001 - What Makes it Hard to Go Home ?

"Oh yeah, let me introduce you two to her. This is Grisella, the dragon who guards this dimension and is considered the strongest being in this world," I said, stepping aside so Djeeta and Lyria could see Grisella clearly.

"Wow, she's a dragon? Is she like Vyrn?" Lyria after hearing that Grisella is a dragon, seemed very interested in her.

"Yeah, it's really rare in our world to actually see a dragon," Djeeta added also curious about her.

"Fufufu, you two are really enthusiastic," Grisella smiled as she saw their curiosity.

After they were satisfied with observing Grisella, they both turned to me. "Let's go explore this world," Djeeta said excitedly.

"Okay, okay, but we need to go to Sturm first because I asked her to wait for me while I dealt with an issue."

"Issue? What kind of issue did you encounter this time?" Lyria asked me.

"It's nothing, Lyria. Since you two are here, I won't waste any more time. Initially, I wanted to see the abilities of the Sacred Gear True Longinus user, but never mind," I shrugged and decided to use it.

I started to open a portal where I stored all my weapons and began searching for the item. "Hmm, where did I put it..."

"Do you need help, Rei?" Djeeta asked me.

"No, it's fine... Ah, there it is," I said, pulling my hand out of the portal, holding a card.

"Arcana?? You're going to use that?" Lyria looked shocked when she saw the card I pulled out of my storage.

"Yep, this is the fastest way to kill them without actually finding them," I said, looking at the card and seeing the image of the primal beast I wanted.

[IMAGE]

"Hmm, what is that, Rei?" Grisella curious tried to peek over my shoulder to see the card I was holding.

"You'll find out soon," I said with a smile, then threw the card in front of me.

Even though I threw the card, it didn't fall and just floated in front of us. "Well, here goes nothing... Deathly Thirteen!" I called out to Death, and soon the card started to glow and an image appeared in front of it.

"Oh, it's been a while since we've seen Death!" Djeeta said, watching as Death slowly began to materialize.

"Ahhh... My Dear... Hold me tight... crush me... tear me apart...!" Death after appeared quickly moved behind me and hugged me with both of her arms.

[IMAGE]

"Ahhh!!!" Lyria was startled when Death suddenly appeared beside her.

I hold her hands that hugging me from behind. "Hello, Death. It's been a while. I thought you were going to show up with Nier. Where is she?"

"Nier... she's kinda busy... planning something..." Death replies while stroking my cheek.

[NIER]

Wait, what? Well, whatever. I'm not going to ask about what Nier is planning because I'm sure it's not going to be good. "I actually have a request if you don't mind. Let's connect our minds," I say to Death.

Death easily connects her mind with mine, and I finally send her the information about what I want... but I forget that connecting minds with Death is a bad idea....

'LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE...' is all I hear from Death's mind...

"Yes... I will do anything for you... as long as you still accept our love," Death says to me, stroking my cheeks again.

"I will never reject your love or Nier's, Death. How many times do I have to tell you?"

Hearing that, Death immediately disappears to finish her task. Well, it sucks for them because they can't escape from Death.

It might take some time for Death to find them, but sooner or later, she will definitely find them.

"Since that's taken care of, how about we leave? Do you still want to stay here, Grisella?" I ask Djeeta and Lyria, then turn to Grisella.

"Unfortunately, I still need to stay here and repair the barrier your friend broke," Grisella says, looking at the crack where Djeeta destroyed the boundary between this world and the Sky Realm.

"Hehehe, sorry about that..." Djeeta says, scratching her cheek and looking away.

"I don't mind helping," Lyria offers.

"It's fine. Both of you want to see this world, right? Just go with Rei. This won't take too long," Grisella says, smiling and patting Lyria's head since Lyria is shorter than her.

"Okay!"

After the three of us say goodbye to Grisella, we enter a portal I created to take us to where Sturm is.

Not long we emerge from the portal, and I see that we are back in the room where Yasaka brought Sturm and me before. The difference is that I see Sturm and Yasaka sitting together while drinking tea.

"Oh, so the shrines in your world are like that?" Yasaka says to Sturm.

"Yeah, our world's shrines are pretty small compared to those in this world," Sturm replies while sipping her tea.

But as soon as the three of us appear, Sturm turns to us, looking surprised when she sees Djeeta and Lyria with me. "Djeeta? Lyria?? How did you two get here?"

"Djeeta kind of destroyed the world's barrier to the Sky Realm, so now Grisella is trying to fix it," I explain to Sturm since Djeeta and Lyria are busy looking around the room.

Then Djeeta runs to the window and looks outside. "Hmm, the air smells very different from the Sky Realm."

"Is it because of the machines called cars? The ones I saw in your memories, Rei?" Lyria asks me while holding her chin thinking.

"Yep, what you're smelling is air pollution, but since we're at a high place, the air shouldn't be as bad as in the city."

Yasaka looks confused when she hears that Djeeta broke the barrier between the two worlds but decides to stop thinking about it. "Welcome, you two. Both of you must be Rei's friends. I welcome you both here," Yasaka says to Djeeta and Lyria.

When Djeeta and Lyria see Yasaka they think she's an Erune but I tell them that Yasaka is a Youkai not an Erune.

"A Youkai? But she doesn't look like a Youkai at all," Djeeta says while examining Yasaka especially her tail.

"Youkai in this world are different from those in the Sky Realm, Djeeta. But let's forget about that for now. Sturm, how about we call Kunou since we still have to keep our promise to her?"

"I'm here!" Suddenly the door to the room bursts open and Kunou appears looking very excited.

<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>

"Be careful on your way," Yasaka waves at Kunou, who is holding hands with Rei and Sturm as they head out to explore the city.

Djeeta and Lyria also joining them, eager to see the sights of the city. Once they are out of Yasaka's sight, a Youkai suddenly appears behind her while bowing.

"Is it alright to let Princess Kunou go with them?" the Youkai asks Yasaka.

Yasaka remains silent for a moment, continuing to staring at the direction where Rei and the others had disappeared. The Youkai stands still awaiting her leader's response.

"You know... if every supernatural being attacked Kunou and tried to kidnap her right now, they would all fail miserably," Yasaka suddenly says.

"Even if gods from other places attacked them too, they wouldn't stand a chance against him and his friends... No, they wouldn't just fail—they would be massacred, and none would leave alive."

The Youkai is shocked and somewhat don't believe at Yasaka's words, wonders what kind of beings possess such power. "I know you doubt what I'm saying, but I hope none of you will anger that man, or even I won't be able to help you," Yasaka adds before returning to her shrine.

As she enters her room while passing two Youkai waiting outside and closing the door behind her to ensure no one can see in Yasaka immediately collapses.

"Hahh... hahh... what kind of creatures are they? Rei and Sturm are already so powerful, and then two of their friends arrive with strength far surpassing Sturm's..." Yasaka's body trembles as she recalls the overwhelming power she felt when Djeeta and Lyria appeared.

Unlike Rei, who can restrain his power through meditation training, Djeeta and Lyria dislike such training and are unable to suppress their power. As a result, Yasaka felt the full force of their power, which even surpassed Rei's current power.

"Luckily, I know from my conversation with Sturm that they don't have any ill intentions and are just curious about this world," Yasaka thinks while wiping her sweat. She then stands up refocusing on her duties without worrying about Kunou.

But before Yasaka resumes her work, she looks out the window, hoping that no other supernatural beings will attack them.

Especially since Djeeta and Lyria seem to be not holding back their power at all, Yasaka is certain that supernatural beings far from here can sense their strength.

"Well, at least both of them like Kunou, so the Youkai race should be safe..."