Chapter 12

"Hhhhaaaaaa, what a rough day it was."

Alexia sighed as she was brought back to her room, but this time with bodyguards by her door and new surveillance around the campus. The girl entered her room whilst her escort deigned to stay outside, mostly for proper behavior and partially due to knowing what the punishment for entering a Midgar noblewoman's home would be. As she entered and closed the door behind her, a low and exhausted sigh finally escaped her, since Alexia had been repressing it till she would be finally alone with her thoughts. Afterward, she quickly changed out of her uniform, but kept her stockings on as she put on a simple one-piece nightdress, flopping onto her bed

afterwards without a care for the manners of someone of her stature.

'Ugh, how annoying… and here I wanted to go out training today…'

This thought filled her mind, making Alexia remember the moment that Vali had complimented her swordplay. She remembered wanting to hurry back home and recover from the slight 'exposure' she had felt in her defenses, as well as to push away the 'offense' that the boy had unknowingly used to push inside of her heart. She would have done so through some private stance training in her room, had everything not happened the way it did. When she'd got back to the School, Iris had hugged the LIFE out of her, expressing all her worry at once as well as relief in knowing that she had been okay… something which Alexia found herself smiling at as she lay in her bed. Although she later scowled when she remembered how, afterwards, Iris gave her an armed escort to her room to make sure that incident from that Monster and the kidnapping wouldn't happen again.

Speaking of the monster, Alexia had heard that it was killed by a combination of different people: her older sister Iris, something which the silverette figured to be as expected from her, along with two others: Angelica, and Alpha. She remembered those being the names of Vali's group, which explained to her why they were able to fight alongside her sister as effectively as they apparently had, and she believed those rumors wholeheartedly. To be close to someone like that guy, one just HAD to be good at fighting if they didn't want to get left behind. It's like a standard for him.

In any case, there was something alarming about this monster, and that was that it didn't disappear like the others but instead turned back into a human… one who they had apparently discovered had been experimented on. The person apparently was someone's daughter, Milia, that had been reported as missing for months, all the while her family had apparently vanished off the face of Gamindustri which didn't bode well for their fates. They'd learned this through not only analyzing her corpse but also due to how she seemed to have held a knife with her name to her chest even after her death. One could guess why she did this…

After hearing this, the CPU got VERY pissed off about the fact that the Cult of the Diablos (information which had been given to them by Vali through Luxon upon analyzing the data he'd collected) had gone this far, and had therefore decided to take action. She had decided to create a group called the Crimson Knights, a special series of Guild Agents who would be like a special operations unit, with her sister Iris being their leader and Reinhard as co-leader. The CPU also included Vali in this, since he was the one who not only saved Alexia herself, but also gathered information about the cult. Since he loved to fight, the CPU wanted to put him on the front lines in case they ever found any bases belonging to this so-called Cult. Of course, Vali wouldn't have agreed to be someone's lapdog willingly, however the CPU had predicted this. Therefore, she had sent a letter to him, one which offered a deal to him: he could fight Reinhard with their full power in an unpopulated area with no one interrupting them, should he join.

One can only imagine how fast he signed up after hearing that.

She could even imagine how elated her family would have been once they received this news, since he would be in the same group as her older sister. Alexia frowned to herself, knowing that they would use this chance to try and forge a marriage plan with Iris and Vali.

Thinking this, her gaze turned to one of steel, as something deep within her that seemed almost ingrained into her womanly instincts, finally stirred for the first time in her entire life. Something which SHOULD have stirred when she had been first engaged to Zenon, had he been able to satisfy her. At first she didn't know why she felt like this, but she DID feel one thing for certain: Alexia would NOT lose to her older sister, especially since she had unlocked this apparently special power that could be an advantage against her… but that didn't mean she would let it blind her to the reality before her: Alexia would have to train HARD in order to use it more effectively, she'd been able to feel the untapped potential within it when she helped fight against Zenon, and thus wanted to bring it out to the surface.

Looking at the clock and seeing that it was almost late and remembering that she needed to attend class tomorrow, not to mention that she also had to go to Vali's group so that she can get to know them, Alexia decided to get some rest. She had a LOT of work to do, and for the first time in a while, she found herself eagerly anticipating the coming weeks. She pulled her blanket and put her head on the pillow as a smile formed on her lips, all before she closed her eyes as she fell into slumber.

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"{So, we finally get to meet each other at last…}"

"HUH?!"

