8 Chapter 7: Intermezzo

Maria and Xiao. The former was an expected guess, but the latter was somewhat unexpected. The two sat on one side, while Josua sat on the other side. Maria was all smiles, but Xiao, despite smiling, was clearly analyzing Josua. At this time, he's still learning about how to be more human, since Xion was incapable of such a thing.

"So, you're the one that Maria told me about. Nice to meet you, I'm Xiao." He said, greeting Josua.

The other party, Josua, was sweating beads in the inside, while keeping a poker face on the outside. He was trying to find words to say to the... 'Boy'. It was hard, since while Xiao was born only recently, but he was made by a being that was, for all intents and purposes, a 'god', to be the backup copy of said 'god'. Thus, thinking of him as a 'boy' was both correct and incorrect, since it was correct that he's still young, but as to him technically not being a human, it was hard to say.

"Uh... Nice to meet you." Josua replied, him twitching his eyes inside.

This wasn't the best way for him to meet Xiao. And technically speaking, he's supposed to meet him during Episode 2. But at this point, this was all moot, considering that even Xion had already came to him when he was asleep. He had already changed a lot by just being there, so there wasn't much point on worrying about that anymore.

'But... I should try to keep it to a minimum as best as I can...' He thought.

This was the only way to keep everything from spiraling further beyond what he knew of. He could only take a breather and listen to what Xiao had to say to him.

"I've heard from Maria. You're not from this universe, right?" Xiao asked.

"Yeah, I'm not." Josua answered frankly.

Xiao's interest was piqued. 'This guy answered pretty fast, and without any hesitation to boot.'

He wanted to say more before he was interrupted by Josua.

"If you really wanna know, then why not try to find out from this?" He said to Xiao as he pulled out his phone and handed it to Xiao.

"Oh? This is... A mobile communication device?" Xiao asked.

"Yes. It's called a mobile phone. To be precise, it's a smartphone. It can..." Josua answered as he began to explain.

"You can make calls with this thing, but it utilizes radio waves to send signals via radio towers..."

"You can also send text messages, listen to music..."

"This phone can also allow you to browse a global network back on my planet called the Internet. Though, I suppose it's called the Aethernet now, given the discovery of Aether particles and it being spread all across the globe..."

"..."

After about five minutes of explanation, Xiao digested the information he heard quickly and understood.

"So, to summarize... The basic principle of this 'smartphone' is like what ARKS have, but on a more basic level." Xiao said.

"Yes. Compared to what you guys have here, Earth is still on a more basic level in tech. Though, I doubt in terms of comms since Aether is now a thing." Josua replied.

"Ah, Aether. I've heard of it from Maria. But can you show it to me what it's like? I'd like to analyze it myself." Xiao requested to Josua.

"Sure." Josua complied.

He stood up from the sofa he sat on, and gestured the two to follow him to the bathroom. It was the largest area that had enough free space for him to do something like that. He held out his hand, and the gloves appeared, it was equipped automatically onto his hands when he summoned it. He closed his eyes and began manifesting things.

Shwoong... Shwoong... Shiiiing!

His clothes were changed, or rather, layered. His home clothes were now covered by his combat suit. It was something that was like the suit used by the SPARTAN-IIs prior to them getting their MJOLNIR Gen-1 Exoskeleton. Or if you need another comparison, it was like the one used by the protagonist of The Irregular at Magic High School, Shiba Tatsuya, during the Yokohama arc when he fought the invading Greater Asian Coalition soldiers with the soldiers from the 101st Magic Battalion. Just minus the creepy mask.

You can somewhat see the 'layer' of his 'home clothes' from the combat suit, if only barely. The combat suit was then layered with thin armor padding(s), on the torso, the shins, the knees, the thighs, basically over his body, aside from some parts for freedom of movement. Their appearance would remind one of carbon fiber, but obviously its strength was way stronger than what carbon fiber would be and instead would be more like titanium alloy. And yes, in a sense, it's like the armors from the Mass Effect series.

