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Episode 43: The End of The Beginning/Part 1

Episode 43: The End of The Beginning/Part 1

"You know...I think Tiki is right. I am pretty useless after all.", Yuno sighed.

"Yes, you are.", Terna told him while looking into Omni.

"This is the moment where you say 'No, that's no true at all!'.", Yuno looked at Terna.

"I mean...weren't you? Just like me...we really did nothing back there. No reason of beating around the bush while we know the truth. You didn't fight anything but some monsters out of our way and I did nothing than boosting the speed of everyone to get us out of there...objectively, we did absolutely nothing compared to what the others endured."

"This is...out of character. But you aren't wrong...how did you say it out like this though?"

Terna sighed as she put the book away, "Look. Ever since the events in Delpha, or Eterna or whatever you want to call it...I didn't quite find anything...good. Mom and dad always used to tell me that a positive outlook will bring positive things to you. I...I disagree now. No matter what way I tried to view things like, it all twisted itself back to the worst of the worse. First it was Dirunon that we left for it to be destroyed, then Eterna, then Gaz...", Terna went on and on.

"Then Tiki...right?"

"Yeah...as far as I can tell however, she is right. My powers have been completely useless up until now...and it's not like I wasn't expecting it either. Sure, I can do some fancy things with the ground and everyone runs like lighting but...what more can I do with that? Everyone else can level skyscrapers and toss them like a volleyball on top of that..."

"Not having the ability to cause mass destruction isn't exactly what I would call a con, Terna. At least you know what you're capable of...me and Dante for example, we don't quite know anything yet. They keep being afraid of us and saying what we 'could' do...but what can we in the end? Infinite power my ass, we've been destroyed on a number of occasions, wether by our own bodies not being able to take it or someone like Enemy actively fighting against us."

"I don't know what my powers are capable of. If I were to be honest...I don't know anything. My powers, what I want to do with my life, my home...nothing. This whole 'shinning idol' thing grew kind of old already..."

"I thought you wanted this? Aren't you like...a big idol too? I can confirm that people like Dante, who lived under a rock, know about your music. He has around 2-3 different albums of yours on his phone."

Terna giggled, "I'm not that big, honestly. My success has been moderate at best. The literal only live show I've done was the rebellion march back there. All other songs and everything, video clips included, we're done in a private studio. I never really did all those world tours or anything...the whole dream about helping the world via my music first started when I saw that girl on TV she was some sort of model. I even forgot her name, hence how long ago it was. I do remember that one phrase though, 'Changing the world, weather with clothes, beauty or actions, is something we must all try to do. What's the point if we don't move forward to see something new?'. In utter desperation to make a change after all that had happened, I dropped what I was doing at the time and started faking a dream to become a popular idol, wanting to change the world for the better, thinking I truly could do so."

"So...were you really not happy at all singing on stage all this time?"

"No, no. I was perfectly fine with singing on stage. Despite the first time I tried it along with Hikari, I truly did like it. Just that...it still didn't feel like me. After Kaghs takeover, the private company behind my contract, Beats, bailed on both Eterna city and me without a warning, given how I wasn't really their most valued asset. And yet, despite having the option to sing and do whatever I wanted from that point onwards, I still...kept being under their control. I still wore those horrible tight outfits, just to appeal to fans, I still came up with basic songs talking about the same things over and over again with oversaturated lyrics to 'hype them up' and I still had the same movements from my rehearsals with them. It...was a trap. I couldn't get out of it, because I was afraid. Afraid that I might lose what little I had built up if I didn't follow that formula...I still want to change the world and I still want to make people happy but...not like this. I don't want to just act it out and only realize it when the cameras are off. If I could ever become a part of a song that I write, just like all those heroes and epic events throughout history that contain others within them, I'd be more than happy...but I would want it to be in a way that reflects at least a little of me."

"Wow...I-I uh. I had no idea it was that deep...but Terna. You really should cheer up. Seriously...everyone knows you're doing your best here!"

"Not really, no. If this is my best, then like Tiki said, I won't be around for much longer. And it's not even Tiki's fault. The circumstances I find myself in is the only thing she comments on and with good will and logic too. I have to find it in me...some way to use my powers in another way. Maybe if I reverted back to the thing I was doing, it could help. That's why I'm trying to find anything in Anya's book."

"What exactly were you doing by the way?"

