Heart of Broken Glass

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Akira110
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Heart of Broken Glass

#1 Post by Akira110 »

Prologue

200 Years Before A New Beginning


Balthoron walked through the still heated ruins of the Kilvish capitol, as a medic, it was his duty to find survivors, to find anyone that was still alive. His sister, a Kilf with their father's black hair and their mother's green eyes looked around, she was screaming, "Hiromi! Hiromi! Come out! Hiromi!" As Balthoron looked at the charred corpses around him, he began to think that he wouldn't find anyone that had survived the attack on the capitol. He stood at the edge of a crater and looked down into it, inside of it, he saw a man, screaming. It was a male drow, but the drow was missing his legs, blood was everywhere and Misaki gasped, "Balthoron!" Balthoron climbed down into the crater with a sigh, he tapped his communicator, "Rescue, I found a live one, I don't know how long he has though, get over here ASAP!" The drow grabbed onto his pant leg and pulled on him, looking up, "Stop the pain! Stop it all!"

Balthoron knelt by the man with a frown, "Listen, you're going to be okay." The man screamed, "I want to die! I don't want to live anymore, I lost everything and there's nothing but pain! Put me out of my misery!" Balthoron was shocked, but tapped the communicator again, "Rescue, the man wants to die, how should I proceed." A voice spoke over his communicator, "Knock him out, we'll pick him up." Balthoron nodded and placed his hand on the man's back, he used his magic to sent fifty thousand volts through the Drow, knocking him out. He grabbed the drow and put him over his shoulder, then climbed out of the crater. Once out of the crater, he placed the drow gently on the ground and placed his coat over him, "That will keep you from going into shock." He looked at Misaki, "You want to go to the castle, don't you?" Misaki nodded, tearfully, which shocked Balthoron.

Balthoron nodded slightly, and started to walk towards the castle, as the castle came into view and he saw that it was severely damaged, he started to run towards it, Misaki close behind him. He ran straight into the castle and noticed that it had been collapsed in several places, but he didn't care, he rushed as he navigated to the path to the royal bunker. He knew that no one had enough time to escape to the bunkers to wait out the attack, but he still hoped. However, he saw his wife on the ground, blood coming out of her mouth, the Kitsune didn't move. He felt as if a knife had plunged into his heart, but he picked up Hiromi's scent, he hoped that she was alive as well. However, when he climbed over the debris to find her, he saw her head sticking out from under them, he knew as a medic, exactly what this much weight and pressure would cause.

Balthoron sighed and tried to lose Misaki, he wanted to be alone, he didn't want to tell her, so he walked into the courtyard. He saw ten bee like aliens standing there, the leader of them looked at him, "Put your hands on your head." Balthoron's grief and anger came to a head, the feeling of the knife in his heart started to feel like it was twisting, he was hurting beyond belief. He focused on the weapons of the bee like aliens, and electricity arced from his hand to their weapons, "Make me." The aliens pulled their weapons on him and he pulled his, "Do you know why medics are considered badass? Because we go into hot zones with nothing but a medkit and a pistol!" Balthoron didn't hesitate, he had never killed before, but he shot one of the aliens in the head, and then another, and a third, "You Thraxi have cost me my wife, my sister, you have killed tens of thousands of civilians!"

Balthoron fired six more shots, killing all but one of them, without hesitation, "Go, tell your leaders what happened here." The Thraxi looked around and at Balthoron, but as she was going to escape, she crumpled to the ground with a hole in her head. Balthoron gasped as he realized he wasn't the only one here, "So you've finally killed one of these disgusting bugs. Good on you, brother." Balthoron looked up to see Tsuyoshi on the second floor, he saw the red cybernetic eyes glow, "I chose to be a medic so I can save people, not kill them." Tsuyoshi hopped down and walked over to him, "You can't deny that it felt good, you're a natural at killing, just like our father." Those words hit Balthoron hard, he threw a punch at Tsuyoshi who stood there and took it, "Balthoron, you're becoming more warlike by the moment."

Harumi yelled at them, "The two of you stop this, right this instant!" Balthoron turned to see the oldest of the siblings, his anger and sorrow, he couldn't hide. Harumi looked at him, "Balthoron, this isn't what Hiromi would want. Don't let Tsuyoshi goad you into becoming like him, ever since he lost his son. Remember who you are..." Balthoron turned to see Misaki standing behind him, "Bal... thoron..." He saw her choking up, tears streaming down her face, but as he went to go try to comfort her, she yelled at him, "Hiromi is dead!" Balthoron closed his eyes, he tried to hold back his tears, and Misaki looked at them all, "None of you are going to cry! Are you!?" Tsuyoshi sighed, "I lost my original eyes, I can't cry." Harumi frowned, "I'm sorry, but I'm supposed to help all of you, I'm devastated, but I can't imagine how Balthoron feels."

Misaki grabbed a medallion off her chest and threw it at Balthoron, before running away. Tsuyoshi walked over to Balthoron and placed his hand on Balthoron's shoulder, "Good, we don't need her anyway, just you and me, we can destroy the Thraxi once and for all and avenge Hiromi and my son!" Balthoron elbowed Tsuyoshi in the mouth, "Avenge!? You speak of genocide! Your heart has become blackened! I may have blood on my hands, but at least I have lines I refuse to cross, Tsuyoshi!" Harumi sighed and walked away, seeing that there would be no way to settle the dispute between the two. Tsuysohi growled, "Genocide is the only way to free us from them!" Balthoron turned and pointed at him, "I don't want to see you again. I want to free Verbana from them, but there is no reason we should wipe them all out! If I ever see you again, it will be as your enemy!"
Been around this forum for over 8 years now. Everyone I've known has left, now it's my time to do the same.

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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#2 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 1

300 Years Later

Balthoron awoke underwater, his eyes quickly adjusted to lack of light down at the depth he was at. He was breathing heavily into the mask he wore to keep the water out of his nose and mouth while he slept so he wouldn't accidentally get water into his lungs while he respirated through his gills. He placed his webbed hand on his bare chest which had been scarred from battle, the nightmare he had just had served to remind him of what he had become, his innocence lost. As his heart beat rapidly, he checked the chronometer to his side, as he floated in the room full of water, it was still early morning where he was. He groaned and tried to close his eyes, but the faces of the people he had killed all those years ago appeared before him, forcing his eyes back open, "Dammit, now I see why Dad didn't want me fighting."

Balthoron swam over to the door and pressed a button, which started to drain the room of water, causing him to land on his feet. As air touched his flesh, his fins started to morph back into his body. As soon as his tail hit the air, he started to shake it rapidly to dry it off while he shook his head to try to get the water of out his ears, even through he knew that there was a dying station outside. He looked at his right hand which had a scar on the palm from when his hand slipped during sword training with his father while he was trying the murder stroke. The door opened and Balthoron walked into the next chamber, which heated up just enough to dry him off. Suddenly a closet opened up with a full uniform in it and he got dressed. A mirror popped up and he checked his face for any hair aside from his goatee.

When he found none, he walked to the other door which opened up into a hallway, a Naga slithering past him, "Commander, you're not usually up this early." Balthoron nodded, "Erastos, you know you can call me by my name while you're on base, while we're here, we're all equals and friends. Only when we're out on the field do our ranks begin to matter." Erastos turned around and looked at him, "I apologize, Balthoron." Balthoron smiled softly, "It's alright, I can't sleep, so I think I'm going to go above deck and get some fresh air and look at the stars." Erastos nodded slightly, "If that's what you wish to do, but is something bothering you?" Balthoron shook his head, "Nothing more than what bothers all people in our line of work." Erastos frowned, "Nightmares?" Balthoron sighed, "Yeah, I realize its why my Dad didn't want me to fight like I do..."

Erastos looked around, "You never told me about your Dad, is he here?" Balthoron motioned towards the lift, "Follow me and I'll tell you all about him." Erastos nodded and followed Balthoron as they walked towards the lift, "Say, do you think that we can both fit in there, we Naga are known for being quite long." Balthoron pressed a button and the door opened, "You first." Erastos slithered into the lift and tried to make room for Balthoron, who walked into the lift without any hesitation, when the doors closed he spoke up, "Top deck." Erastos looked at him, "You're not uncomfortable, are you?" Balthoron laughed, "Once as a medic, I had to be on a transport for injured, thing is, we had so many wounded people compared to transports that we were packed in there like canned vegetables. Compared to that, this is nothing."

The door opened and Balthoron walked onto the metal deck, the summer breeze was somewhat cool as it touched his skin, "Come on out, Erastos, it's not too terribly cold." Erastos slithered out, "So, are you going to tell me about your father now?" Balthoron laid down and looked up at the stars, "You heard of my father before, more than likely, you just don't recognize me as his son. I inherited my great-grandmother's hair color and great-grandfather's eye color. I look like a male and Kilvish version of aunt Lenwe. Anyhow, my father's name is Yoshiro Miyamae, yes, that Yoshiro Miyamae." Erastos blinked, "So that's why you're such a great soldier and you lead the raptors!" Balthoron closed his eyes, "Mom said this would happen. Your generation sees my Dad's military achievements, but have forgotten the man."

Erastos nodded, "What kind of man was he like?" Balthoron sighed, "He was a wonderful man, and I looked up to him. He loved all of his children and his family and he also loved all the children in the orphanage. When I was a kid, he was always there for me and helped me out with my homework, when I became an adult though, he started teaching me how to use a sword, because I asked if he would teach me. He always stressed that he didn't want me following in his footsteps, he wanted me to help people, rather than kill them. He also used to tell me stories about the great Kitsune heroes, which I would listen to without end. He was... the greatest father I could ever ask for. But... I think he'd be saddened at the fact that he had passed his own ease of killing down to me. Even his oldest son hesitated before his first kill, meanwhile I killed nine Thraxi without blinking."

