This should at least be enough for now...we should be able to find a city or something nearby anyway." Yuno sat by the burner.

"Well then, I'll chill for a bit. I'm missing a night's sleep anyway." Anya crashed on a log.

"Alright...Lass, can I talk to you for a bit? Alone."

"Uh...sure? But what about those two?"

"Don't worry, I'll keep Yuno away from Anya at all costs!" Terna saluted.

"How about you instead keep Anya away from me? I swear to god, you're the most annoying member that causes trouble here." Yuno folded his arms.

"Hey, too far, buddy." Anya angrily said.

"Look, just don't kill each other for five minutes. Let's go, Risa."

"Considering that's Lass saying that it's a miracle." Ikarisa looked at Yuno and Terna.

Going behind a couple of bushes and trees, Ikarisa turned around to face Lass, him averting his eyes and preparing for a scolding. To his surprise, despite what he fully prepared himself for, a mellow tone of voice was what came out of Ikarisa, prompting him to instead look at her, instead of attempting to avoid her.

"Lass…” she softly and shyly said.

"Look, I know what you're gonna say, and I agree. It was stupid and reckless and we won't do it again."

"That's not it what happened, is it?" she looked at him, full of nothing but worry in her eyes.

"We told you everything, really."

Ikarisa sighed, "Lass...I know I may be a klutz. I know I may be dumb. Lots of people told me that...a number of times. But what I know for a fact is that such wounds, at least on you, could not have come from a mere titan. Crystallized, with Obsulyte or anything of the sort. So please, in the name of all that's holy, unholy and in between, tell me...who did this to you? And don't try to sway things to make it lighter. I want the raw truth. The wounds I had to heal off you emitted something...familiar. Something I very much know wasn't done by any random monster."

"I...fine." Lass took a deep breath, "Me and Anya weren't the ones to take down the titan. There was a sudden resurgence of its strength once we pinned it down for the first time. Anya got knocked out cold and I was preparing to defend her...but then she came along and destroyed the bloody thing in one blow."

"S-She?" Ikarisa’s eyes widened.

"'Enemy' is what she wanted me to call her. Remember the talk back in Kaci? Well...this is it. I was having a number of horrible nightmares ever since I was a kid. I don't know how or why, because I've never told anyone. Anyone but you now that is, because I both didn't need to...and because I always felt like there was no one to care, no one to give me nearly enough a reason to do so. All my nightmares had the same figure. 'Enemy's' figure. At first she was just haunting me, but after my dad was killed in a supply run from some monsters, it escalated where she could actively harm me in my dreams, or nightmares I suppose."

"Wait...what? Your dad? Who was he? Where did he die?"

"His name was Gladeon Raiden. As far as his death, I have no idea how, but monsters just randomly popped out in bulk and went berserk on us, but in the Insinian suburbs, at my house. Or rather, one or two roads from my house, down by the fields."

Ikarisa seemed to be instantly disgusted, more so than what she ever did before, hiding that fact well enough from Lass, who failed to grab the cue, "R-Right. Anyway, if she was literally a figment of your imagination, then she does have some sort of connection to you in some way but...I doubt imagination can take down an entire, powered-up, titan."

"Yeah, doubt so too. Also, don't go around telling anyone about this, okay?"

"That's kind of rude, actually. If I know it, then Yuno knows it too from your memories. Which means Anya and Terna are the only ones who don't?"

"Especially Anya. Funny is funny, but jokes aside, because it's Anya specifically, she must not learn about that. The reason is that while we do make jokes along with her for the furry thing, it's not such a light deal, and you know that deep down. She was freaking out on me back at the cave. I have zero idea how my instincts took over to handle her the way I did...but it almost felt natural. Put this on her too, I know for a fact she will prioritize it over her problem, which is a running problem with her. Priorities are screwed left, up, down, right and center when it comes to her, but it's a guarantee that she will put me over herself. And I can't let that happen now. She needs time."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Ikarisa was simply amazed at how he told her everything he did, in the manner he did. Open hearted, fully, calmly and without a hint of sarcasm or jokes, he was perfectly able to express himself in a way she had never thought he would do, both in manner and words. In a brief moment of realization, he was amazed as well, but his stoicism well engrained in his heart and mind took over much too quickly again, not allowing him to go any further than he already did.

"Yes, for sure! You can count on me to keep a secret. Now, about that 'Enemy'. Could you describe her to me?"

