Terminal City: Age of Void (Part 2)

This summary is a description of the events and actions that take place after the Indus City incident within the first Terminal City RP as told through me, TrueHeartKnight, aka Decade. These events are how I continued to write and play the story out when the RP ended, and are my own creation and ideas put on from the rp, as well as from the information and events that played out. I still give credit to those who made this world and their characters, and do not claim any hold on them. This is part 2 of the story, and I will attempt to put up the other parts as soon as possible.

Terminal City - Age of Void. (Part 2)

Part 2 starts off with Stephanie speaking in private with Lucina, who had lately become colder and more hostile towards the members of the organization, especially to those close to Tsukiko. She discusses with Stephanie over recent testing result, and Stephanie confirms that the “strain” is currently functioning and that all the results have been positive. Thrilled by the news, Lucina states that it would soon be time for “Overlord”, shocking Stephanie and making her question if they really needed to go that far. Lucina brushes off the concern and comments on how every other plan had fallen apart around her, whether it be caused by Tsukiko or Arcana’s involvement, and that there was no choice left. Stephanie still worries though, and Lucina questions darkly if she’s worried about the results, or for Tsukiko. Stephanie is taken aback at first, but then replies that the one she is concerned for is Lucina, and that she just wants her friend to be happy. Lucina simply smiles and states that after Overlord, she will have all the happiness she ever wanted.

Meanwhile Tsukiko and the others have fully recovered from the fight with Wallachia, whose death had been disguised as a freak accident with a broken gasoline explosion at the manor, to which Lyn calls bullshit on. Not long after leaving the hospital though Tsukiko is brought before Tori once more, who wishes to discuss his involvement with all the events as of late.

The two talk and share information over recent events, with Tori admitting that after the death of Wallachia, Tsukiko has now involved himself directly in the battle with Arcana, to which he scoffs and states he had been in since Kana Island. She continues that Arcana will only become more active now and will take notice of him if he continues, even hunting him and those he cares for down. She questions if he is prepared for such actions, and the consequences that would occur if he continued to oppose them. To her surprise Tsukiko doesn’t hesitate, stating that he and his friends were already put in danger by Arcana even before he was involved, and that going after them actively wouldn’t change a thing. He also says that despite what may happen, more people would only be hurt and suffer if he did nothing, and that if his life could be used to stop Arcana and save others, he’d give it up willingly.

It’s at that moment that Mari, To Kei, and the man who helped fight Wallachia appear before Tsukiko and Tori, with each acknowledging his words though To Kei still believes Tsukiko to be a foolish child, which Mari comments at feeling nostalgic since he reminded her of when To Kei was once the same, which the time user vividly denies.

Having fully accepted his involvement with fighting Arcana and the responsibilities and circumstance with it, Tori and the others begin to fully explain the history of just who and what Arcana is. They explain that Arcana was originally a secret organization that had been created during the early Medieval ages of mankind, and consisted of men and women from all across the world with unique talents and skills. Their purpose was to direct peace and balance throughout the world, and protect the people and innocent from injustice and evil. They even caused some of the historical events throughout the worlds history. Mari even states that the first members of the organization were actual knights, clad in shining armor and defenders of the realm, to which she jokingly directs at Tsukiko for his history of being referred to as a knight.

However Arcana changed hundreds of years ago when one leader developed supernatural abilities, known today as the meta gene. This leader became obsessed with the power, and began to tempt and manipulate other members of the organization with it. Within several months, the organization became split in a civil war, with members fighting each other for control and power caused by this leader who was dubbed “The Joker” for his insane laugher and sadistic games. The war took place over several long years and took many lives before being ended with the death of the mad leader. With the organization broken to a mere fragment of itself, and realizing the risk of allowing such a corruption to infect their group again, the remaining members of Arcana disbanded and scattered across the world, being lost to time. Since then Arcana was seen as a mere myth and legend told to children, in order to inspire hope and justice to the world, and avoid corruption and hate.

