Dissidia Rebirth 21

Dissidia Rebirth

Xxxxx

Get together VII-XIII

Xxxxx

"Not another step closer."

Yumi's face contorted into a pout as Seth's eyes narrowed, his crimson hues boring into the young ninja's brown. Slowly realizing that she can't get any closer to the black haired male, Yumi stealthily made her way towards Sky whom was sitting underneath a shade of one of the rocks, polishing one of his prized swords. Watching Yumi make her way towards his friends, the brown clad male heaved out a sigh. Though he had just met her, he somehow feels like as though she was going to be the death of him one day.

Shoving his thoughts away from Yumi, Seth instead turned his attention to the silver haired female of the group, wondering where she had wondered off when she had volunteered to scout ahead.

The group of four had decided to take a rest after a day of being stuck in the desert, slowly realizing that getting out of the heated barren land was going to take longer than they had anticipated.

Having no water from the very beginning of their journey, Atia had volunteered to scout ahead for water, claiming she'll return when she found a source. It's been several hours now and the silver haired female have yet to return.

Heaving out a sigh of concern, Seth turned his crimson eyes back towards Sky and Yumi just barely able to witness Sky slashing at Yumi with one of his trusted blades, giving her a warning to back off, his hand hovering protectively over his belt of Materia. Giving him another one of her pouts, Yumi ran off to one of the larger rocks, disappearing into its shadow.

Wondering how the young ninja has the ability to do that, Seth's eyes returned to the horizon, sitting on his perch upon a rock, scanning for the familiar glint of silver.

"Hey Seth."

Hearing his name being called, Seth turned his crimson eyes towards Sky, whom was walking towards him however, his mako eyes was staring into the horizon, "Do you see that?"

This caused the brown clad male to raise an eyebrow, turning his gaze towards the direction of where his friend was staring, "...No."

Sky frowned, turning his eyes towards the older male, "Look closer."

"Sky, have you already forgotten that my senses aren't as enhanced as yours?" Seth snapped, causing the blonde to stare at him bewilderingly, "I can only see so far with human eyes."

Staring at his friend for several minutes, Sky's eyes widen in realization and nodded his head in apology in which, Seth responded with a nod of his own, "So what do you see anyways? Is it Atia?"

Sky turned his eyes back towards the horizon as he shook his head, "No, far from it. I can't exactly call out the details however what I can tell is that they're both carrying weapons."

This caused Seth to stand up, drawing his gun from its holster, "Are they hostile?"

Once again, Sky shook his head, "To be honest, not a hundred percent sure but we have to be on- Yumi!"

He gave the young ninja a glare as she jumped back, sticking her tongue out once more before she ran back into the safety of the shadows.

"Seriously? How can her parents deal with her?" Sky muttered as he turned his mako eyes towards the horizon.

"They don't."

"Say what?" The Ex-Soldier turned his gaze back towards his friend however, Seth's eyes were already back onto the horizon, his crimson eyes struggling to catch the detail that Sky had spotted.

Staring at his friend for several more minutes, Sky heaved out a frustrated sigh before turning his glowing blue eyes back towards the desert, his keen sight keeping track of the growing figures coming towards them.

Xxxxx

"Why a desert of all places Sparrow?" Aria muttered as she brushed some of her black strands back behind her ear, "What makes you think that they're here?"

Process of elimination, Sparrow calmly replied, causing his older sister to stare at him in confusion, "Process of elimination? How can you process an entire world, majority of which, I have to add, we didn't even see?"

Sparrow pondered for a moment, turning his gaze upwards away from the burning sun as he contemplated on his answer,If you want an answer, I'm not one hundred percent sure if the ones we're looking for are here or not.

In response, Aria gave her brother a wide eyed look, "You're not one hundred percent sure? And we're looking in a desert!?"

The black haired male gave his sister an annoyed look, Hey, at least it's a lead. He turned his eyes back towards in front of him, It's better than wondering around aimlessly hoping that we'll find a clue.

"...Aren't we doing that right now?"

Shut up.

Giving her brother a gentle smile, Aria placed a hand upon his head and ruffled his hair, getting a slap on the hand in response. "Ow," She whined as she took several steps back and rubbed her hand, "That hurt you know?"

Then don't do that, Sparrow snapped, earning himself a sheepish grin in response, "Someone is in a bad mood today."

Sparrow just gave his sister a blank look, Oh like traveling to a new world away from home, forced to participate in a war where's there's a chance you might not get out of it is putting you in a good mood?

When he got a sheepish laugh as his only response, Sparrow rolled his azure eyes, Sometimes I wonder if we truly are related.

In response, Aria pouted, "Of course we are, I was there when you were born.

...Was it necessary to bring that up?

"As a job of being of your older sister, of course!"

Sparrow placed a hand onto his forehead and sighed, Let's just find these other warriors so that we can participate in this war and go back home.

"Alright!" Aria chirped as she saluted before sprinting forward, catching Sparrow completely off guard, Aria? Aria wait!

Ignoring the calls of her younger brother, Aria continued to sprint, smiling as she heard her brother curse afterwards, his running footsteps clear that he was running after her.

