???
...Dark... Darker...Yet Darker... It was so cold that it felt like my fingers would break off if I try to move them...
When was the last time I'd felt the warmth of the sun... The smell of grass, on an open field, wind blowing past me... The sound of chirping birds, and the sensation of turning pages on a new book... Reading a fulfilling story until afternoon...
...When did I last do those mundane things... So simple yet so satisfying...
*grab*
"...I've got you..!"
...Someone grabbed my cold hand... Who is it? Who's there? I asked.
"...Don't worry, I'll get you out of here..."
...They're pulling on me... The area where their hands held me felt... Reassuringly warm...
"...It's deathly cold down there, if you let them take you, You're going to have a hard time coming back... Don't let go now, okay?"
...I could only nod in agreement... And so, I was pulled upwards by someone I hardly knew...
"...I won't let go..."
...I said to the person to saved me from the dark depths...
Present Day
Bel's POV
Bel: "Urmm... Hm? Oh yeah... We're in Leanbox now..."
Plutia: "Puruurururuuun~ Pururururururuunnn~"
...What the hell? Plutie? Uwaa~ She's drooling on me...
Bel: "Okay... Gross now lemme go..."
...I try to pry her off but she kept a tight hold...
Bel: "Haa... Guess I have to..."
...I touch her with my claws and drain just enough strength to loosen her hold...
Bel: "Upsy-daisy... Eww...Now I need new clothes... Hm?"
...I felt my skin get crackly, I scratch it and as gross as it sounds, dirt got stuck in my nails...
Bel: "This...Is just disgusting..."
...From my inventory I pulled out a towel, shampoo, soap and other utensils...
I went into the bathroom to take a well deserved bath... Took off my clothes and splashed my face with water from the faucet.
Bel: "I didn't really use to bathe that much before though... I guess Feria rubbed off on me..."
I enter the showers and turn on the water... hot water rained down on my body as I contemplate what happened yesterday...
Flashback
Feria: "The OV unit... Is still inside her!?"
EnCodex: "That's right...Though it is a curse, It's also a blessing."
Adult Neptune: "A blessing?"
Shatana: "Cut the crap! How is having a dark artifact stuck inside you a flippin blessing!?"
Bel: "...."
Zeb: "Is Original going to die?"
Neptune: "Yeah sure- Wait what!? H-h-h-h-hey! I'm not going to kick the bucket am I!? If so, then go ahead take it out! Go ahead!"
...The dunce started stripping on the spot in front of everybody, of the kids and of...
SLAP!
Grun: "OWW! What did I do!?"
Emerald: "Look away!"
Grun: "I wasn't even looking!"
Emerald: "What was her underwear?"
Grun: "Striped panties colored white and blue and- EeeeK!?"
Emerald: "Grun..."
Grun: "I'm sorry! I'm a Man I can't help it!"
Emerald: "You're a pervert that's what you are!"
Vert: "I do remember you saying that you were looking into the times I was bathing before... Ahh! I have not properly punished you for that, have I!?"
Grun: "O-okay I admit! I'm Guilty... but..."
...He takes off his mask...
Grun: "It was all for research."
Emerald: O-oh... research...Of course... I believe you..."
Grun: "Thank you Emerald... I love you."
Emerald: "G-Grun..."
Vert: "That does not work on me you know~"
Grun: "Ah."
VROOOOOMMMM!!!!
...With a single swing of her spear, a hurling wind comes after Grun...
Grun: "Hmph! I am the Lord of Gale, your winds are my winds!"
...Grun simply waved his staff and negated the incoming attack...
Vert: "Oh~ Quite an unexpected turn of events~"
Grun: "Huhu~ I can take abuse, but direct attacks will never hit me. (Plus that attack could have chased me down to the ends of the world if I didn't do anything about it.)"
Emerald: "Please Vert, I'm sure Grun had his reasons."
Vert: "Hmm... Very well, since my lovely Emerald asked it of me."
Grun: <I guess that's a safe for now...ah.>
Vert: "Not exactly~"
...Vert was glaring down on Grun just now, she must have read what was on his mind.
Bel: "Anyway, about the OV unit."
EnCodex: "When I said it was a curse, I meant that if not kept in control, it could completely corrupt your soul, resulting in you staying in Daemon Drive forever."
