Episode 1: Goddess of combatIt's been about a month since I helped defeat Void with Penny and her friends. Still can't believe it's only been one month, so much has happened since. I was laying in my bed at my compound in the castle, my head's pounding from last night from that boring meeting till dawn. I put my clothes and my gear on and got ready to do my job. I left my core in my room since it is a lot of effort to walk around with it, plus if I need it I can easily get it. I walked around the castle until I got to the room where they had stored Penny. I sat down next to her, the king had instructed me to stay by her side a few weeks ago until she woke up. I only did it because I was concerned for her, plus there's still so much mystery around this one girl. Who is she? What was that power she unleashed when she fought Void? Penny's friend sacrificed himself to break Void's cores, once he did Penny yelled Core Overdrive and completely changed. Her hair turned a completely different color, it's like she maximized the power of her core. I wonder if I could do it for myself, there's also that mark. When Penny used her core overdrive there was a small black mark on her neck. I had asked her friend Yua about it before our... argument but even Yua didn't know what was going on. Ren and Mira walked in, they come to visit often, well often enough for me to know their names now. Mira sat down and started playing with Penny's hair, eventually braiding it. "Ren, are you doing okay?" I asked him, he sighed "Yes, yes I'm doing fine. You know you've asked this nearly every day now right?" "Well getting stabbed is one thing, getting stabbed by Void is another. I already sent you to Hebe when you got back but I still worry." "I'm fine, would you back off already." "Okay, what about your other friend? Rikka is her name, right? I saw her neck get snapped by Void yet she is still walking around like nothing ever happened." "Well, being lucky is Rikkas main thing so I'm not surprised. Don't know how she survived getting her neck snapped exactly but it makes sense that she just walked it off, those kinda things don't seem to phase her." Everyone seemed okay physically after the attack Hebe was able to heal them all, except for Penny and Sho who have been both in comas. Sho has been in a coma since he exerted way too much energy during the fight and needs to recharge it, that's just how his body heals maybe Penny will be the same way. I do feel bad for her though, she seemed close to the guy who sacrificed himself. Penny couldn't even see his funeral because of her coma. I got deeper into thought until a knock was at the door, I opened it and Rikka was actually at the door. "Hello grace, I would like to speak with Ren for a moment." she told me. Ren and Rikka walked out of the door and started to talk. Luckily for Mira and I, the door was thin, and we could hear most of the conversation. "Ren... I was thinking and... I want to leave the town to go on the journey that Itsuki and Yua left for as well." Rika told Ren, "What why? Everything you need is right here, what could Itsuki have that I don't?" "It's not about Itsuki Ren. If it's about anyone it's about Penny." "What do you mean?" "Ren, last time I left you said you loved me! But every time I go near you or try to talk to you, you always mention Penny. I thought it would be a good thing for us that she was in a coma so we could spend more time together, but even when she's not awake you spend every moment with her!" I think Rika hit a nerve. "If you hate Penny then you can leave! She and her friend are the only reason we are alive right now! How could you be so selfish?" "You love her now, huh? Well, I guess that there are people in this world luckier than me." Rika walked away after that and Ren came back in. The atmosphere was awkward after hearing all of that. I let Ren and Mira spend some time alone with Penny, in actuality I just didn't want to be in the room after that fight. I asked the king's receptionist where he was, she said he was in the planning room. That's weird the king told me he hardly ever goes in there, so I took the elevator toward the planning room. The king was sitting at a table with number six of the white knights. Cosmic told me her name was Mayumi or something like that, she knows a lot about her because Mayumi is only one higher rank than her. Other than me I hear she spends the most time around the king although he never told me why. Mayumi is very powerful not on a battlefield but information-wise, I went to her about Yua and she gave me a ton of information that Yua never seemed to mention. Mayumi is unique since everyone on the white knights had a white core except for Cynthia with her blue core, Hebe with her green core, and her with her purple core. There was some type of holographic map on the table that the king and Mayumi were looking at. The king heard me come in when Mayumi saw me the map disappeared. "Grace, what are you doing here!? You're supposed to be watching over Penny!" the king yelled "I'm sorry sir, her friends said they wanted a moment or two alone so I went to find you. What's going on here?" He looked