"Race you Sparrow!" She laughed, hearing her younger brother curse once again.

Aria! Stop! I'm ser-

The connection of her brother was suddenly caught off from Aria's mind as she suddenly found herself slamming into a force broader and most definitely bigger than she. Stunned by the sudden collision, Aria found herself falling backwards onto the sandy earth, the connection with her brother once again reconnecting as she heard Sparrow calling her once more. Shaking her head to clear her vision, Aria found herself looking at leather boots before bringing her eyes upwards into glowing blue eyes. The instance their eyes connected, the person narrowed his eyes, raising one of his hands so that his large blade was placed onto his shoulders, "What do you want?"

Hearing the serious tone in his voice caused Aria to stare up flabbergasted, her mouth hanging open before the blonde teen as she responded, "Uhm...Sorry?"

Aria!

Hearing Sparrow calling her name, Aria turned herself around, just in time to see her younger brother unsheathe his weapon from his waist as he swung it to the side before coming to an abrupt stop just several feet away from her.

Are you okay?

Hearing her brother voicing his concern, the black haired female just smiled, "Are you worried about me, Sparrow?"

This earned Aria a blank look, Does it seem like that I"m worried about you?

"So mean!" Aria pouted before she felt something cold being placed upon her bare shoulders.

"Who are you?"

Gulping, Aria turned her brown eyes towards her brother whom had narrowed his eyes at the person in front of them, his hands clenching tightly around his weapon.

"Aren't you going to answer?" the teen demanded, applying pressure to his blade causing Aria to gasp before she lowered herself, releasing some of the pressure upon her bare skin.

Sparrow clenched his teeth, his eyes narrowing even further as he took a step closer, causing the blonde to turn the edge of his blade so the sharp edge was pointed towards Aria's neck, "Don't be so hasty."

"S-Sparrow?" Aria stammered, causing the black haired male to turn his blue eyes towards his sister, causing their eyes to connect. Immediately, a wave of concern flashed over the older Leonhart's eyes. True there was anger in her younger brother's eyes but there was also pure fear in there as well.

"Sky, just because they started running towards here doesn't mean they're a threat."

All eyes turned to behind the young blonde as a brown clad male landed behind him, moving forward until he was beside the leather clad blonde, "I have to apologize for my friend, he sometimes can be a bit...paranoid when it comes to meeting newcomers."

"Hey!" Sky retorted, his mako eyes glaring at his friend whom kept his attention on Aria and Sparrow, "My name is Seth Valentine and this is my friend, Sky Strife." He moved the blade away from Aria's neck, earning himself a look of disdain as Seth nodded his head towards the two Leonharts, "And you are?"

Jumping up onto her feet, Aria quickly turned and dusted herself off before grinning, "Aria Leonhart at your service" She then turned back around and grabbed her brother by the shoulders before turning back to face Sky and Seth, pulling her brother next to her before he can protest, "And this is my younger brother, Sparrow."

Seth nodded once to the two Leonharts, "Once again, I apologize for my friend's actions. Ever since we came here we were searching for a way back home however, we are wary of newcomers mainly because we haven't made any contact with natives so far."

"Wait, so you're the same as us then?" Aria asked, causing Sky and Seth to give her a look.

"What do you mean 'the same as us'?" Sky asked, causing the two Leonharts to glance at each other before turning their eyes back towards the duo.

"It's a long story," Aria finally said after a long pause, "Perhaps we should sit down so that I could explain?"

This time, it was Seth and Sky's turn to glance at each other before turning their eyes back towards the younger duo.

"Of course," Seth nodded, "but be careful though, we have one comrade who likes to take anything she can get her hands on. So you two better watch your pockets as you meet her."

With that, throwing his cloak around his shoulders, Seth started his way back towards the rocks, leaving Sky, Aria, and Sparrow alone. Watching his friend leave the premises, Sky turned his mako eyes towards Sparrow and narrowed his eyes, "Sparrow right?" He earned himself a single nod and a glare in response, "When I confronted you guys, you didn't speak a single work the entire period however your sister here seems to understand you completely." The blonde frowned, "Then does that you can't speak and that only your sister can understand you?"

A long pause was Sky's only answer.

Heaving out a sigh, the Ex-Soldier brushed his fingers through his hair, turning around and waved once at the two Leonharts, "Our camp is not too far from here, we're actually waiting for another comrade to come back with water. She should be here soon."

With that, Sky continued on his way towards the rocks, leaving the two siblings alone to recollect their thoughts.

"What do you think Sparrow?" Aria asked as she turned her brown eyes towards her brother, "Do you think that's the other warriors that Cosmos was talking about?"

Sparrow frowned in response, If you want an honest answer, I'm not a hundred percent sure. He place his chin onto his fist, But so far, I leaning towards that they are the ones that we are looking for.

This caused Aria to hesitate for a moment, "So, does that mean we should trust them?"

Sparrow shook his head, Just because we're going to fight alongside them doesn't mean we should give out our trust so easily. As such, he started his way towards the rocks before pausing and turning his head towards his sister, Come on Aria, we can't stay in the heat forever. Then without another word, he headed towards the rocks, leaving his sister alone in the desert heat.