While the armor was being materialized over his clothes, an overcoat of sorts covered the armor on the outside. Some parts of the armor on the upper body remains visible, but his arms (aside from his palm) were covered by the sleeves. The overcoat's color was also dark, but it can be adapted by him when necessary.

Meanwhile, his hands manifested the weapon [1]. It was, in essence, a Twin Machine Gun. However, when combined, it could be a Rifle, which could be configured into a Sniper by making the rear gun's grip folded and it becomes the magazine receiver, or into an AR if the front gun's grip is folded, it'll be a Underslung Grenade Launcher, while the gun's stock becomes the magazine receiver.

"Interesting..." Xiao muttered as he scanned the whole manifestation phenomenon in front of him.

Meanwhile, Josua continued to manifest different weapons and armors, changing his appearance ever-so-often. Maria was on the side, watching this with interest in her eyes. Xiao was, on the other hand, analyzing everything that he could on Josua's manifestations.

After a short while, Josua finished and reverted back to his home clothes. He also gestured the two to follow him back to the sofas and they sat down once more.

"It really was interesting to see it. I've heard from Maria about Aether and what it can do, but it was better to see it by myself." Xiao said with a smile, satisfied with the amount of new info he got.

"So, Xiao, care to explain on what you've found?" Maria asked.

"Sure! This Aether particle... From my analysis, it's like, to my surprise, Photons. As in, when I analyzed its structure, it's similar to Photons, yet different in a way enough to diverge from Photons. But their source is similar, if not, the same as Photons!" Xiao began explaining.

"And when compared to Photons, Aether seems to have less energy than Photon, but it excels in shaping and information transfer! Hence, I can understand why it's used for high-speed communications over on his world!" Xiao further said.

Xiao was very excited on this topic. This was something new, different from what he had already know of previously. Compared to Photons, which was already abundant enough in terms of availability AND information to him, Aether was more exotic, given that technically speaking, it doesn't exist naturally in their side.

Realizing that he's about to veer off from the reason he came here, Xiao calmed himself down from the bubbling excitement of something new. Maria was only watching from the side, amused by the sight unfolding in front of her.

"Okay, with that out of the way..." Xiao sighed in satisfaction, before continuing:

"I heard that you wanted to join ARKS, and that you've graduated from the cadet academy. I want to ask you a question: who do you think control ARKS?" Xiao then immediately asked.

'And here's the million dollar question...' Josua thought.

Maria simply closed her eyes. She knew that Josua at least already have some idea, however faint or vague it might be.

"My first answer would've been the Governor-General, Regius. But... I'm sensing that's not the case, isn't it? Given the way you're asking me this?" Josua answered, clearly playing slightly dumb.

"Good one. You're right on that. That's right, Regius might be in charge in the view of the public. To the insiders, as in those in power, they all know that the real leader is not Regius. It's someone else." Xiao said, before going on:

"That someone else is supposed to be under Regius in rank. But... That person was instrumental in helping ARKS rebuilt itself after the battle against the Dark Falz thirty years ago."

"While ARKS was indeed rebuilt, it's no longer like the ARKS it used to be. Now, it's more like that person's tool. And that person is known as the head researcher of the Void Research Group, or simply known as Void. His name is Luther."

"My intentions are to return ARKS to the way it's meant to be: an organization dedicated to fight the darkness and preserve the universe." Xiao declared.

'Yes, yes, I already know.' Josua thought, rolling his eyes in his mind. To him, such a thing was already the past, since he had already defeated Luther in the previous reality.

"And to achieve that, we must depose Luther from his throne. So... Would you like to join us?" Xiao then asked.

"Yes." Josua answered flatly, with no hesitation in his voice.

"Are you sure? You will become the enemy of ARKS if Luther so wished to destroy you, you know?" Xiao asked once more.

"I know. Why do you think I'm still here and not escaping back to Earth, or just rat you out to Luther about this?" Josua posed his own question while answering.

