A Hint Of Something Great

Souta woke up in a mansion that was unbelievably large. His room was the size of a house. His bed was made out of real gold. It was the comfiest thing he had ever slept on. Large stone pillars lined from the ground to the ceiling and statues of different people and swords sat in the corners.

Naoki: “Souta? Souta?! Are you okay?”

Souta: “Ah, relax. You’re screaming in my ear and I just woke up. Agh! My wound isn’t fully healed yet.”

Naoki: “Sit back. Don’t try to get up.”

Souta: “Tch. This sucks. What the hell was that? We’re powerless aren’t we? Mom would be disappointed in me I bet.”

Naoki: “No she wouldn’t. Now dad, he might be upset wherever he is.”

They both laughed in sync. Naoki was the only person that Souta could actually be honest with. They were not brothers, but Naoki’s parents raised Souta as a young boy. Souta felt a lot of love for them and ever since they died, he had not been able to return to his original self unless he talked to Naoki. Out in the world, he chose to put on a persona to show his strength, but inside, he was weaker than most. Although, that was the question, does caring make you weak?

Natsuki: “How’s the lad doing? Good I bet.”

Naoki: “Yes sir. Thank you.”

Natuski: “My pleasure. I’ll leave you two to it, but my boss wants a little rundown of what happened though. Real quick, can you tell me what exactly happened before Shin came after you guys?”

Souta: “Damn right. You better explain it well, Naoki. We went through hell. We got transported out of nowhere to that stupid place for 3 weeks and then I got attacked by that stupid guy.”

Naoki: “I know. We shouldn’t have taunted Astro about Shin. The rumors we heard were obviously not correct. We embarrassed ourselves. I didn’t know that it was his power that sent us there. He didn’t even know who we were. He just did that probably to have fun and now we ended up with a beating and you’re going to have a scar across your chest for the rest of your life.”

Natsuki: “Doesn’t sound so good. Give me as much detail as possible. I’ll relay it back to him. Sorry about what you all had to go through. That is our fault. We should’ve been there. That is our job as swordsmen. Please forgive me.”

Naoki told him everything that happened before Natuski walked out of the room back to his duties.

Souta: “He’s not gonna believe us.”

Naoki: “No. He will. He’s smarter than he seems. He’ll trust us. When this is all said and done, we can go back to searching.”

Souta: “Are you insane? We can’t go back to that land. We need stronger allies. If it’s not there, then imagine the place that it will be.”

Naoki: “Yeah, yeah. I know. It’s not going to be easy. I thought we got lucky when we got sent down there, but I quickly realized that it wouldn’t have been there. That was just a false reality.”

Souta: “Yeah, and now we’re screwed. Maybe there are really only 70 chaplets, Naoki.”

Naoki: “Don’t worry. We’ll find it. When you’re healed, we’ll go get some more people and head off to the Land of the Rising Phoenix. I won’t stop until I find it or I die. The ultimate power. The 71st of its kind. The Lost Chaplet.”

Back in the main hall of the Association, Natsuki kneeled down in front of a large white and gold plated throne with a young boy that sat in it.

Iki: “What’s the report on Felopsten and Tonstein?”

Natsuki: “Everything was taken care of with love. Felopsten is in slight shambles. I got there a little late. I apologize. Tonstein took a little longer than expected and I wanted to make sure people didn’t get hurt.”

Iki: “That’s alright. It’s not just you. We all got to places late. I can’t do much when the Great Swordsmen aren’t all aligned. You, Wally, and Yahiko can’t be in multiple places at the same time. Grandpa didn’t tell me everything that happened in the past, but I know that you all won’t ever come together again.”

Natsuki: “I can enlighten you later on that boss along with my other reports. Is there anything you need from me now?”

Iki: “I could sure use a drink right now. Would you join me, Natsuki? I know I’m a little young, but I feel like the world is falling apart lately. I would love it if you would have a chat with me.”

Natsuki: “If you would love to do so, then I will love it as well. Love is what this world is about. It cannot fall. As long as one person loves another, then it will never perish. Let’s go, master.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, a group of delinquents had made their way to the destroyed City of Thieves where a new teleporter was just finished. They had differing intentions. They didn’t care about Carmen’s Dungeon. Instead, they wanted to destroy it again to prevent others from going through.

As they approached, a young girl with black hair and pigtails was kicking her feet back and forth in front of the teleporter.

???: “Hey, looks like we can bring her in for some money. Slaves go for a high amount nowadays.”

They leaned forward in her sight.

???: “Hey there little girl. Where are your parents? Do you need us to help you?”

She responded with her name first and then proceeded to have a conversation.

Caroline: “No, I’m okay. Thanks though!”

???: “Hey boys, I think we are going to have a problem here. Say? I think you should come with us…Capture her and then break the teleporter.”

Caroline: “No. I’m not going anywhere. I need to make sure people like you don’t destroy this. That’s what daddy said.”

???: “Huh? Who’s your dad, kid?”

Caroline: “Mugen Oririo.”

???: “Wh-What? Mugen? Oh, this makes this day even better. We are going to make a fortune! Get her boys.”

Caroline: “Mhm, nope. I don’t like you all…Wand of Glory.”

The men in front of her exploded in less than a second. Blood stained the area. The leader of the group, Lin, was the only person left. He was sprayed with his own men’s blood.

Lin: “Y-You m-monster! Monster! Monster! Monster! What the hell are you?!”

He followed his men with the same fate and exploded when Caroline chanted those words. She continued kicking her feet and guarding the teleporter while giggling and singing a made up song of hers.

Caroline: “Oh Carmen’s Dungeon, Carmen’s Dungeon it is for me. Carmen’s Dungeon, Carmen’s Dungeon, what will I seeeeee? Oh, that’s not the right pitch. Maybe I’ll try to change the words to the song. No, I like the words. Maybe my voice is getting worse. And just when I thought I was a good singer.”