Contemplating on what had occurred, Aria heaved out a sigh before she followed her brother towards the rocks.

Xxxxx

"Waah! I knew I shouldn't have taken that turn?" Scarlet yelped as she leaped over the head of a oncoming Behemoth, feeling her tail brush the large creatures horns as it charged beneath her. Landing several seconds later, the brunette turned around only for her to leap to the side as the Behemoth charged her once again, "Keep still so that I can kill you!" Twirling her twin daggers several times in her hands, Scarlet once again leaped into the air and sailed towards the back of the large creature, releasing a loud 'whoot!' as she felt her weapons come into contact with flesh. This earned herself a shrieking cry from the Behemoth before it started to jump and buck in response to the young Princess' attack.

"H-Hey!" Scarlet cried as she held fast onto her daggers, the weapons having dug deep enough into flesh to hold strong onto the large monster's back, "Stop that! I'm gonna fall off if I do!"

As if understanding the young princess, the Behemoth snorted before it did one giant buck, earning itself a yelp of surprise as Scarlet flew off of it's back and landing back first onto the hearth before it. Feeling her breath leaving her instantly, the princess laid where she is stunned, unable to hear the rumbling of the earth as the large Behemoth charged her again. By the time Scarlet regained her breath and was able to sit up, it was already too late to dodge. Releasing a scream, the Princess raised her arms up in a futile attempt to blockage the charge. However, as she squeezed her eyes in expectations of contact, a roar of rage instead echoed through the air, causing Scarlet to snap her eyes towards the large Behemoth.

Instead of running, it was clawing at its face, trying rid of a black substance from its eyes. Instantly recognizing the substance as the spell 'Blind', the princess quickly glanced around before her azure eyes stopped upon a moving figure which in her eyes, was dancing.

"Hey! Stop gawking and actually attack the thing!" The person called, startling Scarlet, "Darkness Dance can only last for so long!"

"R-Right!" Regaining her composure, Scarlet leaped into the air and spun towards the enemy, a violet aura trailing behind her, "Take this!" Feeling her attack come into contact with the large Behemoth, Scarlet suddenly felt it fly away from her, causing her to gawk as she landed, watching the Behemoth land with a 'slam' not too far off, "When father said that it gives enemies a push, he wasn't joking."

Staring at the still form of the Behemoth, Scarlet hesitantly scooted closer to the large creature before poking at it with the handle of her dagger before leaping back into an offensive stance.

"I suggest leaving it alone for a while," the Princess turned only to stumble a bit on her footing as the newcomer approached her, "of course we have to leave quickly since it's only out cold." A wide smile faded onto the taller female's features before she held out a hand to Scarlet, "The name's Lenne."

Quickly sheathing her daggers, Scarlet took the hand and gave it a light shake, "Scarlet Tribal Talan Alexandros XVIII but just call me Scarlet, nice to meet you Lenne."

Upon releasing her grip, the songstress' eyes went wide before she released a laugh, "Long name Scarlet, you royalty or something?"

"You can say that," Scarlet beamed as she placed her hands on her hips, "after all, I'm gonna be Queen of Alexandria someday."

"Woah," Lenne stared wide eyed, amazed, "that's so coo- Wait a minute, Alexandria?"

"Of course!" Scarlet crossed her arms, "That's where I'm from anyways. Since you don't know what Alexandria is, I'm guessing you're from a different world from me then?"

Lenne gave her a blank look, "...Say what?"

It was Scarlet's turn to give the songstress a blank stare, "...Weren't you informed of what's going on?"

The Songstress shook her head, "I jumped into the water to escape some crazy fans of mine and the next thing I knew I was here." She placed a hand on her hip, "Do you know what's going on around here?"

The Princess nodded, "Of course I do, otherwise I wouldn't be so open to you, right?" Scarlet gave Lenne a huge smile, "But first, let's find a place to rest, fighting that Behemoth took a lot more out of me than I thought." Then she paused, "Race you!"

Then without a warning, Scarlet dashed off, leaving Lenne stunned before she laughed and proceeded to run after the young princess, "Scarlet wait! Where is the finish line exactly!?"

Xxxxx

"Reks, you feeling alright?" Isin patted the younger on the back.

"Huh? What?" Slightly dazed, Reks turned his eyes towards the older, "Oh, I'm fine."

The prince raised an eyebrow at this, "You sure about that? You're paler than usual."

"H'm? Yeah I'm fine."

His eyes full of doubt, Isin used the back of his hand and placed it on the dirty blonde's forehead. Almost instantly, he pulled it back, shaking it to rid the heat, "You're burning hot! Why didn't you tell me sooner!?"

Reks face turned red in response before he muttered, "I-I-I didn't w-want to b-b-e a burden."

"Knew something was wrong when you stopped stuttering," Isin murmured as he forced Reks to lie down, giving the younger a quick glance when he tried to protest, "Don't worry, we've only been out here for a couple of days, get some rest while you're at it alright?"

