Chapter 273: Back To Where We Belong

Reimi Frieden's perspective

We were running away from the room not so far, and somehow I heard a very big explosion. And the explosion turns out to have come out from that tragic room, I hope Her Highness and John are fine. Because I'm escorting their daughter to safety right now, I'm doing my best. But seems like I have to stop here.

"What's wrong, Your Highness...?". - I asked Eris, the little just kept looking in the direction that leads to the previous room

"Mothers, Papa, Mama...".

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry". - I came down and hugged little Her Highness a big hug, comforting her.  "My mission is to protect you, your parents may be no more there...". - While hugging her, I tapped her back a few times to comfort her.  "Let's say that they're fine, I must get you outta here to go to somewhere safer, okay?". - Before the Princess could have time to answer me, I grabbed her hand and led her to follow the tunnel till we find our way out

"I want to wait for them, Mothers, Papa and Mama...".  "We don't know what is out there at all". - The last lines of her words shocked me, I stopped moving since I realized my ignorance

Her Highness reminded me to lead her daughter to somewhere safer. And I did it by leading her away without thinking about where to go. Right now, the ground's situation is unknown, we are invaded by some mysterious unknown force. I can't go up there to just harm this little Princess, I'm so stupid!

"I'm sorry very much, Your Highness...". - I hugged the little Princess more tighter, this warm feeling makes me feel like I'm her aunt... or even her mother

"Hey, you should...". - I took off my green tunic, then gave it to Eris.  "Take something to wear, don't let yourself cold". - Now I must do something, must get out of here

Where should I go now...? Knowing that I need help, I glance at my Advisor's glowing screen. Somehow there are five dots nearby us. They are walking together, heading here. Hmmm... I think they are soldiers who retreated here because of losing the ground battle.

"Advisor, are they friendly?". - For some reason, I asked her but she didn't answer.  "Hey". - Again, no response from the device... I must do something.  "Hey!". - I hit the device gently, but she didn't respond

It's not good, our devices may have been errors due to the previous incident. I must deal with things myself right now. I honestly want to return to that room. I want to find Her Highness and others, but I'm too coward since I'm scared that I'll see tragic things in there if I return there.

Especially when this little Princess is here with me, she's the old timeline daughter of John and Shera. Even though her memories have been erased, she can still recollect them someday, as I heard. However, watching her parents dying in front of her, even when her memories have recovered or not, is still very tragic. I don't dare to return there, I'm so coward!

At least the dots on the screen are classified green, which means friendly. But I'm not so sure if they are our real allies. I must greet them and then ask for their help to save my split-up group. I must also find a safe place for Eris.

"Eris, you want to go back?". - In that situation, I crouched down and asked Eris

"Yes". - She nodded

"We'll have to wait for more people to come, just hang in there for a bit longer, o-".

"Oh, a person is here...". - Suddenly, Eris glanced and focused on something on my back

I look back and see a person approaching us, that man is a human soldier. His armor seems to be from Warsaw, the Warsaw army... it's quite odd. Because there's no human army deployed on this island, only the Demon Kingdom military does. I must be cautious about this man.

"Hey, you there!". - That man opened his voice to call me

"Stay behind me...". - I hid Eris from my back, then started talking to the man.  "Who are you...? Why are you here?".  "Hey, just stop there!". - Hearing my demand, he stopped moving

"I'm from Warsaw, our guys are losing the battle so we withdrew here".

"But your appearance doesn't say that way". - No dust or anything dirty on his armor, he is totally lying to me.  "Just... tell me who're you?". - No human army is stationed on this island, this man is lying!

The man doesn't say back, he stands there and glances at me very scarily. I spot something hiding behind him, maybe that's another person. Some rocks seem to have people on them too, not good, not good now. Eris must hide, or she will be in danger!

"Run!!! Just run, Eris!!!!!!!!!". - I roared at Eris after I shoved her to the tunnel that leads to the previous room

After that, I draw my sword and spot five huge guys with green lizard appearances in front of me. They are pulling out some things like long rifles, shining in silver color. Knowing I may die, I rush to them with the sword, trying to kill them. But the barrels of their rifles are now at me.

"Arrrrrggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!". -  I made a huge war cry while charging at these men to boost my morales

"Blupp! Blupp! Blupp! Blupp!". - Green rays of light came out from those gun barrels, they splashed at me

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!". - Both of my hands flew away, burning, veins and skins shredded out when I hit the bullets, I screamed because I couldn't take it, so much blood!

"Arrrrrggghhhhhhhhh! Arrrrrggghhhhhhhhh! Arrrrrggghhhhhhhhh...! Urrrghhh...! Urrrghhh...!". - Couldn't keep my balance, I collapsed, uttering low sounds of dying.  "Urrrghhh! Urrrghhh! Urrrghhh! Urrrrrgggghh! Urrrghhh!". - My chest and my hands are damaged, blasted and burned by those heated blue bullets

"Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhhh! Ahhh!". - Screaming in pain, I was more panicked when a lizardman pointed his gun to my forehead, I tried to shake my head to beg him not to shoot me

"Blupp!".