"Easy to profile. A unique-looking black armor, black hair, red eyes and a very hostile look on her face. Kind of a baby face, I suppose, and a...lance. A huge one, she was able to blast Obsulyte energy out of it, almost like it was a shotgun. She was extremely powerful, I'll tell you that much. I couldn't touch her at all, because, despite the weapon she was holding on, she was nimble and precise as hell. Her defensive game was as good as her offensive one. Even if I tried to land a single hit, it'd either be blocked, parried, or outright evaded."

"O-Oh. She's that strong?" Ikarisa held back her emotions.

"Yeah, no kidding. The best I can do, until I figure everything out, is to train with Yuno and finally make my body accept my Obsulyte signature and pray that we don't run into her again before that. God...besides my dreams, she feels extremely familiar, I swear. I'm smashing my head against the wall trying to remember who she was, but all I can come up with is either nothing or dance around Kaci since one image flashed in my head that has me tunnel visioning on it."

"Run into her? Do you mean that she will be back?"

"She is obviously actively chasing me. I really don't know why. She kept mentioning I did great harm to her, but I thought she had mistaken me for someone else because I don't even remember her. Risa, is possible that I...Did I hurt her for real? Maybe everything we did up till now...or something I did and don't remember? Could it really be that I'm truly the bad guy here? Because I'd joke about it, had I not felt the same kind of horror, resentment and anger in her voice as I sometimes do in mine. She really was hurt, one way or another, directly or indirectly. I kept worrying about the subject of us being too young with these powers. I sound like every old ass man out there, but it's true, think about it. With powers like these, when we fought in such heavy battles already, we may have indirectly hurt someone. I don't care about all of what Anya says in her fantasy novel-driven talk about heroes and shit. We can never be too sure that the things we do, when they're that big, don't affect way more souls than just us, or directly involved parties. But even if that was the case...it still won't explain why I was very well acquainted with her way, way before I met with you guys like almost a couple of months back at this point. Between all the passings of our days, between the pausing, travelling and literally boring, everyday living...I still knew her from before."

Ikarisa softly chuckled, "You're almost burning up, overthinking everything again. It's a fragile matter, yeah, but I really don't think it'd find its roots that deep for what we've done up until now. And although I know very well that you hate being called a hero, and are afraid of being called a villain...you're neither. Just a good person overall, despite having some up and down mood swings sometimes, that may or may not take others along for the ride. Or the reckless and childish behavior that somehow, someway, despite not looking like someone that would give into, you actually do sometimes." she pointed back at the stopping point briefly, "Otherwise I wouldn't be here. With you...I know you're good, after all this time, evil is the one thing I can sense without fail. We've all had our fair share of bad tastes, right?"

"Doubt you'd take away much when experiencing it until I saw you rapidly gaining more courage after what happened in Reingard. And especially after the hotel incident, I won't lie, you looked like a total airhead to me. Between the shitty tropes and the awkward and nearly dangerous situations you got yourself into...you didn't actually give me much room to think of something else. But that being said...I wouldn't dare ask for another friend like you. Because I really only want something exactly like you."

She turned her head to face the fields briefly, almost as if she was ashamed of looking at Lass, "I was an idiot then as I am now...when all I did, I did on purpose by mistaking you for him. A true friend is what he is, yet I...I can't believe I used him like this, such a mistake. Maybe Anya's condition is my mistake too, given how I acted around him because it really was love. Maybe that's why she wanted to get that substance from Sandaco's and Corosta's treasury too...and then her and all I did back in that world...I never had a place in hell when all I belong to was something lower. I acted in the name of love...but Lass, sorry. You endured awkwardness and a form of love not meant for you. What the hell is wrong with me?" she mumbled as her eyes started to water.

"Uh...you ok?" Lass leaned in as he tried to listen.

"Y-Yeah!" she snapped out of it, "Anyway. Thank you for saying that. All of that. And for not hiding information like this from me like you did. It truly honors me more than you know, to have someone as closed a book as you do that...and if you need any help, with anything, no matter how down you feel, I urge you to look for me, ok?" she opened her arms, inviting him to her embrace.

He leaned in, hugging her back, "I'll see what I'll do, and you don't need to worry."

The two shared their moment, Lass knowing that he almost never could express his full set of worries, troubles and dark thoughts at her without making her worried sick to her core. He enjoyed her worrying, not just for the cuteness of it all, but simply because she did. She worried for him, truly, with love and care hidden behind it, the exact same way he would mask his own love and care with his harsh words and constant poker face, stuck between love and hate, happiness and sadness, either having them cancel out as positives and negatives, or worse yet amplify both negatives that would never, no matter how hard he tried, make a positive. She had made a fool of herself acting as she did, as she fooled him first without him realizing and fooled the world next as it expected something that was never really meant to flourish in the way it thought, but had instead come to flourish as it did now. As tight as the hug was compared to the moment that was short, it was one way that she knew she could shower him with the care he craved, without the words he would either struggle to or completely fail to understand. Such he was...and she had finally, after quite the time around him, come to realize for herself.