Though reluctant, Reks nodded before closing his eyes, feeling Isin's eyes upon him before he soon fell into a light sleep. Staring at the younger male for several seconds, Isin then proceeded to stand and walk out of the cave they had taken shelter in the night before, stretching his arms into the air before glancing around, letting his arms fall back into his side as he examined the grassy landscape, "And to think we would find a cave of all places."

Brushing his hand through his hair, Isin just shrugged, "I guess for now some food will be nice, water would even be better." He pondered for a moment, "But then again, how am I going to bring it back to the cave." Isin sighed as he brushed his fingers through his air, "Damn, should have asked the warrior for some supplies before we left."

With the warrior in mind, Isin's thoughts flashed back to where he and Reks first met Cosmos where the younger male was finally able to thank her. In response, Cosmos had decided to heal more of Reks' illness against the protests of the warrior. Seconds after she had used her magic, the orb of light that was her faded, startling the two younger males and concerning the warrior. The warrior then proceeded to explain that thanks to Cosmos healing Reks, she had further weakened herself, causing the younger male to immediately feel guilty. Nonetheless, the warrior had told Reks not to be concerned as it was Cosmos' will. After several minutes of talking with the warrior, the two boys decided to head off, making the decision that it was time to search for others and team up in hopes of ending the war quickly.

Currently, this was their third day in this world and so far, they weren't having any luck in their search for the other Cosmos warriors. And to make matters worse, Isin watched Reks' health deteriorate until now, his fear of the boy's illness worsening coming to fruition. Heaving out another sigh, Isin checked back to the entrance of the cave before heading out, determined to find any food or water in hopes of helping his friend to get well. Or at least help him get the energy to move again. Heaving out another sigh, Isin unsheathed his rapier, placing his guard up as his eyes scanned the horizon for any fiends in sight.

Sighting none, Isin started his way out into the open however kept his rapier at his side. Though he lacks experience in battle, he has plenty of knowledge and common sense not to lower your guard in a battle zone. Scanning the grassy field, Isin's eyes lit up as he recognized some plants that were not only edible but has medicinal value as well. As such, he quickly walked up and knelt down to the small plant, placing his weapon onto the ground to properly pull the plant from the ground.

That's when he felt something sharp being placed next to his throat.

"Oh look, a human."

A sense of dread hovered over Isin's shoulders as he raised both his hands, signalling to the person that he was unarmed.

Seeing this, the person purred, "Oh giving up so easily? Stand up."

Feeling that he has no choice but to comply, Isin obeyed, slowly rising to his feet, his hands still up in the air. That's when he felt a hot breath on the back of his neck.

"Such a handsome young boy," Clawed fingers stroke the bottom of the Prince's jaw, causing him to stiffen, "such a waste to kill something so...hot."

As such, he felt himself being turned before being shoved to the ground, grunting as he felt extra weight upon his chest the instant his back made contact with the ground.

"Ooooh, already getting excited?" Isin once again felt clawed fingers stroking his cheek, "don't worry, we'll get started soon enough."

Disgusted by his attacker's words, the young Prince turned his white hues in front of him, trying to give a glare into his attacker's gaze. However, instead he was taken by surprise when he was looking at a female, her long black strands falling over her shoulders and back like a waterfall as her white hues gazed into his. Seeing the look of surprise upon his face, the female laughed, revealing small canines within her mouth as she flapped her feathery black wings, "Why do you look so surprised? Never seen a demoness before?"

Before Isin could reply, he felt her clawed hands tear open his vest, causing him to snap out of his trance like state and roughly wrapping his hands around the attacker's wrists, "Get off!"

The attacker just laughed as she easily slipped her wrists out of his grip before turned the tables, grabbing his wrists and secured them to his sides, causing him to struggle.

"I love it when my prey fights back," she cooed as she leaned in closer to Isin's face, her white eyes peering into his, "it just makes me want them more."

With that she connected her lips to his, causing the young prince's mind to go into a frenzy of panic and he did something out of desperation: he head butted her.

A cry of pain escaped the demoness' throat as she lost her grip on Isin's hands, giving the young prince enough time to reach out and grab his weapon lying not too far off.

"How dare you!" A sudden slap to the face caused Isin's vision to go black nonetheless, he felt his hand grip something familiar and in a panic, swung it towards the attacker.

A shriek was his response before the weight upon his chest was gone, leaving Isin enough time to push himself back onto his feet and getting into an offensive position, just in time to barely witness his attacker flapping her wings angrily as she landed as safe distance away.

"To think in all my life," She snarled, her clawed hands clenched angrily, "That I will find a male who strikes back!"

Then with a roar, the demoness lunged herself towards Isin.

"Usha!"

The Demoness came to a sudden halt, her face inches away from the young Prince's rapier as she turned her silver hues to the man behind her, "Zarock, of all the men to come and get me, it has to be you."

Usha turned around to face the black haired male, "What do you want? If you can't tell I'm currently busy at the moment."

"Attacking a member of the Cosmos warriors when we were given orders not to attack?" Zarock growled, earning himself a glare in response, "Are you that ignorant Usha? And to think that Cassiel was punished severely while you got away scott free."