However that changed upon the onslaught and war with Nyx. When Nyx began her crusade against the entire world, a mysterious group calling themselves Arcana had appeared in the middle of the chaos. While taking no part in the actual combat, Arcana began to integrate and manipulate those who had been affected by Nyx’s attacks and madness, taking control of several high named organizations and businesses across the world, as well as leading many “mysterious disappearances” of several well known names. Even after Nyx's defeat and supposed death, Arcana had already had already taken a strong hold over the weakened cities and people, and had begun to rebuild everything with their influence and ideas in mind. It was only within recent years that actual members of Arcana had begun to openly surface to the world, specifically Terminal City, causing many of the events that had occurred as if planning for something big.

Tori even states that they came to her as well, shocking Tsukiko as she admits she was foolish at the time, but was desperate to know where her father was and had allowed herself to be manipulated. She also confesses that the attack on her was purposefully organized by her with Iris, in order to draw Tsukiko out. Tsukiko becomes furious by this, realizing that Tori indadvertedly caused the Tetsuko’s death, but is calmed down by Mari and To Kei who state that Tori had already paid the price for her actions. Tori openly acknowledges her actions, knowing she could never make up for all the pain she had caused everyone, but that she could at least start with taking down Arcana.

It’s at this point the mysterious man is introduced as Kabuto, revealing himself to be a descendent of one of the original Arcana leaders from hundreds of years ago. He had been following this new Arcana for some time and had been helping Mari and Tori in secret, wanting to put the Arcana name to rest and not wanting to see these impostors disgrace the name anymore than they have. Kabuto then explains his time manipulation ability, in which he could move “through” time, becoming one with it and able to move beyond speeds of light, though he admits such power is incredibly straining and is he is unable to use this power for one second every half hour, which to him would seem about twenty seconds. However he also reveals outside of this that he has the ability to “see” through time itself, in which he can catch glimpses of the future that may or may not occur. He tells how during the battle with Wallachia, he caught a glimpse of the future of the city, and saw it filled with chaos and flames, in which he could see countless deaths and bodies scatted about, as screams and horror filled the air. However during his description he states that an odd thing he noticed was that all the bodies were male in origin, and that it was a horde of females that were causing the chaos.

This catches Tsukiko’s attention, as To Kei and Mari confirm his thoughts that the future Kabuto saw was possibly connected to Lucina, who was a former member of Arcana and had always held a massive hatred towards men. Tori discusses how such a future could not be allowed if Lucina was involved, and openly suggest to capture and bring her in to learn everything she knew on Arcana. However Tsukiko immedately rejects the idea, saying that they don’t know for sure and that they couldn’t put blame on someone for something they didn’t even know was real or understand. To Kei questions Tsukiko’s defensiveness over the woman who hates him, but the boy states that even if she hated him that he would still protect her and do whatever he could to keep her safe, which surprises everyone. He then ask Tori to let him handle Lucina and watch over her to see if any signs of this future Kabuto saw would come to pass, and if so, to let him handle it. While To Kei and Kabuto are against such an action, Tsukiko manages to convince Tori with the help of Mari, who insist that Tsukiko should prove his words through action if he was serious, something that she says with bitterness.

After the meeting ends, Tsukiko is called over by Mari to speak privately, to which he said he planned to do same. Upon the roof, Mari begins interrogating Tsukiko over why he never handed the orb back to Cara and how he broke his word to her. Tsukiko however strikes back with how Mari KNEW about Nyx’s connection to Cara and ask why she didn’t tell the truth. Mari questions back why she would have trusted a boy she barley knew with such knowledge, to which Tsukiko questions why she then trusted a boy she barley knew with such a dangerous person. The two go back and forth yelling and arguing at each other, each time getting louder and louder until they’re both panting and out of breath.

