Fusion

"How did that happen?"

"If I may," dared Chie, "I think the girl wished to go with Richard Blade of Wurth. So, when the break was over, instead of remaining with us, she ended up being transported to The Lost Kingdom of Hesperia manga."

Saitou and Chie kneeled before their commander, a sturdy fifty-year-old man in dark-silver armor with piercing eyes of a samurai. An old man with a long, straight, and perfectly white beard was also present at the discussion. He was the Venerable, a highly respected man within Manime's hierarchy. The two exchanged concerned looks.

"It is possible," observed the Venerable.

The commander rubbed his chin nervously.

"Why couldn't she be contained before meeting Richard Blade of Wurth?" He had a thundering, yet concerned voice.

"The break started just when we were about to take her into our custody," replied Saitou in a defeated voice. "It is possible that we spent too much time inside the antechamber. But if it was not that, then it was probably because she had fused. She must have made an easier connection with Manime."

"She fused with a character?" asked the Venerable thoughtfully.

"Yes!" replied Chie and Saitou almost at the same time.

"How come you didn't retain her before the fusion took place?" asked the commander, irritated.

"She fused almost instantly," answered Chie fearfully. "It was a surprise for us as well! Her arrival inside the antechamber was rather rough as if she had had an accident and fell. It seemed she didn't realize what happened to her. When we approached at a fair distance, she freaked out and started running aimlessly. We could have reached her easily if she stayed in her human form, but in only a few seconds she fused. Her movements' agility increased once she gained the character's abilities."

"You are trained guardians! She's still a normal human girl! From what I understand, the character she fused with is not even a trained fighter or sportsman—rather a noble lady!" the commander raised his voice. His eyes were angry.

Saitou looked down. Chie gazed at her partner worriedly.

"We were not prepared to deal with a fused person," admitted Saitou in a low tone.

"He's right!" remarked the Venerable. "Guardians are not allowed to use the master techniques freely. Admittedly, a fusion between a human and a character is the most challenging target a guardian can meet."

Sitting in his big chair, the commander nervously tapped the chair's left arm with his fingers. The old man stood up, only two steps away from him with his face in the opposite direction.

"It's only your fault Soph," started the commander. "You brought these restrictions! If it was for me, I would have had my guardians permitted to use any technique at any time!"

"You know that was not a good idea Krieg," responded the Venerable in a soft, patient tone. "There was a high risk of abuse. Abuse would have only intensified the aftereffects. Besides, it's so rare to deal with fusions…"

"Well, we NOW have a FUSION that moves freely in a manga because the guardians had techniques restrictions!" burst out Krieg scornfully. "Tell me Soph, what about the AFTEREFFECTS of this event?"

Chie and Saitou froze. Soph seemed as calm as ever.

"It wouldn't be worse than in other circumstances. The girl got here by accident, if I understood correctly. From what Chie and Saitou say, she hasn't figured out yet what this place is nor is she interested in it. She probably only wants to return home. It shouldn't be too hard to send her back."

"If it was easy, we wouldn't be here talking about this!" muttered Krieg.

"I believe your guardians scared her unnecessarily," remarked Soph in the same soft voice, glancing at Chie and Saitou.

Saitou looked away.

"She never gave us any time to explain things," intervened Chie in hers and Saitou's defense.

The girl ran from them because they looked scary to her. There had been occasions when they could have talked to her nonetheless. It might have worked. She might have listened. But they freaked out too, especially when she fused so fast. As if that was not bad enough, Saitou had promoted an offensive attitude from the beginning as he usually did in similar circumstances. However, Chie couldn't speak against him, especially now when his spirits were so low. Besides, he hadn't been ill intended.

Soph looked at her piercingly.

"Miss Chie, can you honestly say there was absolutely no occasion to address the girl and then speak to her in more reasonable conditions?"

Chie remained silent. Saitou had talked her into catching the girl as soon as they could since there was not enough time to gain her trust and make her listen to them. Her penitent avoidant look with her eyes half-covered by her eyelids said more than she wished. The old man spoke to her in a calm yet firm tone:

"We have to avoid at all costs causing humans to express powerful emotions. Fear is, regretfully, one of the worst," he finished in a sorrowful tone. Chie moved her eyes to the ground.

"Well, it seems that now we still have to retrieve the girl in the most discreet manner. And we must hope that this whole incident will not create a disaster between our worlds!" intervened Krieg. He looked skeptical at Soph.

"Oh! Stop being so dramatic, Krieg! It's not the first time when a fusion got lost in a story! If I recall correctly, you were here the last time when it happened and both worlds survived. You were a rookie too back then and you still did well!"

"And whom do you say we should send to The Lost Kingdom of Hesperia?" Krieg changed the subject.

Saitou suddenly raised his head with desperate eyes. He wanted to say something but his words wouldn't come out. Chie spoke in his stead.

"Please Comma—" she began, but Krieg gave her a sign to remain silent.

"You two scared the girl and sent her directly into a manga!" he said furiously, stressing every word.

Chie knew it was a gamble, but she couldn't prevent herself from trying.

"We know the owner of the poster!" she said.

Saitou looked at her horrified. Soph and Krieg became suddenly curious. If Chie was honest with herself, she wouldn't have mentioned that detail if she could, but desperate situations required desperate measures.

"The owner of the poster got inside, but never passed the antechamber!" continued Chie.

"Chie convinced that person to stay away to prevent casualties for both our worlds," added Saitou to support his colleague.