"That traitor got what he deserved," Usha hissed, "While Lucifer and I fought against God, he just stood on the sidelines and did nothing." She scoffed as she folded her arms against her chest, her black feathered wings folded against her back, "If you want an honest opinion, I believe he should have gotten a more severe punishment."

Zarock frowned, "Usha!"

"Oh what would you know!?" Usha spat, "You weren't there when it all happened. You shouldn't pity that traitor at all."

With that, Usha spread out her wings, "I'm done here! Do whatever you want!" Then without another word, she flew off, leaving Isin alone with Zarock. Watching trails of black feathers rain down around them, Isin turned his white eyes back towards the Chaos Warrior, only to blink when he was pinching the bridge of his nose.

"To think I would meet a demon here like this," Zarock muttered, causing Isin to stare, "And a childish one at that."

He then removed his hand away from his face and turned his green eyes towards Isin who froze, "If you are looking for your comrades, two are coming your way." Isin stared in confusion as Zarock continued, "They're not informed of this war however and as such, whatever happens depends heavily on you."

"What?" Isin took several steps forward however, Zarock had opened a dark portal, the swirling abyss releasing a small mist as it swirled in a clockwise motion, "Hey!"

Before the young Prince could say any more, the black haired man stepped into the portal and it closed shut, leaving the brunette alone in the grassy plain. Staring at the spot where the Chaos warrior once stood, Isin then shook his head, "He's our enemy so why is he helping?"

"Hey you!"

Twirling around, Isin released a sheepish smile as two people, a pinkette and a white haired male, approached him, "You must be the two Cosmos warriors he was talking about."

"Say what?" The smaller of the two, the white hair, stared at him with his green eyes, "What are you talking about?"

Heaving out a sigh, Isin just bowed, causing the two in front of him to stare in confusion, "The name is Isin Sebastos Solidor, it is nice to meet fellow warriors on our side."

Xxxxx

"So wait a minute, we're in a war of the gods then?" Atia asked as she handed a canteen to Aria whom gladly accepted.

After taking a quick drink of the water, Aria nodded, "Apparently there was a war before us which the warrior had claimed had ended." She took another drink before she handed the canteen to her brother whom quietly accepted, "but somehow it had started again and now they need our help to end it once more."

"But...we're just kids," Atia murmured as she turned her aqua green eyes into the sand, her hands clenching tightly on her knees.

"My thoughts exactly," Aria heaved out a sigh, "But what choice we have? The only way to get back home is to end this war and hopefully we'll win."

"So this Chaos dude," Yumi hesitated, "he has warriors of his own too?"

"It's obvious that he does, Yumi," Seth intervened, "otherwise it wouldn't be much of a war, would it?"

"Just making sure," Yumi stuck out her tongue at the brown clad gunslinger whom calmly turned his eyes away from the young ninja.

"So what's the plan now then?" Sky asked, shifting in his seat amongst the rocks to hide from the sun, "we just wonder around until we find the other Cosmos warriors?"

Aria shrugged, "All we were told was to find you guys." She twirled her finger around her black strands, "She said that there were other warriors however they left the Sanctuary because their numbers were too large."

"Then it's too risky to look for them then," Seth said, causing all eyes to turn on him, "they left for a reason and if we find them now..."

"We're only making them a bigger target for our enemies," Sky finished, catching a tossed canteen before glaring at the younger Leonhart whom quickly turned his eyes away, "But it makes me wonder if there were any other summoned after you two."

Aria and Sparrow turned their eyes towards each other, before turning their gaze back towards the others, "There could be a chance that they are more but..."The Older Leonhart shook her head, "We're not a hundred percent sure."

"It wouldn't hurt to look around," Sky stood up, causing all eyes to turn on him, "it's better than sitting around and waiting for our enemies to attack us." He then turned to Atia, "Atia, show us the source of water you found so that we can get ready."

"O-Of course," Atia stood up, causing the others to stare at each other before following suit.

Xxxxx

"So that's what's going on h'm?" Lenne looked up thoughtfully, her pace easily matching the shorter female next to her.

"Yeap," Scarlet placed her arms behind her head before smiling, "I only accepted to stay because it sounds interesting and also because of all the treasure."

The Songstress laughed, "I'm guessing you like treasure a lot?"

"Like? You mean love!"Scarlet exclaimed as her eyes sparkled, "And the best thing is sometimes you don't even know what kind of treasure you get until you open the chest!" She squealed as she continued, "The thrill of the treasure hunting and finding something is what I live for!"

"Yeah but aren't you a princess?" Lenne asked, leaning down a bit in an attempt to match the smaller female's frame.

Almost immediately, the smile on Scarlet's face disappeared as she crossed her arms and grumbled, "Yeah and I know that and I"m dreading the day when I have to become Queen?"

Lenne stared wide eyed, "What? But I thought you wanted to be Queen?"

Now it was Scarlet's turn to stare wide eyed, "And sit on a throne all day while treasure it out there waiting to be found? No thanks!" She heaved out a huff, "I just wish my parents would let Caelan be next in line."

"Caelan?" The Songstress repeated, in which she earned a nod as a reponse.

