Cross Worlds

Chapter 34: "Their Choice"

"So, what do you think after seeing that, leader?" Kei asks, looking back at the door Riku just left through.

"If I were to give you my opinion, I'd say I can't wait to fight him... He's going to be an interesting opponent to say the least!" Esen laughs, not even trying to hide the excitement in his eyes.

"Yes, well I wasn't asking you." Kei sighs, shaking his head and then looking at Artemis again.

Artemis closes her eyes, grasping her chin as she thinks. "My heart and gut are telling me I can trust him. He's a genuine human being, and I highly doubt he has anything planned against us. At the same time, I know he isn't telling me the full truth. There's still something he's yet to reveal." Artemis opens her eyes and stares out the door. "Either way...his will is about to be tested in a different way."

Kei is silent for a moment, sighing once more, but there's a difference in his demeanor this time. "Could you not have just told him the truth of that matter? He's going to lose faith in you when he learns what you've done behind his back."

"As I said, it's a test of his will and his trust. If he isn't able to accept things...then I'll know." Without another word, Artemis leaves the training room, going in the direction Riku left.

"So, wanna spar against me? There's some new stuff I really wanna try out..." Esen smirks, looking down at Kei.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm rather tired after my battle with Riku, so I think I'm going to go to pay a visit to our resident healer instead." And with that, Kei leaves Esen alone in the room.

"...Aw mannnnnn..." Esen whines.

Riku wanders throughout the resistance base, asking around, but no one has seen Gina or Haruto since they were last seen with him. Even checking their rooms turns up nothing. "What the hell..? Those two didn't leave on their own did they?!" Riku rushes out of their room and starts heading toward an exit, though stops as he almost slams into a young woman turning the corner. "Holy- S-Sorry about that!" He quickly runs around her.

"R-Riku..? W-Wait!" Hearing her voice, Riku stops in his tracks. He turns around, looking into her eyes, and then looking her up and down. Her hair is well kept, long and black, reaching down just past her waist. Her eyes are an all too familiar bright green, and she looks like a mirror of the woman who is no longer in this world.

"...Reina..?" Riku's breath hitches, and he's almost brought to tears. "No...that can't be right... Reina's hair wasn't black, and she didn't look like a teenager..."

"Not quite Riku! But you're really close, guess again." A young man says from behind him. When he turns around, he's shocked to see what appears to be a younger looking Makou, with brown eyes and dirty blond hair. The only thing that tells him it's not Makou are the square glasses he wears over his eyes.

"Who are you two..? Are you resistance members?" Riku eyes the two suspiciously, readying his weapons if need be.

"What, you don't recognize us? Well, I guess that makes sense..." The boy snickers and scratches the back of his head, going to stand by the girl who looks strikingly similar to Reina. "Maybe this'll help you remember."

The two activate their magic, and Riku's eyes go wide as he sees a circle of ice crystals form around the young man, and a circle of actual crystals form around the young girl. Seeing this, Riku puts everything together. "But...that's not possible. You're supposed to be children..."

"Normally it isn't possible, but thanks to our combined magic, it is." Arima says from behind Riku, and when he turns to look back, he sees him standing beside Elizabeth.