Terna softly giggled, "Nobody really knows, but me of course. But the pop idol that created anything up to metal albums was originally into classic music. In fact, I couldn't really produce my own music back at the studio out of lack of knowledge for things like the electric guitar or the synthesizer. I learned along the way, but my heart will always go out to the charm of the violin's strings."

"Wait, really? Huh...that is interesting, yeah, but not far fetched."

"Back then, I just felt so...peaceful. But despite that, my lonely tunes at the empty stage wouldn't exactly fulfill the goals I had in mind. And well...I had to adapt. Again, I didn't quite hate the idol thing, at times it was actually pretty fun, but it wasn't...me.", Terna snapped out of it, "Ah, sorry. I rumbled on an on, didn't I? No need to bother you with something like this."

"Sorry for what? You were a great listener to most of us, especially me, so I don't mind at all. Just that...I'm gonna tell you one thing. From personal experience, you should really try to be a little more yourself. Acting like something you're not or don't want to be will only build up for the worse."

"Mmm.", Terna nodded, "Noted. Now I need to look up more-"

Before Terna could finish her sentence and go back into reading inside Omni, a thud and a cracking noise was heard all the way from the other side of the lab. Crashing through the wall and then right in front of them. As the dust from the explosive entry cleared up, the soon realized who the culprit was.

"The hell?! Dante?!", Yuno yelled.

"Ah, I was wondering where he was.", Drima entered the room with Magi.

"What the...hell happened?", Dante tried to slowly recover.

Before he could recover properly, another flash came in through the same crack in the wall, this time being Enemy, knocking Dante to the wall.

"Oh, oops. I am such a clumsy individual.", Enemy sarcastically said.

"You both realized there's an elevator that'd bring you inside the lab, right?", Magi pointed at the elevator.

"Never mind the fact that I'll have to explain why I had to buy 50 maid bots and repair materials for the lab at officials expense...", Drima facepalmed.

"Just commit wire fraud, you do it all the time anyway.", Magi shrugged.

"Atata!", Drima covered Magi's mouth, "The walls have ears! And plus, I even ran out of rich corrupt morons to do this to!"

"I mean he's also a 'biometrics expert' with all this lying around.", Enemy twisted her wrist around, pointing in the entire lab, "I'm pretty sure those that have any knowledge of his existence also know that he isn't exactly 'clean' by any means."

"Ah...why do I even bother sometimes.", Drima sighed.

"You really are giving me a metric ton of reasons to wipe your ass clean off the map, aren't you?", Dante recovered and approached them all.

In an alert state, everyone jolted back, with Enemy and Magi firmly placing their hands on their weapons.

"Pipe down. I had my breakdown, it's over. Well, the entire collapse of my mental capacity is. The rest is far from it."

"As if I give a shit. I'm always called when I need to kill something.", Enemy folded her arms.

"Then go away. There's nothing left for you to do.", Dante insulted her.

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"Hmph. Die in a ditch.", she answered back.

"Could you both cut it out? It's not like this benefits anyone.", Yuno interrupted.

"Whatever the Hyrusa said. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got more important things to attend to. Your friends surgery won't take long, but I need you all to be here. Anya was taken to Reingard for surgery anyway, so she will have to be updated with the info I'll give you later."

Dante looked at Drima, "Wait...Anya...what?"

"What, you don't remember? You beat her within an inch of her life. The fact that she's alive to begin with is a miracle in of its own."

Dante looked at Yuno and Terna, "No...way."

Yuno and Terna nodded back at Dante, confirmed his confusion to be true.

"I'm afraid she's not lying. She...we all saw her during or after your fight."

"Wait...then is Tiki-", Dante looked at the operation table, gazing beneath the bloody cover on her right arm, the bleeding coming from her open fracture.

"Her too. Must've really enjoyed her screams when it happened.", Enemy angrily looked at Dante.

Dante raised his fist, preparing to strike, before pausing for a brief moment with his eyes fixated on Enemy. He then exhaled deeply before lowering his fist and turning the other way, walking to another room.

"Hmph. Cowards.", Enemy scoffed.

"Can you please cut the shit?", Magi angrily said.

"What 'shit'? I'm merely describing him."

"I am thankful for what you've done for us...but shouldn't you be a little more understanding?", Terna calmly said.

"Guy just found out his entire family was slaughtered and he had to finish off his mother. Can you at least try to get off your high horse?", Yuno more aggressively said.

"Wait, he what?! What do you mean?!", Magi jolted in surprise.