at Mayumi "Grace, you know the abilities of most of the white knights but I've never really told you about what Mayumi can do, she is potentially one of the strongest white knights we have." "Her core creates holographic information on people right?" I asked "Well she can do a multitude of different things. Mayumi has a purple core; with it, she has made an invisible barrier around the whole town. Whoever walks into this barrier will be instantly identified. Mayumi also made that map that you saw earlier along with casting projections." Mayumi cut in "There's also my core exploit, the ability to see the future." "Wait what, cores possess such an ability?" I gasped "Wait so was this the reason why we needed Penny?" I asked "Exactly, a few months ago Mayumi saw the future where Penny defeated Void with her core overdrive. She was the only one who could've done it, she also saved many lives since I didn't have to dispatch a single normal soldier." The king seemed proud of himself "Did you know Penny's friend would die!?" I yelled, and he sighed " I did know that Yua would finish her invention late and Kagami would have to have taken it to the dark city. Listen Grace this had to be done, we've adjusted everything towards the best possible scenario. Sometimes sacrifices need to be made!" "The best possible scenario for you!" "The best scenario for the city! I'm sure Itsuki would have understood this." How could he say something like that, I tried to change the topic "wait... does this mean you know when Penny will wake up?" "Yes, I've seen when Penny will regain consciousness, five months from now." "Five months?! So much will happen in the meantime. How far into the future can you see?" Mayumi answered "I can see pretty far. Far enough to see a new threat looming, although if I try and look up to a certain point everything goes black, it's as if the future stops there. The king thinks it will be the end of the world, personally... well I don't know. It feels like something different." "I see." I thought deeper about it for a few seconds, "Well since you are here we need you to grab your core and go to the center of town." "What's going on in the center of town?" "A ghost will appear in about twenty minutes." Mayumi's power could see this too? I put my hand out and summoned my core to my hand from my room. Mayumi seemed shocked I could do that, it's mainly willpower and vast strength reserves it does come in handy though the king started shaking his head "And stop doing that, you keep damaging my castle whenever you do!" After that he dismissed me. When I walked outside the room I saw number two Nobushi. "What are you doing down here," I asked him "I was back from a mission and needed to talk to the king about something." "Shit, how long were you outside for. Did you hear anything?" "Not much... although who is this Penny girl, is she the one that was in the paper for defeating Void?" I slapped my forehead "Don't worry about it. Listen I need your help." We both took the elevator upstairs, I forgot how long it takes Nobushi to walk. Nobushi got his leg injured a while back on a mission with Itsuki and me when we were much younger practically kids, come to think of it I haven't seen him much since then, I suppose the king sends him to farther away missions. Nobushi walks with the sheath of a sword for some reason, there's no blade in it either. While we were in the elevator Nobushi tried to make small talk "It's been a while... last time I saw you were a few years ago, with Itsuki... By the way, where is the guy, I bet he's finally earned the perfect soldier title hasn't he? The little brats probably hit a growth spurt, last mission you were taller than him Grace you remember?" "Of course I do, Itsuki left the village." "Why on earth did he do that." "After we defeated Void and all of the ghosts he said he needed to "Find his purpose or something." I mean that part is true, I couldn't tell him he got banished for trying to stick up for Yua. He was thinking about leaving to find his purpose and find another way to honor his sister so technically it isn't a lie "A shame really, I wanted to see him again." We got to the main floor again, when we got there we saw Cosmic standing there. "Cosmic I need your assistance," I told her "Huh, with what? Why is Nobushi here." "A ghost is in the center of town and we need to stop it." "Okay let me grab my things! Two shots and that ghost will be knocked flat on his face" Nobushi and I flew to the center of town, I was forced to hold Cosmic. "Hey Grace, I thought all of the ghosts disappeared when Void was sealed away. How is one in the center of town?" Cosmic asked "Well I don't fully know but I remember Yua was telling me about something like this, when we defeated Void we stopped all of the ghosts that were already made. A ghost is created when someone who isn't bonded to a core tries to touch one for too long. Since Void is sealed away the ghost will probably be harmless, even still we can't have one roaming the streets." We got to the center of town and there was a huge ghost there, just like Mayumi predicted. First, we had to evacuate everyone