"She kept her word so far," carried on Chie, strengthening her partner's statement. "She didn't return even if she knew how to do it. This girl that fused is one of her apartment colleagues. I think we are the most appropriate persons to handle this situation," she bravely concluded.

"The owner," added Saitou, "the poster's owner is The Lost Kingdom of Hesperia's author too!" His words had the expected impact. Soph and Krieg immediately started a heated discussion in a whispered tone. Chie and Saitou waited with patience. After a while, Krieg turned to them.

"This girl that fused, she fused with one of The Lost Kingdom of Hesperia's characters if I'm not wrong."

Chie and Saitou nodded affirmatively.

"The author must have created a character after their friend." Krieg turned to Soph again for confirmation. "That explains why the two have fused so fast!"

"Krieg, I think you should give these two another chance. Obviously, they did a great job with the other human who came here."

"But you said they were the ones to blame for spooking our current visitor."

"True! But at the time I wasn't aware they actually talked a human into willingly retreating from the antechamber. That's one of the best moves a guardian can do. However,..."

He turned to Saitou and Chie:

"You have to be as discreet as possible and don't use any master technique inside The Lost Kingdom of Hesperia. You must disguise yourselves as irrelevant characters and refrain from using your best abilities to avoid any unnecessary influence on the story! Even if it takes a longer time, you must bear patiently. Otherwise, there will be consequences that we cannot control." Soph made a pause. "I trust you will act responsibly for everyone's sake!" The old man's piercing gaze felt scarier than Commander Krieg's anger.

Krieg was relieved when the discussion finally ended. At last, he could give his guardians unlimited use of their abilities and send them to work! He wanted some action and results for a change. Knowing that a human was on the loose inside Manime gave him great anxiety and discontent. This situation had to end fast!

"You will be exclusively handling this operation!" commanded Krieg. "I will assign other guardians to take care of the barrier!"

Chie and Saitou looked hesitant to their commander.

"But if a human is here, we—" began Saitou reluctantly.

"I know!" interrupted Krieg. "We won't close the barrier until this girl is safely sent back to her world. But I want the watch doubled, just in case more "visitors" pop in. Speaking of the barrier, what is its status?"

Chie and Saitou exchanged embarrassed looks. Krieg could already tell that there was no good news. He let out a bored sigh.

"How bad?"

"It was almost ready before the poster's owner entered the antechamber, but after her visit…" Saitou stopped.

"It got worse," continued Chie in a small voice. "Last time we checked, the poster had a vacuum effect which activated when you approached less than 10 centimeters from it."

Commander Krieg rubbed his face displeased.

"Could this have contributed to how the girl got inside?" he asked.

"It is possible," confessed Chie. Saitou nodded in confirmation. "However, we cannot tell for sure," she quickly added.

"It may be even worse now that this new visitor has arrived," observed Krieg in a muttering voice as if he was talking to himself.

Saitou and Chie were preparing to leave when Soph, who had remained silent during the last conversation, cleared his throat to make himself noticed. The two guardians turned their eyes at him with a feeling of uneasiness.

"One more thing," began the old man. "I couldn't help but notice the fondness in your tone and eyes when you mentioned the poster's owner. If it comes to it, would you say this human could be trusted to help us? I assume the girl's friends do want her to come back. If things prolong, they will become worried about her absence."

Krieg stared at Soph as if he wanted to guess what was in the old man's mind. His idea troubled him. Involving another human? As if Soph had guessed the commander's thoughts, he looked in Krieg's inquisitive eyes and calmed him down:

"I don't mean to bring this person here! But if this human is both The Lost Kingdom of Hesperia's author and the girl's friend, they could provide meaningful insight."

It was the Venerable's originality that was the most disturbing for Krieg. Chie and Saitou shared their commander's feelings. It seemed like the old man hadn't wasted the time during his silent reflections. As no one hurried to give him any answer, Chie took the initiative:

"If it comes to it," she began reluctantly, "Yes! I think she will help us!" Chie ended in a firm tone.

Saitou and the commander glared at her as if she was a traitor.

Chie was a little taken aback by their reaction, especially Saitou's who had been with her when they met Konoko. He knew perfectly well that not only had she accepted their request to stay away from Manime, but she had offered to cover for them if they needed to use her room again.

"You are dismissed!" commanded Krieg in a stiff manner. "I expect frequent and detailed reports of the operation's status!" he added.

Right after they left the commander's room, Saitou sped up, leaving Chie behind.

"Hey!" she shouted, rushing after him.

She caught his arm. Saitou broke free from her grasp with a forceful gesture.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked in a high irritated voice.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? How could you even imply that it was okay to ask a human for help?"

" 'If it comes to it…' that's what the Venerable asked! Besides, you acknowledged too that it was an advantage that Konoko was The Lost Kingdom of Hesperia's author! Why would you even bother mentioning it if you didn't consider asking for her help?"

"I never acknowledged anything!" protested Saitou. "I only specified that she was the manga's author!"

"Well, you clearly mentioned this detail because you saw it as an advantage! You can't fool me! You knew perfectly well that the Venerable and the commander would not ignore it!"

"The commander wouldn't want us to involve another human! You saw his reaction! Look at me Chie," he added furiously. "There's NO WAY I will ask for that GIRL's help! Not ever!"

The last words sounded so piercingly that Chie thought their sound would remain forever inside the walls, just like engraved letters.