"He's my cousin," Scarlet replied, "and in my opinion, more suited to be the heir than me." The Princess stretched as she continued, "My Uncle Kuja is my father's brother so it only makes sense that he's royal blood too, making Caelan a next in line heir." She then shook her head, "But since I'm the daughter of the current King and Queen, they won't let Caelan take the title as next in line." Scarlet pouted as she once again put her hands behind her head, "But I think I should have a say if I want to become Queen or not."

"Then why not tell them?" Lenne asked in which she earned herself a shake of the head.

"Nah, they won't listen to me," Scarlet shrugged, "They never do."

The Songstress tilted her head at this, "Did you even try?"

"Well...no," The Princess admitted, "But other times they wouldn't even listen to what I have to say."

Lenne just giggled, "Well you won't know unless you try." She then patted the head of the smaller female, earning her self a laugh and, "I'm not a kid!"

"We're all kids," Lenne corrected as she felt her hand being brushed away, her expression turning serious, "It makes me wonder what Cosmos was thinking when she summoned us here."

"Her power's weak," Scarlet put her hands back onto the back of her head, "before I left the Sanctuary, the warrior told me that her power is so weak, that he has to go out and gain new warriors for her now."

"What? But why is it growing weaker and how?" Lenne's face turned concerned, "She was able to summon me here wasn't she?"

"Yeah but not in the right place," Scarlet reminded her, "you were lucky that we found each other or otherwise it wouldn't be a pretty sight for you."

Lenne nodded, "So what do you think we should do now? Should we look for the others?"

The Princess pondered for a moment, her azure eyes glancing upwards, "Yeah, sure why not?" She grinned, "It would make things more fun that way don't you think?"

The Songstress giggled, "Of course, but where should we start."

Scarlet's eyes turn to their surroundings, which had changed from the marshlands to a desert, "We could look here. Who knows, we might find li-"

Both girls stopped as their eyes stopped onto a group of six in front of them, whom in turn, had stopped as well.

"Uh...Hello?" Lenne waved sheepishly, causing Scarlet to give her a jab on the side with her elbow, "Ow, what was that for?"

"Don't just talk to strangers so casually," Scarlet hissed in which Lenne frowned, "Oh and we weren't so different?"

"A-Are you Cosmos warriors?"

Startled the two girls turned their eyes towards the silver haired female of the group whom immediately turned red and scooted into the back.

"Uh, yeah, we are." Scarlet blinked, "Are you guys...Cosmos Warriors as well?"

"Yeap," This time it was the black haired female, "So I'm guessing you were right Sky, there were more who were summoned after Sparrow and I."

"It was just a guess," Sky shrugged, in which the brown clad turned his crimson eyes towards the girls, "If Sky is right then there should be more of us lurking around." He then nodded, "Do you want to join us?"

"Of course we do!" Scarlet exclaimed, in which Lenne jumped, startled, "We've been looking for you guys too anyways."

"That's...nice to know," The shortest of the females muttered, "Not creepy at all."

"Hey! I heard that!" Scarlet narrowed her eyes at the young ninja whom in response, did the same.

"C-Come on guys," the Silver haired female pushed her way between the two, "We're a team now so there's no need to fight."

"Who said I agree to team up with the monkey?" Yumi scoffed.

"Monkey!?" Scarlet screamed, her tail swishing back and forth angrily, "Why I ought to -"

"Enough!" Everyone's eyes turned towards the brown clad gunslinger, "Like Atia said, we're a team now, whether we like it or not." He narrowed his eyes at the ninja whom just crossed her arms and hmphed, "We may have our differences now but in order to return home, we have to work together, otherwise, do you want to be stuck here forever?"

Silence.

The gunslinger just sighed, "Now then, let's introduce each other shall we?"

He turned his crimson eyes towards Lenne and Scarlet, "Name is Seth Valentine, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Xxxxx

"Reks, here drink this," Isin helped the young warrior into a sitting position, in which Reks groaned in response, "Come on, it's water, you'll need it."

Squinting at Isin through his half lidded eyes, Reks slowly took the cup that his friend had held out only for him to drop it, the contents spilling onto the cave floor, "S-sorry."

"No need to apologize," Isin eyed the young boy's shaking hands as he picked up the cup and refilled it with his canteen, "Here, let me help."

With that he tilted the cup into Reks lips only for the boy to sputter and cough, causing Isin to snap his hand back, "What's wrong?"

"Too...Fast," The young blonde gasped, in which the Prince's eyes widen and he nodded before tilting the cup however at a slower rate, heaving out a sigh of relief as he watched Reks swallow the contents, "Feeling any better?"

When he got no response, Isin just sighed before forcing Reks to lie back down in which, the boy quickly closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

"What's wrong with him?"

Turning his white eyes towards Faith, whom was seated not too far off, the young Prince released a strained smile, "He's seriously ill."

"Ill? Ill with what? Maybe we can help." Faith offered.

However, to his surprise, the smile on the Prince's face faltered in which Isin replied, "That's the problem, we don't know what illness ails him."

"Say what?" The white haired boy's eyes went wide, causing Isin to give another strained smile, "He got the sickness when he was only eight." Isin went quiet for a moment, "it's been four years now and the only reason he was able to move around this much was because Cosmos got rid the worst of it." He heaved out a sigh, "But that doesn't mean the sickness is cured."

