'Thank you, Tsubasa,' Kira thanked her colleague as she and the other Legendary Bladers left the WBBA hospital.
They all had been hit by a great explosion created by Nemesis as they left the temple. They were all unconscious when they got to the hospital but, fortunately, no one was gravely wounded.
'It was nothing. I was only doing my job,' the silver-haired male said.
'Any signs of Ryuga?' she asked, and he shook his head.
'We should go home,' Kyoya interrupted the conversation.
Kira nodded and the couple went to Kyoya's apartment. It was late and they both needed to rest a bit.
When they arrived at the luxurious apartment, they went straight to the sofa in the middle of the living room.
'Game of Thrones marathon?' Kira asked taking the remote and turning on the TV.
'Sure,' her lover replied.
'Season four?'
Kyoya nodded and then they began watching the series.
Kira had her head leaning on the male's shoulder. He loved to feel her body leaning on his. He felt that he could protect her, that he was her home.
Then, they heard the sound of a stomach growling. It was Kira's.
'You hungry, babe?'
'Maybe...'
'I'll check the freezer,' Kyoya spoke while getting up.
He headed to the kitchen counter behind them and then walked to the freezer. It was empty which meant they had to order something.
'What do you want to eat, babe? Sushi?' he asked looking at the girl on the sofa. She nodded. 'The usual?'
The female nodded again and Kyoya took his phone and ordered some sushi for them.
A while after that, the couple was already eating the food. There was strange silence between them. Normally Kira would break it by saying something sarcastic like "we sound like dead people", but she didn't do it. She just let the silence remain during the whole meal.
'What's wrong?' Kyoya asked.
Another moment of silence followed, but after a while Kira replied.
'I was just realizing this might have been the last time we ate sushi,' she confessed.
'Don't say that,' he spoke a little upset. 'We will defeat Nemesis.'
'What if we don't?' Kira said turning her body to face him. Her light eyes showed nothing but worry and fear. 'What if you die?'
'I'm not gonna die! No one will,' the male tried to comfort her and pushed her in his embrace. 'Everything will be fine, Kira.'
'I don't want to live in a world where you don't exist,' she spoke between sobs as she attempted to contain the tears.
'I won't die. No one will die,' he reminded her of his words. 'Just relax and put yourself together, everything will be fine.'
Feeling his embrace made Kira feel safe and relaxed. He made her feel at home.
**********
'Good morning, lion-boy,' Kyoya heard a calm voice and felt a soft finger poking his nose as he woke up.
He opened his blue eyes and saw his lover getting ready to sit at the edge of the bed to get up. He put his arm around her waist and pushed her back to him making her fall and end up being the small spoon.
'Don't go,' the male spoke with his usual husky morning voice. 'We could have some fun like we did last night.'
Kira felt his fang biting her hear. She wanted to stay as well. Unfortunately, she couldn't.
'Babe, I can't stay. I have two meetings this morning and they're important,' she explained.
The green-haired boy understood that Kira had a very busy day, so he let her go. He would have a very busy day himself. He wanted to train a little in the morning before that meeting with the Legendary Bladers at the WBBA.
While he trained, Kira attended a meeting with her personal assistant and then another one with Chris. Lucky for the British blader, none of the meetings was delayed and she arrived at the WBBA in time for the reunion with the Director.
'North America, Central America and South America showed no signs Nemesis' energy,' Hikaru explained to Madoka, Yuki and Tsubasa when Kira walked in the room.
'As expected,' the newcomer commented as she walked to the group. 'In the UK, it's the same.'
'And there's no sign of it from South-East Asia either,' Tsubasa informed looking at the big screen in from of him while Kira stood next to him.
'Or from the Middle East, right, Director?' the former blader asked.
'Where in the world did the god of destruction disappeared to?' Ryo questioned himself and the others as well.
'I have James and Adam searching for some more info on Nemesis,' Kira spoke. 'However, the only things they can find are about the goddess, not the god. And those writings on the temple's walls don't seem to have any new information. We hit a dead end.'
'That can't be! There must be something we can do!' Yuki exclaimed.
'Kid,' Kira called looking at the boy, 'this isn't a mystery film where the investigators always find what they needed to know.'
'Maybe if you find out what your role is, we can defeat Nemesis!' the kid suggested. 'It wasn't able to absorb your power, right, miss Kira? You just need to find what you're supposed to do!'
Kira was tired of that talk. Yuki was always pressuring her to find her role and she was done with that, so she left.
'Worry about your role and I worry about mine,' the female spoke before leaving the room.
She headed to where the other bladers were. They were all waiting there for the small meeting to be over, so when Kira arrived, they thought the others would accompany her. They were a little surprised when they only saw the red-haired girl.