Instantly, Alexia gasped as her eyes shot open, finding herself atop some rocky surface in her sleepwear instead of her comfy bed. Quickly she put her hands on the surface and lifted her upper body upwards, looking around to see that she had somehow found herself back at the volcano place where she first met that… that THING, cloaked within the steam. However, one detail quickly became known to her, and that was that now there was NO steam, not at all. Her eyes quickly gained a look of realization at what this meant, before she glanced towards where she'd recalled the creature being last time she'd seen it. That was when she saw it, for the first time in her life Alexia felt smaller than the smallest of ants. Comparable to microorganisms actually. For before her, proudly stood a pale blue Western Dragon with celestial blue scales. One which looked like it's full size could potentially dwarf single story buildings with two azure eyes bearing down on her, looking somewhat like jewels.

"{For someone like you to awaken me… You are by far the most interesting host I have had so far, since I was trapped in this Sacred Gear.}"

The dragon spoke softly and with a gentle coldness, a snort of cold vapour escaping it's snout. However, Alexia furrowed her brows in confusion, wondering what the heck this Dragon was talking about. She dared not be her usual bitchy self in front of this being, for she had read a lot about dragon kind in the Midgar family's great Library. In Gamindustri, Dragons were beings that should be both respected and feared, for if one were to anger a Dragon, then it was said that even entire NATIONS would fall to their flames. Even CPUs would have trouble dealing with them if they didn't have the appropriate equipment and buffs on. "...... So your voice was in that lost item." She eventually stated after recognizing the Dragon's voice as the one she had been hearing from the Lost Item… that Tail-like thing.

"{Lost items? I think what you mean is a Sacred Gear.}"

However, when the dragon spoke again, confusion filled Alexia's mind as the unfamiliar terminology had sounded pretty much alien to her. "Sacred Gear? How can they be called Sacred?"

"{Good question young one. The reason why it's called Sacred Gear was because of the Bibical god, the very god of the bible sealed my Soul in this Gear.}"

The way that it talked, the dragon before her believed this to be common knowledge. However, the silver haired noblewoman couldn't have been any different in terms of her opinion. "...I'm sorry, biblical god? Do you mean the goddess CPU?"

"{What? How can you not know about YHWH? You know chrisitianity right?}"

"Christianity? What in the CPUs name are you even getting at, Dragon? The only gods there are, are the CPUs here."

Soon after this quick exchange, silence dominated the atmosphere around them as the dragon's mind was going into overdrive through some conclusions, despite living for so long the dragon was dumbfounded before trying to confirm it.

"{uhhhhh can you tell me what planet is this?}"

"Are you serious? This is leanbox, one of the continents of Gamindustri."

There was silence again in the dream, however compared to the previous instance, this one turned out to be slightly longer. Although, soon her instincts began telling her that something was wrong when she saw veins start to bulge across the Dragon's snout. Worse, was that Alexia could see the dragon shaking and she started to get nervous before it lurched its head to the sky and roared.

"{DAMN YOU, DDRIAG! YOU MUST'VE BEEN BEHIND THIS!}"

Very NEARLY did Alexia release a frightened squeak just now, had she not held it in with all her willpower. Nonetheless, she stumbled from the rambling of the dragon as it lost itself in a frenzied rant about this Ddraig, she had to do something before it would retreat into the volcano again. If it did so, then Alexia feared she would miss the chance to speak with the Dragon, since there was obviously some much needed clarification going on here. "Can you stop please, you're messing up the Volcano?" She questioned, hoping to calm the Dragon down before something bad happened.

It didn't work out too well.

"{WHAT DO YOU KNOW, GIRL!?I'M STILL NOT DONE WITH THAT RED DRAGON FUCKTARD AS HE STILL HAS TO PAY, BUT NOW I'M STUCK IN THIS UNIVERSE AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW THE FUCK I GOT HERE!}"

"...Um, maybe Vali could help?" Alexia questioned, getting the Dragon's attention before quickly clarifying lest it rage again. That rage DEFINITELY reminded her of what she had read about Dragons, so this definitely sounded like the genuine article. "From what I can tell, you and I both have questions, questions we can answer but some that need an outside source. I don't know why, but you feel… similar to the silverish blue wings that Vali has. I think he called them Divine Dividing, or something…?" She questioned, trying to remember what Vali had called those wings of his in passing one time.

However, the name Divine Dividing QUICKLY got the Dragon's attention, snapping it out of it's previous rage and making it gaze back towards the small Alexia.

"{Divine Dividing?...... Ohhhh I see, so I wasn't the only one who arrived here…. Alright you have my attention young one.}"

Hearing this and seeing how calm the Dragon had become, Alexia couldn't help the sigh of relief that a crisis that could destroy nations had been averted. "Oh thank the CPUs.... Can you tell me your name?" She asked, remembering how she didn't even know THAT about this creature. A naming basis sounded like a good start as any if one asked her about this situation.