This actually causes Tsukiko to laugh,as he had never seen Mari so emotional and angry before which was kind of cute. Mari simply laughs back and questions if Tsukiko has a thing for older females. After catching their breath Tsukiko apologizes for not keeping his word, to which Mari replies that she had already let it go, but was still mad at him not keeping his word, as she dislikes men who lie, seemingly referring to To Kei, as well as the fact his actions just made things more complicated. However she admits she half expected him to do such a thing, as when they first met she saw into his heart and saw that he was the kind of person who would follow their heart. The two chat for a bit and share their adventures since the island and hospital incident, allowing for just a moment to forget the troubles around them. Before parting though Mari reminds Tsukiko that if he truly wanted to make up his mistakes to her, to keep his word about handling Lucina, and that Nyx was now HIS responsibility since he was the reason she got free. Tsukiko acknowledges her words but states he’s unsure what to do about either of the girls as of yet, to which Mari simply smiles and says that’s up to him to figure out, but that in the end he should just do what he feels is right. And that if the worst case should happen, she’ll personally fix his mistakes and kick his ass for it later. She then leaves with a gesture to find her if he ever needed advice or a drink.

The next few days Tsukiko continuously keeps up with daily activities and events, such as improving upon his new Reverse Holes and weapons, the continued work on the special armor with Mizuho, continuing to go on special “missions” with Lyn, training courses with Labrys, and of course, keeping an eye on the Society and Lucina. For a while though things seem relatively calm and uninteresting.

That changes one day when Lucina suddenly calls Tsukiko into her office. Upon entering and questioning the call, Lucina surprises Tsukiko by asking him to work with her and Stephanie on a personal project. While she refuses to give out information on the project until he agrees, Tsukiko quickly realizes the chance this brings him and agrees happily, which surprises Lucina. She then gives Tsukiko an S-Class society member card and leads him to a structured lab located far below the society. There he is greeted by Stephanie, and the two girls surprise Tsukiko by revealing their plan to take down the Arcana president of the school, Martha.

Tsukiko had known of Martha’s membership of Arcana for some time now, but the idea of actively going against the face of the school president made him question what Lucina was thinking. She answers him by revealing that Martha had recently contacted the Arcana, and was tasked with the mission of eliminating her. Stephanie reveals that Martha was to meet up with three other heads of Arcana that would soon be arriving to the city, and from there would plan out and kill Lucina, in order to cut off the connections she had to Arcana. Tsukiko questions if Lucina is really surprised by such an action considering what she’s done, to which she doesn’t bother to denying but states that it isn’t important anymore. Tsukiko disagrees but listens. Realizing that handling four Arcana members at once was too much even for her, Lucina concluded that she needed help, and turned to the only other person she knew she could “trust", as the two shared a common enemy.

Questioning how she planned to handle Arcana, Lucina then reveals a special project she had been developing.The Eclipse Strain. A specially designed genetic virus strain that, when injected into any meta human, would overwrite their meta-gene code and shut down their abilities for a full hour. This immediately raises alarms for Tsukiko, but Stephanie counters by saying it was designed for medical and control purpose to help any meta-human who was unable to control their powers, or whose powers were hurting them, and was not meant to be used as a weapon. This statement surprises Tsukiko as he reminded of his own dangers abilities.

Lucina reassures him that the strain wasn’t completed yet, and that there were still a lot of problems and bugs that needed to be fixed. She also states that the only ones even aware of this strain were currently in the room. Tsukiko still fearful and suspicious at the words Kabuto spoke, questions why she would even trust him which such knowledge or even ask him for help. Lucina grudgingly admits that Arcana is not one to underestimate as even Martha alone would be hard enough to handle, and that would be if she and Stephanie even used IS’s to help them. To take on four direct members would be suicidal, and that because of this she is willing to let grudges be put aside, albeit briefly, in order to protect her and Stephanie’s life, as well as get rid of a dangerous threat hanging over her shoulder. She also states that while she still hates Tsukiko and wishes to make him suffer for all he’s done, that he is ironically the only person she can “trust” to have her back against such an enemy.

After much thought and debate over Kabuto’s warning, as well as some words from Stephanie, Tsukiko agrees to help them complete this strain and fighting Arcana. However with the knowledge of what the strain can do as well as Kabuto’s words, he states that he would only help if Lucina to only use the strain on Arcana, to which she calmly agrees so long as he swears not to reveal the strain to anyone else. Thus an uneasy alliance is formed.

