I stood up from the couch, "I wanted to guide you through my memories, but I won''t be able to concentrate until I know why the Demons are casually approaching Arcadia. It''s beyond weird that they''re speaking to the guards instead of attacking us head on."
Solas chuckled, "Heh, I''m feeling the same way, but before we do anything else we really need to get caught up by watching your past. We''ll be right behind you after we''re finished here." He turned on the TV and brought up the consoles personal directory, "What''s your number?"
I gave him my home and personal console numbers before leaving their home. Once outside I immediately received an emergency report on my console as an alarm began blaring. The entire level kept flashing red lights, just like what happened during the Xerath/Machine assault.
My first thought was that the Demons had decided to assault the city instead, but I was barely outside of the Inoue''s gate when a loud voice began to report over the speakers that a powerful force of Demons were being invited into R-4, and that all citizens should leave the level or stay inside a subset of buildings near the Lounge that were equipped with automated defenses.
As soon as the speaker mentioned ''defenses'' I froze in my tracks.
... I''ve been told multiple times that Arcadia has defenses inside of it that''ll kill any invaders on sight, or even kill someone who is harming other people (it seems to be on a case by case basis though), however, there were no such defenses when the Xerath and machines were attacking. Were they shut down at the core? I''ve been working under the assumption that merely unlocking the core is what allowed the machines or something else entry into Arcadia, but I haven''t exactly ruled out the idea that it could''ve been someone on the inside.
The normally aloof machines suddenly converging to assault Arcadia is really bothering me as well. And I don''t even know where to begin with the Xerath in heavy power armor...
I reached the elevator and pushed R-4. The lady of the couple that entered with me nearly shrieked in surprise.
"Are you insane?! Why would you go there now! What if we get attacked when the doors open up?!" The man yelled.
... I hate that my Uncle is right. These people are just so weak now. I always thought my hometown was filled with mad warriors who braved the frozen wastes to fight an unknown homicidal foe. Instead, most of the people I''ve met since I returned would be unable to do anything if a machine appeared in front of them. Which I''m sure is exactly what happened during the invasion on almost every single level.
And to make it worse, most of the actual warriors I''ve met or watched footage of were all first generation citizens! None of them were born here... Not a single fucking one. I''ll have to deal with the clans this this around, so I''m holding out hope that they have some real fighters in their midst. And aren''t all of the hunters in the clans too? I really hope that''s not just a fancy title.
The couple hid behind me as the doors opened, and of course nothing attacked us. There was no one around, let alone a pack of Demons.
I ran through the level until I reached the elevators on the other side of the level. Since no one was around the elevators I came out of, I could only assume they were at the other ones. They had to descend to R-4 after all, so unless there was a group of hidden ones I didn''t know about, they had to be at my destination.
Ah, this has to be it... Look at all those people.
About fifteen meters from the elevators was a large group of people. Over eighty percent of them were in power armor. Their helmets were on too, which was a rare sight inside Arcadia.
"Reimia? What are you doing here?" Evette said as I stopped next to her and several other attendants from the Lounge.
"What else? Greeting our new friends."
"Ha! Wouldn''t that be the day? Demons for friends! They''re sooner to skewer us over a fire and then eat us alive" A man I vaguely recognized said from Evette''s left. "I know you''re fuckin around though, lovely lady. Which means you''re probably not all that worried, yeah? Jestin about Demons in Arcadia so carefreely, while everyone else is pissing their pants."
"Sir." A female voice said from the power armor behind the man. He turned his head back to look at her, which she took as an affirmative to continue, "That''s the girl who took the two emblem missions with Maya."
"Oh?" His smirk disappeared as he looked me up and down, "... I''m normally good at gauging people''s strength at a glance, but I don''t know what to make of you. Especially since you''re hiding your aura. Why are you doing that? The Demons won''t give a fuck if---Oh, wait. You are really weird looking, so they''d... Ahh, so that''s why you''re doing it. Very clever of you, but stop hiding your aura after they''re gone. I want to see what I can make of you."
I''m not positive, but I think he just ''deduced'' that I''m hiding my aura because the Demons love unique things, and so I''m in his mind hiding my aura to prevent them from becoming interested in me. And he''s uh, kind of right? I already know what they''d love do to me under normal circumstances, since I''ve already lived through that once, but my veil is doing the blocking part all on its own.
The man had already turned and began staring at the elevator with a determined expression. After a few more seconds of studying his face I finally remembered where I had seen him before.