"{Oh, right! Where are my manners, my name is Tiamat, the chaos Karma Dragon, the strongest female dragon king.}"

"Dragon King?" Alexia wondered, blinking owlishly. Why was this Dragon considered such, when judging by the voice, Alexia felt willing to guess that this Dragon belonged to the female gender? Though, another question of greater importance formed in her mind when she properly processed this title. "Do you rule a kingdom of dragons?" she questioned, getting a shake of the head from this Dragon, or rather Tiamat.

She DID dig the titles that the female Dragon King held though.

"{No, it's my title, young one…. Ah, I have an idea. Since I'm in a different place, and you do not appear to have the significant knowledge needed for people like yourself, why don't we exchange information? I'll tell you what the Sacred Gear is, the origins where it come from, and you tell me all about the history in this world}"

Now THAT she could get behind. Plus, like she referenced before Alexia didn't want to act like a total bitch to this thing lest it incinerate her with it's flames. "Hmmmmmmm okay, that sounds like a fair deal."

"{indeed so, young one. Now as I was saying in my world humans have ways to protect themself from the supernatural, you see. One of these are weapons called Sacred Gears, weapons which the God of the bible created to help them. there is also another type of Sacred Gear that can potentially kill a god, one designated as: Longinus.}"

Longinus? That term sounded as alien as the rest of this stuff, but somehow Alexia still got the feeling that there was more to it than that. "Longinus? What are they?"

"{Weapons, the best way to describe them. There are thirteen type of Sacred Gears that belong to that category. One of them is the True longinus: the spear that pierced the son of god. Second, the Zenith tempest: the power to control the aspects of the weather. Third, Dimension lost: the most powerful among Sacred Gears related to barriers and space, thus it carries tremendous power over dimensions. In fact, if the mist reaches the scale of countries, it can transfer it along, as well as its people into, say, outer space, to be destroyed. The one you call Vali, he has one of these too: Divine Dividing, the power to take people's power in half. Truly, a dangerous Sacred Gear there is if used properly.}"

"I see…" The young girl whispered, cupping her chin as she pondered this information in her mind, which had whirred faster than it ever did during her fight with Zenon alongside Vali. The more that she began to learn about this possible alternate reality, which wasn't something that wasn't out of the realm of possibility in Gamindustri since supernatural events were commonplace here. However, as she considered all this information she was getting, a thought struck her. "Wait, do you know about the dark energy that I have sensed in Vali?"

"(Dark energy?...... Oh I see, that is how Albion get here.)"

"Huh? What do you mean Tiamat, do you know something about Vali?"

"{Yes I do, but let me explain first about the race called devils. The devils are basically former angels, although in current times they don't come from just that background anymore meaning that they are their own species now. In any case, originally they chose to follow the original Lucifer in his rebellion against YHWH, but were banished to the underground after their defeat, or as humans would call it hell. They basically formed themselves as the 72 pillars of the Ars Goetia government.}"

"What does tha-?!..... Wait a minute, does that mean?!"

"{Yes this boy Vali seems to have been-}"

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"A Half-Devil."

"{That is correct Vali, you are what you are: a hybrid devil. That explains how you are as powerful as you are, why your magic is so different from those around you. You weren't even born from this universe.}"

In his own form of dreamscape: a brilliant white, almost crystalline desert with huge crystal-based constructs, Vali stood before one of them as about 8 wings got brought forth from his back confirming on who he was, where was he born, and who his parents were. The 8 wings resembled those of a Bat's, whilst looking sort of outstretched like someone tried to pull them apart but only succeeded in stretching them. "....... hehehehehe, typical. Other students have always regarded me as a devil, it seems so funny that it sounds too good to be true." he remarked, laughing in amusement at the irony of the situation he had found himself in. Part of him had somewhat expected an answer like this, though since he had been so different… yet he felt so pissed off since the one thing that bitch Zora had always regarded him as turned out to be sort of right this whole time.

"{Indeed so, partner.}"

Behind him, stood a MASSIVE White coloured dragon, with scales of varying size and shapes, spikes, and massive wings. It had four walkable limbs that ended in long claws, with an equally long neck and snout. It's eyes glistened a deep azure as Vali turned himself to face it, his wings curling inwards to show they weren't in use right now. "But the question remains, how did I even get here Albion?"

"{There is only one answer to that, the Great Red must've sent you to this place. Either that, or it did something that resulted in you arriving here}"

".... I see. Then, answer me this: How do I even get back to the place I was from?"

"{...I'm afraid that would be an impossible goal, partner. You see, not only Great Red is protecting the dimensional gap, but there are MILLION different types of dimensions within the gap. That isn't even taking into considering the fact that, even if you DID find a way back home, you would have to deal with the dragons of dragons, you won't even last a second if you try to match him for he is the embodiment of dreams, no one can match him, not even the dragon of the infinity could defeat him.}"

"......"