Neptune: "Hiiii-!!! No! Nuh-uh! I'm not handing over my perfectly crafted bod to someone else! Even if it is my alter ego!"
Genesis: "And how is that a blessing?"
EnCodex: "Do you remember? On the time when her Daemon Drive appeared, me and my allies didn't appear at all."
Genesis: "Come to think of it, you're right."
...And so she explained...
Present Day
Bel: "I can't deny it... Daemon Drive... It was a very powerful, so powerful that everyone around us felt pure terror under its presence... It's basically a cheat... But damn is it useful."
...It Basically turns the tables of battle, from being unwinnable to being so easy even a level one character can take on the final boss with just a stick... So freakin overpowered even the Creator would cower in fear an the Deity of Sin would bow in despair...
Bel: "But there's a catch in it..."
...Daemon Drive activates when the goofball is under the influence of more than 2 of the following traits...
Rage, Pride, Gluttony and Sloth... if three of them activate, then Daemon Drive will commence...
...EnCodex warned us about these traits, if all of them were to activate at once... It will be hard to return the dunce to Normal... infact, depending on the gravity of the situation, she might never comeback at all...
The traits act like switches, when they get switched up, they won't go back down unless she herself calms down... When she transformed she was influenced by Anger, seeing that sight, must have triggered a strong urge to hurt people... Pride, her status as a sister was tainted and she was assailed with a sense of failed duty, then finally Sloth, she had retreated her mind into the confines of her heart in the denial of reality...
...When Daemon Drive Activated, the OV unit in her soul started taking in the Negativity and started spreading it in her body, making her change...
Bel: "...That's not the worst of it though..."
...if she wanted to, she could have siphoned all of our powers and fused us all into one, because with the OV unit, she literally had power over us inheritors and can take our powers at will...
Bel: "...But is it okay? If she took our powers she can harness the power of the beasts and she'll be able to face the real threat on equal footing...The Cacker... Azazel...Maybe if we give ourselves up to-"
...As I was about to say something... I held back on that thought... I remembered the memories she's gained from a lifetime of playing, eating, having fun... but every one of those memories were made with her friends... She would never agree to sacrifice others for a gain...
Bel: "Hehe... The goofball actually learned something after all."
...It's not an option to give up now... We need to keep her under control though... which means... Keeping her happy, Keeping her company, and keeping her full.
Bel: "Basically babysitting."
...I scrub myself down with soap and shampooed my hair, then finish off with a final shower...
Bel: "Hmm, that should be enough..."
I grabbed my towel, wiped my hair and body, I then wrap it around me covering the naughty bits...
Creeaak~
Rom: "Funya~?"
Bel: "Oh? Rom, you're awake,"
Rom: "Uhh... Miss...umm..."
Bel: "It's Bel..."
Rom: "I'm sorry, There's just too many of you, all of a sudden."
Bel: "Hehe... Guess that's true...Did you need something?"
Rom: "I wanted to brush my teeth~ ^^"
Bel: "Good girl, ah, the floors a little slippery be careful now."
...As Rom entered, I peek at the clock it was still 5 in the morning...
Rom: "Miss Bel? Why are you up so early?"
Bel: "Well, Plutie kinda drooled on me, so I had to get changed."
Rom: "Oh, I see, Ram does that sometimes too."
Bel: "Speaking of Ram, it's rare to see you two separated, what brings you here to Leanbox?"
Rom: "I wanted to help Mr. Grun, and Emerald plays with me a lot too~"
Bel: (Kids, slaves to their wants...)
Rom: "Sister and Ram are too busy to play with me..."
Bel: "Ram? Busy? That's a far fetch."
Rom: "She's busy pulling pranks on Mr. Weiz~ ^^"
Bel: "O-Of course..."
Somewhere in Lowee
Weiz: "RAM! WHERE ARE MY BOOKS!?"
Blanc: "You twerp! Give those back! I haven't finished them yet!"
Ram: "Ahahahahahaha~! Come on Sis try and catch me!"
Luna: "Another peaceful morning indeed~"
Back to Leanbox
Bel: "Maybe I should check around the perimeter, make sure everything's safe."
Rom: "Can I join you?"
Bel: "Are you sure? It'll be boring, I'm just gonna sneak a peek outside the walls after all."
Rom: "nuh-uh~ I can help you~"
Bel: "I see... Okay then, but when things get hairy and I tell you to run you run, got it?"