just to make sure no one could be hurt. The ghost in the center of town was huge, the ghost was just standing there and it was almost the size of the castle. The ghost seemed to be made of a rock-like substance, I know Nobushi and I will be fine but will Cosmic, is the only member of the white knights without a core. "Woah, that's a big one! Thank god I came prepared, man I've been waiting to pull these babies out. Guarding the king can get so boring sometimes!" Cosmic pulled out two pistols from her belt, they looked different from her usual pair though. She pointed them at the monster and started blasting, Cosmic riddled the monster with holes. I forgot she told me this, those pistols were a gift from Emerald, and that pair has two fragments embedded in them. On normal core users, guns like that would only tickle, on a ghost however they pack a serious punch. I can tell she's been wanting to use these by how trigger-happy she is. After she shot the monster it started regenerating. Cosmic pouted "I forgot why I don't fight ghosts." " If we want to kill it you know the procedure, subdue it then attack all at once." I told her, Nobushi and I activated our cores, and white streaks grew through our hair. "I'll hold him still while you two end it!" Cosmic yelled, she flew up into the air with the special hover boots that Emerald also gave her. Wait... I forgot that she had those... why did she make me carry her that whole time!? I zoned out a bit "Web shot!" Cosmic charged her pistol and shot a sticky glob of webbing which subdued the monster. Nobushi pulled his "sword" out of the sheath. Nobushi's powers are different from Achillies and I, instead of creating weapons like I do he carries around an empty sheath and hilt. Nobushi uses his power to create the blade of an already existing weapon. He looks stupid while doing it but I suppose it's somewhat effective with some of his attacks reaching levels of one of my core exploits. Nobushi and I were right in front of the monster about to go in for the killing blow together until we saw a bright red flash. The ghost suddenly disappeared "Did we get it?" Cosmic asked, slowly floating down from the sky. "Well we didn't get it but the monster is certainly gone." That red flash looked oddly familiar "Silas!" I yelled. There was dust around from the final blow to the ghost, through the thick dust I heard chuckling "We had that covered Silas." he walked closer to me "I bet you did. I just was in the area and wanted to... help out the community, yeah that's it." Why is he smiling like that? His laugh is stupid? Was he trying to flirt with me or something? Gross! Honestly, how dare he im a white knight, although I don't mind his incredible strength. Head on I doubt I have enough sheer power to one-shot that monster like that. "Keep interfering with the king's business and I'll report that ring of yours." I told him "Relax, relax. It's not that serious. I thought we eliminated all the ghosts?" "We eliminated all of the existing ghosts, I fear that ghosts will always be present with the cores around. At least without Void, they'll be harmless." We talked for a bit then Mayumi appeared and told me to quickly report to the throne room where the king was. I quickly flew over to the castle and walked into the king's room. Everything looked normal the king was just sitting there normally, he told me there was an important meeting in a few that he wanted me to watch with him. A few minutes later a man burst through the room hysterically crying, the king stroked his beard "How may I help you?" He asked the man, the man told us that the ghost in the center of town was his wife... the king gave his condolences. "Once again what would you like our help with Akito?" The man's name was Akito? Something about that name seemed insanely familiar, how did he get passed the main office though? Did Mayumi know about him coming here, this future shit is trippy. "We need him... He has a plan! It is written down... down in the holy books, believe me, he has a plan!" the man told the king. The king looked at him concerned "Who is he?" "Void! He can help us, I heard how you guys sealed him away but you don't understand that we need him back!" "Listen Aikto we are on the path to bringing peace to the world, we cannot risk freeing Void over some plan without proof. Void is the reason the darkness has killed so many!" "That was the fault of our ancestors, not Void, what you are not understanding is that we need him!" "Enough! The only reason why I entertained your nonsense was because you are Achillies' brother and the head of the church but I will no longer hear it!" Now I remember why his name is so familiar, he was Achillies' brother, I believe I've met him before. "Useless," Akito mumbled to himself, then ran out of the room. I sighed "Well I bet Mayumi couldn't have seen that one coming." Mayumi appeared from behind me "Actually I did, the "meeting" that the king wanted you to see was the interaction of the king and Akito. Now then let us finish getting everything prepared for when Penny wakes up shall we?" Why just that interaction? I was blown away by how much she knew.