This caught Xiao off-guard. He didn't expect that the young man in front of him to pose back.

"... You're right. There's no actual reason why you would help us, in fact. You're not even from here, so there's even less reason for you to actually help us." Xiao sighed.

"And why would you still ask then? Don't worry, I have my own reasons. And it's actually beneficial to you, though you'll only know later down the line." Josua said.

That particular answer ended the conversation on him joining Xiao's efforts to drag down Luther and rebuild ARKS. Maria was laughing out loud at this. It had been several months since she met Xiao and the two worked together.

'Seems like Xiao needs to learn more on how to be human.' She thought while chuckling at Xiao's bewildered expression.

.....

Upon graduation, as per the previously-agreed plan, Josua followed Maria in her duties, with Xiao secretly backing them up. While he hadn't joined ARKS, he at least performed the duties of one alongside her, as her protege. He joined her in her various operations to disrupt and foil Luther's numerous activities.

Also, his level had reached level 3 because of the final exam, prior to his graduation. Since he had beaten not only normal critters and their slightly stronger version, he also had defeated a Rockbear, that could still be counted as a boss! This was enough to push him to level 3, which gave him a bit of a headstart compared to any new recruits of ARKS that didn't went into the academy or finished their education there.

Thanks to the various sabotage operation that they did, Josua's level rose quickly, reaching around 35 after several operations, in the span of a year. The time gap between these operations vary, since they still need to keep themselves somewhat below Luther's attention.

To this end, Josua bought some Star Gems using his real money and rolled the Fallen Heroes scratch tickets. After spending at least 2400 Star Gems (10 rolls costs around 800 SGs, or 80 SG per Scratch Ticket), he got Persona's Mask. Alongside Persona's clothes, he donned the new outfit and mask to completely masquerade himself. Also, he tinted the clothes to be crimson red [2], in order to differentiate between himself and Persona. He went with Apprentice's hair (the new Apprentice, not Apprentice pre-AP 228), though keeping his hair black.

'Geh... This thing costs MONEY!!!' He screamed inside. No one will know though, of his wailing.

Maria was surprised when one day she saw him with the new look. She thought he was a completely different person!

"Relax, it's me, Josua." He said to her as he took off the mask with his hand to reveal his face.

"Wow. Luther would certainly not recognize you, even if he had your files or pictures of your appearance!" Maria remarked.

Of course, Xiao was also surprised when the two visited him one day. However, he was easier to recognize Josua, given he had analyzed not only the Aether patterns emitted from Josua, but also the Photons emitted from him.

"Your voice did change a little when you wear that mask. It should give you enough camouflage against Luther if somehow you meet him, though I doubt it." Xiao said after pondering.

"Xiao." Josua crossed his arms.

"What?"

"Don't jinx it, please." He facepalmed.

"...?"

And yes, Maria was once again laughing at the comedy happening in front of her at the moment. While Xiao had learned more on how humans behave from Josua's words and actions, he was still green in both Maria and Josua's eyes.

.....

During an operation to sabotage Luther's research efforts...

Maria, who had defeated the research lab's guards and subdued the resident researchers, managed to get inside a test subject's chamber. Inside, she saw something horrible, enough to incite her rage. Josua was a few steps behind her, still downloading some files before he also came into the grueling sight.

A little girl, around 10 years or even younger, was lying down on the bed. Her hair was grey, and her eyes looked like it had no life, despite the fact that she's still breathing. Her pupils were also grey.

And on her skin, there were numerous evidence of needle pricks from syringes that evidently either injected something into her, or withdrew something from her. Cut marks were also seen, while other parts were visibly bandaged. Her entire body was basically covered in medical wounds, showing that she had been subjected to various tests.

Her patient gown was also stained with blood. The some parts of the walls of the room they're in were also stained with some dried blood splashes or marks. And it was clear enough to know who the blood belongs to.