"{There is one question that still remains: will you even try to go back to where you were from? Or... Will you stay where you were raised in?}"

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Timeskip 5 days later

After the revealing of who he was and where he came from, Vali had told his group who he really was. It didn't feel right to hide this from them, and since he had been with them for so long, he would have felt like a damn dick if he did keep this secret from them. Heck, their group couldn't have been more 'unique' if he tried: a Half-Devil, a survivor of the Demonic Possession, a fallen Noble, a Commoner thrown into the wolves, and now even a pure Noble. Quite the diverse group here, and THIS just attributed to the ones HERE, there were still others whom he wanted to reunite with and inform them of his status.

Even so, part of him had somewhat expected some hatred and horror from them despite all they had been through together, which wasn't unnatural. When one has spent so long with another, they begin to grow conscious of how that person viewed them, plus in this case Vali hardly knew anyone who wasn't a massive prick in this Academy, he didn't want to lose those who weren't.

But instead, it seemed that his fears had been for naught since they had accepted him without question. He was surprised about that, and when he asked them why, they told him that he was the one who not only solved their problems protecting them, saved them, but one who had always been there for them. Especially when they hadn't had anyone else to turn to, especially Angelica who had tried to convince Julius to be with her only to fail. He still didn't understand why they still wanted to be with him, though…

Not only that, but… there was something else. Something about Alpha and Emilia he had noticed long ago. That issue lay unresolved for the time being, but even as he had told them everything and they had accepted him, they still held shreds of that issue in their eyes, Vali could tell. He didn't understand it himself, but more than that he felt… strange, about them. Why did he feel this way? What was this feeling? The thought of seeing them sad… it tore away at him and made him want to go on a mass rampage in order to punish those responsible. Sure, he'd do it for Angelica and, to some extent even Alexia since he DID save her ass and she would become part of this group eventually. But, when it came to those two… heck, he even felt that this might happen with THEM too…

What the FUCK was going on?!

In the end, Vali decided to do one thing he would do when he wound up having problems that the teen didn't know how to solve himself: he decided to go to his parents house. When the others had heard of this from him and had asked why, told his group that he is going for a short vacation and had wanted to be alone for a while. Vali had responded that he wanted to take a break, something which each of them understood since they believed that it must be a way to relieve the stress he had been under during his stay at the academy.

At around lunch time, Vali finally arrived at his home with a common ship he had bought, and if one asked why he didn't bring Luxon or anything else from his private Island Vali would reply that he would only bring his other ship when he was on school breaks. Mostly to not attract other people who could see a lost item floating just above them. Luxon's ship WAS a huge one, after all. He COULD have used his Devil Wings too or his Sacred Gear, but he would rather not because it would make the adventurers think he was a monster.

Once he arrived, Vali saw his father, mother, and his little brother Colin working in the farm, well, the men were whilst his mother seemed to be preparing snacks for them. Seeing this brought a smile on the silver haired Hybrid's face as he parked his ship at the landing area and walked on over to them. "Looks like things are happy here for once…:" Vali called out with his signature smirk, causing them to look in his direction.

Each of the family's eyes widened in surprise that Vali had shown up, especially his parents although Collin just rushed on over at the sight of his big brother.

"Big brother! You came home!" The boy squealed happily, ramming into the half-Devil and hugging him by his waist.

Seeing this caused an amused snort to escape his lips as Vali playfully shook his hand over the kid's hair. "Indeed I did squirt."

Whilst this happened and Vali pretended to 'run' from his little sibling, his father walked up to him with his gardening tool in hand whilst his mother followed behind him. "Well….. This is a surprise Vali, you usually come home during school breaks, did you do something that made you come home?" The man asked with a grin.

One which giot mirrored by his son as he responded with the following. "No pops, you know as well as I do that I love fighting, but not to the degree that would ruin our reputation."

A loud laugh escaped his lips as Barcus patted Vali's shoulder with his free hand, a soft and warm smile filled with affection on his lips. "I don't care about reputation Vali, I care about you." he told him gently, yet his eyes showed the conviction he had behind those words.

Something which made Vali feel all warm inside, as well as eternally grateful that this man helped raise him as a son even though they weren't biologically related. Vali even suspected that Barcus knew of him not being… well, normal, for a while now. But, since the man hadn't let that dictate how he raised him, Vali saw no need to bring it up. "... Thanks pops…. Oh! Do you know what happened in the news?"

This time, it was his mother who answered with a small giggle escaping her lips. "Who doesn't Vali?" she stated, causing a sweat drop to form on the boy's head as she continued, Barcus and his little brother snickering. "We were surprised on what happened to the school and the girl that was experimented on. The girl's father must have been devastated by what happened to her, poor girl..." she mumbled at the end, although Vali glanced at his father who glanced back, an unspoken conversation passing between them.