Erastos nodded, "Sorry, but I need to go back down, it's a little too cold for my taste out here." Balthoron nodded, "Any time you have questions, don't be afraid to ask." Erastos left Balthoron alone, as Balthoron looked up to the stars. The Kilf sighed a bit and pushed his communicator to his mother's frequency and tapped it, unfortunately he only could reach her inbox, "Asleep, I figured. Mama, I've been having the nightmares again. I know that you'll be waking up in a few hours, so I hope you'll call me back. I was wondering if I could spend some time with you tomorrow or in a few days. I haven't seen you in far too long. I love you, Mom, I don't want you to ever forget that and I just want to say that I'm proud to be your son." Balthoron tapped it again and just continued staring at the stars as time continued to pass by.
Been around this forum for over 8 years now. Everyone I've known has left, now it's my time to do the same.

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Akira110
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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#3 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 2

The sun had risen and Balthoron was sleeping on the deck of the command platform for the Raptors' Mother Base. A sea elf wearing a blue suit walked over to him, the sea elf brushed faded sea green hair out of his face with a sigh, "Nephew, you're sleeping on a metal deck in the middle of summer, I don't care if it's the arctic circle, you need to wake up now." The Sea elf knelt down and shook Balthoron, whose eyes darted open, "Uncle Lathron!" Lathron nodded, "Hey there, kiddo, your mom couldn't reach you. She wanted to tell you that it'd be alright if you came over as early as tomorrow and spend the week there if you wanted. Also Katashi wants to speak to you, and your grandaunt, Kimiko has been looking for you for some reason."

Balthoron sighed, "Guess I'm going back to Honoo for a while, huh?" Lathron nodded, "Fitting, seeing as that's where you were born. Don't worry, I'll keep things going smoothly here while you're gone." Balthoron shook his head, "I don't want you to stay here, Lathron, you should see your sister." Lathron nodded, "I understand that, but my duty comes first." Balthoron stood up and walked to the edge of the platform, leaning on the rail, "You say that, but what does your heart really say, Uncle?" Lathron walked next to him and looked at him, "I want to go see my family, I've not seen Elbereth or Lenwe in a long time, nor have I been able to go see my Mom and Dad." Balthoron looked at him and nodded, "How are Grandma and Grandpa?"

Lathron smiled softly, "They're doing alright, they're not quite happy with what you kids have chosen to do, being their only biological grandchildren and all." Balthoron nodded, "Aunt Lenwe refuses to be a surrogate mother. You should marry someone, Uncle." Lathron became visibly nervous at this suggestion, "Who would accept an aging Sea Elf like myself, Balthoron!" Balthoron folded his arms and looked out at the Research and Development Platforms, "Uncle, you've been my adviser for the last three hundred years, but to be honest, it's a little lonely without any first cousins running around." Lathron nodded, he knew that all of Balthoron's first cousins on his father's side of the family and most of his second cousins had passed away.

Balthoron sighed and pointed at the R&D platforms, "There's a sea elf over there that keeps asking me, 'Commander, is your uncle single, he's kind of cute.' Which isn't really a question I'd like to be asked, but because Mom and Dad taught me to be polite, I respond and tell her that you are and she should see if you would like to pursue a relationship. I mean fraternizing on base isn't against my policies. Just during wartime, all civilians are to evacuate the base, because I don't want to have any civilian casualties on my watch." Lathron nodded, "Should I go over there and ask her myself? I mean out of the two of us, you're more experienced in such matters." Even though his uncle didn't mean it like that, the words drove into his heart like a dagger and twisted. Even hundreds of years later, the loss of his wife hurt him deeply.

Lathron looked at Balthoron who was trying to hide the pain and placed his hand on his nephew's shoulder, "I apologize for that, Balthoron." Balthoron nodded, "You're forgiven. By the way, you're faster in water than you are on land, right?" Lathron nodded, "That's right, why?" Balthoron shrugged, "I was going to suggest that you dive into the water and swim over to the R&D Platform." Lathron laughed, "At this height, the fall would kill me if I didn't hit the water right." Balthoron looked down, "I don't think it would matter if you hit the water right or not at this point, also, I was kidding. Uncle, you can go over and see her, you have my permission as your commanding officer." Lathron nodded and left Balthoron alone.

Balthoron looked out to the ocean and remembered the happy times that he used to have as a kid. He even remembered his early adulthood as being happy. He longed for those days again, even though he knew that he couldn't have them again, soon a half spider, half elf woman skittered up behind him, "Commander Miyamae, sir!" Balthoron laughed, "Was anyone paying attention when I said that we're all equals while we're at peace?" The female spoke up, "I apologize si... I mean Balthoron." Balthoron nodded and turned to face her, "A Drider, eh? It's rare that I see one of your kind out here at sea, especially since one of my staffers, Caladwen is a Drow and I know the two of your races tend to become violent when in the same area as each other."

The woman nodded, "I know, but Caladwen has been nothing but polite and kind to me since I got here." Balthoron nodded, "What is it that you wished to tell me, Nascha?" Nascha looked down at him, "I was told to report to you for duty." She handed him a datapad and he looked at her skills, "Hmm... you seem to be good at gathering intelligence. You'll be placed on the Intel team." Nascha nodded slightly, "Thank you, Balthoron." Balthoron nodded, "Not a problem." As he watched her skitter towards the Intel platform, he switched the frequency on his communicator to one of the shuttle pilots, "Uncle Lathron and I are going to be heading to Honoo tomorrow for about a week. He might be bringing a guest." He switched the frequency over to Caladwen, "You served under my father, so while Uncle Lathron and I are gone, I trust you with running the Raptors in our stead." Caladwen's voice spoke over the communicator, "Understood, Balthoron."
Been around this forum for over 8 years now. Everyone I've known has left, now it's my time to do the same.

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Akira110
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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#4 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 3

Tsuyoshi woke up in his room alone, on the command deck of the Rapiers' Mother base. His cybernetic eyes scanned the area to see if anyone was in the room, but couldn't find anyone. He was full of anger from his dream of his son being killed in front of his eyes and his wife leaving him because he had given into his revenge. He moved his hand over a scar over his right eye, which Balthoron had given him just after the Galactic War and then looked at his cybernetic right hand, an injury that Balthoron had given him as well. He grabbed the specially designed blindfold off his night stand and put it on his face. His eyes adjusted to the change, though he could easily see through the blindfold, no one else could see in.

He got up and put on his uniform, but he looked at the mirror and saw himself in it, however instead of seeing how he was now, he saw his younger self. He punched the mirror with his cybernetic hand, shattering it, causing his second-in-command to enter, "Tsuyoshi, sir, are you alright?" Tsuyoshi nodded, "I meant to punch the wall, why does a blind man even need a mirror in the first place." The Lupine looked at him, "I never understood why you had it installed, your cybernetic eyes don't work anyhow." Tsuyoshi turned his head to her, "Adelinda, where is Diana?" Adelinda shrugged, "She's probably around the Combat Platform, her Wyvern blood seems to keep her near there." Tsuyoshi nodded slightly, "I can find my way there." Adelinda shrugged, "If you say so, though I think it's dangerous for you to go out there on your own." Tsuyoshi laughed, "I had this place built before the Galactic War started, I know my way around."

Tsuyoshi pushed past Adelinda and walked down the hallway to the lift, he pressed the button that called the lift. When the lift didn't come fast enough for him, he opened the adjacent door and started down the stairs, he was passed by one of the new recruits, who looked at him, "Blind Commander, sir." Tsuyoshi turned his head, "Commander Miyamae will do fine. What is it?" The recruit looked down, "I just want to talk about what happened in the past." Tsuyoshi shook his head, "I have no interest of talking about what was, no matter when you bring it up, friend." The recruit was surprised, "You called me friend, why?" Tsuyoshi smiled, "All of the Rapiers are my friend." He turned around looked up at the recruit, "Tell me when I'm looking at your eyes." The recruit nodded and spoke up, "You're looking into my eyes, sir." Tsuyoshi nodded, "Alright, thank you."

The recruit frowned, "Are the rumors true that you died alone, a long long time ago?" Tsuyoshi shook his head, "Oh no, not me. I never actually lost control." The recruit nodded, "Alright, then what are those rumors about then." Tsuyoshi smiled wider, revealing his teeth, "You're face to face with the man who sold his own world for revenge." The recruit laughed and grabbed Tsuyoshi's hand, shaking it, "It's an honor to meet you then, sir." Tsuyoshi withdrew his cybernetic hand and turned. He continued to walk down the stairs until he reached the door that led to the deck of the Command Platform. He pressed his communicator which was attuned to his mother's frequency, "Mom, can you hear me?" A familiar force spoke up, but it wasn't his mother, "Hey kiddo, your mother's a bit busy right now with the orphans, what's up?"

Tsuyoshi opened the door and walked outside, it was a beautiful sunny day in the middle of the ocean to the south of his home continent, "I want to see mom, soon, Aunt Lenwe." Lenwe's voice spoke up, "Hmm... your little brother wanted to do the same thing. It would make your mom very happy if you both could come here and act civil instead of fighting with each other all of the time." Tsuyoshi growled and Lenwe raised her voice, "That's what I mean, Tsuyoshi! You and he are always fighting with each other and you're usually the one who starts the fights. I know that you're not going to be civil with him because I asked you to, but please, for your mother's sake. She hasn't seemed happy for a long while and she seems lonely without any of you around here." Tsuyoshi clenched his cybernetic hand into a fist and spoke, "Fine. I'll be civil, but he has to promise the same thing!"

Lenwe's voice spoke over the communicator, "He will promise the same thing, it's a condition of coming down here. Along with disarming yourself at the door!" Tsuyoshi looked at his hand and sighed, "Understood Auntie." Lenwe's voice spoke up, "That's good to hear, and remember, I love you, Tsuyoshi, as does your mother." Tsuyoshi started to walk towards the combat platform, seeing a dragon-wyvern hybrid with scales that shone like rubies laying on top of one of the buildings, basking in the sunlight, "I love you too, Auntie. Take care." Tsuyoshi turned off the communicator and continued down the path, eventually the hybrid took notice of him and flew towards him, rapidly shifting into a ruby scaled half-dragon form, with a Wyvern's tail spike on the end of her tail, "Tsuyoshi, my friend, it's good to see that you're up."

