The Way Back

~Kari & Kentaro~

Jade Rabbit: <What did you two do at the spa anyway?>

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~Kelphy & Derek~

Kelphy: <I... I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted earlier.>

*She narrows her eyes, as though attempting to see Derek's reflection on the window.*

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~Crowley~

*The child clone dashes forward, double slashing at Crowley at high speed before leaping back several yards and shooting a purple lightning bolt at him from his palm.*

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~Creed~

*He staggers back and darts upwards into the air to a point where he's slightly above Creed's height. He then starts hammering his giant sword down against the ground while seemingly floating around Creed, creating an upward explosion of sand with each hit.*

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~Spade~

*Spade gets up and dashes towards his child self, his body being covered by flames. The clone darts high into the sky and lands a ways behind Razz as he slows down and the flames disappear. He turns around and hurls a set of flaming daggers at the clone. One of them flies right through his left shoulder, splattering blood backward. He sidesteps the others, his eyes tearing up.*

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~Lucien & Allina~

Allina: <No tickling, please!>

*She attempts to run away from the hands, but having water up to her chest she fails miserably. She starts laughing uncontrollably.*

Allina: <Razz, stop!>

*With this, she trips in her attempt to run and sinks forward face-first into the water.*

Lucien lifts her up with his shadow hands, "Who's Razz eh?"

---

Creed pushes the sand back with a wall of ice, "ANSWER ME MAXWELL!"

*Crowley jumps back to avoid the slashes, and then sidesteps the bolt of lightning, running straight past it and towards his younger self. He jumps into the air and throws knives at him, and then quickly lands on the ground a few feet in front of him and throws more at him.*

*Derek raises his eyebrow.*

Derek: <Why are you sorry?>

Kentaro:<We got cake. And saved you a piece which you inhaled.>

~Kari & Kentaro~

Jade Rabbit: <Yes, that was delicious. But are you sure that's all you did there?>

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~Kelphy & Derek~

Kelphy: <Well... you told me how you felt and... I just avoided talking to you.>

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~Crowley~

*The kid backflips, kicking every single dagger back with high speed kicks before landing and dashing forward to swing a fist at Crowley's balls.*

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~Creed~

{You be quiet in my shrine! I don't care about you, but you are Celsius' new master and I want to see her, so you have to bring her to me.}

*The lands a few feet away and rams his sword forward towards Creed's torso.*

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~Spade~

*The clone draws daggers and they start locking blades blocking each other's quick blows.*

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~Lucien & Allina~

Allina: <Who? I don't know. I think I wanna go inside now. Put me down, Lucy?>

*Crowley does a backflip into the air to gain distance, and then throws more knives in midair towards his younger clone.*

Kentaro:<We had a nice dinner. I don't know what it was I ordered, but it put me off from trying something new ever again.>

Lucien puts her down. "Sorry..."

---

"PISS OFF OLD MAN!!" Creed's eyes become a crackle of blue mana as he fully taps into Celsius's energy. Wrought from Creed's massive explosion of anger at being toyed with with an equally massive explosion of ice and snow from the area as his magic goes wild and out of control. Shards of ice erupting at random.

====

On the outside Creed was going berserk but in his own mental world all was tranquil. Creed floated among blue ice crystals as he called out to Celsius, "Why am I like this Celsius? Why can't I freeze my own emotions? Try as I might I can't stop them from pouring out. My anger, my sadness, my desire. I want to throw them away but I can't. Even now I continue to lose control. Why can't I let go Celsius... I want to... but... I can't forget... I can't... why can't I let go of my pain. I can't forget no matter how hard I try... I can't..."

~Flashback~

Creed was shaking. Looking at the blood on his hands and to the blond haired girl who lay dead at his feet. There was a sword stuck inside her and a knife in her hand. Blood... it was everywhere, "Em- Emily..." a young Creed croaked out before he turned and puked. Creed's sister was slain by his hand in a fit of rage brought on by what Creed thought was her betrayal. She had succumb to madness in reality.

There was so much blood and bile. Creed huddled over and cried. The memories blurred.

All the time he spent with her. Creed as a sickly boy was confined to the Baticule manor. Emily was his eyes and ears. She told him of the world outside.

He killed her. He killed his own sister.

~End Flashback~

Creed crumples into a heap in his mind. A crying wreck wrought with emotional pain.

Derek: <You needed your space. No big deal.>

*He smiles warmly.*

~Kari & Kentaro~

Jade Rabbit: <You should've ordered red carrots. Red carrots are the stuff of dreams. Do you guys want me to leave you alone to do boyfriend/girlfriend things?>

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~Kelphy & Derek~

*She turns to face him, her face all flushed.*

Kelphy: <(I can't return your feelings.)>

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~Crowley~

*One them grazes the clone's neck, making a small cut in it from which blood drips. The clone dashes towards Crowley at great speed and leaps towards him aiming to tackle him, his body enveloped in purple lightning.*

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~Creed~

*The clone's hurled away, heavily damaged, and his sword shatters. He stands up and put his hands on the sand. Lightning starts shooting out of the ground beneath Creed.*

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~Lucien & Allina~

*A while later, Allina has gone to a bedroom to rest. Aera is back outside, staring into the horizon, and a couple of sailors belonging to the crew and talking a ways up the path.*

Kentaro:<Aren't we supposed to be going to some island?>

Lucien sits down on a smooth, flat rock and just enjoys the gentle breeze.