'So, how did it go?' Kyoya asked leaning against a wall with Benkei next to him.
'Bad,' she replied sitting on the sofa where Kenta was. 'The Mercury Warrior doesn't know silence is sometimes wiser than words.'
Kyoya realized immediately what was going on. The kid had insisted on that role stuff again. He was lucky he was just a kid because, if he wasn't, the green-haired blader would have a not so pleasant talk with him.
'So then, Nemesis ran?' Gingka spoke showing how upset he was.
'Just like we did,' Kira replied. 'Even the god of destruction is afraid to die.'
Then, the room's door opened again to reveal Madoka and Yuki.
'Have you found anything out?' the ginger boy asked.
Madoka shook her head and then the Legendary Blader explained they had their friends looking for leads around the world but that they found nothing.
'Where are they!?' an impatient King asked. 'How can they just disappear in thin air!?'
'They can't,' Kira said.
'They're obviously hiding somewhere,' Dynamis agreed with the female, 'waiting for the perfect time for the rampage of Nemesis to begin. It must be stopped! Because, if Nemesis does become the god of destruction, this world will never be saved from it.'
'So, he isn't the god of destruction yet...' Kira thought out loud. 'Then what is it now?'
'That is something only the Sun knows,' he replied.
'We won't let that happen, okay!?' Masamune said. 'We'll stop him somehow!'
'That's great, but how?' a confused Benkei asked. 'We don't even know where the enemy is anymore!'
'All I know is, the next time they appear, it's on! That's for sure!' Kyoya commented crossing his arms.
An awkward moment of silence followed until Kenta broke it.
'I'm sorry,' he apologized. 'It's my fault. Ryuga should have cooperated back there. Nemesis could have trapped if he had helped. Isn't that right? It's my fault. I promised that I would get Ryuga to listen to us no matter what. I failed you.'
'Not even I could convince him,' Kira said. 'The fault isn't yours. You were trying to do the impossible. It's only natural that you failed. And, in the end of the day, he is the only one responsible for his actions. Don't blame yourself for something another person did. If it was really your fault, then I would have been the one to blame for my brother's death and I'm not.'
'That's right!' the mechanic agreed. 'Kenta, you tried your very best to get Ryuga to join us and we all appreciate it. That guy is a tough nut to crack!'
'I failed! In the end, I was completely useless to everyone,' Kenta insisted as tears filled his eyes. 'Not only that, I only saved myself. Ryuga could be gone.'
Kira let out a small laugh.
'If you think that guy would die because of some old rocks, you never knew him at all,' she spoke. 'It would take a lot more to kill the Dragon Emperor.'
Gingka agreed with his friend and told Kenta they still had all the other Legendary Bladers on their side and that he was with them as well. Together they would defeat Nemesis.
King and Tithi seemed to be on the same page as the ginger boy and the younger blader even shared with the others he wanted to have more fun battles with everyone. Well, not everyone; he didn't want to face Kyoya again. The Blader of Spring scared him a little.
'What a fun guy,' Madoka commented on Tithi's words and behaviour. 'It sure didn't take Tithi long to fit into the group!'
'Yeah! It feels like he's always been one of us, that's for sure!' Gingka agreed and then turned to Chris. 'Hey, Chris, you've come pretty far too! You'll help us out, won't you?'
'Huh...' the blond was a little unsure of what to say, but then he looked at Kira and she gave him a friendly smile. 'Sure, I will! No problem. If the world is destroyed then, there won't be any place for a blader for hire. So, let's do this!'
'Say what!?' a shocked King said. 'Don't tell us that! Not that long ago you were eager to help the other side, weren't you!? Didn't they promise to grant you any wish you had in the whole wide world or something?'
'I don't care about that!' Chris confessed. 'My wish has already come true and Kira's deal was better.'
'Kira's deal?' the blue-haired blader asked. He was extremely confused.
'Yes,' Kira confirmed. 'Chris and I had a little meeting this morning and he agreed to work for me under a formal contract, of course.'
'What do you mean?' Gingka asked not understanding what kind of contract they signed.
'His job is to help the Legendary Bladers defeat Nemesis,' the female explained. 'And, in the meantime, he can do whatever he wants.'
Kyoya smirked. He knew Kira was planning on hiring Chris and he knew she would be able to do it. She was smart and had a good eye for business.
'The power of the Star Fragment has been taken from us, it's true,' Dynamis interrupted the relaxed conversation to talk about serious stuff. 'But the Star Fragment itself has not been lost to us for good! With our very strong bonds and heated bey spirits, we can increase the Star Fragment's power once again to get ready for the battle. And, on top of that, the Fragment in Eternal Phoenix wasn't stolen.'