John Rigen's perspective

"Urrrghhh...!". - I remember that there was a big explosion earlier

My wound has stopped burning a bit now, it's easing down slowly. Thanks to Yura. But I want to make sure that family is okay. I try to get up, but the pain keeps holding me back, but I'm still trying!

"Sir...?". - All of sudden, Sarah's worried voice came out beside me.  "No no no...". - A dropping sound touched the floor, and it turns out to be my foster mom - Amanda

"Everyone...". - My subordinate gently helped my wife and Hatano to get up.  "Oh, Commander...!". - She noticed me, she grabbed my hand and slowly lifted me up

"Are you okay, John?". - My wife was a bit hazy, but she still checked on me when I managed to get up

"Uh uh". - I can only nod now because I want to avoid doing some things to ease the cut wound on my waist

"It's very bad, Sir, your moms are dead". - Sarah told us with a sad voice, because we managed to survive thanks to Amanda since she covered us before the explosion came out

"I'm sorry but we have to move on now, Sarah, we don't have much time to mourn our mothers". - My wife tapped on her shoulder to comfort her.  "Is anyone wounded? We must do something right now, like going to the machine...". - My wife was talking but she later glanced at the ring line

"It's off...". - She said in her confusion, maybe there was nervousness in it.  "Yura's gone, she's gone... vanished". - I just wonder if the ground's situation up there is safer, because I don't want to see this world in danger

"No earthquake is occurring, now we have time to move". - Hatano coldly spoke to us, she later took an M1911 on the floor to make it a weapon

"Wait, Reimi and our daughter are outside, we must search for them". - My wife remembered that and was shocked, then she told me.  "All of us must get in that machine and t-".

"Ahhhhh! Ahhhhh! Ahhhh!". - All of sudden, a crying sound sounded up and a figure rushed inside the room

"Ahhhhh!!!!". - That's our daughter - Eris, she wore a green tunic.  "Ahhhh! Papa! Mama! Reimi! Reimi...!". - Somehow she bumped into my wife and hugged her, she even gnashed while sobbing

"What happened to her?!". - Hearing the word "Reimi", I was shocked, so I asked my little daughter

"They hit her! They hit her! Those men... ahhhhhhh!!!!".

"Commander, five dots on the screen... I can't tell if they're friendly or not". - Sarah looked at her Advisor's screen, then informed me.  "But my sensor scanned a dot earlier... but it's off". - What the fuck...?! It's off! It means... that person's heart has stopped beating!

My heart feels like to be choked terribly, like I'm having a bad heart attack. Somehow my pain has been filled with another feeling, "berserk". I can't see anything bright in my mind or my view. I pick up the M1911 from my mom - Amanda. Then I kick her body to overturn her, I crouch down to take more magazines for the gun.

"Shut her up, Shera...". - I coldly warned my wife, telling her to shut my daughter up because she was crying.  "Remember to hide too, they may be dangerous".

"Hey, Eris... come here, I know you're sad... please please...". - She slowly led Eris to a corner of the broken room

"Want to play some games, huh? Alright, alright, I'll fucking kill y'all". - I held the pistol tightly, then came to the entrance to teamwork with Hatano

"Here are some for you, Sir". - Sarah gave me a sword, I tightened it to a gap in my belt

"Back down, you're helpless here, Sarah". - I warned Sarah

"Shoot anything on sight...". - I ordered Hatano, then I slowly peeked outside

"Is anyone here?!". - All of sudden, a voice from afar sounded out.  "We're units that lost the battle, we retreated here! Please open the door for us, we need help from you guys!".

The voice later shuts up, we only hear footsteps sounding in the tunnel. Not so long later, a soldier with Warsaw insignias on his armor suddenly shows up before us. There's no human troop deployed on this island, this man is fake. I must kill those who harmed my love!

"Smoke him when I tell ya". - Done saying, I got my head out of the corner to let the man see me

"Ah, i-".

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!". - Four shots were fired at the man, he soon collapsed and his appearance showed me that he was a green lizardman

"Blupp! Blupp! Blupp! Blupp! Blupp! Blupp!". - Suddenly, figures appeared from the gap sides of the tunnel, blue gunshots were at us, but they all missed

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Clack!". - I shot back, but my gun ran out of ammo after three shots.  "Cover me!". - I dropped the magazine on the floor, later took out the next one

"Bang! Bang! Bang!".  "Blupp! Blupp! Blupp! Blupp! Blupp!". - Their gunshot lines are too dense, we don't have much chance to shoot back but have to sneak behind the wall

"Shit!". - Hatano got out of her position when her upper right shoulder got shot, luckily that it was not heavy.  "It's burning more than usual... fuck...!".