---

Creed's still having an emotional breakdown in his mind and flipping his shit outside his mental world.

Derek: <Ah. Okay then.>

*Crowley glares in awe at the lightning surrounding his younger self.*

Crowley: <How the hell are you doing something I can't even do?!>

*Crowley draws his sword from its sheath and holds it in front of him.*

Crowley: <It's nice seeing how I looked back then and all, but get lost!>

*Crowley also dashes at the boy at a high speed, lunging forward with the sword aimed at the clone's stomach.*

~Kari & Kentaro~

Jade Rabbit: <I don't think we'll arriving there for a few hours. So, do you?>

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~Kelphy & Derek~

Kelphy: <It's just that...>

[You have to... I have to.]

Kelphy: <I want to... I do, but... you're His M-Majesty, the King of Sephira. So... so I can't.>

*She stares at his feet, too nervous and embarrassed to look him in the eyes.*

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~Crowley~

*The clone is unable to stop and the sword pierces right through his skinny torso. He stumbles back, the blade sliding out of him. His eyes glow purple and he slashes at Crowley with his copied sword.*

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~Creed~

*Several lightning bolts strike Creed at the same time, the pain pulling him out of his mental struggle long enough to hear a sound that resembles a gust of wind echoing in his head. It seems to whisper his name, repeatedly, and after a couple times he starts hearing Celsius's voice within it.*

[Celsius: <Creed... Snap out of it!>]

*Blue light burts from his body only to be sucked back in, his mana being contained by the Aeldi.*

{You interfere with my trials without my permission, Celsius?}

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~Lucien & Allina~

*Allina walks up to Lucien from behind and sits down on another rock next to him. She just closes her eyes and feels the breeze as well for a few minutes. Then, she takes a deep breath and opens them.*

Allina: <My big brother. Razz was my big brother.>

*Derek laughs.*

Derek: <And you're a princess of Alda, soon to be Queen. It didn't stop me, and you're much stronger than I am. If I can do it, you most certainly can.>

"Your brother?" he pauses, "Did he..." Lucien starts but decides against finishing. There's an awkward silence before Lucien says, "Thank you, Allina, for saving me."

---

Creed falls to his knees and he hears Celsius's words. "You... you..." he rises, "You better not lay a hand on my partner Maxwell. Magical or otherwise. If you do I swear it I will find a way to kill you." Creed was madder than ever before but now that rage wasn't out of control storm but something far more tranquil... and far more dangerous.

*Crowley sidesteps a bit, but couldn't completely dodge. It scratches his left arm a bit. Not too severe, but a slight sting.*

Crowley: <Well, it's safe to assume that you're not normal at this point...>

*Crowley retaliates by swinging his sword to aim for a swift slash to the throat, at the same time pulling out a throwing knife with his left hand and throws it, aiming to hit him in the knee.*

*Unsure what to say Kentaro looks over to Kari who stands by blushing.*

"O... Okay."

~Kari & Kentaro~

*The rabbit smiles broadly and hops to the ground and out of the bridge. Now, the only other person around is the old pilot, who is steering the airship at the opposite side of the large room.*

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~Kelphy & Derek~

Kelphy: <...I love my kingdom. If I were to be with you it'd... *sigh*, I don't want Alda to lose its independence.>

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~Crowley~

*He dodges the slash to the neck just barely, but the knife stabs into his knee. He falls to the ground and grabs Crowley's anckle, causing a wave of electricity and energy to run through his body, causing him great pain.*

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~Creed~

*Maxwell doesn't speak. The clone dashes towards Creed, repeatedly punching at him.*

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~Lucien & Allina~

Allina: <I didn't save you. You saved me. I'm not strong enough to save anyone...>

*She turns to him and attempts at chuckling.*

Allina: <...ask Ollie.>

"If you hadn't come when you did I wouldn't have had the chance to save you. I'd have been dead. I owe you a lot Allina." Lucien slides over on his rock and pats it so she could sit next to him. He smiles warmly.

---

Creed blocks by covering his forearms in ice bracers then counters by smashing the flat of his blade into his clone's face.

*Crowley surges with the pain of the electricity, and then jolts backwards a few feet, on one knee.*

Crowley: <Dammit...>

Kentaro:<Want to go up to the observation deck?>

"Okay."

*The two go to the observation deck.*

Derek: <Then don't let it. We can get married secretly, and not let the marriage affect the political status of our countries.>