Turning back, Vali then looked towards his mother again. "Then you know what the CPU is going to do?" he questioned.

A nod escaped her as Luce replied. "Yup, the CPUs care about us since we provide share energy to them, so in return they protect us. I heard from my friend that the CPU is making a special group to stop those people, who knows what those horrible people are doing now." she explained, with Vali nodding. Looked like the Crimson Knights were slowly gaining traction throughout the community, although it seemed as though the fact that he had been made one of them wasn't as well known as of yet.

"Indeed…." Vali stated, before glancing down at his brother who was still clinging to him at his waist since their little chase had ended. "Anyway Colin, can you leave us alone for a bit? I need to speak to the parents about something."

"Okay big brother!"

Colin then ran to the fields leaving Vali and his parents alone.

"Hmmmmm alright Vali, what seems to be the problem?"

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Later, the trio sat on a set of straw-made chairs around a similarly made Table, one which had an umbrella sticking out the middle of it to provide shade. But that was irrelevant in Vali's mind, as he explained his… situation, with Alpha and Emilia to his parents. He wanted to have some advice for how to handle the scenario without hurting either girl, he'd known them too much to want to do anything that might negatively impact their opinion of him.

For a while, Luce remained silent as did his father, taking in this whole situation. In that moment, Vali felt more nervous than he had felt in a long time, the silence being particularly unsettling since he felt like he was being judged for some reason. Finally however, his mother spoke after opening her previously closed eyes. "I see, then there is one answer to that Vali."

Hearing that she had an answer, Vali perked up with a hopeful gaze entering his blue eyes. Finally! He could get an answer to this dilemma and possibly a way to solve it, something which he really wanted so he could get this feeling of being a dick to them whenever he looked into their eyes and saw that sadness in them to fuck off. "What is that, mother?" he asked her, hoping for some clarity on this situation at last.

"They, my boy, are in LOVE!"

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"...... wha? In LOVE?!" Vali exclaimed, nearly jumping out of his chair with how shocked he felt inside at the revelation his mother had come to. Love?! What the hell, was that it?! Those girls were in love?! And, if he were to think about the situation,they could only be in love with one person: himself.'But, why?! I mean, sure I rescued Alpha from her Demonic Possession and befriended Emilia, but I'm not sure that's justifiable enough for them to like me! No wait, how long has it been like this?! When did this start?!' The boy thought to himself as he scrunched his features, trying to calm down whilst sweating bullets, a heavy feeling pressing down on his heart as he struggled to figure out when exactly those two girls had fallen for him.

Luce, seeing this and mentally (as well as physically) beaming so bright that she may as well have been a ray of sunshine, turned to look at her husband and gushed happily. "That's right, it's obvious that the time they have been spending with you that their feelings have been growing! Oh my baby boy, growing up so fast, Barcus! We are going to get a grandchild!" she exclaimed in a hyperish, almost fangirl-like manner as she looked like she was about to jump up and down on the spot. Even if she were currently seated.

"MOTHER!"

Whilst Vali yelled that exclamation with a crimson red color plastered over his face which only spurred his mother on, Barcus barked out a burst of laughter whilst holding his gut, raw amusement in him at his young son finally getting himself into this situation. "Hahahahaha!.... But seriously Vali, since you told us that you saved them when you were younger, and the amount of time you've been spending with them, it would only have been a matter of time for those two to fall in love with you. have you ever considered that?"

To be frank, as a man who'd been married for over a decade, Barcus had seen for himself just how those two girls had been acting around Vali. It didn't take him long to realize that those two had fallen for his adoptive son, and he had been hoping for the lad to have finally started to settle with one of them at some point.

Though it likely didn't even BEGIN to compare to how fast Luce had realized it, she had a knack for this kind of thing.

Heck, maybe they both could if they were alright with that kind of thing, which Barcus found possible since they all knew each other for a while and the girls had seen how well Vali treated them. Throughout the years they spent together, Barcus could hardly recall a time when Vali willingly kept secrets from those two, wanting to be as honest with them as he could, he remembered Vali telling him that himself at one point since, in his eyes, having strong comrades required not only great strength but great camaraderie. Thus, Vali and them always trained with each other, spending huge amounts of time to folster their bonds.

In the end, it was only a matter of time before those girls fell for him.

"I...… I never did, pops. I'm mostly focused on my love of fighting and travelling the world seeking strong opponents to take down. Plus, let's face it, the times of spending with those nobles who act like Zora really didn't give me the best impression of women, you would know how they act like better than me, pops. So, combine these and it's clear why I never pursued that stuff." Vali replied, to which Barcus nodded his head in understanding

"You got a point there son, there are rarely any nice women in Gamindustri except maybe commoners Vali, but those two girls are some of them. They love you with all their hearts, Vali, and since you haven't realized it I have seen that the Duke's daughter Angelica has started showing signs of falling in love with you, too."