Tsuyoshi nodded, "I want to speak to you, privately, Diana." Diana nodded and wrapped her arms around Tsuyoshi, before flapping her wings and flying to the roof of the combat platform, "What is it?" Tsuyoshi frowned, "I want to go see my mom, but Balthoron is going as well." Diana sighed, "Uncle Julius and I think that you and he fight way too often." Tsuyoshi folded his arms, "Diana, can you take me there and 'guide' me around the city, basically be my assistance?" Diana nodded, "Of course I can, very few people know that you can see. But there's something I have to say, Balthoron knows your secret, do you think that he really considers you his enemy, I mean he could've exposed you a long time ago." Tsuyoshi sighed as Diana had brought up a good question, "Maybe so, maybe not, but he swore that he and I were enemies. But... I promised my aunt that I'd be civil with him." Diana nodded, "I certainly hope so."
Been around this forum for over 8 years now. Everyone I've known has left, now it's my time to do the same.

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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#5 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 4

Aiko walked along the sidewalk of the Kitsune Capitol's streets on her own, she carried a sword on her belt and was heading down the the orphanage that she had been told about. She remembered the words that her sister had told her, "Elbereth is one of the few people you can trust with your secret, as is Lenwe and Balthoron. They're not the kind of people to tell anyone. As for Yoshiko and Klaartje, they already know. Oh and don't forget to give this note to Elbereth." Aiko sighed as she continued to follow the directions she was given to the orphanage. She came up to a gated mansion and saw children playing on the other side of the gate. She pushed the gate open and walked inside, closing it behind her, the children looked at her and she continued walking towards the building. One little girl came up to her and looked up at her, "Are you here to adopt one of us?" Aiko shook her head, "I'm sorry, but I don't even have a job yet, I cannot take care of you."

The girl frowned, but nodded, "Okay. Miss Elbereth could use some help around here, her sister helps out as does Miss Alivna, but, she said she'd be happy to have more help." Aiko nodded slightly, "Alright, where is Miss Elbereth?" The girl pointed at the mansion, "There." Aiko smiled softly, "Thank you." She walked towards the door of the mansion and knocked on it, there was no answer for a moment. She knocked again and a voice she didn't recognize spoke up, "Hold on a moment, I'll be there in a second!" The door opened to reveal a sea elf with light blue hair and amethyst eyes looked at her, "I thought you were one of my nephews for a moment there, though they would've just walked in." Aiko nodded, "Are you Elbereth?"

The sea elf chuckled, "Elbereth is my little sister, I'm Lenwe, what do ya need?" Aiko sighed, "I was told by my sister, Kimiko, to seek out Elbereth." Lenwe nodded, "She's in the study, but are you sure you want to do this..." Aiko looked down at the floor, unsure, "I'm Aiko." Lenwe nodded and continued, "Aiko. You know if you walk down this path, you might not be able to stop." Aiko nodded, "I need to speak to her because she knew him the most intimately." Lenwe nodded and stepped out of the way, "If you want, I can lead you to her." Aiko nodded slightly and Lenwe started walking through the house, with Aiko following behind her. Lenwe sighed as she stopped in front of a door, "Why do you see knowledge about him?" Aiko closed her eyes, "Because his soul was reborn as me. I want to know if I'm like him."

Lenwe shrugged and opened the door, Aiko saw a sad looking Sea Elf standing near a bookshelf. Lenwe sighed as Aiko walked in, "Your curiosity reminds me of him. But you talk with my sister, alright..." The sea elf turned her head towards her, "You're not one of my children." Aiko looked at the pale purple hair of the sea elf, "Elbereth?" The Sea Elf turned around, "I'm sorry, but I don't know you." Aiko sat down, "I'm Aiko Sano, I'm a Kensei initiate, my sister told me that I should seek you out. If you don't mind there's someone I'd like to talk to you about." Elbereth sat down and looked at her, "Who is it that you wish to talk about?" Aiko closed her eyes, "Yoshiro Miyamae, your late husband..." Elbereth looked down and placed a hand over her heart, "I dislike talking to him because the pain of his loss still hasn't completely faded."

Aiko nodded slightly and pulled a note out of her pocket, "My sister told me to give this to you, I don't understand why. I tried reading it, but couldn't make heads or tails of it." She handed it to Elbereth who read it out loud, "Dear Elbereth, I've sent my little sister to you, because she is the reincarnation of your husband. I'm not expecting you two to fall in love with each other, but I thought it would be nice if the two of you spent time together. I've been noticing how ever since my nephew was killed, you have been a little down and the Galactic war has made things worse. Hopefully my sister can be a friend of your's some day. Sincerely, Kimiko Sano." Elbereth folded the letter up and looked at Aiko, "Kimiko wrote the letter in elvish and she's not one to lie. But forgive me, I still don't want to talk about my late husband."

Aiko nodded slightly, "Do you want to talk at all?" Elbereth looked at her with a smile, "What's your name?" Aiko looked down, "Aiko, ma'am." Elbereth walked over to her and placed her hand on Aiko's chin, lifting it to look into her eyes, "You don't have to be nervous, I've been waiting a long time for my husband's reincarnation to come see me." Aiko gulped, "Y-you have?" Elbereth nodded, "Yes, though I don't want to talk about him, it helps me greatly knowing that he's happy right now." Aiko smiled softly and Elbereth placed her hand on Aiko's shoulder, "Would you like some green tea, I hear it's a Kitsune favorite." Aiko nodded slightly and Elbereth walked out of the room, leaving Aiko alone. She looked around the study and a particular book caught her eye. She walked over to the bookshelf and looked at the book, on the spine it said, "The Memoirs of Yoshiro Miyamae."

Aiko grabbed it out of the bookshelf and walked back over to the chair, looking at it, the book looked quite fancy. Something inside of her told her not to open the book, but she did so anyhow, Elbereth speaking up, "You've found my husband's memoirs. He has been writing them since before he and I had gotten married. There are several dozen volumes of them, but that one, right there, I had made special. Everything important in his life, so that someday his reincarnation would come and find it." Aiko looked at Elbereth, "Do you mind if I read them, I might get some answers as to what he was actually like from the man himself, instead of from second or third hand accounts." Elbereth smiled and handed Aiko a cup of tea, "Go ahead, you can keep it if you want, but Aiko, would you mind having an after-school job?"

Aiko sipped the tea, "Not at all, what do you need?" Elbereth smiled slightly, "I need someone to look after the kids around here. It's a busy job and Lenwe and I are having a hard time keeping up without help." Aiko nodded slightly, "I can do that." Elbereth nodded, "That's good to hear, my own sons are coming here tomorrow, would you like to stay the night and meet them?" Aiko looked at her communicator, "I should inform my mom about it, but sure." Elbereth smiled and placed her hand on Aiko's shoulder, "Let me do it." Elbereth pulled out a communicator from a drawer and turned it on, "Grandmother-in-law, I've invited your daughter to stay over for the night, seeing as she's family, and my own kids are going to be returning tomorrow. Is that alright with you?" Amaterasu's voice spoke up, "I have no problem with it, Elbereth. She's a grown woman and can take care of herself, but thank you for informing me." Elbereth put it away and smiled, "The guest room is down the hall."
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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#6 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 5

Balthoron stepped off the shuttle in Honoo, he looked around, "It's been far too long since I've come here. Oh well, Uncle Lathron and his new girlfriend have gone ahead, guess I'll go see the sights. Wonder if the old cafe is still open." He walked away from the shuttle and walked towards where the cafe used to be, which was near the central park of the city. As he walked through the city, he started to hear footsteps that were following him, so he ducked into an alleyway. He didn't like the idea of him being followed, so he hid behind a waste container. He waited for a minute and kept his ears open to listen out for the person that was following him. There was no sound, Balthoron stood up and looked at the alley entrance to see that no one was there, he figured that he was starting to get paranoid after so much time being spent around his base.

He walked out of the alleyway and continued towards the cafe, but as soon as he saw it, he heard a voice speak out, "Hands above your head!" Balthoron paid the voice no mind and continued walking towards the cafe, the voice spoke out again, "Hands above your head! You are under arrest for illegal possession of a firearm!" Balthoron laughed, "Boy, do you realize what you're getting yourself into?" The voice snarled, "You're the one breaking the law, I'm taking you in." Balthoron didn't even look back, "Lower your weapon, boy." The voice spoke up, "How did you..." Balthoron turned around and chuckled, "Ah, that would explain it. Xander Partanen, you keep wondering why you don't get promoted and here you are, assaulting a mercenary leader." Xander looked at him, "What? You're just a common criminal!"

Balthoron shook his head and folded his arms, "Xander, you're not going to shoot me, and I'll tell you why. Because even if you do, it's not going to cause any damage. Not only are you using a less than lethal weapon, I'm wearing armor underneath my suit, in addition to my suit being treated to resist energy weapons." Xander squinted, "Yeah, well, what if I were to shoot you in the face." Balthoron sighed, "One final warning. Put. The. Gun. Down." Xander squeaked angrily, "Let's call your bluff, shall we!?" Balthoron sighed, "Wrong choice, child!" Balthoron rushed Xander who started to squeeze the trigger, Balthoron reached out for the gun, forcing Xander to readjust the shot, and the shot hit Balthoron in the chest, slightly damaging the suit, but doing no other harm. Balthoron however grabbed the gun and turned his body around so that Xander couldn't shoot him, elbowing the Mus in the nose, causing the Mus to reel back and allow him to wrest the gun free from Xander's hand.

Balthoron shoved Xander away and dismantled the weapon, throwing the parts behind him, "Now, do you believe that I'm a mercenary or do you still think that I'm just a common criminal?" Xander looked at him, holding his nose, "You're extremely skilled for a criminal, but you're a criminal nonetheless, surrender now." Balthoron sighed and shook his head, "Say it with me now. Mercenary." Xander squeaked in anger, removing his hand to see that he was bleeding, "You've assaulted an officer as well." Balthoron sighed, "For the love of all that you find holy and sacred, do you ever realize that I'm dressed in a suit, that is obviously military specifications. Hell, I have armor underneath the suit that is milspec! Seriously, do you listen!?" Xander shook his head, "Show me your ID and then I'll believe you."