"LUUUUTHEEEERR!!! YOU FUCKING BASTARRRDD!!!!" Maria screamed in anger.

She went outside, and proceeded to destroy everything in sight. She was consumed in anger, seething with rage as she hacked and smashed with her Labrys. The lab outside the room was being reduced to hunks of metal and electronic scraps.

In the meantime, Josua, who also saw the inhumane sight in the room, immediately recognized the little girl.

'Sarah...' He thought.

He went up to her, and checked her condition. It was bad, to say the least.

"Multiple lacerations, anemia... Dammit, I knew it was enough to madden Maria, but to this extent is a bit..." Josua frowned as he examined her.

He sighed in disbelief and then proceeded to contact Xiao.

"Xiao, I need you to check this girl. See how bad she is." He asked him.

"Got it. Let's see... This is..."Xiao scanned Sarah before he was astonished and also fuming with anger.

"Luther, that bastard... Treating a little girl like this..." Xiao said while trying to keep himself from exploding in anger.

"I've sent you the files that I've managed to download. I only got some of the basic info on the girl and why Luther got her. Maria destroyed the rest before I could download the rest though..." Josua sighed as he looked to the room's entrance, sending the information to Xiao.

"Got it. Seems like... This girl... She was in contact with Clarissa The White?!" Xiao exclaimed.

"Hmm... I see, I see... No wonder..." Xiao pondered.

In the time Xiao was pondering, Maria had finished venting her rage. In essence, she had destroyed the entire facility, save for the room she saw the girl in. She then re-entered the room and went to Josua, who was holding Sarah on his arms.

"How is she?" She asked.

"Bad enough to warrant treatment. I'll give her some basic treatment, though we might have to find professional help after this." Josua replied as he took out a Trimate and squeezed it into the girl's mouth.

Sarah, at the time was in despair, drank the Trimate that was squeezed into her mouth. Her body healed at a visible rate after that, though it wasn't enough to completely heal her. Other wounds inside her needed to be treated in a hospital or the such.

"This will be enough for now. Though we should go back and get her immediate treatment." Josua said as he threw away the empty Trimate pouch.

Maria simply nodded, and took a look at the girl. Her eyes was filled with sorrow and guilt, caressing the girl's face. It was evident that her operations had been too slow to stop Luther from doing cruel experiments upon the poor lass. Josua then set up some bombs inside the room while carrying Sarah.

They left the scene soon after, and blew up the last remaining location inside the secret research base, burying the whole things into the ground. This was actually for Maria's sake, really.

During the journey home, inside the gateway ship, Maria was constantly watching over the girl, who was put on an empty row of seats, which became a substitute for a bed for Sarah.

"Sis... If you want, I can also give you the files on the girl." Josua offered Maria.

"Just... Let me take a look." She reluctantly accepted.

Ping! The file was sent to Maria's comms. She then viewed it on her own for some time.

While Maria was reading the files on Sarah, Josua looked over her. He had a complete mixed bags of feelings. In this reality, he also had siblings like in the previous reality. Difference being, aside from his second brother, the rest of his siblings were abroad in Australia, who brought along his mom and dad with them. And now, Sarah, whom he was familiar with from the previous reality, was this young, made him feel like he should help Maria in raising the girl.

"Don't worry, kiddo. You're in good hands now." He said softly, as he gently stroke her hair and sighed.

It was really different now that you're interacting with these so-called NPCs directly. And especially in this reality, where they're actual people. It's really depressing when you saw the dark events or parts of their story happening with your own eyes and experience it yourself. It's cheesy, but it's the truth. They're not some coded and modeled characters anymore. Here, they're actual people.

Maria, who was done reading the files on Sarah, went to the girl's side and stroked her head as well. She felt guilt for not getting to her fast enough, and sorrow for letting Luther do such a thing to a child like this. She swore inside that she would raise her to the best that she could, while not forgetting her mission to dismantle Luther's operation and eventually depose him.