"I have... multiple girls in love with me?! How would I know that I would not even break their hearts?!"

Barcus shook his head at that, having glanced at his wife for her confirmation and receiving it in the form of a nod before he began his speech. "Your not Vali, you know it's common for people to have multiple wives. Just take me for example, although one was more political and the one I married wasn't a good woman. It still happens, though it's more that women take multiple husbands and lovers into their families. What's wrong with men doing the same?" he questioned seriously, not an ounce of mirth or silliness in his eyes.

For the first time, Vali actually began to feel panic start seeping into his being, since this pretty much became unknown territory to him. Not only that, but considering how it revolved around women, who were quite volatile from what he'd seen, it felt like stepping into a minefield unknowing where the mines were and risking detonation with every movement. "I...….. I've never been in this situation pops, I don't even know what to do. I'm scared… really don't want to break either of their hearts here." Vali admitted, and in any other scenario he likely wouldn't have admitted to this even under the threat of death.

"Vali... let me tell you something: When I was young, I asked my father how he got married and fell in love with my mother. He told me that to follow your heart, on who you decided to be with, and always have their back. As corny as it may sound to a child like you, it's the best advice when in this kind of scenario. Follow your heart Vali and be yourself, the time will come when you respond to it with your feelings."

For a while, silence passed between them as Vali struggled to process what his parents were telling him, as well as figure out what he felt inside about all this. Follow how he felt, was it? Well, if he were to do that, then according to how he had reacted when seeing them sad, the intensity of his reaction to their sadness, then it was plainly obvious to the boy with this new knowledge that Vali considered them more than friends. Plus, as a test, he imagined a scenario where Emilia, Alpha and even Angelica were in the arms of other men.

Lets just say… he just barely stopped himself from exploding like a nuclear warhead and traumatizing his family for life.

"....... I will, thanks pops."

"Your welcome Vali, remember no matter what you do, we still love you. Now why not we spend some time together for the weekends."

"Sure, why not."

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Timeskip 8 days later

It has been 8 days, 8 days since she had managed to evade death from that kidnapping incident.

8 days since she had learned the truth about Vali's powers from Tiamat.

8 Days since she had discovered that she apparently had something called a 'Sacred Gear', an object from another dimension from what Tiamat had told her, inside of her being for reasons unknown to her. However, it was theorized that Albion, also known as the White Dragon of Supremacy who resided within Vali's Sacred Gear, knew something about this.

During those 8 days, Alexia had pretty much immersed herself in training wirth her new Sacred Gear known as Chaos Collider, taking a step back from political affairs that had her family involved. Her 'escort' had been disbanded thankfully since they would be needed elsewhere, although she bet that if her sister had her way then they would have been around for much longer.

'Sheesh, even though I was invited as a Guest of Honor, riding in a carriage for 4 days was awful…'

Right now Alexia is shopping through the areas in Eden, a city located atop a floating island within the middle of the mainland. Alexia herself had decided to forgo her usual school uniform in favour of a different getup too: a white blouse which was mostly concealed under a black dress with white frills around the skirt area, a dress which exposed the torso area which had been covered by her blouse. The blouse's sleeves were rolled back to her elbows, whilst a crimson ribbon could be seen around her neck despite it being mostly hidden by her blouse's large collar. For legwear, she wore a pair of black thigh-high stockings which went into some brown, high heeled laced boots.

As for the city she was in, Eden was considered to be a symbol of cooperation between the 4 Nations in that it was constructed with each of their cultures in mind - with one district being Lastation-esque in building architecture, another the same but with planeptune, another with Lower and finally Leanbox. It was also home to some of the most wealthy Nobility from each of the Nations too, since the culture that Leanbox followed had gotten more popular and therefore got adopted by the other Nations as well.

Why was she here, one might ask? Whelp, She was searching for a sword shop where she can get a better sword in order to prepare for the Goddess Festival: a special tournament which was held once every two years. Famous warriors from all over the place like say, the Sword Saint would be attending in order to get a chance to fight some of Gamindustri's greatest fighters throughout history.

Furthermore, Alexia intended to have Vali registered since this way, she would be pulling off her end of the bargain and in turn, gaining Vali's respect. The girl had seen it for herself, that Vali prided those who kept their words, especially to him and those who were close to him. He also knew of what she intended, as she had sent him a letter explaining everything to him in detail with her receiving one of confirmation back from him.