'Okay!' a happy and pumped up King exclaimed. 'Let's get right to training, shall we?'
Masamune offered immediately to train with the Legendary Blader of Mars as the others paired up as well.
Kyoya and Kira glanced at each other and then got up while Benkei stood there speechless. He wanted to train with his buddy as well.
'What are you doing there?' the green-haired blader turned around and looked at Benkei. 'Come with us!'
The big guy's heart began racing when he heard that. Finally, he was going to train with Kyoya once more!
The three bladers walked to a calm place by the river and near a bridge. Kyoya and Benkei used to train there. It was obvious that was a special place for both of them and Kira knew it, so she decided to give the two some space.
'Well, I need to call James to ask him about that Mythology stuff,' she began walking away from the two. 'I'll be back in a minute!'
Her words weren't lies. She needed to call her teammate indeed.
'Hi, James! Have you found anything in that document?' Kira asked when her friend picked up the phone.
'I did! However, I don't think it's anything useful,' he confessed. 'I found a line that said: "When the darkness comes, the Sun will rise", but this can be a simple line to explain how the days and nights worked. Ancient Greece had many of these riddles to explain simple things.'
'Well, thank you anyway, James! You and Adam are being the sweetest!' Kira thanked the British blader. 'And maybe that line really is some kind of prophecy... who knows?'
'It can be! Normally these references to the Sun appear when Apollo is involved which isn't the case. Of course, Phoenix represents the Sun as well, but there aren't many documents regarding that,' he explained. 'So, there is a chance that really is a prophecy!'
'The fortune teller from the US told me I was the Sun,' the girl shared the memory with James. 'I think she already knew about this Nemesis stuff.'
'Maybe... anyway, I'm sure you'll do great and if you need any help just call!'
The two friends said their goodbyes and ended the call.
Later that day, Kira spoke to her boyfriend about that "prophecy" and shared with him her insecurities as they walked home. As expected, the male showed her his support.
'You are the Fire Queen! This will be easy for you!' he said. 'You got this!'
Suddenly, the earth shook violently and that pain that haunted Kira hit her again. That was Nemesis. The couple had to talk to the WBBA.
The two bladers walked to the WBBA HQ as fast as they could. Kyoya helped Kira since it was hard for her to move swiftly because of the pain.
Everyone was already in the Director's room when they arrived.
According to Madoka, the earth shook all around the globe at the same time which made it impossible to locate Nemesis. Fortunately, they received a call form Aleksei who told them where the energy that created all that violent tremors came from. He even gave them the exact location.
The energy and disturbance in the atmosphere came from a place in the Pacific Ocean which explained why the WBBA couldn't find anything. They were looking for places above the sea and never under it.
'But how could it be in the ocean?' Gingka asked.
'It is the Lost Kingdom,' Dynamis explained. 'They are most likely trying to raise the Kingdom of King Hades which sunk in the ocean with the power of Nemesis!'
When Ryo heard that, he wasted no time and began giving orders to everyone. They were going to that Kingdom and they were going to defeat the god of destruction.
He told the Legendary Bladers to go to the heliport along with Madoka and Tsubasa. They were going to leave as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, Benkei, Masamune and Yu wouldn't go with them. That made Tithi feel a little scared. He wanted to go with his friend, but Yu's kind words gave him the strength he needed to go without him.
The group walked fast through the corridors to get to the heliport as soon as possible. There was no time to lose.
When they arrived there, they noticed Dynamis wasn't with them anymore.
'Shit! Now the Guardian isn't here!' Kira cursed as she got stressed.
But soon the Blader of Jupiter arrived and some evil bladers arrived as well. Nemesis Bladers had to stop them from getting to the Lost Kingdom. Those were their orders.
'What's the big hurry!?' Johannes asked as he jumped to the heliport. 'Don't rush off! Stay and play with us for a while!'
'I don't feel like playing, so get the hell out of the way!' Kira's strong voice spoke.
The pain was going away, and she could feel the strength returning to her as she took a step forward without Kyoya's help.
'The Lost Kingdom of King Hades will soon be revived, my little friends!' Johannes informed. 'Until then, we will not let you leave here and there is nothing you can do about it, get me?'
'The Lost Kingdom of King Hades! So, I was right!' Dynamis concluded.
'I don't get you, cat-boy!' Kira interrupted the lavender-haired male. 'So, you have two options: you either get the fuck out of my way or I'll burn you until you're a pile of ashes!'
The British blader was tired of those guys and she needed to prove to everybody that, despite not knowing her role, she was useful, and she was strong; and to do that, she was going to end those stupid bladers.