From that point onward the trio were constantly seen talking and hanging out both during and out of classes, which made many question what their relationship was like and why it suddenly changed. Vanessa was very surprised and suspicious, but trust Tsukiko and Stephanie fully, and tells them that whatever they’ve up to, she’ll help 100 percent if asked. Ariana is shocked and questions if Lucina is once more trying to steal her servant, causing the two to have a constant rivalry in and out of classes, while putting more pressure on the Void user. Labrys though while surprised is also very happy to see Lucina come out in the open like this, and at one point ask Lucina if she can be her friend, as she and Tsukiko both discussed the topic before.

Lucina is caught off guard by the action and questions what Tsukiko was planning, but is surprised when he openly admits he wanted to be her friend, and that Labrys wanted the same. She scoffs at the foolish motion by reminding him of how she feels, but he responds that it’s because of how she feels that he wishes to know and understand her more, and that Labrys simply wanted to do the same. This simply gets her angrier though as she snaps at the two for their idiocy before storming off, causing the young android to feel hurt and confused. Tsukiko and Stephanie explain to her that sometimes making friends wasn’t an easy thing, especially when that person didn’t want to have any friends. When questioning why people still try to befriend those that don’t want to be friends, Tsukiko tells the young android that it is because someone who doesn’t give up on others, and will do whatever they can to see their friends happy, can become the best friend a person could ever need.

It is in that moment Tsukiko decides to use this opportunity with the strain and Arcana to try and connect to Lucina. To break apart the cold and anger filled shell she always had on, and try to understand her better as a person rather than an enemy.

And so as the trio begin to work together, Tsukiko begins to try and spend more time with Lucina whenever possible. Whether it be working on the strain together, working on side projects of the society, or even outside of the school grounds and in the city. Lucina though becomes greatly irritated and annoyed by the void user’s constant presence but continues to ignore and reject every notion and action he makes, while Stephanie watches worriedly and tries to keep peace between the two.

As time passes though, Stephanie begins to notice a strange change in atmosphere between the two. While her friend still berate, ignore, insult and even threatens Tsukiko, all while reminding him how she feels, Lucina seems to be oddly able to work flawlessly with the void user. Every time he made a mistake or did something wrong she pointed it out instantly, usually with a mocking insult, but then immediately corrected his error and showed him the correct method. She taught him how each experiment worked, the science behind them, and even advice both during and out of the labs. At the same time though Tsukiko seems completely calm around Lucina; always listening to her every word and pushing himself to ensure he could be of help. He even goes out of his way to help her outside the lab and make sure she took care of herself without stressing too much. These actions slowly begin to grow further, as despite Lucina continuously treating the boy harshly with words and actions, Stephaine begins to realize her friends’ anger and hostility are continuously lessening the more time she spends with Tsukiko; something Lucina didn't even seem to realize. She even was starting to allow him to spend time with her outside of the A.S.S., mostly for business and more work, but also was beginning to acknowledge some of the things he discussed with her.

It is these actions and changes in her friends that give Stephanie a sense of hope. Hope that this event with Arcana might be the key to help repair the damage and pain Lucina has had in her heart for so long, and maybe even be able to open up a new future for her than the one she is seeking. Though at the same time, Stephanie begins to feel an odd feeling in her chest that she can't explain.

After two weeks since the alliance was struck, and after many problems and failures, the first major breakthrough is found, giving a feeling of relief and joy to the trio, as they are now one step closer to beating Arcana. However unbeknownst to them, the three heads from Arcana finally arrive in the city. The Star. The Temperance. And the The Hermit. They are greeted by Martha who welcomes them to Terminal City, and the Hermit ask about the current situation and what is to be done to eliminate Lucina. Martha surprises them however by saying that they will have to delay their plans, as an unexpected situation has occurred.

That situation is made abundantly clear to everybody when the next day the professor of Tsukikos’ class announces a new transfer student. However upon the sight of the new student, Tsukiko and his friends find themselves filled with absolute fear and shock.

“My name is Naomi. Naomi Suraius”

Nyx had come to Terminal University.

“Nice to meet you!"