"Don't start asking. It's true...I played back his memories when I had hold of them. No way I'd help you knowing half of what was going on. I...I saw every bit of it. Nothing can be done now...", Drima started putting on a mask and a pair of plastic gloves, "I'll see you in a bit. I've dealt with similar injuries so this won't take long. Oh, and nobody leaves. Tell it to Luna too when she gets back down. We're having a meeting right after."

As Drima entered the operation room, leaving behind the rest of the team to aggressively look at each other. Just then, Luna came out the elevator, looking around in visible confusion.

"Welcome back, Enemy. What has occurred in my absence?", Luna looked around.

"Nothing. Just drop it. I'll just relax by the corner, so no one annoy me till I get off the chair.", Enemy moved at the corner of the room.

"Great...now we've got this going on.", Magi put her hands on her waist, "Anything else that can go to hell today?"

"I think that's about it. Day is coming to an end anyway...", Yuno sat down by a few plants.

"I should go get Lina in the meantime, we don't want to leave her roaming around at night.", Terna proposed.

"I will follow. I am also interested to witness what her time with the local paramilitary forces has managed to attain.", Luna followed Terna to the elevator.

Leaving the room, Terna and Luna left behind a worried Yuno and an anxious Magi, waiting to see how the events from there on would play out.

"Then there were two.", Yuno said.

"You know how much of an awful day this was, right? Dante aside...lots of bad things happened.", Magi sat down.

"I do. Having access to Dante's memories surely helps me. Weird...it's almost as if our lives are more than physically connected. Most of the things he's done...I feel like I copied him in a way."

"No shit. Everyone nowadays gets depressed, everyone gets railed and everyone is born to a world that runs to leave them behind. I don't blame you guys at all. Though I will admit that older days were better...just more simple. Call me a grandma and I'll bash your head in."

"I don't even know the old days you're talking about."

"Oh, you wish you did. Before everyone was trying to act like the heroes they watch on TV, it was so much better. You built your own purpose and followed it rather than getting influenced by a bunch of pixels acting and faking to do it. And the battles were so much nicer too. Bigger monsters, less paperwork for fighting in urban areas and...well calmer people."

"With bigger monsters came calmer people?"

"Believe it or not. Those were the days of bliss, no conflict between one another, just adventuring and exploring of a then undiscovered world. Well, even now, there's much more we don't know."

"You realize how you're sounding right now, right? Plus, I don't think feeling nostalgic for something that's not coming back is worth it."

"That's what nostalgia is for little dragon. Those days..."

"Wait...exactly how far back are we looking at? Because if we account for your lifespan, I've heard great tales of slaughter and torture..."

"Not that far back, idiot. If I were to talk about the dark days, when the War Of Zero happened and all that, I wouldn't be half smiling. More of like...20 or so years ago."

"Only 20?"

"You'd be surprised...the world is running faster than its ever been before. Hell, 20 years ago, I only knew computers, not some futuristic holograms popping from a screen. Now tho, we have our own problems to deal with, so no matter to watch for what happens here and there all the time."

"I feel like that logic is going to kill you."

"I know if you ignore something for too long, it'll come back to bite you in the ass. Case in point.", Magi pointed at the room Dante was in, "But then again, what can I do about it? Whatever I say will only add fuel to the fire at this point, so might as well keep it as is..."

"Then...I think it's more of a what you 'could've done'. Maybe then...", Yuno stopped at the sight of Magi looking at him and tearing up, "W-Woah! Sorry, was it something I said?"

A small pause came along in the conversation between the two, Magi eventually breaking the silence herself.

"Nah...not at all. I...you're right. Guess everyone has emotional outbursts today. I need some air, so I'll be at the balcony."

"Yeah...I'll just...be here."

As Magi got up and left Yuno staring at the operation room, she passed by everything by to reach the side of the underground laboratory. From the side of the cylindrical like building, passing by a mumbling Enemy, she reached an enclosed balcony area, tall glasses covering the bottom, all the way to the ceiling. She could only gaze to the outside, to a luscious garden filled will all the colors of the rainbow, and let her mind slip away. In between her imagination and reality, she snapped back and forth from the mumbles of an old ally.

"So you're back. Good...at least you missed the freak show.", Enemy said.

"What...happened?", Hikari echoed in her head.

"Remember? I used 'that'. You must've taken way more of a beating than I thought. It's all good, Tiki is having her arm fixed and the asshole is still alive. Mission accomplished, so I hope you're happy."

"Very happy indeed. Thank you. Though...where's everyone?"