Gale... I think that''s his name. He''s the younger brother of Uruguay''s Clan Leader. I remember seeing him call his nephew (Leon) a loser on live TV.
The doors to the large elevator used for transporting groups with goods, vehicles, or mechs opened up. Three pitch black Demons surrounded by a contingent of people in power armor walked through the doors.
"I don''t recognize these Demons. Anyone know what they are?" Gale asked.
"Negative, sir." Several nearby suits said.
Evette whispered since the Demons were getting close, "All I know is why they''re completely black. Apparently they were too hot and it was causing error screens to pop up in the escort''s suits, so they tuned down their auras."
Demons making concessions to have a chat? This is a new one for me, and unfortunately I don''t recognize the Demons either.
The one at the front was twenty feet tall with horns that arced behind his head, and he had two wings for shoulders which had an extra limb coming out of the bottom of them. His face almost looked like he was wearing a skull-shaped mask. I could see two white dots where his eyes should''ve been.
The other two at his sides were seventeen feet tall with horns that arced above their head''s sideways. And all three of the Demons were heavily armored. His two guards had sleek armors with spikes coming out of them at random points, but the head Demon''s armor looked like it was designed with aesthetics in mind, suggesting it was far more important than any Demon I had ever met up until now.
The group stopped about ten feet away from us. Everyone looked at the head Demon who was currently scanning everything from the buildings, the ceiling, and the floor. He stared at the floor for a while before tapping it with his massive armored right foot.
"STRANGE... VERY STRANGE."
"What is, Archdemon Asmodeous?" One of the men wearing a Tyranium suit said.
Asmodeous looked up, "YOUR BUILDING BLOCKS MY LORD''S SIGHT. NO SIGHT. NO AURA DETECTION. I LOST MY CONNECTION TO HIM THE MOMENT I ENTERED YOUR ''ELEVATOR''. IT''S ALMOST AS IF IT WAS BUILT SPECIFICALLY TO AVOID HIS GAZE." He continued, "AND THEN THE CORRUPTION. SO MUCH DEMONIC CORRUPTION... HIDDEN... HARD TO DETECT... AND YET SO POWERFUL. MY LORD COULD NOT SENSE IT UNTIL THE DAWN GOD BROKE CAUSALITY... NOTHING IN THIS LAND MAKES SENSE."
"The Demons really couldn''t sense it until now? We''ve had plenty of sightings of Demons in Caedrus though..." Gale said, but Asmodeous didn''t react or respond to him. He instead stared at a random space in Arcadia while tapping the armor on his upper thigh.
We all sat there in silence for a while waiting for Asmodeous to move or say something. Even one of his Demonic guards looked over at him, seemingly confused by the Archdemon''s silence.
"... WE WILL BE SETTING UP A FORTRESS NEAR HERE. THIS IS NOT UP FOR DISCUSSION. WE WILL NOT BOTHER YOU, NOR WILL YOU BOTHER US."
Asmodeous turned around and walked back into the elevator. The men who escorted him down looked at their commander who was clearly taken aback by the Demons words and the fact that he was suddenly leaving. I could hear the people around me finally breathing again as the commander and his men ran to catch up to Asmodeous.
"I-I had trouble breathing near the end there..." Evette whispered. Once the elevator doors closed I could see Gale rubbing his face before he said, "His aura... It had to be his aura. The longer he was near us, the more I felt something penetrating my soul. We''re lucky he decided to leave so soon... He was supposed to be down here for a while, but whatever he was hoping to learn, he must''ve got it through that little interaction."
"That was also my first time seeing a Demon converse normally."
Gale smirked at me, "Seen a lot of Demons have you?"
"I have actually, but none of them were like those three. ''Archdemons'' must be rather rare. And while he wasn''t as big as a Minotaur, I feel like he''d obliterate one in a duel."
I severely doubt his claim that they won''t be bothering the people of Arcadia. They''re here to know why a land rife with Demonic corruption was so unknown to them, and he confirmed a moment ago that Arcadia completely negates the God of Demons, so there''s no way in hell they won''t be draining every bit of information they can from the people here... Maybe they''ll try it through offering ''gifts''? The weak people here would definitely be susceptible to offers of great wealth and power.
Unless he really does figure it all out without any of the information he can draw from the citizens here... Which again, sounds impossible, nor would it be something the Demons would voluntarily choose to do. But there is one thing giving me pause, which is the fact that I don''t know shit about Archdemons. So maybe he''ll surprise me, or maybe he won''t.
