Chibi poked her head into his room breaking into his thoughts. "Dinner is in an hour," Noticing his stressed expression, she added "Kashy has also asked if he could speak to you. He left this with me for you." She handed him a scroll that had a golden sunburst seal on it. "Don't stress so much. We'll get through it. We got through the doppelgangers and Loki alright didn't we?"
"When did Kashy come by?" Lack asked a little confused. "I didn't know he did errands personally." Chibi took his hand and led him out of the room and down the hall towards the Dining Room.
"A Hyegun gave it to me," Chibi replied with a smile, satisfied that he was following her without question. "You know, one of Kashy's trained pets. I knew it was from Kashy because of the seal on the scroll." She pulled him into the Training Room near the Dining Room. "I want to spar with you."
Lack was taken aback. "You sure?" Chibi's back was facing him. He moved and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"But with a few rules," Chibi said causing him to relax. "No Asura. You can prepare it but you can't use it. I also would like you to use Mjolnir." Her eyes darkened and in her mind's eye she saw herself and Lack being the only ones left standing against Contra. I'm not strong enough to support you against Contra. Not when it took you and three Hidden Gods to take him down the first time. "You understand where I'm going with this?"
Lack could hear a barely noticeable note of fear in her voice. She saw something. If she wants to get stronger… "Right now?"
"Right now…" Chibi said drawing her sword and turning to point it at him. "I'm not letting you get away."
~~~
Tadakono, Phenomenon and Syaoran looked at the two empty chairs between them. "They aren't here yet," Tadakono said with a sigh and looked around the room as people milled around chatting to friends and finding places to sit. As if on cue, Lack carried a very worn out Chibi and dropped her into her chair. "What happened to you two?" he asked noticing the slices in Lack's clothing across his back.
"Sparring," Lack said casting Heal on Chibi until her wounds disappeared. "You sure you want me to do this?"
"Better I get stronger fighting you than anyone else," Chibi said with her eyes closed. "Can we do it again later? A few hours from now?" Lack nodded and settled in his own chair.
"Why the need to get stronger all of a sudden?" Syaoran asked them. "You're strong as it is already."
"Contra…" The single word caused the noise in the room to die out in their ears. "Hel and Contra."
"But you have all of us as well," Phenomenon said with a strangled sigh. "I still don't understand."
"As it is," Chibi said glancing at Trelawney then closing her eyes again. "I understand the premonition Tre had and keeps having. The Dark Messenger is Contra. As it stands, the only person in our guild that has even a slight chance of defeating Contra is Lack." Lack noticed her eyes darken, blood trickled from one eye. "I've over used my ability today. But what I keep seeing scares me. I need to be stronger."
Lack leaned over and wiped the blood away. "What did you see?"
"A battle," Chibi replied pulling her legs up and resting her head on her knees. "A very bloody battle between our guild and Contra. People kept falling around us." Lack noticed she was shaking. "Resurrect wasn't working. It got to the point that we were the only ones left standing." She looked at Lack with tears in her eyes.
"Did you see us die?" Lack asked her quietly. Phenomenon stroked her back gently. Tadakono and Syaoran leaned closer to listen to the conversation between Lack and Chibi.
"I didn't," Chibi replied blinking away tears. "That's why I want to get stronger. If there's a chance to change what I see then I'm going to take it even if I'm going to be completely worn out every day leading up to the battle."
"Then let's work on everyone stronger to increase the odds," Lack said softly giving Chibi a pat on the head. "That could work too right?" Chibi nodded. Lack quivered inside from what he heard. I didn't expect that. He stood, the single gesture drawing the attention of the guild to himself, and took a deep breath.
~~~
Jemini and Kagura sat within Velvet Touch of Enishi. Their differences in opinion clashing with each other as visibly as locked swords. "She's calling to us." Jemini said softly. "I guess she'll call to us if no one else can hear her." Kagura nodded and looked up at MikeRex who was sitting with them.