"Feh, some goddess she is," Rain crossed her arms, having seated herself across from Isin and Reks, "summoning a sick child to fight for her in a war. Goddess of Harmony? How hypocritical."

"That is because her power is greatly weakened," Isin retorted, turning his gaze towards Reks when the child coughed and turned, "especially when she put some of her strength into healing Reks."

"That does not give her the right to summon a child," Rain snapped, "come to think of it, all of us are still children. Why would she summon us? We're all inexperienced and young and who are we up against? Chaos the god of Discord and his warriors. Some chance we have of winning."

"Come on Rain, we just gotta have a positive outlook," Faith softly smiled, "I bet when we win, we could all return home." He then turned his light green eyes towards Reks' sleeping form, "and not only that, Reks' illness might be cured as well."

Isin smiled, "That's what I'm hoping for." He patted the young blonde's shoulder whom stirred in his sleep before turning onto his back, "It's one of the reasons why I'm fighting." He heaved out a sigh, "It might be the only thing that could cure Reks now."

"What makes you guys think that we're gonna win this war?" Rain spat, "there's only four of us right now and from the Prince here is saying, who knows where the others are."

"That is why as soon as Reks is capable of walking, we're going to search for them," Isin said as he placed a hand on the young blonde's hair, "His fever is dropping so maybe in a couple of days he should be capable of..." His voice faded as his white eyes narrowed, turning his gaze towards the entrance of the cave.

"What? What?" Faith asked as he looked up, only to see that Rain had turned her eyes towards the same direction as the prince.

"You lack sensing skills Faith," Rain muttered as she stood up from where she sat, unfolding her gunblade from her back as she did so.

Realizing what the pinkette meant, Faith's face turned red as he quickly unfolded his Binding Rod from his left hip, "I-I'm not a trained soldier like you Rain. I lack experience."

"In other words, you lack sensing skills," Rain snapped, causing Faith's face to go even more red and opened his mouth to retort.

"Shush," Isin silenced, placing a finger on his lips as his white eyes gazed at the entrance of the cave, "they're coming closer."

The Prince and the PSICOM trainee readied their weapons while Faith stood in between the two, his grip tight on his Binding Rod. As they stood still in the darkness of the cave, they jumped as a single form jumped right into the opening, arms spread before several others came up from behind her.

"Wow, to think in this grassy plain we would find a cave of all things."

"It's almost like as though it's calling us for shelter."

"Don't be too hasty though, who knows, members of Chaos' warriors could be hanging around in there."

"Pheh! We can handle them! Right Lenne?"

"If we work together, perhaps."

"Meh, of course we-"

Everyone paused as their eyes were sighted upon the three warriors in the middle of the cave, their eyes gazing into the larger groups. Several of the warriors in the larger group saw their weapons drawn and as such drew their weapons in response. This caused Isin to gulp.

There's no way we can handle a large group that big, he thought to himself before his eyes turned towards Reks' sleeping form, especially with Reks right here in front of us.

He gulped once more, only to jump as Rain took hesitant steps forward, "Are you guys friends or foe?"

One of the members of the group, one with blonde hair and vibrant blue eyes, hesitated before he responded, "That depends heavily if you are members of Chaos or Cosmos."

"Cosmos," Faith immediately replied, catching the brunette and pinkette off guard, "we're part of Cosmos' side."

Almost immediately, the larger group glanced at teach other, mentally reading each others thoughts before sheathing their weapons.

"We're also part of Cosmos' warriors," one of them replied, clad in brown, "We were searching for other warriors like us."

"That's good," Isin heaved out a sigh of relief as he sheathed his weapon, followed suit by Rain and Faith, "because we were going to search for you guys as well but..." His gaze turned back to Reks, feeling the eyes of the others fall upon the younger boy, "as you can see, we can't move, at least, not right now."

Then to his surprise, one of the people in the larger group, a girl with silver hair, strutted forward before kneeling down next to Reks' sleeping form.

"Such a serious illness," she murmured as she placed the back of her hand on Reks' forward before turning her aqua green eyes towards Isin, "but I think I should be able to bring it down enough where he can at least stand up and walk."

Staring wide eye at the female, a smile cracked onto Isin's features, "Thank you."

"So," Another of the females seated herself next to Faith, grabbing his hand to pull him down into a sitting position, "The name's Scarlet Tribal Talan Alexandros XVIII and you are?"

Staring at her puzzled, Faith barely was able to answer, "O-oerba Dia Faith Esthiem"

"Oerba?" Scarlet repeated, confused, "That's a strange first name."

"It isn't," Rain snapped, causing the two teens to jump, "Oerba Dia Faith Esthiem roughly translates to Faith Esthiem of the Dia Clan from the village of Oerba"

"Wow," one of the other girls stared wide eyed, "if it translates to that, then he has a longer name than you Scarlet."

"I know right," Scarlet stared at Faith equally amazed, "why such a long name?"

"Well-I-uh," Faith stammered, his grip tightening upon his binding rod.