Gale went to respond to me but the woman behind him cut him off with a simple, "Sir." He then looked back at her with a slightly annoyed face. "The Clan Leader is waiting." She said.
Gale sighed and looked at Evette, "I need to hurry back before he has another aneurysm, and it looks like we''re done here anyway. Not that I had any idea of what to expect, but for the damned thing to only show up for a moment, declare it''s building a fortress and then leave, well... I think my brother really will have an aneurysm when he hears about this."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
From there everyone fanned out, returning to wherever they needed to be. And soon after that the red lights and the alarm turned off. I guess I''ll return to the Inoues'' for now. They must have looked through my memories by now.
<hr>
~Solas'' POV~
"You alright there, my adorable little sister?"
"... How is this not bothering you?"
The memory we were currently looking at was of the news report about our deaths. Apparently we had died with a large contingent of Uruguay''s forces, so whatever we were doing, it wasn''t anything trivial. Most of their Tyranium suit''s and over a dozen heavy fighter mechs were sent with us, but that''s all we could tell since Rei didn''t dig into it further.
"Our deaths, you mean? I see no reason to dwell on it. Our new friend and Lord Arkaios gave us a second chance, and so I''m going to make the most of the gift they''ve given us."
First and foremost, I need to figure out how the hell we lost in the upcoming machine hunting event. Seriously, how did we lose? I only took that bet because I rigged it in our favor... Eve doesn''t know I did that, but I''m gonna have to tell her soon, which is not going to be a fun conversation. Still though, going forward it''s for the best that everyone knows everything that was at play in our last life. This really isn''t the time to be hiding secrets just cause I know it''ll upset her.
"It''s eating away at me... We went through hell and back to get this clan house, and even then we''ve been treated like outsider filth. And now here I am, looking at a future where we not only ended up as lackeys to the Uruguay Clan, but we also ended up being killed while completing a mission for them." She brought her knees up onto the couch and rested her face against them, "The only surprising part is that it looks like it was an important mission. I would''ve thought they''d assign a dangerous mission just for us so we would die. Nothing would make them happier than to purge the filth in their midst."
... I''m pretty sure she knows why they weren''t trying to kill us after we lost the bet. Leon is in love with her. And while I do find it hilarious since I know it''s killing the Clan Leader that he''s unable to convince his son to give up on her, it''s still a major pain in the ass for us.
I scrolled through Rei''s memories. My sister needed a little time to herself so I decided to go far back into her past to see if I could find anything interesting, and that''s when I saw a scene of a younger-looking Rei fighting a Satyr. That''s when Shizue took control and rewound the area around us until it showed Rei in an underground city. It looked vaguely similar to our own ruins, as the buildings were all falling apart and the stone walkways themselves were cracked all over.
"This is where the memory begins, Master."
Somehow she always knows what we want. I only looked at that memory for a split second too. I found it creepy when we first found her, but she''s been nothing except helpful to the two of us, so I''ve stopped treating her like a potential threat. At this point I figure if she''s going to harm us in some way, then so be it. She''s worth the risk, especially if we can find those Arcane mechs, suits, and weapons...
I played the memory at normal speed. Reimia was walking slowly along the cracked streets, scanning everything in her view. She was clearly looking for something, and since I knew she was about to fight a Satyr, I could only assume it was quite literally the Satyr she was trying to find.
"Shizue, why is she here?" Can''t hurt to ask just in case though.
"Her unit was sent below the city of ''Xelba'' to find the Dwarves. Underground patrols have been going missing for a while now, and finally someone had caught sight of a pack of Dwarves. They ran back to Xelba, reported it, and now here we are."
Dwarves huh... Now there''s a race I know nothing about. Rei was at war with them at some point? Actually, if she''s tracking Dwarves then how the hell did she end up fighting a Satyr?
We watched as Rei stared at the stone path while slowly walking forward. She was tracking a set of bootprints in the dust that were swerving back and forth through the path, but that wasn''t all. There were also several prints of dog paws in the dust. They were spaced out in a way that suggested they were running at full speed.
Both the bootprints and dog''s paws turned left into a ruined building, and Rei followed after them. However, she was barely five feet into the building when the ground gave out underneath her. She tried enhancing herself and grabbing the path she was just on, but a red barrier appeared around the hole she was falling into, and she didn''t have the time required to break through it. Unfortunately for her, the entire shaft was covered in said ''barrier'', so she couldn''t stop herself from falling either.