Ikarisa started letting go, "You know, Obsulyte strength or not...Lass, you're quite the good hugger!"

He softly blushed, "Yeah, Sonia would tell me that whenever she hugged me after getting somewhat overexcited...many times."

"So now that we got that clear, please, don't hesitate coming to me if you need to. I'm always here, ok? Love you...' big guy'.", she jokingly mimicked Anya.

"Will do, when I don't manage to piss you off by accident. But seriously, although there's charm behind it, don't go around worrying too much for no reason."

Ikarisa sighed as she returned with a chuckle, "I'm always worried for a reason here. Not an easy thing we're doing either...but it's not like other young guys and girls like us don't have it as bad up in places like Victoria, where they're formally drafted. Read something on my recommended tab."

"Hey, then let's share the worry around. I really doubt one of us has to bare it, when we all universally want to hang out in such a way. It is fun and games until it's not, like I told you before. Don't tell me you forgot how I was worried along with Anya, later Yuno too, about you or others here when we dug ourselves a hole we needed to climb out of."

"Guess we have Terna soon to be 'indoctrinated'," she emphasized as she laughed it off.

"You can trust me when I say that we all have some understanding, worry for others and appreciation in between us, really. We won't leave you like that, I promise. Dying now, when I haven't even figured...hell when none of us have figured exactly what we want to do without lives in this world yet? Sounds lame. So until that happens, write it off completely. Only consider it when we finally stop lazing around and actually decide to sit down and think about things." Lass gave a head pat to Ikarisa, being able to easily do so from the difference in height, her not resisting at all like she did all the way back at his home, despite the more gentle approach, "But no need to overdo it. Now let's head ba-"

A loud thud was heard from the campsite, accompanied by yelling and screaming, with one voice being none other than Anya's, making it more than blatant that she had gotten herself into yet another one of her arguments.

"God dammit. Love it or hate it, she still managed to piss someone off again, I'm sure. Don't be long Risa, ok?" Lass rushed back to the camp.

Lass rushed back to the campsite, knowing exactly what scenario he was about to face.

"So it is indeed true...Raiden or Reiden. The last name on its own, it's so exotic and Eastern sounding. He hid him well...but a dad? Magi didn't tell me everything. She told me something about raising him, not forming such faulty and dangerous bonds with him. Even then, with both Lass and him stuck in the same body, it has definitely saved him more times than what I can count already. But that figure he saw, feared by even his other self..." she looked at her hand, "How many times do I have to tell you that much like this world, you were fooled into a false belief of events? Lass has nothing to do with any of this, merely caught in the crossfire like others did with you and me. Despite him never being able to blatantly admit it, and in no way act like it, he unwillingly pushed himself into tragedy that cemented him as a victim of...that. You shouldn't have held me back like you shouldn't have done what you did last night. This is...injustice." she talked to herself.

Back at the camp, without missing the mark yet again, Yuno was indeed having a fight over the pot, with Anya being equally as angry back at him. As to what they were fighting for, that remained but a brief mystery, without that meaning, that Anya wasn't, yet again, the culprit for starting it all.

Lass pushed away Anya with his leg, "Seriously, what the hell did you guys do the five minutes I was gone?!" he pushed away Yuno with his arm.

"We?! I can't get enough space over this jackass coming and going all the time around, circling the pot.", Anya menacingly tried to get her hands on Yuno.

"Anya, he wasn't even close to you, relax!" Terna tried to calm her down.

"You're being wildly unreasonable, I swear! Stop this stupid behavior now and back down! I've had enough!" he separated them.

"I am just, hungry! Jeez, back off already! And if anyone is to take any space around here away, it'd be your giant, thieving, annoying, drunken, furry self!" Yuno flew back.

"It's partially my fault. I said I'd watch them, but briefly, I went to check on the food and it all happened so fast." Terna sighed.

"What the hell?! You ass!" Anya got offended by Yuno's words, "Ok then, since you like going up to every tree you see like a monkey, I'll make sure to send you as high up in heaven as I can!" Anya pressed against Lass's arm, about to jump Yuno.

"Stop, now." Lass forced her to sit down, "And you back off." he pushed Yuno away.