...

.......

B..ki....

.......

Baki.

.......

Baki. Baki....

BAKI!!!

"OOOF!!" I proclaim...

BATAN!

As I crash into the...floor?

(OOOOOooooooohhhhhh.... My head....)

I attempt to stand up.

(Sssoooo tttiiirreedd...)

As soon as I struggle to my feet, I lose strength in my legs and fall to my knees. My vision is quite hazy. I get up again, blinking my eyes rapidly to improve my vision. By the time I get up, my vision is clear eno...!!!!

"Welcome Oren." Hunter-sama says.

I instinctively reach for my...

(What!?)

I look down to my waist.

Clarent is missing!!

I look around me. The men from the projection are here. I'm surrounded. All of them are silent, but some brace themselves for me to attack.

"Now now, there's no need for that." Hunter-sama says.

She snaps her finger, and the man that I think was called "Jonathan-sama" walks over to her...with Clarent!

"Give that back!" I yell, rushing towards her.

"Fire Drive: Dyrnwyn."

Just to be stopped by a man with a fire sword, the blade mere centimeters from my neck.

I step back, just to pinned down on the ground by some of the other men.

"Must say, you're full of surprises." Hunter-sama says, taking off the star pendant pieces from Clarent.

Kin! Kin!

Hunter-sama walks over to me and puts the star pendants in my pocket.

"I'm...sorry about this." she says in a kind voice.

"Huh?"

"Oh, shut up!" she says in her usual harsher tone, putting her left hand over her left eye. Was that to me, or herself?

"Alright..." I proclaim. "Where's Mydrea and Saiya-sama?"

(Sama?) some of the men think with confused expressions on their faces.

"Don't worry." Hunter-sama states. "The trade was made a while ago."

...

I look around. I seem to be indoors. Inside a building with large quantities of pipes, rubble, explosives, and other machinery I cannot recognize. It looks like an abandoned factory, but I don't know. What makes it difficult to distinguish is how some sections of the room are updated while others are delapitated. What doesn't look abandoned seems to be connected to state of the art technology. Security cameras. TVs showing different rooms. Some rooms looking to be traps with walls lined with guns, but all the rooms seem occupied by people I don't know. In one room, I see Togo-sama chained to a wall!

"Then... What do you plan to do with me?"

"You don't have to worry about that." Hunter-sama says. "I don't want you to spoil the fun."

(Fun?)

"As I said, don't worry. I have no intention of killing you. I know that you won't go down easily, no matter what is thrown at you, and wasting my men's time trying wouldn't do any of us any good. So be a good damsel in distress and play along."

"What are you talking about?"

"Okay, maybe letting you in a few secrets wouldn't hurt. First, you really don't expect us to believe that your friends would abandon you, would they?"

"Well..."

Reflecting on them pinning me down and freezing me, I don't know what to think.

"But until they come, I want you to help us." Hunter-sama continues. "I have an offer I know you won't refuse. Like it or not, you're a valuable asset, and I want to milk you dry for all that you're worth."

Some of the guys blush.

"Pervs." Hunter-sama and I say together.

The men pinning me down lift me up, continuing to hold my arms.

(Soul Conv...!!)

SSSHHHAAAA!!!!!!

Before I can attempt to break free, a snake coming from Hunter-sama right arm stop centimeters from my face.

"Don't make me think any less of you than I already do." Hunter-sama says. "Surely you aren't stupid enough to commit suicide."

(She's so infuriating!!!) I think.

"Think about this rationally. You couldn't beat me before. What makes you think you can now? You have no sword or backup, while I have both. Tell me... Think. You. Can. Kill. Me?"

"That was awkward in more ways that one." Hunter-sama says to herself.

"Killjoy." Hunter-sama again responds back.

.......

"Until then, au revoir." Hunter-sama says, bowing politely, then nodding to one of the men.

One of the men, who I assume is an animal tone, walks towards me, cracking his knuckles.

"Don't worry, this will only hurt a lot." Hunter-sama says smiling.

BATAN!!!

I'm punched in the back of the head straight into the floor.

And I black out.

...

.......

(It's amazing how much you get beat up.)

"Huh?"

I look around me. It feels like I'm floating again. Floating in an empty black void save for abundant crystal scattered around me.

(Brace yourself.)

"What do you...WHOA!!!"

In that instant, I begin to fall towards a crystal below me. I shift my weight and land on my feet.

(It's been a while since you've been here, hasn't it?)

"Where are you? Heck, who are you?"

(Why should I answer that if you can't even answer those questions? Besides, I know more about you than you can tell me.)

"Quit with the riddles! Do you know what kind of trouble I'm in?"

(Indeed I do. And why you continue to willingly get yourself into these situations is beyond me.)

"Willingly!?"

(Is it anything but? Everything you do seems to involve putting others before yourself. At least, that's what you want to think.)

"That is what I think. Without my family and those taking the time to train with me, I couldn't have gotten this far!"

(From what I can tell, the only thing you're getting "far" from is reality. Why don't you ever listen to what I say beyond when it's most convenient for you? All you've ever done is cause trouble for others, including me.)

"She's right you know." My reflection in one of the nearby crystals says. "I kept telling myself that I was fighting to protect those close to me. But if that was the case, why am I all alone? They all sacrificed themselves to save me. Can I really say I did the same? I'm still here, so clearly I didn't do enough."

"Have you forgotten everything I've sacrificed?" another reflection says. "While it's true that I didn't suffer the same level of consequences at those I've loved, I still continue to move forward! I haven't given up, in spite of the odds! I'm living for them, sacrificing so much of my being to have them live on through me! Honestly, can you say I've done nothing all this time!?"

"So much of this could have been avoided if I didn't get involved." a third reflection states. "There shouldn't have been sacrifices in the first place. Look at me. I'm nothing special. No powers. No talents. Not even a face to a name."

"Why should I listen to the words of someone I've never met?" another reflection says.

"Why ask?" a different reflection questions. "I don't listen to anybody. Not even reason."

The sound of a finger snapping is heard.

PARIN!!!

And the crystals with these reflections shatter.

Truth be told, I think there were less reflections than before in total. I wonder why.

(You've forgotten who you are, and where your loyalty lies.)

"Either you give me a straight answer, or stay out of my head." I say.

(Your head? Honestly, I thought you would have realized by now. It seems you've forgotten everything, including what you should instinctually know.)

"Speak sense!"

A bright light starts to shine around me.

(Seems we'll have to continue this in a bit. When we have some privacy, anyway.)

"SHUT UP AND GET BACK HERE!!!!" I yell...