It didn''t take long for her to reach the bottom of the shaft. She dropped down into a somewhat large room that looked like it was used for burial rites, as there were urns all along the walls. The ground weirdly enough was not paved, as it was entirely made up of dirt and grass despite the well-designed walls that must''ve taken ages to carve.
She landed in the dirt and immediately the Satyr that was waiting below pounced at her. It had two large axes in its hands, which was an odd sight since I was under the impression that they were casters, but whatever the case was, this Satyr was clearly well versed in melee weapons, as Rei just barely rolled to the right as the axe came down. But sadly for her, the Satyr was very fast. She hadn''t even finished her roll when he pulled the axe out of the ground and quickly slammed the flat side into her, which launched her into a little cubby hole in the room with two pillars at the entrance.
Rei''s face smashed into one of the pillars, which sent her spinning toward the ground inside the little room. A massive quantity of black blood poured out of her face as she screamed ''Fuuuuckk!!''. We could tell through the memory that despite her limited pain receivers, she was definitely feeling that one.
Unfortunately for her, the Satyr wasn''t the only creature in the room. Two Devil Dogs came sprinting into the cubby hole and pounced on her. One of them was tearing into her legs while the other went for her throat, which it quickly realized was a mistake, as Rei gave the dog some of its own medicine by biting its throat out.
The dog chewing on her legs pulled back and entered a state of wariness. It was taken aback by how fast she dispatched its partner and it didn''t want to receive the same fate, but unfortunately for it, that''s exactly what happened. Rei created a twelve inch thin spear and threw it at the dog''s face.
She must''ve been overenhanced because the dog wasn''t able to react in time as the spear went into its mouth and punctured three-quarters of the way through the back of its throat, but since it didn''t make it all of the way through the cartilage, the force ended up spearing the dog into the nearby stone wall. It was still alive for now but it was struggling to pull itself free. It was kicking every which way trying to get the spear out of its mouth, but the more it struggled, the more damage it did with the spear still lodged in the back of its throat.
A large axe slammed into the small area head first. Rei rolled out of the way just as another axe nearly slammed into her between the pillars. They were turned sideways so they could fit, and the force behind them was more than enough to turn her into paste if a single one of the attacks landed.
She dodged back and forth several times before finally finishing the small sword she was creating with her blood. After another axe was pushed through the pillars she slashed at the fingers holding the pommel, cutting through the Satyr''s thumb in the process, but the sword broke as it was halfway through the next finger.
Even so, that was enough to get the Satyr to drop the axe in surprise while roaring in pain. Rei quickly ran through the pillars and grabbed the massive axe before whipping it at the Satyr. In response the Demon swiftly rolled to the side, where Rei was waiting for it mid-air with an enhanced fist, which landed squarely on the Demon''s jaw. Its head whipped to the side as it rolled along the ground a few times from the impact.
The Satyr dug its thumb-less hand into the dirt to right itself, immediately swinging horizontally along the ground at Rei as she landed. She leaped over the axe, but the force was so strong that it blew her backwards, starting from her feet. She ended up sliding along the grass as the Satyr swung back at her from the other direction. In a panic she balled her fists and slammed them into the ground, launching herself above the axe, which yet again blew her in the other direction.
"I know those attacks are powerful, but isn''t that way too much wind?" My sister said, taking me out of the fight a for a moment as Shizue paused the memory.
"She''s right... Shizue?"
She nodded, "The Satyr is currently enhancing his weapon with a wind spell of some sort. It''s not only lightening the weapon, but it''s also blasting pockets of wind along the attack''s path."
Interesting enhancement. Wind elements to weapons huh... I''ll need to remember to try that for when (if) we ever find the Arcane equipment. Shizue says you can fully enhance and cast spells on everything Arcane, which is what makes them so unique. Adding elements to Arcane weapons sounds like a hell of a lot of fun.
Rei was blown to the left as Shizue restarted the memory. She rolled along the ground a couple of times before smashing into the wall.
While she was rolling the Satyr began channeling a fireball that had grown to a size bigger than she was in no time at all. Whoa... I''ve heard that Satyr were amazing casters, but wasn''t that a little too fast?
The Satyr launched the fireball at Rei who had sensed the attack coming. She flipped around and cast something just before the fireball hit her, causing the sphere to fly back at the Satyr at double the speed it had approached her. The Demon had not expected that, not even a little, so the fireball smashed right into the Demon''s upper chest and exploded unabated.