"Then I'll come with you and set her free," he replied kindly. "I'll bring a High Wizard and a Professor from my guild as well." He smiled and gave Jemini a hug. "If we're lucky, we'll be able to free Izual at the same time too."
"Kc would of liked that," Kagura added with a smile. She stood and bowed. "I need to go back to Prontera. Would I be able to leave it in your hands?"
MikeRex nodded and Jemini looked away from Kagura. "Don't refer to her in the past tense."
"Kchan doesn't like me," Kagura said walking towards the door. "Whenever she speaks about me, it's always in the past tense."
~~~
Lack leaned against Chibi's closed bedroom door. He could hear her crying inside. I can't go and comfort her. What am I suppose to say when she knows that anything I could say to make her feel better is a lie. Looking at the scroll he still carried, he decided it was best to see Kashy.
Walking towards the Foyer, he broke the seal on the scroll. Colors whirled around him. "So you finally decide to show your face here." a voice said behind him. Lack turned to see the entrance to the Cloud Castle. Standing at the entrance was Kashy.
"You sent for me?" Lack asked holding out the scroll in his hand. "Because it's a difficult time to be holding long meetings."
~~~
Tadakono cast Storm Gust pushing Phenomenon and Syaoran away from him. "While I don't mind trying to get stronger," Tadakono said alternating to Lord of Vermillion. "Will it make a lot of difference?"
Syaoran cast Endure and swiped his sword at Tadakono. "At least we're doing something." Tadakono stepped backwards away from the sword like as if he was floating. "It's better than resigning myself to thinking that Contra will kill me."
Phenomenon threw spheres at the both of them. "That's the last thing I want to think about." He had remembered when he had almost died permanently by Contra's sword. "It's not a pleasant experience."
"Dying never is," Chibi leaned on the door frame watching the three of them. "I have a proposition. If you can defeat my newest creation then you're probably as strong as Lack." A light blue creature stood near Chibi. She placed a hand on its shoulder. "This is Kiseki. He's a doppelganger hybrid. I took the information I received from Momo and turned it into a training device. Only problem is that it won't let me fight it, which is why I asked Lack to spar with me."
Kiseki stepped into the room flexing its fingers. Tadakono looked at it a little confused. "Is it suppose to look like Lack?" he asked noticing the Champion like clothing on it.
"To be technical," Chibi said tapping the doppelganger causing it to change it's appearance to look like Contra. "It changes to whomever you feel you want to be able to defeat. It takes your memories of that person and spars with you using those memories. It's not possible to fake memories to make it easier."
Tadakono tapped the doppelganger and it turned back to looking like Lack. "I'm curious now." He cast Waterball at Kiseki, who dodged and snapped fast towards Tadakono. "He really is like Lack." Tadakono got serious and cast Storm Gust followed by Lord of Vermillion. Kiseki threw spheres hitting Tadakono three out of five.
"You're going to have to do better than that to defeat Lack," Chibi said as Lack himself appeared at the door and raised an eyebrow. Chibi looked back at him with a smile. "They're playing with my hybrid doppelganger…. Training I mean."
"So why does it look like me?" he asked her accusingly. "And why can't you train with it instead of with me?"
"Because Tadakono wants to be able to be either stronger or as strong as you," Chibi replied her eyes looking at him innocently. "It obeys my commands. So if I start feeling like it's too much or that I'm too tired, it won't attack me anymore. Which is why it's better to train with you than with Kiseki." She poked him in the side with a little mock upset expression. "You don't want to train with me anymore?"
"That's not what I mean," Lack said with a sigh. Good. She seems to be back to her old self. "Was curious why you created something like this and can't use it." Tadakono flew back and hit the wall in punctuation to Lack's sentence.
"That's enough Kiseki," Chibi said crouching down near Tadakono. "You alright?"
"My memories of Lack make him out to be incredibly strong," Tadakono said dazed. Chibi dropped a few potions on him and asked slyly. "Want to try the real thing? Because I can tell you now, your memories are incomplete. The Lack is much more stronger and scarier than Kiseki."
"Thankyou," Lack said behind her. "I think…" He looked at Tadakono and smiled. "Want to try?" He cracked his knuckles then moved his head from side to side cracking the bones in his neck. "I can promise you, your memories of my abilities will be complete after sparring with me once."
Tadakono gave a slight shiver before standing and nodding. "Don't hold back on me Lack." Chibi sat down onto the floor and leaned against the wall. Kiseki, Phenomenon and Syaoran joined her. Tadakono and Lack moved to the centre of the room.
"Why do I get the feeling Lack is going to murder Tadakono perfectly?" Phenomenon asked Chibi in a whisper.
"Because he will," Chibi replied using her Azoth to manipulate the hidden controls in Kiseki. "Lack always starts slow then builds up, toying with his prey, if he knows he'll win easily, until finally," A bang announced Lack's finalized preparation of Asura Strike. "He flattens them." She patted Kiseki and said. "Kiseki, record this and store it as Lack in Champion form. Stop after he uses Asura Strike."
Syaoran watched Lack fight Tadakono. He could tell already that Lack was far more superior not just in strength but in knowledge as well. There's no way to defeat him unless you spring something unexpected on him. Lack leapt up and cast Asura Strike knocking Tadakono down.
Lack immediately crouched down and cast Heal. Chibi got up and dropped some potions onto Tadakono's still form as well. "Well?" she asked him. "Scary no?"
"Very," Tadakono replied sitting up. "How is it that you can fight Lack and still be fine afterwards?"
"You fought him no rules," Chibi said helping him to where she was sitting. "We agree upon rules and stick with them." She poked Kiseki and whispered. "Record until we stop fighting." Pulling back, she gave Tadakono a wink. "Want to see?"
Lack sighed and stretched. "Come on Chibi. Enough talk."
Chibi drew her sword and practically flew at him, striking hard and fast. Syaoran's eyes widened. This battle is different. It's not as one-sided as it was with Tadakono. It's a little more even but Lack still has the upper hand. Chibi thrust her sword at Lack causing him to step back away from her. He hasn't prepared Asura Strike. Now that I think about it… Chibi hasn't used her potions yet either.
Chibi stepped skillfully away from Lack's spheres and threw a Bomb at him. Her eyes wild, she scattered Bombs all over the room. Flames sprang up forcing Lack to move further away from her. Chibi coated her armor and sword. She moved through her flames unaffected. A small smile played on her face. Lack ignored the fire licking at his clothes and skin, he darted at her throwing spheres constantly.
Syaoran leaned back from another explosion. This is weird. I never though of Chibi being this strong. But I've never fought her before. Lack's the only one who has ever had to fight her for any reason. He watched Lack bring his palm up and push Chibi in the chest hard. She skidded backwards and fell to one knee trying to catch her breath. It's over.
Lack advanced upon her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Enough?" Chibi nodded and coughed, her chest stinging with every breath. Lack cast Heal on her. "You always get caught with that."
"You're fast when you want to be," Chibi said a little strained. "I think this time you broke something. It hurts so much."
Lack knelt down and touched Chibi's chest pressing hard on each rib until she jumped in pain. "Yeah I broke one…" He held her still and continued to press until he tested them all. "Just one."
Tadakono, Syaoran and Phenomenon stared at them incredulously. "You both went so far as breaking bones…" Phenomenon said stunned. "You really want to get stronger that desperately?"
"If…" Chibi said glancing at Lack, causing him to feel a bit suspicious. "If you knew that you were going to lose someone close to you no matter what you did what would you do?"
"I'd get stronger," Phenomenon replied without thinking. Lack poked her broken rib causing her to jump again. Phenomenon gave him a confused expression . "But even so… Lack went so far as breaking your rib."
"It's how we spar," Lack replied pressing two fingers on the rib and casting Heal intensively. "She'll be alright again in a few hours." He stared at Chibi. "Provided she actually rests."
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