Balthoron reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his ID, he showed it to Xander who looked at it, "You really are a Mercenary..." Balthoron sighed, "Noooo, you don't say, that's what I've been telling you before and after that altercation we had." Xander handed the ID back, "So you are licensed to carry a firearm around at all times, I apologize." Balthoron nodded, "How'd you know that I was carrying a firearm on my person?" Xander pointed to the holster on Balthoron's hip, "That's how. You're carrying a smart gun, magitech if I know my firearms." Balthoron nodded, "You know your weapons, that's at least one part of your job that you're doing right. Anyhow, pinch your nose and tilt your head back, breathe only through your mouth, that should stop the bleeding. If not, you should go see a doctor about it. Though I don't think I broke your nose."

Balthoron left Xander behind as he walked up to the door of the cafe which had a sign on it that said, "Closed down." Balthoron sighed as he really could've gone for some coffee, but he turned around and walked into the park, he knew where he was going. He walked before the statues of the heroes and looked at his father's statue in particular, "It's been a while, Dad. I know you've reincarnated and all, but this is just a force of habit. I'm sorry that I followed in your footsteps, I know wherever you must be right now, you're feeling saddened at the fact, but you yourself once said to me that you chose the life because if you didn't, someone else would. Well I'm in that same situation, but I've lost too much to be able to turn away from it. I wish I hadn't lost this much." He sighed and looked down at his dogtags, "I hope you can forgive me, Dad."

Balthoron closed his eyes and squeezed his hand around his dogtags, "I'm sorry, Hiromi. I'm sorry that I've sullied your memory and your dreams by becoming a full on soldier. I'm sorry that I've killed and killed and killed as a result of your demise. I'm sorry for everything I've done, big sister. I loved you and part of me still does. But, your dream of a peaceful world has come true, there hasn't been war here in around three hundred years. Though, tensions are rising right now between the Raptors and the Rapiers. I know you don't want Tsuyoshi and I to fight, but, I think we are destined to keep fighting." Balthoron opened his eyes, and let go of his dog tags, his anger and sorry failing to hide themselves as he turned around to go to the orphanage where his mother worked, "I'll come back to visit someday, Hiromi, and I'll bring Dad's reincarnation."
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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#7 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 6

Balthoron walked up to the front gate of the mansion that his parents had converted into an orphanage. Memories and pain started to flood through his mind, but he pushed the front gate open, keeping a straight face. As he started to walk down the path, an image of himself as a child flashed into his mind, happy go lucky. However, as he continued, the image grew into him as a man, wanting to be a hero like his father. Then it changed into him as a combat medic, as he grew ever closer to the door. Then finally, him as a soldier, the image in his mind became ever more bloodied as he reached the door and when he went to reach for the doorknob, he noticed that there was blood covering his hand. He looked around and saw children staring at him and looked down at himself, he was covered in blood, but wasn't wounded, "I apologize." He sighed and concentrated, dispelling the illusion.

Balthoron grabbed the doorknob and opened the door, "Mama! I'm here!" He walked in and immediately walked to the study, where he expected to find his mother, "Mama, are you in here?" Lenwe responded, "Your mother has gone out to get something. But it is good to see you again, Balthoron, you don't really spend any time around here, why's that?" Balthoron walked into the room and saw his aunt, "Well, it's because I've caused too many people to end up here. I've brought many of them here personally and the pain in coming here is too unbearable." Lenwe nodded and hugged him, "That's not the full story, you can tell Auntie Lenwe and Auntie Melui what's going on." Balthoron watched as an arctic elf walked out from a bookshelf and she waved at him, "Hi, Balthoron, why don't you tell us what's wrong?"

Balthoron sighed and was just about to speak when the door to the study opened and he looked, not at the Kitsune, but at the book she held. Aiko frowned at him, "Are you Tsuyoshi or Balthoron?" Balthoron tried to smile, but couldn't hide his frown, "I'm Balthoron." Aiko frowned, "You don't seem to be happy to be here, with your family..." Balthoron nodded to the book Aiko was holding, "You have my father's memoirs." AIko shook her head, "You're changing the subject." Balthoron sighed, "There are several volumes, Mom probably told you that there are several dozens. What she meant by that was there are several dozens of different copies of his memoirs released by the editors. I read his last one, which revealed to me that he knew when he was going to die and he chose to face it. Great-great grandmother told me the significance of it, if Dad didn't die then, Tsuyoshi would have commanded the Verbanan forces during the Galactic war and we'd all be dead."

Balthoron sat down in a chair and looked into Aiko's eyes, "As for answering your subject, I'm a soldier, have been for three hundred years. I'm not proud of what I've done, especially not the killing. Once you take the life of another, you can never come back from that, it irreversibly changes you on the inside, spiritually and mentally. I've personally seen the widows and widowers of the people I've killed in war and I've personally delivered children that I've orphaned to this orphanage. I used to come to visit until one of the orphans tried to kill me for killing her parents, despite the fact that I orphaned her by complete accident." Aiko folded her arms, "Alright then, tell me how do you accidentally orphan someone!?"

Balthoron sighed, "Like I said, I'm a soldier, her parents were my most trusted advisers back then. I trusted them with my life. As the leader of my own resistance force at the time, we were gaining ground. Some new recruit decided to play with a flash grenade at the dead of night. I told him to knock it off and put the grenade back where he got it, the recruit disrespectfully threw it to the ground and told me to do it. I didn't know if it was active or not and didn't quite know what kind of grenade it was, but I knew that at the time, I was the only one at risk. So I backed out of what would be the lethal range for a different type. Suddenly a bright flash of light encompassed my vision, which temporarily blinded me. I heard footsteps and instinct took hold of my confused mind, I pulled my shotgun out and shot at the noise. I was knocked out from a distance so I wouldn't hurt anyone else, when I came to, I found out that I had killed my own advisers. As promised, I delivered their child here."

Aiko nodded slightly, "So her trying to kill you?" Balthoron looked at his hand, "The only thing more powerful than fear as a driving force for fighting are hatred, love and a desire for revenge. She had a combination of all three, she hated me, loved her parents and wanted me to die. She managed to get onto the mother base and worked her way into my quarters. Next thing I know, there was a stinging pain in my shoulder, she had shot me. I quickly sounded the alarm as I pulled out my pistol and pointed it at her, that's when I recognized her face and couldn't continue to hold my gun. I didn't want to kill her. She was fearful, she didn't understand why I was still standing and why I was walking towards her. It was a simple matter to disarm her, but restraining her was honestly the hard part." Aiko nodded and frowned, "What happened then?" Balthoron shrugged, "We tossed her in the brig for a week. Fortunately the weapon was on low power, otherwise I wouldn't have been available to talk to her for that week."

Lenwe nodded, "I remember that one." Balthoron closed his eyes, faces flashed before his eyes, "I remember everyone I killed, every one I've made into a victim of war, whether making them a widow, a widower or an orphan. But, at this point, I can't distinguish between them, I can't remember who is who and what I've done. Some people might think this is a good thing, but..." Melui spoke up, "For you, it's tormenting you, isn't it?" Balthoron nodded, "Yes, but unfortunately this is my burden to bear. Now do you understand, Aiko?" Aiko blinked, "How do you know my name!?" Balthoron, "Cousin Yoshiko doesn't set a fire spell like that off and not get my attention. She and Alvina told me about you and how you're doing in school, oh and not to mention, that Yoshiko recently told me your secret." Balthoron leaned in and whispered in a way that his aunts would hear him, "That you're my Dad's reincarnation." As Balthoron moved back, he noticed Aiko's stunned expression and he placed his hand on her shoulder, "Grandaunt Kimiko has already told you, but I won't tell anyone else, I promise."
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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#8 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 7

Balthoron walked into the castle, with Aiko in tow, a full day had passed since he had arrived and he wanted to see the king to check if the king had any information on the Thraxi commander who had ordered the attacks three hundred years ago. Aiko looked around, "You can just come in here any time you want?" Balthoron looked back at her and nodded, "I used to live around here and come visit when Aunt Reiko was still alive. Aunt Reiko died shortly after the Galactic War had started, her poor old heart couldn't take it anymore and she just, gave up on life. I was there by her side when she breathed her last." He pointed at one of the towers, "Up there. Incidentally, that's where Dad went when Uncle Rogelio was killed." Aiko nodded, "You've been alive a long time, how old are you, exactly?" Balthoron didn't hesitate, "I'm one thousand, six hundred and seventy-five years old. I was born when my father was four hundred and sixty years old."

Aiko blinked as they walked up the stairs, "How old do Kilves normally live for?" Balthoron shook his head, "Harumi has yet to die of natural causes and Tsuyoshi isn't going to. So that is currently as of yet unknown. But judging from the fact that I seem to be in what humans used to call their early thirties, I'll have to guess that I got a lot longer to go. Mom's people are known to live around four thousand years old." Aiko gasped slightly, "You're joking, right?" Balthoron looked at the guards near the door and they opened the door for him, "I'm not joking in the slightest, Aiko. Now with any luck, Katashi is going to..." Balthoron noticed the distinct bee like shape of a Thraxi standing in the throne room, "Well isn't this just convenient." The Thraxi looked at him and then at Aiko, who gasped slightly, she had heard stories of their might, "I don't want to annoy him." Balthoron sighed, "Her, if you see a Thraxi outside of their hives, they're always female."

Katashi looked at him, "Balthoron, I just sent a messenger to the Raptor base, how'd you get here so fast?" Balthoron didn't take his eyes off the Thraxi, "I came to visit my mom, found this Kensei around there wondering all about the great war, that reminded me of me asking you for help in tracking down this Thraxi in particular, so I came here." The Thraxi turned and looked at him, "You still have the fire in your eyes, Kilf known as Balthoron." Balthoron nodded, "Thraxi High Commander Xifeng, you still seem to carry the same strength and grace as you did all those years ago." Xifeng nodded and her mandibles clicked twice, "Kilf known as Balthoron, I have not forgotten how you had bested me all of those years ago. But enough about that, who is this Kitsune." Aiko blinked and bowed respectfully, "I am Aiko Sano."

