Further up in the sky above, at the same time...
"Elieee!", A violet-haired boy suddenly shouted while waving his hands. Hearing this caused the silver-haired girl to look down at the boy who ran toward the edge of the cruiser. She saw a cute little fox chase after him, acting as if they were also calling out to her. This left the rest of the people on the ship confused, but that didn't matter to the violet-haired boy. Of course, that boy is Naoto.
Likewise to the girl, time seemed to have slowed down. But just for a brief moment.
"It really is you, Naoto...", Elie replied. Her lips curved upward into a smile. Unfortunately for the two, the gap between the airship and the cruiser was too big, so Elie could only see Naoto remain at the side of the cruiser. Despite that, a tear formed in Elie's eyes.
'I knew you would come back.', Elie thought to herself, and wiped away the tear in her eyes. Sadly, time is relentless as a flowing river. The airship she was on didn't slow down. It soon passed by the cruiser. Elie approached the rails, and called out to Naoto.
"I'll wait for you, Naoto. Just like we promised!", Elie yelled out.
"Yeah. Definitely!", Naoto shouted back, acknowledging Elie. He continued to wave his hands.
Just like that, the Merkabah sped off. It knows how to cloak itself from view, but it's pilot likely made itself visible once we saw who we were.
"And there she goes...", I uttered to myself, seeing the vanishing Merkabah. It soon became a black dot in the sky, heading northeast. Apart from Elie, I saw a couple of familiar faces who were part of the Dominion. This is turning into an interesting turn, isn't it? Elie is known to have studied abroad in Arteria for at least one or two semesters, but this might lead into something further. Only time will tell for that.
A couple moments later. My excitement died down from seeing someone who I haven't seen for these last three years. As I calmed down, the rest of the group approached me.
"Care to enlighten us who that was, Naoto? It is clear that the girl is someone you know well.", Vita asked.
"True. Even at just a glance, the two of you seem to know each other quite well. I spotted a familiar face or two with that silver-haired girl. Oh how time flies.", Rufus said, musing to himself. Now that I think about it, that makes sense. I saw Ein, Rufina, and Kevin next to Elie. Rufus was at the gathering for His Imperial Majesty's enthronement. And so were they. Rufus was quick to make the connection.
Hearing that, Vita clicked her tongue.
"Tsk tsk. It would seem Emma has quite a long road ahead of her.", Vita said with a playful smile.
"And what is that supposed to mean?", I retorted, and proceeded to pick Tamamo back up.
"Oh nothing. Nothing at all. Just call it a little pestering from a big sister.", Vita simply replied, keeping the smile on her lips.
"Haha. Save the jokes for another time. I will say that their airship is on a certain flight path. They're likely returning to the Holy City. If you know that girl, it might be a while until you can meet with her again.", Rufus said, drawing my attention back to him. I nodded my head.
"Mmm. That does seem to be the case here.", I said, nodding my head again. Like I said, Elie does actually attend several different schools to broaden her horizons. She started with Arteria where she met Ries Argent. With my connection with the Dominion, I am not sure if Elie will attempt to deepen that connection. And after that, she pays a visit at St. Astraia, the number one girls' school in Heimdallr. Even Princess Alfin attends this school here. It wasn't just those two schools. Elie even attends school at Jenis for a period of time. By the time I enroll at Jenis, we might even cross paths with each other. How cool will that be?
I just didn't think she'd leave this early! Not for high school, obviously. She's likely going to attend a boarding school at the middle school level, then perhaps return later on. We'll see.
"Well, it's not like I was planning to hide this from you guys. I simply didn't have a reason to bring it up till now. It would have been brought up sooner or later. So I might as well show it off now.", I said, drawing everyone's gaze back to me. Vita became confused, as she hadn't seen me use Inventory before.
"That...", Vita tried to say, only to see my hand vanish into a black hole near me. The rest of them didn't have much of a reaction. They had seen me use it on occasion already. "Was that spatial magic? I do not remember Grandmother teaching you this, Naoto."
"That is because Master didn't.", I answered, smiling back at her. She just blinked at me in shock. I ignored her response, and continued to speak. "Anyway, what I wanted to show you all was this.", I said. I held it out, allowing everyone to get a good look. It was the very same photo we all took back at the Osborne Villa back in S1192 before the war broke out.