Rom: "Okay~"
... And so we went out to scout the area... We were not in the basilicom for now, the place got sealed up cuz of the oozing miasma, the monster citizens were also sent to other havens away from the basilicom... We took refuge on a nearby hotel and made our plans there, the battle yesterday was won because of us taking out most of the enemies, but we still needed to keep our guards up, the security ran on shifts, 4 squads on each entrance with patrols on the walls at all times...
Bel: "Seems clear... I wish we can scan the place faster."
Rom: "If that's the case..."
...Rom summoned her staff and after a few seconds of chanting, she casts a spell on me... I then began to see a blue aura surrounding Rom.
Bel: "Hmm? What did you do Rom?"
Rom: "This will help you sense incoming threats, allies and enemies. Red for Attacks, Blue for Allies and Yellow for Enemies, cool huh~?"
Bel: "Yup, sure is. (It's basically a wall hack.)"
...But sure enough I was able to sense everyone's presence, As I look over the wall I could see the blue aura's of the guards, There were yellow aura's further ahead, but they weren't shadows, just wild monsters...
Bel: "When did you learn this?"
Rom: "Mr. Grun taught it to me~ he said if I ever get lost I use it on myself to distinguish ally from foe~."
Bel: "Really...(I bet that pervert would appear Yellow.)"
Rom: "But why did he appear Yellow though?"
Bel: (He did!?)
Rom: "But it is very useful."
Bel: "Sure..."
...We continued walking around... And soon we met EnCodex.
EnCodex: "Oh? Fancy meeting you here."
Bel: "You."
Rom: "G-Good Morning... Miss EnCodex."
EnCodex: "Good morning to you as well. Ahaha... Don't worry little one, I won't attack you anymore."
Bel: "Excuse me, you attacked her?"
EnCodex: "As what I usually do after every resets yes, but now that our stances have changed, I have no need to engage battle with you anymore."
Bel: "Sure... Rom, how's about you got see how Peashy's doing."
Rom: "Huh? Oh, Okay."
Bel: "Right... So about these "Attacks"... Why do you do it?"
EnCodex: "Our main goal is to prevent Azazel from accessing the mother dimension to do that, we can't let him corrupt the leaders, and to prevent that, we slay the leaders, sometimes we failed, sometimes we succeed, and sometimes, we don't even need to do anything at all."
Bel: "Like what happened during the reset with the Daemon Drive."
EnCodex: "Exactly..."
Bel: "It's because she went into that, right...?"
EnCodex: "Hehe... She really was a special case... who knew what would have happened if Azazel decided to continue through that timeline..."
Bel: "I can only imagine..."
EnCodex: "She was ruthless you know... Stronger than anyone we knew, stronger than the Deity of Sin, Stronger than me, maybe even stronger than the creator..."
Bel: "I know..."
...Looking back into those memories from Neptunio's life, I saw original standing on top of a mountain of corpses, in her hand was a bloodied blade, her golden eyes shined with conviction, the determination to cut down everything in her path...
EnCodex: "She was ruthless... But don't believe that she was mindless... Like I said, she didn't follow the commands given to her, she had a will of her own, though twisted and insane, she was her own self..."
Bel: "What caused this? There must be an explanation."
EnCodex: "What happens when Light and Dark unite?"
Bel: "..."
EnCodex: "That's what happened to her..."
...Her pure soul met the pure darkness of the OV unit, light and shadow were then bound in constant turmoil, light shined and shadow waned on her soul... Soon she is overcome by the corruption... but instead of rejecting the corruption, she accepted her darkness, harnessing its powers and finally mastering the control of it... She embraced her darkness, accepted it with all her heart, she stopped fighting it... And simply let her self flow in its ebb and flow... Upon rebirth, it was still her mind, her thoughts maybe darkened and warped, her morals may be corroded and her sense of right skewed, she still had control of herself, and so she did what she had thought would benefit everyone around her... It was a barbaric plan, it was a senseless massacre, but she couldn't feel anything at all, as she simply went out to cut the path that Neptunio and The Cracker were aiming for... In a way, she did prevent the Cracker from reaching the Mother dimension...
Bel: "Still who would have thought that something so vile existed within her."
EnCodex: "Everyone has a dark version of themselves behind their masks It's no surprise really."