Xifeng nodded, "Kitsune known as Aiko, you do not need to bow, I'm merely a retired High Commander." Balthoron walked over to Xifeng and sighed, "I wasn't quite prepared for this, but..." Xifeng nodded, "Kilf known as Balthoron..." Aiko interrupted, "Excuse me, but why does she talk like that?" Aiko watched as Xifeng turned her head to face her and gulped as Xifeng's mandibles clicked in annoyance. Balthoron sighed, "Thraxi hate to be interrupted, like most people." Xifeng nodded slightly, her antenna twitching as she turned back to Balthoron, who looked at her, "Alright, I'll tell her." Balthoron turned his head to look at Aiko, "The Thraxi don't have a firm grasp on Common. Also they're really only given names if they have proven themselves worthy of gaining a name. It's not a system I pretend to understand, but it's what they've grown used to and have lived their entire lives with."

Xifeng nodded, "Kilf known as Balthoron is correct, Thraxi are not entirely fluent in the language known as Common." Balthoron nodded, "So, Xifeng, how many different guns are trained on me at this second." Katashi stood up and started to protest, "Balthoron, how dare you..." Balthoron raised his hand to shush Katashi, "Let her speak." Xifeng clicked her mandibles in a manner that seemed to be a communication. Several Thraxi came out of hiding, brandishing weapons, one of then clicked her mandibles in communication with Balthoron, who looked at her and responded by touching his nose, "I could smell you guys around here, not to mention, with so many people, including my own brother wanting Xifeng's head, she'd have some bodyguards." Aiko blinked, "You understand their language!?"

Balthoron laughed, "Not even a little, just one thing that transcends racial and cultural barriers is being surprised when you're found out. Now I know that Xifeng wasn't planning on having me shot, so long as I didn't try to draw my weapon out on her. However, Aiko, if you want to see the person who cost me everything, this is her, right here." Xifeng nodded, "Kilf known as Balthoron, Thraxi known as Xifeng and her guards would like to go the Kilf known as Balthoron's place of great sorrow." Balthoron nodded slightly, "That's fine, I was going to head up there with Aiko in tow anyhow, show her the horrors of war and what it cost me. Granted, the Thraxi that I killed were all Xifeng's sisters, she doesn't feel that much of an attachment to them." Xifeng made a sound that was an approximation to a sigh, "Thraxi are different than Verbanan Peoples. All Thraxi in one hive are brothers and sisters, except the queen who is our mother."

Aiko nodded slightly, "So, um... where is this place that you lost everything, Balthoron?" Balthoron sighed as he didn't want to go back there, "It's a place where I used to visit all the time, my Dad was the founder of the city, and my sister ruled kindly since he stepped down and passed the throne to her, right up until she was killed in the Galactic War." Aiko gasped and placed her hand on her mouth, "That's horrible." Balthoron nodded, "You wonder why people don't want you to go to war, well it's time you see first hand what the damage war can cause, and you'll be able to understand why I've gone through such a radical change over the past few hundred years, from how my Dad described me in his memoirs." Balthoron sighed and started walking out of the throne room, the Thraxi following him. Aiko blinked as Balthoron looked back at her, "If you will follow me, we're going to the former Kilvish capitol city."
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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#9 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 8

Balthoron, Xifeng and Aiko reached the hill that Balthoron himself had stood upon three hundred years ago, watching in horror alongside his sister, Misaki, as Xifeng's fleet bombarded the city. A cool breeze blew and a scent reached Balthoron's nostrils, flowers, and not just any flowers, the kind his sister used to grow, "Three hundred years ago, I stood here and watched as everything my father and sister had build was bombarded out of existence. You wanted to see what you caused, Xifeng. This is what you caused." Xifeng looked around, her eyes scanned, "Kilf known as Balthoron, this was a military installation." Balthoron shook his head, "No, this city didn't even have a military presence when it was destroyed. The dracoknights were mostly outside the city when the attack happened, you killed nothing but civilians."

Xifeng looked down, "Thraxi known as Xifeng didn't know, Thraxi known as Xifeng apologizes to Kilf known as Balthoron." Balthoron shook his head, "Follow me into the ruins." Balthoron walked down from the hill, and started to walk towards the ruins of the city, images flashed through his mind and he could hear the screams of the people as he approached. He knew that they weren't really there, but with each passing step, it became more and more realistic. He kept moving though, however Aiko grabbed his hand, "Balthoron, you don't have to go in there if you don't want to. You look like you're being weighed down by memories." Balthoron nodded, "I know, I was here when the buildings were still on fire, right after the attack. Misaki and I were the first into the city and I was one of the last to leave."

Aiko sighed slightly, "I... I see." Balthoron shook his head, "Don't feel as such." He walked into the city itself, and walked down a street, "What you see here, Aiko, is a place that has been reclaimed by nature. You do not feel the presence or hear the sounds that I hear." Aiko folded her arms, "What is that supposed to mean." Balthoron motioned with his hand, "You see the ruins of a once great city. I feel the weight of the air pressing down on me, the weight of death. I smell the scent of burning flesh and of blood. I hear the pained screams of the survivors, the sobbing of widows, widowers and orphans." Xifeng nodded, "Thraxi known as Xifeng see an attack Thraxi should've never carried out and that Kilf known as Balthoron is suffering from a medical condition."

Balthoron walked towards a set of graves in a park, he leaned before the middle one and Aiko looked at it, "Who is that." Balthoron looked at the grave which read, "Here lies Kazuko Miyamae nee Tsukino. Born: 1415 A.V.L. Died: 1835 A.V.L. She was taken far too early from us." He knelt in front of the grave and tried to hold back tears, "Honey, I've returned. I don't know if you've been reincarnated or not, but I love you still. I haven't remarried as I promised myself that if something happened to you, I would live out the rest of my days as a single man. I'm sorry that I changed from the man you once knew and that I've walked the path that I never wanted to walk." Aiko walked over to a grave to the right of it, "Who is this, Balthoron?" Balthoron looked at the gravestone and his heart sank into his belly. Xifeng walked over to him, "What is bothering Kilf known as Balthoron this badly?"

Balthoron sighed, "Aiko, it's common knowledge that I lost my wife during the attacks, but something I hid from everyone that I could, was that at the time, my wife was pregnant with a girl. She was going to be born a few months later and I was going to totally retire from the military, so that I could raise her without her having to worry about not having a father someday. Then this happened and, first, I found my wife, blood was coming out of her mouth and she wasn't moving. Then I found my sister Hiromi crushed to death in a way that it also caused severed her spine, decapitating her internally. She was killed instantly. I didn't come to check on my wife until later, she had been impaled by debris. Though she didn't die instantly, she died before I arrived on the scene. When her body shut down, unfortunately our unborn daughter wasn't too far behind her. That's why that grave says, 'Here lies Minako Miyamae, your light was snuffed out before you ever had a chance."

Aiko nodded and looked at another grave, "Why does this one have your name on it?" Balthoron sighed, "Because when I die, I want to be buried right next to my wife, I figured it would be easier for me to claim a plot of land and for them to fill in the year of death after I die. I loved her with all my heart and soul." Xifeng nodded, "Thraxi known as Xifeng is starting to understand what Thraxi have caused Kilf known as Balthoron. Thraxi known as Xifeng apologize for all Thraxi have done to Kilf known as Balthoron." Balthoron sighed and stood up, "My wife, if she were alive today, would want me to forgive you, and I know my daughter would as well. For them, I forgive you, even if deep down, part of me still hates you for what you've done. But I guess nothing can be done about that."

Aiko nodded, "All of this is horrific, but you said you were the last one to leave the city, why was that?" Balthoron sighed and pointed to the castle, "In there, I fought my older brother Tsuyoshi. He had recently called for the genocide of the Thraxi people and our sisters had abandoned us. We were two men that were badly hurt by these events and disagreed on how we would get our revenge. Tsuyoshi attacked first and tried to kill me. In the end of the fight, I sliced open his right cybernetic eye and he knocked my sword away. Panicking, I pulled a shotgun off one of the shelves and fired a warning shot. However the kickback, threw my shot off and I blew off Tsuyoshi's hand and dislocated my shoulder." Before Aiko could respond, they all heard a voice say, "Yes, about that, little brother..."
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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#10 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 9

Tsuyoshi looked down at his brother from the second story of a building within the ruins, he looked at the Thraxi, disgusted that they would ever be in this place, defiling the memory of the Verbanans who died in their attack. He looked at the glove he wore over his right hand, to hide the fact that it was a bionic limb and took it off to show the lone Kitsune that was standing there, "You see this, Kitsune, do you know who I am?" Aiko looked directly at him and the memory of his grandmother's face flashed through his mind, "You remind me of Grandmother, whose child are you?" Aiko looked at him, "Blind Mercenary Commander, Tsuyoshi Miyamae... I am the daughter of Amaterasu and Raiden." Tsuyoshi nodded, "Ah, well I think it's time you know the truth."

Tsuyoshi jumped down and looked directly at Balthoron, taking the blindfold off his face, "You betrayed me before, tried to kill me twice already and here you are, consorting with the enemy. As Tsuyoshi walked towards them, he projected an illusion of him as a young man, then as a diplomat, then as an ambassador, then as blood started to cover him, the image changed into the mercenary he had become, "I used to have green eyes, until these bugs stole them from me. I used to have green cybernetic replacements until Balthoron stole them from me along with my own hand!" Tsuyoshi reached for his weapon, but watched as Balthoron's hand crackled with electricity. The electricity arced out and hit every single firearm in the area, Balthoron sighed, "There will not be any firefights in this area, too many people have died here, already."

Tsuyoshi growled and rushed at Balthoron who stepped out of the way and hooked his foot into Tusyoshi's, forcing him to trip and stumble, "Big brother, what did I tell you already." Tsuyoshi turned around and threw a punch at Balthoron who moved his head to the side to avoid and moved in, forcing Tsuyoshi to back up, "I'm going to ensure that this place is your grave, Balthoron!" Balthoron sighed, "Still haven't given up on trying to kill me, have you." Tsuyoshi attempted to strike at Balthoron with the bionic fist, Balthoron moved out of the way again, this time grabbing at Tsuyoshi's arm and throwing his momentum in that direction, forcing Tsuyoshi to stumble forward and get punched in the abdomen. Tsuyoshi attempted to hook his foot under Balthoron's, but found that Balthoron was already attempting a grapple.

Tsuyoshi used his larger size to overpower Balthoron and break free from his grapple and he grabbed at Balthoron's neck, starting to strangle his younger brother, when he felt a sharp pain in his groin which caused him to let go and howl in both pain and anger, "I'm going to kill you!" Balthoron sent a low power jolt into Tsuyoshi's cybernetic eyes, forcing them to temporarily shut down, blinding the older Kilf for a moment. Tsuyoshi started swinging at the sounds he heard, but eventually stopped and growled, concentrating his own mana and forming an ice barrier around himself. He heard Balthoron's fist slam into it and Balthoron exclaim, "[censored]!" Tsuyoshi laughed, "You'll lose your arm just like I did." Balthoron laughed, "You forget, I have enough Mana left to knock you out or kill you, depending on my choice."

Tsuyoshi's cybernetic eyes came back online and he looked at Balthoron's arm, concentrating and increasing the pressure on the arm, as he started to hear a crack of the bones, he felt like he had been kicked by a Nashoorn in the chest and the ice barrier immediately dropped as he was thrown to the ground convulsing from the electricity flowing through his body. Balthoron grabbed his older brother and stopped the electric current flowing through him, and punched Tsuyoshi in the face a few times before the elder kilf spoke up, "Wait!" Balthoron stopped, "I sense it as well. Aiko, how do you feel?" Aiko looked around, "I feel like something is flowing into my body and out of it." Tsuyoshi turned his head and spat blood on the ground, "You're going through your awakening. This will have to wait, Balthoron."

Balthoron let go of Tsuyoshi and nodded, "I understand." Xifeng clicked her mandibles, "Thraxi known as Xifeng has no idea what Kilf known as Tsuyoshi and Kilf known as Balthoron are talking about." Tsuyoshi stood up, "Her mother will know what to do, Balthoron. I'm going to head back to base." Xifeng spoke up, "Kilf known as Tsuyoshi, what is your end goal regarding the Thraxi?" Tsuyoshi didn't look at her, and spoke with an eerie coldness, "For everything you have taken from me and the Verbanan people, I will wipe your entire species out. This is my end goal, complete extermination of the Thraxi peoples." Xifeng shook her head, "Kilf known as Tsuyoshi, you know that the goal you have set is impossible." Tsuyoshi nodded, "I know, but honestly, revenge is the only thing that keeps me going these days. Go, before I change my mind about letting you go with Balthoron."

Xifeng nodded and started to follow Balthoron as he walked towards the edge of the city, Aiko however stayed behind, "Tsuyoshi, is there no chance that you can turn away from this path that you have set for yourself? Is there any possible way for you to attain a form of redemption?" Tsuyoshi shook his head, "Aiko, the only reason I stopped is because we have sacred laws and even though I've become this evil creature you see before you, I will not break our sacred laws. A holy blood going through an awakening must not be harmed, and I didn't want to risk that with my fight with the traitor. As for any chance of being redeemed, there is none. The only way this particular path will finally end is when someone kills me for what I desire. I'm too old to change my ways easily, and the losses I have suffered hurt too deep for me to turn away." Aiko watched as Tsuyoshi grabbed the blindfold and walked away, disappearing into the ruins.
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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#11 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 10

Balthoron found himself back in Honoo, it had been a bit since he first arrived here, except this time he looked at the temple of the sun, he looked at Xifeng, "Thraxi are not yet allowed into our holy sites, I apologize, I would like for you to meet my great-grandparents." Xifeng clicked her mandibles, "Thraxi do not wish to create strife with Verbanan Peoples." Balthoron nodded slightly, "That's good to hear. Aiko, you excited to be back home?" Aiko nodded slightly, "To be honest, I rather enjoy it around here. Do you have memories of being here?" Balthoron nodded, "My dad was a Kensei." He walked into the temple, with Aiko following behind as he continued, "Dad would be known nowadays as a Kensei Master Guardian. As for me..." Balthoron took the glove off his right hand and showed the brand of Amaterasu, "I'm a Kensei myself."

Aiko blinked, "But you... you don't fight with a sword!" Balthoron nodded, "It's true that I've not used my sword in combat recently, but we live in times of peace and as a soldier, I don't want to give a false impression on the people." Aiko nodded, "What kind of Kensei are you, then?" Balthoron put the glove back on, "I'm not a guardian like my father. I'm a Kensei Warrior Captain." A voice spoke up, "A warrior captain, now that is something I've heard quite often around here, but I didn't expect to meet Balthoron himself here." Aiko smiled, "Hi, Silvio." Balthoron nodded and extended his hand to Silvio, "A Paladin Squire, it's admirable when the Paladins decide to help with the other holy orders. I used to hear stories of one known as Kauko Aaltonen, but that was a long time ago, before any of us were born."

Silvio nodded, "Aiko, your mother would like to see you." Balthoron nodded, "Her mother is exactly why I've brought her back here so early. Aiko is going through her awakening and maybe Great-grandmother can shed some light on this whole thing." Silvio sighed, "She's in the main hall, along with Yoshiko, they've been talking for a while, it seems that Aiko's awakening is coming up soon, and that she'll need a teacher." Balthoron shook his head, "Soon is no longer the time frame, it's now. In fact, it happened a couple of days ago." Silvio nodded, "Well then, I suggest you get her to the main hall immediately." Balthoron shrugged and continued on with Aiko in tow, "I was going to do that anyhow, but thanks." Aiko looked around, "Everything is so different, you feel so powerful, Balthoron." Balthoron nodded, "You're dangerous in this state, so we need to figure out where to go next. Being who you are... your mana is stronger than my own, and I'm quite powerful."

Balthoron entered into the main hall and saw Yoshiko and Amaterasu standing there talking, he could hear them speaking about Aiko from where he was standing. He decided to clear his throat to get their attention, "When talking about someone, and they're present in the area, make sure that you know that they are listening." Yoshiko looked at him, "We're talking about Aiko, dear, not you." Balthoron thumbed behind him, "She's very nervous because I informed her that an untrained mage is very dangerous and her being the reincarnation of you know who, makes her very powerful in addition of this." Yoshiko nodded, and Amaterasu walked over towards Aiko who walked out and hugged her, "Mama, I'm scared." Amaterasu nodded, "Understandable, something is happening to you and the last time your soul went through it, it was... unpleasant."

Aiko frowned, "What do you mean?" Amaterasu sighed, "This is a story that none of the three of you know, but your little brother is also the reincarnation of someone close to Yoshiro. He's the reincarnation of Katriina. Yoshiro's awakening was induced when my Dad killed Kimiko, who was reborn as my daughter, and Katriina before his very eyes. I didn't want anything to do with my grandchild and father fighting each other, but Mom wound up eventually driving my Dad off of the continent. Sometimes Dad comes to visit us, but, during that moment Yoshiro had his awakening, and because of it... we thought he was genetically different, but because he put a mental block on himself, he was somehow immune to psionics, but this cost him the ability to use his own mana, despite being very powerful as Yoshiko can show you, even more so than her if he were to have actually have been trained."

Aiko nodded slightly, "Okay, so... who is going to train me?" Yoshiko smiled slightly, "Well child, I'm in the twilight years of my life, so I'm going to end up training you, if that's alright with you." Aiko nodded, "You've already taught me so much, thank you." Yoshiko looked at Balthoron, "What about you?" Balthoron shrugged, "She has no place in my nation, we're soldiers, and I don't want her to go through war, especially after I showed her what war brings. But there is one final place that I want to take her as now that she is finally awakened, I can finally get to getting her the memento that my father left for Katriina's reincarnation, and the gift my father left for her." Yoshiko sighed, "You're going to take her into the crypt that our family has been buried within." Balthoron nodded slightly, "Her mana is the key."

Silvio spoke up, "Xander and I will have to come too, we're all awakened and the reincarnations of both Walthari and Killian, respectively." Balthoron nodded again, "Yoshiko, can you go get Xander for me, I don't think he'll be too pleased if I try to convince him to come after I bloodied his nose." Yoshiko sighed, "What happened..." Balthoron smirked, "He pulled a weapon on me, I disarmed him, dismantled the weapon and broke his nose." Yoshiko sighed, "Fine, I'll go and get him." Balthoron watched as Yoshiko walked out and Aiko and Silvio looked at him, Silvio speaking up, "You don't look like a soldier." Balthoron started to walk out of the temple and smirked back to Silvio, "Looks can be deceiving. Though I wear a fancy suit on the outside, it's actually made of a special armored weave that protects me against energy weapons. And I typically wear light armor under that." Silvio nodded as he and Aiko followed him, "So you're crazy prepared, huh?" Balthoron nodded, "Helps that someone tried to assassinate me once."
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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#12 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 11

Balthoron stood once again in front of the statues of the three heroes, his father and two of his uncles. He walked up to the statue of his father and opened up a panel, sighing slightly as he took his glove off and stuck his hand into the slot behind the panel. A needle stuck him in the hand and a voice spoke up, "Balthoron Miyamae, welcome back." Xander folded his arms as this happened, "So we can't enter here without you?" Balthoron pointed to the other side, "Mana scanner is over there." As the door opened, Balthoron heard his mother speak, "Son, I'd like to come with you, it's been so long since I've seen your father." Balthoron nodded slightly, "Alright, we need someone to go with Xander and Silvio to see their past lives and retrieve their heirlooms."

Elbereth looked at everyone and Yoshiko looked at Xander, "Honestly, Balthoron, I think you should go with them. I'm going to be Aiko's mentor later on, so I should go with her and Elbereth would like to see her late hus—" Balthoron raised his hand in a motion for her to stop, "I got it, Yoshiko. I'll go with them, alright?" Yoshiko nodded and Elbereth looked at Balthoron as he walked into the crypt with Xander and Silvio in tow. She sighed slightly, "It's hard seeing him go like that, but it's something someone has to do, unfortunately. Aiko, are you ready?" Aiko nodded slightly and followed Elbereth and Yoshiko down into the crypt, she heard the door close behind them and she gasped slightly as Yoshiko placed her hand on Aiko's shoulder, "Hey, calm down, we can open it back up again, you don't have to worry about that."