Sarah, who was unconscious, let out a soft smile. While she was under, she could feel the big, warm hands stroking her head with care. She didn't know who it was, but she knew that she was no longer in that terrible place. She was finally safe.

.....

Sarah was brought to Xiao, somewhere in a secure location (really, it was Josua's place). At this point, Josua had installed several security measures to keep Luther, to the best that he could, from prying into the happenings inside his Personal Quarters. Be it spatial locks, multiple firewalls or the such, the whole place was secured with it.

"Thanks to your initial treatment, her injuries have lessened enough to the point it could be healed with time. However..." Xiao paused for a moment.

"However...?" Maria frowned.

"Don't worry. I have a way to heal her completely. Just leave it to me." Xiao said, thumping his chest with pride.

"Okay then. I'll leave it to you." She said, as she then sat down next to Josua and observed.

Xiao took a deep breath, and then hovered his hand above her head. His hand shone as Photons rushed from his bright hands and into Sarah. To both Josua and Maria, Xiao was seemingly using something like a more advanced healing technique arts. However, unbeknownst to them, Xiao was giving a part of his own life force to Sarah. This would cause the two to be linked forever.

As to the reason why he did this, it was because of the internal damages that was done to her, ones that couldn't be healed with any mate drinks, which also includes her robbed potential in techniques. You see, when she was found earlier on, she was already at death's door. Josua's treatment only managed to keep her from dying and managed to stabilize her a little. However, it still wasn't enough. At the very least, she could use Photon Arts without being limited later down the line, and she'll be fully healed.

After half an hour, the procedure was completed. Xiao slumped back, exhausted. Doing such a thing was already risky, and it was a given that he'd be this spent. Sarah, who was unconscious, woke up. She slowly sat up and looked around. When she finally realized she wasn't in the lab anymore, she cried out of relief. Maria went to her and hugged the little girl. Xiao smiled in happiness, while Josua sighed with a smile.

Once Sarah calmed down, she looked at the woman who had hugged her.

"Who are... You?" She asked.

"I'm Maria. The little brat who's slumped down is Xiao, and that teen is Josua. We're the ones that got you out of that hellish place." Maria replied with a smile.

"Oh..." Sarah nodded as she looked at the other two.

Xiao waved at her, while Josua nodded at her with an affectionate smile, similar to that of Maria's.

"Don't worry. We won't let you get hurt by that guy." Maria said softly as she hugged her once more and stroked her with care.

Maria had decided to adopt her informally, and raise her as both her pupil and, by proxy, her daughter. Meanwhile, Josua would also look after her as a brotherly-figure of sorts, and Xiao would be her sibling (in a sense). And thus, under their tutelage, she'll grow beyond what she had been in the previous reality.

.....

Meanwhile, in a Void Research Group Facility, located somewhere else...

A little girl was startled by the sudden rumble. She was inside her room, while she heard screams and saw outlines of people running away from a certain direction through her crystal-like door. As she went outside her room, she saw scientists and researchers being killed.

She went to the source of the whole chaos, and saw the old man, who was the head researcher there, slumped on the ground, with fear in his eyes, as he pointed towards a certain direction. When she saw the outline of the one who was supposedly responsible, she was shocked.

"HADDRED!" She shouted, while the silhouette only looked back a little, before leaving.

She slumped onto the ground. She felt shock, betrayed, sad. All the while, she mumbled, "Why, Haddred... Why?".

The whole facility was pretty much destroyed, leaving only a few places intact (including her room). Meanwhile, inside her room, there was a picture of her, alongside a dragon. There was also a writing on the picture.

"Me and my little brother, Haddred."

Not long after, rescue teams arrived to secure and help the survivors, if any. The little girl, Quna, was among them.

.....

Meanwhile, on a certain date, at a certain mall in Tokyo, Japan, Earth...

A family was walking around the mall. It's what you'd expect of a typical family in Japan nowadays, with only some differences between each family: A mother/wife, a father/husband, a son/eldest/first kid, a daughter/youngest/second kid.

The daughter was running around, while her brother was following along behind her with laughter. The parents were enjoying the moment, seeing their kids playing around.

But suddenly...

BOOOOOM!!!

An explosion occurred somewhere underground of the mall. The mall suffered damages and after a little, collapsed. What followed was a tragic event. The parents of said family were heavily injured after they managed to get to their kids and protected them. The daughter was crying. The son was trying hard to dig out in vain.

Not long after, around an hour or so after the massive shock. Rescue teams and emergency services immediately scrambled to the mall. When they arrived, they found the mall to be in ruins, with an estimation of several hundred people, at the very least, trapped under the rubble, with their status being unknown.

"Mama, they're here! Please, wake up!" The daughter said, her face riddled with her tears and her nose drooling with snot.

"Dammit, dammit DAMMIT!!!" The son punched the ground in frustration.

The father had already died. The mother, in the meantime, was on her last breath. She opened her heavy eyes and looked at her two kids, with tears dripping down from her eyes. She reached out her hand and caressed her daughter's cheeks.

"Hitsugi... Don't cry... My little girl must be strong... I... Don't regret saving you two..." She said weakly as she wiped away the tears on Hitsugi, her daughter.

"Enga... Be a good brother... Take care... Of your little sister... You're the big man now..." She turned to look at her son, the eldest child, Enga, with a soft smile.

"No! They're almost here, mama! PLEASE! Stay with us, MAMA!!!" Hitsugi screamed in sadness, tears continuing to stream down from her eyes.

"Don't worry, mom. I'll keep an eye on her." Enga nodded his head, holding back the tears forming on his eyes.

The mother, Ms. Yasaka, smiled in satisfaction, after seeing her eldest's resolve. Looking at her youngest, Hitsugi however, she felt pained to leave this world before her. But she knew there wasn't much time left. She could feel death was inching closer. Her eyes felt heavier, weary.

"Both of you... Please, live on... Both mommy and daddy love you two with all our hearts..." She said, tears streaking down her eyes, as the last embers of life was snuffed out by fate's cruel hands.

Her eyes had closed, forever. Her breathing had stopped. Her heart had stopped beating. She was no longer alive. Hitsugi continued to cry while Enga tried to calm her down by hugging her.

Literally as the mother perished, the rescuers finally reached their location after digging through the rubble. There, they found only the two kids that survived. They looked around, and saw those that can be assumed to be their parents. The two deceased were evidently in form of shielding them.

"Poor kids..." One of the rescuers sighed in pity, shaking his head.

When they found them, the daughter, Hitsugi Yasaka, only sat there. Her eyes swollen red because of her tears and cries. She was in a daze, as if the world had already ended for her. Her elder brother, Enga Yasaka, was holding her, trying in vain to console her to the best he could. The two were brought out of the ruins of the mall, and emergency medical teams immediately checked them.

From the words of their rescuers, it was later revealed that they were the only survivors of the whole accident. The two were dubbed as "mall miracle". The rescuers and EMTs tried to console them as much as they could, by saying that they were saved by the love of their parents and the such.

Later on, the news reported on the matter, and showed the two kids and gave them the moniker "mall miracle". Interviews of their previously-unknown relatives were also conducted and aired, with each relatives somehow giving a sob story. Enga, who was seeing the news on TV, wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it.

But before long, he felt as if he had awakened something. Unbeknownst to him, he had awakened his talent/affinity towards aether manipulation and control, which would allow him to manifest what would be known as Avatar Arms later down the line. And some time after, he joined Earth Guide after receiving the invitation by Adam Sacrid himself.

.....

Time passed by once more, as various things happened. Be it the inauguration of the new Klariskrays, or the new Number 6 of the Council of Six, Huey.

Note:

1. https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/84232152

2. When you change the color of your outfits, the accessories that you wear will follow your outfit's color.