The Satyr reeled back and fell to its knees. "GGRLLGURLGRRLL!!" The Demon was trying to roar in pain but its lower jaw was completely missing. A large amount of blood was pouring out of the new hole in the Demon''s face as it glared at Rei who was running over to the axe she failed to hit it with earlier.
"Just so you know; that was an ability she stole from a Kitsune. It had the ability to reflect all elemental offensive spells." Shizue said.
She ''stole''...?
Rei grabbed the axe that was twice her size and sprinted toward the Satyr with it, dragging it along the ground as the Demon roared, daring her to try and best it in melee combat.
Just before she reached the Satyr she swung down at him horizontally, which the Satyr was attempting to parry, but when the weapons clashed he realized there was no weight behind the blow. Unfortunately for him, he had no time to wonder why that was, as Rei already punching his left legs lower shin with enough force to knock the Demon''s feet out from underneath him. His left foot flew backwards as the bones in it broke, sending him reeling toward the ground.
He caught himself with his right hand and the axe in his left hand as Rei uppercut him through the hole in his lower jaw, hitting the inner-side of his mouth below his brain. The Satyr flew backwards but not before grabbing Rei with his right hand. She tried to break free but she was given no time in the manner, as the Satyr threw her into the ground with all its might just before smashing into her waist with its forehead.
The force at which she hit the ground was bad enough, but the Satyr knew it couldn''t stop itself from hitting the ground hard, so it slammed its head at her the moment it landed, destroying her legs and lower waist in the process. Rei screamed in pain for the first time in ages as she grabbed onto the Demon''s horn with one hand while punching its skull with her other hand.
The Satyr was still reeling from the attack so it was struggling to use its strength, but even so it was still just barely being held down by Rei. Her attacks were beginning to crack its skull so as a last ditch effort it reached over with its left hand and crushed her upper body in its grip.
Through some miracle Rei managed to break through the Satyr''s cranium and destroy its brain before her mana gave out. She was seconds away from losing, but in the end she was victorious.
"That... That was amazing..." Eve whispered.
That''s one way of putting it... What the hell did I just watch? I thought myself as one of the best duelers in Arcadia, and as such I was really looking forward to dueling Rei at some point after watching her destroy that Uruguay clown, but if this was the teenage version of her, then I really doubt I''ll be able to hold my own against the ''adult'' Rei...
Reimia dragged herself out from underneath the Satyr, slowly pulling herself over toward the wall where she covered herself in some weird mesh made out of her blood. Shizue sped up until her allies found her a few days later. One of the girls was crying when she saw the state Rei was in.
"Nice to see that she has friends who care about her out there somewhere. I got the feeling that she was a pure loner, but it looks like I was wrong."
"Most of these people die soon, including the red-head who''s crying right now." Shizue said.
... Oh.
After that we watched many parts of her past. From the end of ''Xelba'', her meeting with the Guardians of Urza, her trek through the Abyss, Termia, Mother, and finally her time spent in Caedrus.
And at long last, the memory ended as she approached Evette at the Lounge, asking her if she knew where we were.
We sat in silence for a while, contemplating everything we had just seen. Personally I was still having a hard time believing it was all real. If it wasn''t for Shizue, I''m not sure if I would have been able to believe that was all an actual life someone had lived.
I looked at Eve, "I''m just now remembering what you said about Rei after we first met her. Mind saying it again for me, little sister?"
"You''re such an ass... With Uruguay constantly hounding us and your refusal to let me take on the emblem mission, I''ve been really stressed out." She looked at the frozen image of Rei, "I do regret saying that she looked useless, and that I was certain she''d die out there... She didn''t hear me say any of that, but I think I''m going to apologize anyway..."
My proud sister apologizing to someone? I don''t think I''ve ever seen that before... But I can understand it, considering what we just watched.
"You should, and while you''re at it you should throw yourself at her. She''s obviously into women, and we do owe her a huge debt..." I smirked at her, and she just rolled her eyes while flicking me off in response. "In all seriousness though, we really need to figure out where to go from here, but we can''t do this alone. Do you have any issues with bringing Yulong into the know?"
Eve shook her head, "I have nothing against him, and you consider him your best friend, so why not?"
"Perfect, let''s get ready to head out then. Shizue?"
Shizue pulled all of us out of her soul realm. I looked at the clock and saw that only ten seconds had passed.
"Hmm, we''ll need to wait for Rei to return first. And hopefully whatever happened with the Demons is nothing that can largely disrupt our plans going forward."
That feels like wishful thinking though. It is Demons after all.