Aiko nodded as Yoshiko opened her hand and produced a flame that caused all of the lights to turn on in a hallway. Elbereth walked down the hallway with Yoshiko and Aiko close behind. Aiko took notice at the names on each door leading to a different chamber, "This is a family crypt?" Yoshiko nodded, "I'll be buried here someday as well." Elbereth nodded and suddenly stopped within a chamber, "We're here." Both Elbereth and Yoshiko moved to different sides so that Aiko could see what lay in the center of the large chamber, "I recognize his face." Yoshiko nodded slightly, "This is a stasis pod, Yoshiro lies within it." Aiko nodded slightly, "These injuries, they haven't been healed." Elbereth sighed and sat down, "He died as a soldier, but..." Before she could finish, a recording started to play over a speaker.

"If you're hearing this recording, my reincarnation is amongst you. I don't know how you got here or why you came, but... I hope you're living a life of peace. I've lived most of my life as a soldier of some sort and I'm not proud of it. I rarely got to enjoy my time with my wife and kids, because I was afraid something new was going to tear me away from them. But that's aside from the point, using what information Great-grandmother and Aunt Kimiko gave me about my next life, I had worked with them and Julius to build this magitech suit for you. It'll help you from having to worry about accidentally using your magic as it's designed to work only when you yourself actually want it to. I don't know where Killian is going to place it after my death, but according to great-grandmother, I don't have very long. Elbereth if you're here, I want you to know that I love you and always have. Reincarnation, remember, out of anyone in this world, you can trust Elbereth. These are my words to you."

The recording shut off and another stasis pod opened up, revealing magitech armor and Yoshiko blinked slightly, "I've not seen that design in over a thousand years." Aiko walked over to it and the armor reacted to her mana, unlocking itself and opening up. She sighed as she walked back into the armor itself and it closed around her, she felt the mana stop flowing so strongly through her, but she could steel feel the flow of it, "I feel less dangerous than I used to." Yoshiko smiled, "That's good." Elbereth looked at the face in the stasis pod, "Yoshiro, you never once told me that you knew that you were going to die that day. Though I'm hurt, I guess it was for the best, I would've tried talking you out of it or keeping you away from the whole battle myself. But our kids have separated from each other as of late and I can't find our daughters..."

Yoshiko walked over to Elbereth and placed her hand on Elbereth's shoulder, "Aiko, I'm going to take Elbereth out of here, take all of the time you need, alright. His full memoirs are down here, and the door will react to your mana signature and let it out." Aiko nodded slightly and looked at a datapad that sat on the table that had the sign, "For my reincarnation." Next to it. She looked at it and started to read the information on it, she felt confused at all of this information, but suddenly she heard a sound and looked around. She found a Kilf with cyan hair and ice blue eyes standing in the hall, she looked sad. The Kilf looked up at her, and removed the cloth she used to cover her nose and mouth, "Dad?" Aiko looked down, "Please do not call me that, you're older than I am." The kilf sighed, "But you are his reincarnation, yes?"

Aiko nodded slightly, getting the odd sense that she could trust this kilf, "My name is Aiko, I'm the reincarnation of the man in the stasis pod." The Kilf nodded slightly, "I'm Misaki, I'm one of his children. I see that Balthoron has come in here with a Mofeta and Mus, are they?" Aiko nodded, "Silvio is the reincarnation of Killian and Xander is the reincarnation of Walthari." Misaki frowned, "I see, and is he still fighting with our big brother?" Aiko nodded sadly, "They are enemies from what I've heard." Misaki nodded, "I got sick of the fighting and went into hiding around here, I've been avoiding my brothers and my mother ever since." Aiko frowned and went to hug Misaki, who hugged her first, "Aiko, if I can't call you Dad, can I at least call you my friend?" Aiko nodded, "You can return with me to the surface if you want." Misaki nodded, "I will, but not now, there's something I need to show you."
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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#13 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 12

Balthoron walked down a corridor with Silvio and Xander close in tow, the lights turned on as he continued down the corridor, "So, Silvio, your father wouldn't happen to be Rogelio Espina Cruz, would he?" Silvio spoke up, "Yeah, that's my father, why?" Balthoron turned his head back as he continued walking, "Because I know your father." Silvio looked at Balthoron and concentrated on him, "You have no intention to lie to me, tell me, what do you know about my father." Balthoron nodded, "Your parents divorced, correct?" Silvio nodded, "Yes, my father decided to become a mercenary and my mother didn't want anything to do with that lifestyle." Xander folded his arms, "Wah, what a sob story, my parents are dead and you don't see me crying." Balthoron made a rude gesture to Xander, and continued to speak to Silvio, "Your father is amongst the Raptors."

Silvio nodded slightly, "You're being honest with me, why?" Balthoron stopped, "Tell me, what have you heard about me?" Silvio looked down and Xander spoke up, "Aside from the fact that you're the prick mercenary leader that broke my nose, nothing." Balthoron paid Xander no mind, "Silvio." Silvio looked up at him, "Not very much is known about you before you took command of the Raptors." Balthoron turned around and placed his hand on Silvio's shoulder, "I used to be a medic, it was my job to either save lives or make sure people died in the least amount of pain possible. Also your father used to talk about you a lot and has used a rather infuriatingly large amount of resources in tracking you down." Silvio sighed, "He walked out of my life all of those years ago when I wasn't even a grown man."

Balthoron nodded slightly and thumbed behind him, "There are five pods in the room, Xander, your two are on the right, Silvio, your two are on the left. The one I need to open is in the dead center." The two of them nodded and left Balthoron to his own devices, he looked at the two as they looked at his uncles in their pods and could hear the two recordings left by his Uncle Killian play simultaneously, telling the two reincarnations about the lives each Lupine led and the struggles that Walthari had to go through, being a berserker and all. Balthoron knew that the fifth pod was actually empty, it was a decoy. He walked back down the corridor and placed his hand on a panel in the wall, introducing a bit of his mana into it, causing a hidden door to open. He sighed slightly as he walked down the new corridor and into a chamber where he saw a pod resting.

He walked up to the pod and noticed the scarred Lupine within, "I think it's time we pop you open, now that they've come here." Balthoron walked over to the control panel and pressed a few buttons, causing the pod to come open, "Not fair that you got to sleep this entire time in suspended animation, but I had to take the long way into this era. Oh well, wakey wakey." A hiss sounded and Balthoron walked over to the front of the pod as the Lupine yawned and slowly opened up his eyes, "Good to see that you're amongst the land of the living once more, Corporal Adalwulf Muller." Adalwulf looked down at Balthoron, "Who are you and how do you know my name and where is this place." Balthoron smiled slightly, "This is the crypt, no you're not dead, quite the opposite in fact, though from what my father told me of the time he went to avenge Uncle Rogelio, you should've died."

Adalwulf nodded, "That was one hundred and seventeen years ago." Balthoron shook his head, "That was one thousand and six hundred years ago." Adalwulf blinked, "You're joking?" Balthoron, "Afraid I'm not one to joke anyone, by the way, I never answered one of your questions, I'm Balthoron Miyamae." Adalwulf nodded, "So you're Yoshiro's son... where is he?" Balthoron sighed, "He died sometime after you got put into stasis. Adalwulf, I'm going to bring you up to speed, alright. About nothing has changed except for now there's this alien race known as the Thraxi and the surviving mortals from your era have grown old. Aside from that, Verbana is pretty much the same. The Galactic Maps have changed, with territories changing and the Humans are quite literally the most technologically advanced species in the entire [censored] galaxy."

Adalwulf groaned as he stepped out of the pod, "So, if this really is the future, then did what Kimiko say come to pass?" Balthoron shook his head, "Killian and Yoshiro's reincarnations are rather close, basically really good friends. Xander's got an attitude problem that I think Master Erasmus could fix." Adalwulf blinked, "When did you have time to train under Erasmus?" Balthoron shrugged, "I run an entire private military force as its own nation, I think I could easily manage to find some time to train under a Dragon Monk, especially after the whole end to the galactic war. Anyhow Xifeng is hanging around outside, Thraxi aren't allowed in sites like this, so... if you're really in a hurry to converse with one, go ahead. Just don't get aggressive, she's a diplomat."

Adalwulf nodded slightly, "Balthoron, I think I'm going to go get some fresh air, if that's alright with you." Balthoron nodded, "Introduce yourself to the Mofeta and Mus while you're at it, there's a scent in here that's been bothering me because it feels so familiar, so I'm going to stick around for a while and try to find out what it is." Adalwulf nodded, "It's good seeing you again, kiddo." Balthoron smiled, "It's good to see you up and about, Adalwulf, I hope you enjoy this time period more than you enjoyed the one we grew up in." Balthoron watched Adalwulf head out and take a right, and he headed out from the secret chamber, this time taking a left so that he could follow the scent. However as he followed the scent, he found that it led to his father's chamber, unfortunately for him, he wasn't ready for what he would find...
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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#14 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 13

Adalwulf looked at the two in the chamber where his cousins lay, his cybernetic left eye scanning the area as he sighed, "So you two are the reincarnations of my cousins, which one of you is Killian and which one of you is Walthari?" Xander looked at him, "I'm the reincarnation of Walthari, that means that I'm a great hero as well." Adalwulf shook his head and closed his eyes, "I used to have that same exact attitude when I was around your age. I thought because I had joined the military, everything was going to be guts and glory." Silvio nodded, "You're a soldier from the battle of Hayat. I recognize you from having read about you back in history class." Xander scoffed, "A soldier, huh? He wouldn't be able to defeat me, now that I have this bracelet!" Silvio sighed, "These are mementos, nothing more." Adalwulf sighed, "Child, you may rush at me if you wish."