"This...Is a family photo?", Sherryl asked, immediately spotting several figures gathered around a large villa. Even Lechter now had his full attention on this photo. He saw Giliath happily smiling, like he truly belonged there. He stood next to Kasia, Rean and I.
"Is...that really His Excellency? And who is that little boy beside you, Young Maser? this was not detailed in any files.", Lechter mused, seeing Rean Schwarzer for the first time.
"That's because it never will. It's a secret I hold dear. You'll have to fight over my dead body if you want to know, Lechter.", I said. All of a sudden, I released a hidden pressure, directed solely at him. Lechter frowned. He hadn't seen me like this yet. He nodded his head.
"Point taken.", Lechter replied, not pressing the matter any further.
"Isn't this a nice surprise? This really does look like His Excellency's family. I was not expecting His Imperial Highness and Their Highnesses to be in attendance.", Rufus mused, spotting Prince Olivert, Princess Alfin, and Prince Cedric. He even saw Empress Priscilla next to them.
"Yeah, and this girl too...", Van uttered, seeing a silver-haired girl next to me. The very same girl who had just passed by us on that Merkabah. Here, she was six years old, but now she's nine, just like me. Time really is flowing by, isn't it? "Now it's making more sense. The girl we just saw is your childhood friend."
"Pretty much. This photo was taken three years ago.", I said, answering Van. "To which, Emma and Master were also included. And for some reason, you weren't.", I continued to say, smirking at Vita.
"I can see that...", Vita replied, sighing. "I can't believe I missed out on such an opportunity. I can see why you're willing to take this to your grave, though. This photo shouldn't be brought to the public. I don't know how messy it would become if it were. I'm guessing those involved also have copies. But it's just that, right?"
"More or less, thankfully. Everyone's been secretive, so I hope it stays that way. It's brought me this far, at least.", I replied with an honest look in my eyes.
"And all of this happened before you were declared missing...", Tio uttered.
"Either way, thank you for showing us this, Naoto. I just can't help but be drawn to one item in the photo. Or person, in this case.", Vita questioned, only to point at the black-haired boy beside me.
"Well I did warn Lechter, but as long as you swear not to tell a soul with the Goddess Aidios as witness, I do not mind telling you all.", I said, showing a serious look.
"Very well. From this moment henceforth we shall not speak of this to anyone.", Rufus said, matching my seriousness. "Or so by the will of the Goddess may she strike us down."
Hearing that, everyone glanced at each other, then nodded their hands. Seeing this, I smiled.
"Simple really. The boy you see next to me is my younger brother.", I answered, causing a wave of shock. "His name is Rean. By this point, he should be Rean Schwarzer. I wonder, how has he been lately? Does he still remember me...?", I continued to say, enjoying everyone's shocked looks in their eyes.
"Naoto?", Vita uttered, seeing me go into my thoughts while everyone took a moment to recover. She wondered what was going on inside my head for me to turn silent like this. Not immediately responding, I turned to look toward the side of the cruiser again, going into my own thoughts...
Meanwhile, as I began to wonder how Rean was doing now...
Somewhere deep within the Eisengard Mountain Range stood a sole building that was hard to find. It was situated north of the popular hot spring town of Ymir. A somewhat old, but still properly maintained building could be seen. It was an eastern-style dojo, which had a single path of carved out stone steps that led to it. Each step had carved out bamboo shoots sticking upward on each side. As for the dojo itself, a constant echo of wooden blades striking each other resounded throughout the area. Each strike carried a certain rhythm to it...
If one looked closely at the entrance of the dojo, one large wooden plaque could be seen hoisted at the top of the building, which contained the dojo's name.
On it simply read: Eight Leaves, One Blade.
For that was the name of this dojo. It was part of the Eight Leaves One Blade school of swordsmanship. It took pride in the different paths one could learn while studying the way of the sword, offering various different styles and techniques depending on which form one studied under. In total, there were eight different forms. Hence the name, Eight Leaves.
As each passing moment swept by the dojo, the sounds of the wooden blades striking against each other intensified, hinting that a spar was currently taking place inside the dojo...