Chapter 233, Something Unknown

"So, can I know why I was called here?" Zhen asked as he was tending to the flowers.

"There's just something I want to confirm with you." Reina answered. "Right now, why aren't you acting like the others?"

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" Zhen asked and this makes even her wonder.

"Well, the others are-" Before she can finish Zhen cuts her off.

"If you're wondering why I'm not afraid like the others its because I already know the answer." He answered her and smiles. "Arata never left me before and he'll never leave me or us. My only job is to make sure that he gets home safely."

"Oh I didn't expect that the most clingy of the Braves of Arata would be the most calm." Reina states and Zhen smiled sadly. "Oh did I make my assumption too early?"

"Oh, not really. I'm not exactly calm I'm scared too but if let the fear consume me then everything Arata has done for me will be in vain." He answered with a smile and that's when Reina knew that he was alright now.

"Then I'm glad to know that I won't have to be worried about a certain someone anymore." She smiled. "Well, take care, Zhen."

She takes her leave and Zhen simply smiled before going back to the plants. He tended to them as the winds swayed the flowers that bloomed at the place where his resolved was made.

---

"I didn't expect you to calm, Andrew-senpai." Lalina stated and Andrew simply smiled. "I really thought you would be the type to panic or worry but instead you're so calm it's frightening."

"Arata has been by my side through thick and thin. I've faced death and more by his side so I think I can say this with pride." He says. "Arata won't leave us behind, if anything he'd drag us with him. What we need is the resolve to follow him. And it's something my father has already given me."

"What do you mean?" She asked and he smiled and held out a watch.

"This watch was given to me by my old man. It's proof of his love and my mothers resolve. I'm not letting either one of them down." He answered with pride. "I'm not letting go of the hand that held me in the dak till the very end."

Lalina smiled and sighed at the same time.

"I wanted to act cool like Hinako and Felalona too." She sighed and satd won beside him. "I take it you're fully committed to this?"

"I am." He answered.

"Then please, make sure that Arata comes home safely." She says and he smiled.

"Of course I will." He answered.

----

"So Ethan is actually not afraid?" Kaye asked as she was with Ethan who was inside the laboratory.

"Of course not. I'm not afraid, I'm just unsure." He answered and she tilted her head.

"Unsure of what?" She asked.

"Of what I should to take the first step." He answered. "After all, all this time it's always been him. He's been the one who's been dragging me everywhere."

"I think that's fine." Kaye smiled as she noticed Ethan's face. "As long as you're already committed then it's fine."

"Thanks." He smiled and handed her a cup of coffee. "It's bitter but it's all I have here."

"Thank you but I have to get going. I only stopped by to see how you were doing." She stated and turned down his coffee. "Well, I'll take my leave, Ethan."

"Take care." He smiled as she left the room.

Ethan had already set his heart on what his next goal was. All this time he was only following Arata's lead, so it was time for him to stand beside him as his Sword.

-----

"So, how are they?" Hinako asked as she and the girls gathered at the cafeteria with the others.

"I think they'll be just fine." Kaye smiled and the others nodded.

"So where are they right now?" Theo asked.

"Having a discussion in the Group Room." Van answered with a smile.

Inside the Group Room the eight Braves were seated in their chairs.

"So, are we all ready?" Will asked the nodded.

"This time, not as his swords, not as his shields, not as his Braves." Liam says.

"But as his family, we take our stand." Alistar says.

"Not because he choose us." Reinhardt added.

"Not by coincidence or by luck." Alexis smiled.

"Not for him but for ourselves." Zhen stated.

"To protect that which is precious to us." Andrew stated.

"So as to not let the lamplight we found go out." Ethan added.

"The eight Braves now make a vow! No matter what, no matter where, no matter when, we will stand beside Arata!" They vowed in unison. "To protect the one who saved us we stand up not as his Braves but as his friends and family!"

When the eight say these words a golden light engulfed their Crests.

The Sacred Flower blooms in a radiance not known to even Arata.

"What was that?!" Hiro exclaimed as he and the Braves were at cafeteria. "That was a tremendous amount of Vi."

"Proof, of a bond that cannot be severed even by death." Spiro stated. "And of a resolve that cannot be broken even by fate."

"You seem very different." Licht says and stares at Spiro.

"The fate's end draws ever nearer, the wanderer now walks along the thin line of two worlds. Let not the walker tilt over to one side, for that which crosses cannot return." Spiro spoke in a trance like state that they wondered if this was his ability or a Blessing Arata may have given him. "It's coming, swiftly like the echoes of twilight. The ship has departed and the voyagers have boarded. The path is revealed and the truth will soon be unveiled."

"Is it his ability? Something similar to my Clairvoyance?" Diana asked.

"Come Braves, the end is within reach. Forward Fate, the moment of choice." He continued.

For a while there was silence, till the air around Spiro began to return to normal. The three Called Walkers stare at each other before nodding in agreement of something unknown.