Xander rushed at Adalwulf and threw a punch, Adalwulf catching the Mus and throwing him to the ground with his arm against Xander's throat, "Close Quarters Combat techniques developed back in my era." Silvio smiled slightly, "It's an honor to see someone from that battle, if I recall correctly, you were one of the heroes of that battle." Adalwulf shook his head and let Xander get back up, "Did you learn your lesson, child?" Xander squeaked in annoyance, "What is it with people and kicking my [censored]." Adalwulf sighed, "You rush to aggression too quickly, you need to learn from Bruno and Erasmus in order to stop doing that." Silvio nodded, "If you would permit me, I would like to spar with you, as a fellow warrior." Adalwulf shook his head, "What's your name, kid?" Silvio stood proud, "Silvio Espina Mata." Adalwulf nodded, "Silvio, what you heard about me is a lie."

Silvio blinked slightly as Adalwulf started to walk out, both he and Xander followed him, "What do you mean that everything I heard about you is a lie!?" Adalwulf kept walking and turned his head to look at Silvio, "I said what you heard about me is a lie, not everything. I'm not a warrior, I gave up the life of a soldier after I got my entire unit wiped out at that battle. Someone, probably Killian rewrote history so that I would be painted in a positive light. Anyhow, I would like to get out of this place, so can one of you show me the front door and open it for me?" Silvio nodded and started to walk ahead, with Adalwulf following him, "So... how did you survive the battle?" Adalwulf sighed, "Honestly, I should've died, there were many better men out there that should've survived instead of me, but something allowed me to keep living."

Silvio arrived at the door and Adalwulf watched as he ran his hand over a panel and the door opened, "Alright, Xander, you should get back to your job, I'm going to head back to the temple." Adalwulf nodded, and Silvio looked at him, "Where are you going to go, Adalwulf, a long time has passed since that battle. You had to have been asleep in some sort of suspended animation in order to make it to this era." Adalwulf shrugged, "Things have changed, the cultures have changed and the technology has changed, but at least this is an era of peace, rather the constant conflict that dominated my era, I'll figure something out." Silvio nodded and the three of them walked out, Silvio and Xander going their separate ways, but Adalwulf looking around at the park, astonished that nothing much had actually changed since he first went into stasis.

Before Adalwulf could gather his thoughts, he heard the clicking of mandibles and turned around to see a Thraxi, "What are you." The Thraxi replied, "Thraxi known as Xifeng is curious about strange unknown Lupine. Lupine same appearance as Lupine known as Adalwulf, but Lupine known as Adalwulf cannot be alive in this era. Lupine must be a clone of some sort." Adalwulf blinked as a bit of doubt entered his mind, but he remembered that clones cannot have memories programmed into them, and would start off as a baby, "So you're Xifeng, Balthoron told me about you." Xifeng tilted head, "Kilf known as Balthoron told Clone of Lupine known as Adalwulf about Thraxi known as Xifeng?" Adalwulf's tail started lashing as he became quite annoyed at her calling him a clone, "I'm the genuine article, I'm not some clone!"

Xifeng clicked her mandibles in annoyance, "Impossible! Lupine known as Adalwulf would've died a long time ago!" Adalwulf shook his head, "I was in a stasis pod for over a thousand years. I am Adalwulf Muller, former soldier of the Lupine Mercenary Army." Xifeng looked up, "Lupine... Mercenary... Army?" Adalwulf blinked, "They don't exist anymore?" Xifeng shook her head, "Thraxi known as Xifeng has never heard of Lupine Mercenary Army." Adalwulf sighed, "I guess things have really changed since I was first put into stasis. Oh well. Look, I apologize that we've gotten off on the wrong foot." Xifeng shook her head, "Thraxi have to leave soon. Good talk with Lupine known as Adalwulf." Adalwulf nodded, "Hopefully we can talk later when I'm better adjusted." Xifeng nodded as she flew away, leaving Adalwulf to look around.

An elderly Kitsune looked at him, "So you took the short way, while the rest of us took the long way, Lieutenant Muller." Adalwulf turned to see Yoshiko standing there, though she looked much older, "Yoshiko?" Yoshiko nodded, "Yeah, I'm waiting for Aiko to emerge from the crypt so I can take her and train her as a mage." Adalwulf blinked, "Wait, Aiko? As in the one that killed Rogelio?" Yoshiko shook her head, "That particular Aiko died a long time ago, shortly after my stepfather died. I don't know why grandmother named her daughter after the woman who caused her grandson untold grief." Adalwulf nodded, "So, Yoshiko, can I ask a favor of you?" Yoshiko nodded, "Sure thing." Adalwulf sighed, "I'm a fish out of temporal water, do you think you can get me in contact with someone that can help me adjust?" Yoshiko smiled, "Of course, Adalwulf, you're a friend of my family's. I'll see about asking Alvina later, alright?" Adalwulf looked up at the blue sky, "Thank you, Yoshiko."
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Re: Heart of Broken Glass

#15 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 14

Balthoron walked through the crypt, following the scent that he found all too familiar to him. He became confused at this and somewhat agitated. He walked down the hallway leading to his father's chamber and saw Aiko standing there, "Aiko, have you seen anyone here?" Aiko looked at him, "No, I haven't." Balthoron snapped his fingers and an electrical barrier formed behind him, "You're a poor liar, though you wouldn't lie unless you have a reason to, being grandmother's daughter and all." Balthoron scanned the area with his eyes, "Come out." Aiko looked at him, "No one's here." Balthoron sighed, "Misaki Miyamae, you cannot hide from me in here and I've placed a barrier on the only exit." Aiko gasped slightly as Misaki walked out, "What do you want?" Balthoron sighed, "I only wish to talk, I haven't seen you in three hundred years, big sis."

Misaki lowered the cloth from her mouth, "Then talk, brother." Balthoron looked down at the floor, then looked his older sister in the eye, "This doesn't seem like a place that would fit you, have you been in contact with our mother lately?" Misaki shook her head, "I've helped out Klaartje lately, that's about it. I've been avoiding our family lately, especially with the bad blood between you and Tsuyoshi." Balthoron nodded, "I know, I wish we could be a family once again, but Hiromi really held us together. Sis, you look so sad, are you sure that everything is alright?" Misaki nodded slightly, "I'm sure. But I'm not so sure that you figured out why Harumi and I fled in the first place." Balthoron nodded, "Tsuyoshi and I tore the family apart with our enmity with each other."

Misaki blinked as her eyes widened in disbelief, "But..." Balthoron sighed, "Uncle Lathron and I have had a long time to figure that out." Misaki nodded as Balthoron looked away, "Mom misses you, ya know?" Misaki nodded, "I know, but I've always been a thief, I never felt right being around nobles." Balthoron shook his head and sighed, "None of us are nobility anymore, let alone royalty. We're just people now. Tsuyoshi and I lead our own private military forces, Harumi doesn't lead the sea elves anymore and Mom runs an orphanage and well Dad is..." Aiko's heart sank slightly as she expected Balthoron to point at her, but Balthoron pointed at the stasis pod in the center of the room, "He died a warrior, but neither a noble nor a royal. We're commoners now, that's how things have changed, Misaki."

Misaki nodded slightly, "Are you and Tsuyoshi still..." Balthoron nodded, "Yeah, unfortunately, I've recently had time to compile all the recordings I made and send them to his base, I don't know how long it'll be before he gets them." Misaki looked away with a frown, "I see." Balthoron walked towards her, "Sis, I'm trying to get peace between our older brother and I, maybe then, Harumi will return and we can be a family again." Misaki nodded slightly, "She said something to that affect before leaving Verbana. She still loves both of you, but doesn't like the fact that you're still fighting to this day and are actively trying to kill each other." Balthoron hugged her, "I know, big sister. I know. Listen, I want to get out of here and I'm sure Aiko does as well, do you want to come with? I'll drop you off by Mom's."

Misaki nodded and Balthoron let go of her, waving his hand to drop the barrier. Aiko looked at them, "So am I going to lead the way?" Balthoron nodded, "I would like to stay close to my big sister, if that's alright." Aiko nodded and the three of them walked towards the exit of the crypt, Balthoron looking at Misaki as they walked, "So why did you put in those contacts and dye your hair?" Misaki frowned, "I wanted to look like a child of Uncle Lathron's, but Uncle Lathron had married a sea elf, not a Kitsune, so... that disguise would only serve to make me look like someone completely different." Balthoron nodded as they stepped out into the open once more, he looked at Yoshiko who walked over to them, "Aiko is ready to go with you, cousin." Yoshiko nodded and Balthoron looked at Aiko, "This is where we part ways, I'll be sure to come by when I have the time to check up on Yoshiko and to help her train you.

Aiko nodded slightly as she went to follow Yoshiko, leaving Balthoron and Misaki in the park. Balthoron closed the crypt door, and looked up at the sky, "Remember when we were younger?" Misaki nodded as the two of them started to walk towards the street that would lead them to the orphanage, "Yeah, I do. Those were simpler times, Dad wasn't very happy with the path that I've chosen and he'd always dote on the rest of his kids. Though I guess that's because I never gave him the chance, I always avoided him, but Klaartje always told me that Dad loved me unconditionally. The sad thing is, I never got to experience that love often." Balthoron nodded, "I understand, then when I was a child, I remember seeing you for the first time, Dad told me that you're my big sister. The next time I saw you was when I was becoming an adult."

Misaki nodded as they walked down the road, "I'm sorry that I've always been so aloof, Balthoron, you're a good kid at heart, very much like our father was when he was younger, according to Grandmother and Grandfather." Balthoron nodded and didn't respond til they reached the orphanage, "Mom and Aunt Lenwe are inside, Misaki this is where you and I must part ways for now, I have to meet up with Uncle Lathron, but I'll try to bring him around before we leave to go back to the base, alright?" Misaki nodded and opened the gate, "I love you, little brother." Balthoron watched as she walked to the mansion, "I love you too, big sister." As Balthoron closed the gate, he saw a Kani girl standing there, "Take good care of my big sister, okay." Balthoron turned around and started to walk away, but as he did, he heard her say, "Okay, big brother."
Been around this forum for over 8 years now. Everyone I've known has left, now it's my time to do the same.

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