I look at the corner where Hatano used to hide, and I see that it's melted terribly due to the gunshots. As if these aliens are using firearms that can melt people with the heat. All of sudden, the gunshots just stop. I look at Advisor's screen, seeing that a dot is moving toward us slowly and carefully, while other ones are still sneaking behind the walls as if to bait us.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Clack!". - Hatano one hand held her wounded shoulder, the other one pointed the gun out and shot non-stop.  "Target's down, three left to go". 

"Gunshots! Gunshots! Gunshots! Gunshots!". - A massive line of gunshots suddenly came to us, Hatano managed to dodge the things

I wait till the line of gunshots ends to pull my gun out to shoot again. However, I think we must change our position fast, shooting this way can lead us to die very easily. The gunshots suddenly end once again. I intend to point my gun out to shoot blindly, just to scare them while Hatano will do the attack.

"Clak! Clak!". - Shit, the gun jammed, huh?!

"Gunshots! Gunshots! Gunshots! Gunshots!".

"Arrrrrggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!". - My index finger got burned a little bit, but I'm okay

"John!". - My wife suddenly rushed to me and pulled me back to the room.  "Ahhhh!!!". - Her left leg got shot terribly, it started tearing out and blood started coming out

"Ahhhh...! Urrrghhh...!!!".

"Hang on, Shera! Hang on!". - I dropped my gun and started carrying my wife.  "Protect the line, don't let 'em pass!". - Done reminding Hatano, I ran back into the room

"Here, Commander!". - Sarah got up from a shattered position, she told us to hide here

"Mama! Mama!". - Eris touched my wife's face when she realized that she was very unwell.  "No no, not again...".

"I'm gonna take the line". - Sarah searched my uniform to snatch magazines, she later picked up the M1911 that I dropped during combat

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!". - Done solving the jamming problem, she started firing outside

"Shera, Shera, hang on...". - Now I'm using my hands to cover the wound of my wife, she needs medical help right now but we don't have it.  "Hey hey, don't leave me, please...!". - I took off my uniform, then started using it to cover my wife's wound to stop the bleeding

"Urrrrrgggghh!!!!!". - Sarah screamed in pain for some reason, she might have been wounded too

"Return and keep firing!". - Somehow, Hatano and Sarah returned to our position

"She's wounded, her waist's burning!". - Hatano put my little sister down to my position, then returned to combat

I can see that Sarah's wound is quite small, but it's bleeding and burning. Sarah holds the wound herself, she doesn't want to rely on the rest of us. Hatano doesn't shoot anymore, somehow she runs back to us. She shows me the gun that she is using, its barrel and other parts are melting down due to facing the heat of enemy's bullets.

"Gunshots! Gunshots! Gunshots! Gunshots! Gunshots! Gunshots!". - Somehow they breached here this quickly, they blasted the entire room.  "Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!".  "Gunshots! Gunshots!". - Machines exploded when got shot, gunshots kept firing

However, the gunshots shortly turn off. Instead, slow footsteps start smashing on the glass, the broken objects in the room, moving forward. Those aliens are searching for all of us. We don't dare to make a sound, we try to avoid making noise, while trying to find a good way out.

I can see that my wife is still breathing, although her wound is getting worsening. Hatano is peeking, watching the movement of those aliens in the room. She later makes a hand signal, telling us that the three of them haven't known where we are hiding yet.

"This side... is empty... way out for us". - She whispered to us.  "We must run fast... they can... keep up... we can't run far". - Alright, then we have an exit but can't escape since we are all exhausted while those aliens can keep up with us

What should I do now?

"Commander...". - Suddenly, my Advisor said to me.  "Maybe I've got a good way". - I've put you near my ear, man, just say it low

"In every of our SA, we have a self-destruct system... but it's dangerous if you want to try us, Sir".  "The power button, hold it in ten seconds... think of a certain number you want to set".  "Put me down here, I'll explode and get rid of 'em, while you can escape safely".

"We should try...". - I said to everyone, waiting for them to answer

Most of them nod to me, although Sarah seems to be feeling bad for my Advisor. We immediately get to work, Hatano peeks outside once again to watch. Meanwhile, I push the power button and hold it, trying to think of a certain number for the bomb.

"Ten seconds...?".

"Longer a bit...". - Sarah reminded me

I don't say anything but set up 12 seconds for the bomb. However, Advisor's bomb will only activate when I put him on the floor. I look at Hatano, and she nods to reply as if to say that is the right moment.

"Alright... alright... alright...". - I slowly put the bomb down while looking at my group, asking them to go when I go.  "Goodbye, pal... we'll surely miss you a lot". - Done putting him on the floor, I started carrying my wife on my back

"Go go go go...".

Hatano leads the group, she crouches and starts moving slowly to the door. All of us follow her, trying not to make too much noise while moving. We manage to sneak to the entrance safely. