章 13: New Start
I walked into the Library and noticed Claire looking at a holographic image of a Crest, studying and using her technology to obtain the memories of the Crest user. I walked to her and hugged her from behind. She squeaked a bit and fixed her glasses.
"Love! You can't sneak up on me like that!" Claire said then giggled when I kissed her neck.
"I wanted to come to you and ask about the wedding my love. What do you want to do? We can go big. Ceremony in the altar...~" I said softly.
"Nooo..~ I don't like too big of ceremonies, I barely do good at the festivals. I want an intimate marriage...~ You...me...Inoka...and the priest. Oh and of course Tsuhori and Nebula, they can come. We'll have the wedding here at the castle." Claire said.
"Heh...Alright, my dear. An intimate wedding it is." I said then kissed her cheek. "Now fill me in, what are you up to? Researching, snooping, or just doing this for fun?"
"Researching. I am trying to find everything I can about this Alastor character. He was your best friend right? I want to find his weakness and oh, will you allow me to research the Crest of Chaos. I want to help you break free of his hold." Claire said.
"I don't know about that one babe. You know how I get when I awaken that Crest. There is no way I can break away from him. He's my poison. A parasite I can't get away from. He is me-"
"No he's not, my love." Claire said, interrupting me. She turned around in my arms then wrapped her arms around my neck. "He is a demon. Someone who needs to be destroyed and no matter how many times he's destroyed by the Hero, he always comes back to corrupt more lovely people like you. He needs to go because our children will not be born with that curse. I refuse."
I looked at her and smiled then placed my forehead on hers. "Alright...but if it fails."
"I'm willing to accept the consequences." Claire said then kissed my lips.
I kissed back and chuckled lightly. "Mmm..~ Alright."
She chuckled lightly as well and we kissed again and again then she let me go and held my arms gently. "Alright, let's get this research going."
"Wait...before we do this. Can you check on one more Crest for me?" I asked. Claire looked at me and noticed my serious face.
Inoka cleaned Nebula's body and heard Phoenix screeching. "Yes...I know Phoenix. I am a bit jealous that Claire is getting married and I'm not, but you don't need to rub it in every five minutes!"
Nebula neighed and snorted then shook her body, getting all the water on Inoka.
"Ugh! You bitch..." Inoka smiled and threw the bucket of water on Nebula.
Nebula whinnied and trotted off then her body turned into flames and the water evaporated off her body.
"Doesn't feel good does it?" Inoka laughed.
Claire and I looked through the memories of my ex-wife's Crest. She looked a bit sad when she watched Manami rally against me and talking to Alastor. "I still can't believe she did that...that bi-"
"Alright. Enough looking through those. I can't bare to look at her no matter how beautiful she was. Even looking through it, he didn't show any signs of weakness. So...all there is to do is accept the facts. I need to be stronger than him. I need to destroy him. Kill him." I said.
"Babe, you need to let it go for now. Right now Alastor is the least of our issues. Right now your biggest enemy is you..you are your biggest enemy. You can't..." Claire looked ahead then looked back at me and held my hand. "You can't conquer...and win if you are still like this. When you win, you lose. When you lose, you are losing. Babe, I sensed it. That Crest is stripping away your humanity. You may can fight it, but at the end of the day...you are slowly becoming Corrupted."
"But I can fight it. I will fight for as long as I need to. I will avenge my family. My sisters and father and mother. I'll avenge my family. My clan. My bloodline. Alastor will pay. Yascea...Will pay and if that means I must go to Yascea and conquer them as well I will. Other than you and my wives...My brother is the last of my bloodline I have left and I'll be damn if I let him die too.." I said and watched Claire shake her head no.
"I can't let you do that as you are. Listen to me. I saw your Dark Form. I felt the destruction. Your lust for revenge. I hated it. I want your arrogance.." Claire said then held my cheek. "I want the Ryoma that was in the history books for being the most Arrogant Warlord to date. I want The Fool...not The Tyrant or The Demon. I want you."
I looked at Claire then sighed softly. I smiled and held her hand. "Alright...let's see what you can do."
She nodded and stood up. I stood up as well and summoned the Crest of Chaos. I held it to the Crest Reader and the Crest floated to the machine and it shined. A holographic image of the Crest of Chaos appeared in front of us then Claire pressed a red button and began to see the memories of the Crest.
I watched the reader do its magic and walked beside Claire, looking at the memories of Chaos and watched the memories. I crossed my arms and waited for a clue on how to destroy the Crest. We watched him give his Crest to a woman named Cadi. He began to talk to her and the other vessels.
"Those who make a pact with me, if you want to escape my hold...You would need to be killed by one who holds Purification. Be struck hard enough and the Crest will shatter forever. I will not die, but my hold on you will and you will die. Death...is the only way out of my grips. The moment you accept me, you accept that the only place for you in this world is Hell. No Goddess of the Heavens will accept you. The Hero will not save you, but I must admit...His Crest...is all powerful. Divine. Now...Go my pawns. Lust for destruction. Use my power...to destroy!" Chaos laughed and the Crest Reader began to malfunction.
Claire yelled as the Crest Reader sparked then smoke came from it. The Crest shot out of the Crest Reader and entered my body. I grunted as the hold on me became stronger. I felt my heart beat harder and I groaned. I gripped my chest and gasped. I turned into my Chaos Form and grunted then fell on one knee.
"Ryoma!" Claire yelled and got on the ground beside me.
"It...hurts more than ever..." I grunted and closed my eyes tightly.
Inoka ran into the room after hearing Claire. "Sis! What's wrong?! Ryoma?! What's the matter with him?" She asked running to us and kneeled beside us.
"The Crest of Chaos knew I was trying to get rid of it. This confirmed my suspicions that the Dark Crests have a mind of it's own. It wants to take Ryoma away!" Claire said worried.
"Come on, we gotta take him to Nebula. She can help him. Phoenix told me that she's a Purifier. She can purify any soul...Ryoma need purification." Inoka said then helped me up.
Claire nodded and helped then we hurried out to the ranch. I panted and groaned loudly as my dark aura flashed around my body. Claire and Inoka hurried and once we reached the ranch, Inoka yelled Nebula's name. Nebula looked at us then hurried to us.
"Nebula, we need you to purify Ryoma! Destroy the Dark Crest now!" Inoka yelled.
Nebula looked at them and at me. She knew a strong enough Purification Attack would not only destroy the Dark Crest, but would also kill me.
"I can revive him, please." Claire begged and looked at Nebula.
Nebula snorted and jumped backwards then an aura horn appeared on her head. She neighed loudly and charged up a purification beam. She released the beam at me and it struck me powerfully. I groaned loudly and she neighed and the beam went through my body. My eyes widened then the Crest of Chaos shined on my forehead then shattered. The beam vanished and everything went black.
A few hours passed and I opened my eyes then sat up slowly. I held my head and Nebula lick my face. I groaned a bit in disgust and looked at Nebula. "Alright...that is not the first thing I wanted to experience after being revived..."
Tsuhori looked at me and smiled. "He's back to the land of the living and looks like he was never even mutilated."
"Claire's Reborn Flames brings anyone back to life and fixes their body whole as long as she gets there fast enough. Ryoma is always in good hands here." Inoka said.
Claire looked at me and smiled. I looked around and noticed I was still in the ranch. I looked at my hand then noticed the Crest of Arcane shining. I smiled and closed my eyes.
"Arcane is finally back with him as well.." Tsuhori said. "I've noticed that when Arcane was away from him, he was less arrogant and put on more of a facade. Now I'm hoping to see that arrogance again even though it pisses me off.."
"Oh shut up...you know you enjoy my arrogance." I said and rubbed the back of my head.
"Yep. He's back." Tsuhori smiled and looked at me.
Claire wiped my face and smiled. "The Emperor I fell in love with when I researched him. In every battle it was stated that he was always full of himself. Now I kinda want to see that side of him. I love his flirtatious side, but I need to see his arrogance for myself."
"Trust me...you kinda don't." Tsuhori said. "Sometimes all he does is talk about his feats. It'll drive you insane after a few minutes."
Claire giggled and helped me up. "I don't care. I'm sure our neighboring kingdoms won't care either."
"If you say so." Tsuhori smiled.
Claire helped me inside as I was still recovering from death. She took me to the hot springs and wanted to relax with me there.
Alastor sat on the Yascean Throne and had his eyes closed. A woman walked to him and held his shoulder.
"You're back without the Crest of Arcane again? You know that Crest can-"
"Yes, my love. I know what that damn Crest can do. I would have it by now if luck wasn't always on his side. I'm a ten times stronger than he is, but I can't seem to get it. The stars aligns for him perfectly each time and I'm sick of it." Alastor said.
"I see. You know...You basically have a war with Yesha coming up as well. His brother figured out who the killer was and knows it's you. I hope our army is ready for war for when he strikes...Seems like he's waiting for Ryoma to return." The woman said. "I'm going to go check on our son."
Alastor watched his wife walk off and slammed his fist against the arm of the throne. "Ryoma...I swear, you are giving up that Crest then after I take it, I'm seizing the Yeshan Throne. Watch your back.."
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