One might ask her why she didn't let her family get her one, and to that Alexia would respond that aside from not trusting them enough and her sister being too busy for that sort of thing, Alexia wanted to do this herself. Living by one's own rules was the best way to truly live life without regrets.

Something which her Draconian tenant also agreed with.

Speaking of said Tenant, Tiamat and Alexia got along fine enough, once the latter felt sure that she wouldn't be roasted alive by the former during one of the former's multiple rants about this 'Ddraig' character. Though, Alexia didn't try to ask since she knew that rubbing sore spots on a Dragon's history wasn't the best thing to do in this scenario. She couldn't say that they were anything like friends or similar, more like mutual acquaintances for the time being, since both of the had their own interests and goals that they wanted to achieve. Fortunately for Alexia, Tiamat seemed willing to work with her for the duration of her lifetime, since apparently Dragons were eternal unless something stronger killed them, so a mere 60 to 100 years would be a blink for her.

Finally, a shop caught her attention as Alexia went inside, one which she had been hearing from the other students where they got their weapons called Ipponmatsu. The shop has been in business for over 200 years, selling antique swords, new swords, and new swords in fashion. It also sells clubs, axes, flintlocks, rifles, armor, daggers, spears, etc. The shop also takes polishing jobs. It's a famous shop, so she decided to see if she can find anything that suits her. Once she is inside she sees many weapons like swords, old style guns, other types of weapons you can find from a game.

The person on the front is a short man with black hair that goes to the sides of his head. He has tan skin and wears a blue shirt. His nose is red. The crest-like piece of hair on his forehead shifts. "Ahhhhh welcome young lady! My name is Ipponmatsu, the owner of this shop, what can I do for you?"

"I am looking for a blade that can suit my swordsmanship, something that fits for me."

"Ahhhh, a complicated customer I see...…. Well why not look at the blades section to see which one you like? It's just over there."

"Got it, thank you Mr Ipponmatsu."

She went to the blades section and tried to find a sword or katana that interested her, so far she hasn't found any that interest her. But, just as she made to leave the section, Tiamat spoke to her

'{Wait Alexia I sense something that belongs to my race,}'

'Really? Where?"

'{Just go by that wall that a sword is hanging there.}'

'Ok Tiamat.'

Once she went to where the swords were hanging, her gaze swept across them to look for what Tiamat had sensed, all th while the dragon kept guiding Alexia.

'{Just a bit lower, left, up aaaannnndddd there it is!}'

Finally, Alexia's gaze landed on the sword that Tiamat had sensed, one which was hanging between a Broadsword and claymore. It took the form of a traditional Japanese Katana, but the color of the Sheathe was black with golden outlines. The sword itself, once she drew it a bit, looked to be REALLY well made, not to mention that it's sharpness surprised her with how high it was… if the amount of Draconic Energy she could feel from the blade now that she'd somewhat drawn it was any indication, then it also had a connection to the Dragons of Gamindustri.

Nodding to herself, Alexia took the weapon from the wall and returned to the owner, whose eyes lit up when he saw what she was getting. "Ahhhhh, so you have chosen the Dragon Sword."

His words served to confuse her, prompting the silverette to tilt her head to match her emotional state. "The... dragon Sword?" she questioned slowly, getting a nod from the man.

"Indeed young lady. Let me tell you a story about this blade: Long ago, Dragons apparently faced a dangerous crisis when one of their own betrayed them and sought to wipe them out. In the end, they chose to combine their powers into one of their own fangs then seperate it, creating this sword. Legends say that their powers still persist within the blade today, although additional details about the blade's story are sketchy at best. It's over several thousand years old you know, and has never once needed to be maintained by any blacksmith, not to mention it's said to only contain half of it's full power. The rest was contained within a special jewel called the 'eye of the Dragon', though it's location has been lost for centuries now." The man explained as Alexia looked down at the sword.

'Interesting, so this thing came from an incident involving a Dragon going berserk… they say that a Dragon's rage is capable of wiping out entire Nations before it's settled…'

"{Hmph how small these dragons are in this world. In my Universe, we were much more terrifying since MULTIPLE different races with beings among them that can destroy entire CONTINENTS bigger than this mainland multiple times over respect or fear us.}"

"..... I see, alright I've decided I'll take this sword."

"A fine choice for you young lady, for the price is 700 credits, but I'll lower it down for you since no one was interested in this sword 535 credits."

"Alright hold on one second...…. Here you go."

"Thank you young lady, have a good day."

"You too Mr."

Once she bought the sword and sheathed it, Alexia left the shop for the reception area for the Tournament, intending to do what she had said she would.

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TImeskip 7 days later

"I gotta say..... The upcoming festival seems to be a big deal."