"Can we stop with this nonsense and introduce each other already?" Rain spat, causing Faith to heave out a sigh of relief when all eyes turned to her, "I'm tired of all this chattering about. The sooner we participate in this the sooner we can go home."

"She does have a point," A male clad in brown agreed, "should we all sit down and say our names?"

"Of course," the the shortest of the girls chirped, "It would be easier that way and also, we could see everyone."

"I guess it's what we have to stick with them," The blonde murmured before he sat down, followed suit by the others, "I guess I'll start, the name's Sky Strife, it's nice to meet you all."

Xxxxx

Chaos Warrior Bonus: Hope

Xxxxx

Cassiel sniffed at the small pile of growing mushrooms in front of him before leaning down, plucking one of the stalks in between his teeth, and started chewing. It was one of his favorite past times (if you can call it that) during his imprisonment in the caves, finding any plants growing within his range and seeing if they were edible and if they were, check if they were safe to eat. After several seconds of munching on the plant, Cassiel concluded that they were indeed safe, swallowed, and leaned down to take another from the cave floor.

"It's nice to see that you have fallen to such a low state, Cassiel."

Almost immediately, the angel's face paled, twirling his body around to face the person standing several feet away, fear visibly planted upon his features.

"Oh come now Cassiel," Usha grinned as she folded her arms across her chest, watching as the angel flapped his wings in an attempt to push himself away from the demoness, "don't you want to speak to an old 'friend'?"

With that, she strutted forward towards the bounded angel, her black leather clad form seemingly intermingling with the darkness.

Hearing her footsteps coming closer, Cassiel attempted to move farther from her however, felt his chains tighten in the attempt, causing him to go into a frenzy of panic, repeatedly prying his wrists in an attempt to escape.

"Try as you might, Cassiel," Usha smirked as she stopped several feet away from the angel, watching him cower as she continued, "Those chains can only be unbound by the child you once had protected." With that she grabbed Cassiel by his long brown hair, causing him to gasp as she jerked him upwards, forcing his blind eyes into hers, "But since that child is tormented without the aid of his 'Guardian', there's no way he's coming." Then using her free hand, Usha grabbed Cassiel by the jaw, forcing his face upwards as she did so, "and since he's not coming, it gives me all the time in the world to 'play' with you." With a laugh, Usha slammed the angel onto the cave floor, placing one of her feet on top of his chest to keep him in place, "Let's see what we shall do today."

"Usha!"

With a frustrated growl, Usha twirled around, her white eyes glaring into the familiar form of the paladin, "You again! Didn't I tell you before not to butt in?"

"When it comes with an innocent man being tormented, I cannot," Zarock narrowed his green eyes at the demoness, "so leave him alone Usha, especially since Chaos gave us specific orders to leave him be."

"Why should I listen to him?" Usha spat as she folded her arms, her wings flapping several times angrily behind her, "he's not exactly a 'god' and you know that."

"That does not give you the right to ignore orders to ignorantly," Zarock snapped, "this is a war Usha, not play time."

"Ignorant? Who's acting ignorant around here Zarock?" Usha growled, "you're ignoring the fact that you're from a different world from Cassiel and I. Why are you butting into our business when you didn't even know what had occurred?"

"I know exactly what happened," Zarock retorted, "and from what I see, you're torturing and innocent man."

"HE IS NOT INNOCENT!" Usha roar, slamming her foot into Cassiel's chest, receiving a cry as a response.

"Usha!" Zarock raged, swinging his right arm to the side, releasing his hidden blade, "I'm warning you, harm him one more time-"

"You'll do what!" Usha grind her heel into the angel's chest, causing him to whimper, "kill me?"

In that instant, the demoness blinked once only to see that Zarock had disappeared from his spot, "Where'd you-"

Then the next thing she knew, she felt something being shoved through her back, feeling steel pierce through her body. As she gasped, she heard a whisper, "Exactly."

With that said and done, Zarock shoved Usha off of his hidden blade, watching as her body disappeared into a mist of darkness, "You alright, Cassiel?"

The Angel blinked several times, his blind eyes staring in wonder at the paladin before he nodded, flinching as hands grabbed him by the shoulders.

"I am not here to do you harm," Zarock said as he helped the angel into a sitting position, receiving a bewildered look as a response, "and I am betting you have many questions however, I cannot answer them." He then placed a hand upon the angel's head, receiving another look, "At least, not yet."

He then stood up, "If this gives you any hope, the child that you had been torn away from is currently participating in this war."

When Zarock received a wide eyed look as a response, "In other words, there is still a chance you maybe freed."

Then without another word, Zarock bowed to the bound angel, leaving Cassiel alone with his thoughts.

_______________________________________________________

Phew, it feels like forever since I last updated this O_O *which most likely was lol*

Anyways, the adventure finally starts guys

Oh, the bonus content at the end was something I really wanted to type but couldn't wait for, mainly because I wanted to show more of Zarock's personality *he plays and important roll as you can't tell lol* and another hint on who Cassiel's 'child' is. So some of the chapters will have a bonus content thought not all ^_^;;;;

Enjoy

~123arcalas