"I only know that the moron is in the room next to me. The others, aside from Tiki and Anya, I dunno where they are. Tiki is in the operation room with Drima and Anya is shipped to Reingard for urgent surgery. The jackass broke Tiki's arm to the point where the bone came out and beat Anya within an inch of her life."

"Hmm...I see. So it really ended up that badly? I was expecting a lot, but this..."

"What did you expect exactly? This bastard and I have the same abilities, in a nutshell. Will his weak face going around and being unable to control it, something like this was merely inevitable."

"Umm...can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Why are you always referring to Dante as 'that bastard', 'asshole' and the such? Why don't you...you know.", Hikari hesitantly asked.

"After all he did, all the people he killed and everyone he hurt that was left alive after, so you honestly think that he's even a little bit deserving of it?"

"That is not true and you know it, very, very deep down. Back there...the words he said..."

Enemy paused briefly, taking herself back to that critical moment. 'Leave me alone!'. Like a lost child afraid of the dark, she could see fragments of a bygone innocence. Or rather...what in her mind was a mirror.

"Hmph. Whatever. I have more things to worry about."

"You could take one of those worries away by...you know. Talking about it."

"You've gotta be shitting me."

"No, like...you guys both are on the same side about each other...maybe talk it out by using words rather than swords?"

"I also have a lance.", Enemy snapped her fingers, summoning her lance.

"Umm...don't use it."

"Hikari, I swear, for all the reasons I love, I have that many more to hate you."

"You always tried to do something to protect me...despite the way things were. So please, just let me do this one for you! It's been thousands of years anyway...stuck there..."

Enemy sighed at the sheer innocence and naivety of Hikari, "Don't...don't take yourself back there. Look, I know you want this for the better, but I swear, there's better times than this to try and change my mind on something."

"You and I both know that's not true. Most likely, you'll avoid him like you always do, or engage in combat again..."

"You are seriously not convincing me to start a conversation with that ass...Dante. Start a conversation with 'Dan-te'", Enemy quoted with her fingers.

"Please...what can I do in return?"

"Never annoy me again."

"Deal!", Hikari cheerfully said.

"Oh for the love of-fine. Fine."

Enemy slowly got up and went towards the room Dante was in. She tried opening the door again and again, both automatically and manually but it appeared completely locked.

"Oi! Dumbass! Open the god damn door! We need to talk."

No answer came from the other room, increasing the ever growing anger on Enemy's nerves.

"Color me red, that's it.", Enemy raised her leg backwards.

With one of her mighty kicks, the door easy gave in and a huge crack formed on the nearby wall. The door itself, flying at high speed, flew but an inch besides Dante's head, who appeared to not flinch at all, instead looking down at some tablet. The door pinned itself firmly into the wall behind Dante's chair, not wavering at all from the sheer depth of the penetration. Enemy entered the room as no one even bothered to check on the noise, knowing full well to leave the both of them alone, fearing not to escalate maters further. She took a chair and sat on the table, across from Dante, as he kept looking down at his tablet, completely ignoring Enemy's presence. After awhile she decided to speak her rough words through her folded arms, laid back pose.

"Deadass going to ignore me? Say anything at all."

"Someone has to pay for this.", Dante pointed at the pinned door, still ignoring Enemy.

"Good. Progress. I didn't even know you had the ability for civilized speech."

"Coming from the person who's first course of action is violence, even in dreams, that's precious.", Dante finally gave attention to Enemy, "Not to mention how much of a two sided coin you are."

"What the hell does that even mean?"

"Are you serious? Acting like you don't know...man. Just tell me already. Why haven't you killed me? Don't start with the 'Hikari' excuse. Just tell me. Are you really that eager to play with your food or that week to get the job done?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Yes, yes I would like to.", Dante placed the tablet down.

"Listen, I'm not an open book. Matter of fact, it indeed was Hikari to bring me to talk to you. So pick a subject that'll justify this conversation being worthwhile."

Dante snapped, "I killed everyone! Everyone that put their trust in me, whatever bullshit story was sold to them, that I was some 'legendary savior' was slammed back into my face! My siblings, my Silverlances, everyone is dead! I stabbed my own god damn mother to death! She...her last moments, she wasn't even sad! She wasn't angry, confused, or anything! Why...just why?! Is that not a good enough reason for you to slit my throat already?! I just want to know god dammit...why haven't you killed me yet?! Why?! You want me to do it myself?! If so, I gladly will...just watch how it'll go from now on!", Dante slammed the desk and lowered his head, covering his face from Enemy