Bel: "Well sure but, seeing the happy go lucky Original go on a genocidal spree... It's still pretty disturbing..."
EnCodex: "I guess so..."
...She looks up to the sky, she's making this sort of face that tells you she's seen some really crazy shit...
Bel: "Tell me, how old are you?"
EnCodex: "Ahahaha... Now that's just rude."
Bel: "Well, you know, I'm just curious, You seem too smart for a girl who looks so young."
EnCodex: "Well... If you count all of my reincarnations... I'd say... 6,705,323 years old, maybe more?"
Bel: "Six...what!?"
EnCodex: "Hey, you asked."
Bel: "Okay... How about from your last reincarnation."
EnCodex: "Last reincarnation huh... Hmm... I'm Four years old then."
Bel: "Really!?"
EnCodex: "Don't worry, listen, I've stopped aging on the age of 21 okay? So there's your answer."
Bel: "Don't scare me like that! Here I thought you were engaging in sexual affairs with DeVian on such a young age!"
EnCodex: "Don't make me call the cops on you."
Bel: "Whoa... Okay easy now."
EnCodex: "Huhuhu... You're awfully chummy for a negative girl, what's got your gears turning?"
Bel: "Let's just say... I've learned a lot as well... I just wish I learned more to make this choice I got running in my head."
EnCodex: "Look, I know you're worried, but right now, you being here, existing and breathing, that's what matters, you and your allies matter, and I know it's a hard choice to make, but when it comes down to making one, don't contemplate it alone, and when you DO make a choice, make sure you don't regret it."
Bel: "Thanks... We're you the one who wiped out the rest of the Shadows?"
EnCodex: "I did, but it's not a big deal, with time, they'll come back."
Bel: "How do we stop them?"
EnCodex: "Find the cause, destroy it and you'll put an end to this war, The Core, its the one controlling them."
Bel: "Where is this Core?"
EnCodex: "It's found in the wielder of both the Sword of Rendering light and Blade of Chaos."
Bel: "The Cracker... Azazel?"
EnCodex: "Not exactly...."
Bel: "Then stop being cryptic and say it already."
EnCodex: "Right now, Azazel is in limbo, his soul is trapped somewhere in void of space, darker than any abyss... Deep inside the Baphomet."
Bel: "What's a Baphomet?"
EnCodex: "It is the Creature of Malice, think of it as the ancestor of the Deity of Sin, it holds the power to corrupt, corrode and subjugate any form of life... He was the one responsible for the blood bath that occurred in my... once existing world..."
Bel: "What did happen anyway?'
EnCodex: "The dimension was failing to sustain the life it had after so many recreations, the world itself could not sustain the pressure of having it rewound time and time again, think of it as a gear, the more it turns, the more it gets damaged, and when we finally sealed the monster away, the core was already on the verge of dying, one rewind it cracked, and then..."
Bel: "I'm sorry to hear that..."
EnCodex: "It's fine... I just wish I had done more for him."
Bel: "For Azazel?"
EnCodex: "Indeed... Perhaps, taking his memories about his friend was not such a good idea after all..."
Bel: "Yeah, you kind of botched that one, but still... Even if you didn't take his memories... He would still go on with this senseless search... We know that for sure."
EnCodex: "Perhaps..."
Bel: "But there's still something out of place... For all of this... Everything we've been through... here in this world... This Patch-work world... This world was made by the creator o teach the lords something about themselves... But when this is all over... Then what?"
EnCodex: "I haven't the slightest..."
Bel: "I sure hope everything will have amounted to something..."
EnCodex: "Oh, that, I am certain of."
Bel: "How so?"
EnCodex: "You've all made quite the changes you know, especially this timeline... Think about it, Do you remember the words of the creator?"
Bel: "The thing about severing roots? Guiding the lords?"
EnCodex: "That and one small detail."
Bel: "Please, just say something."
EnCodex: "She once said that you can't change the past... Predetermined events will always occur... And yet here you are, completely changing the world."
Bel: "Actually... Looking at it from a different way... It's not that we are causing the changes ourselves though."
EnCodex: "That is... True actually..."
...Right... We can't make major changes, but we can influence the mindsets and outlooks of the people around us, this influence is what causes the changes, the lords accepting their sins and facing them head on is what's making a difference...
But still one question remains... What then?