"Well of course it is Vali, the Goddess festival is where all of the CPUs gather around once every two years, not only that but there is a special event held once every two years. Famous warriors from all over the place like say, your rival would be attending in order to get a chance to fight some of Gamindustri's greatest fighters throughout history."

"Ohhhhhhh now this I can't wait."

"Indeed so Vali."

Vali and his group consisting of Alpha, Emilia, Olivia, and Angelica are walking together in the city where the festival is taking place. There were many shops that the girls went to and bought lots of stuff they saw, especially Olivia and Emilia since those two likely never got to see stuff like this due to their backgrounds.

Right now they are sightseeing the city, with the silver haired male easily carrying the bags with Alpha carrying a few as well. In front of them, Emilia and Olivia happily chatted about the stuff they had bought/seen. As for Angelica, she stayed by Vali's opposite side, also carrying a small amount of bags to help ease the load for Vali.

"This is your first time here right Vali?" Alpha asked as she glanced at him, wondering if he had been here on one of his adventures.

As he heard this, Vali shook his head before he responded, shrugging his shoulders. "Of course it is, if I had known about this, then I would have signed up and partake in the trials."

Angelica shook her head at the battle-maniac tendencies that the male possessed. "Well, it is hard to get in Vali, rarely anyone could even have the chance, but since you're a Baron and a Combat Saint, there is a high chance of you partaking in the trials." she explained, causing the male to hum thoughtfully.

"You know what….. I am very glad that the titles I was given were SOMEWHAT useful at least."

"Indeed so Vali... hmmm there seems to be so many people there wonder what's going on?"

Just as the two had made to continue, the group soon noticed that there was a crowd of people around what seemed to be some kind of mobile stall nearby. Most of them looked to be young girls with a few having male escorts. Those escorts looked to be beastmen though, so Vali pretty much guessed that some of those women were nobles, something which sent waves of irritation through him. However, those emotions were outweighed by his confusion on the matter.

However, Olivia seemed to know something as her eyes LITERALLY turned starry eyed. "Wait a minute. Is this.... A signing session of the famous author Natsume?!" she squealed, followed by another from Emilia who looked to be in the same boat.

"Huh?"

"I'm a big fan of hers Vali! Let's stand in line together!"

"Hold up Olivia what are you talking about?" The boy exclaimed as Olivia and Emilia began to drag the boy over to the growing crowd. Poor guy did NOT appreciate the predatory stares that got launched his way by a few of the bitches here, not at ALL.

This apparently served to surprise the two girls, who then looked at one another before gazing back at the silver haired male. "You don't know about her Vali? She is a very big deal! Every book she wrote is a masterpiece! "Romeo and Juliet" "Cinderella" "Little Crimson Riding hood"!" Emilia exclaimed, passionately.

"Uh huh."

"Next person please"

"(SQUEAL)! I can't wait for it!"

Once Olivia got her book signed and happily went to the group Vali was next, once he was in front of her getting over with before he became surprised when he saw her face. There, seated on the chair was a beautiful young voluptuous Elf with green pupils and shoulder length silver hair with a left braid behind her ear, as well as a mole underneath the corner of her eye on the same side. She was wearing a hood to cover her hair but Vali can remember that face. She became surprised when she saw his face before going back to her regular one.

"Why hello there, please do come closer!" the girl proclaimed happily, using what Vali knew as a 'business smile' which he didn't think suited her, but she seemed to have honed quite well.

Though, as Vali did so, the male's eyes narrowed as he spoke slowly so only they could hear each other. "..... you better have a good reason, Beta."

"Oh don't worry about that Vali, I have been securing connections and funds so that way we won't have to worry about money." the newly named Beta replied in a similarly low voice, though she had more of a smirk on her lips as she looked up to the male whom she had a close bond to.

Vali arched his brow at this. "And why would I even be worried about money? You know I don't care about that." he questioned as Emilia handed him a book behind him, allowing him to hand it over for signing.

Beta then signed it on it's contents page whilst responding vaguely. ���All would be explained sooner, right now I have finished signing your book, here you go. In that book is where I and Gamma will be. It would be good to see you Vali."

".... You too, Beta."

Once Vali got his book and left Beta he went to his group while Olivia happily talked to them about the book she has gotten and what it is. Vali looked at the time and saw it was getting late.

"Alright girls, it's getting late now, let's go find a hotel to stay."

Angelica shook her head when Vali suggested this, implying that there wasn't any need to do that and soon confirming it seconds later. "Don't worry Vali, my father has booked a hotel for us to stay at."

When he heard this, Vali arched a brow for the second time today. "Sounds.... Reasonable."

"Oh! I hope they have a hot spring, because those days on the ship were very exhausting." Emilia remarked excitedly, hopping up and down on the spot which got an amused smirk out of Alpha's face.

"We'll see about that Emilia."

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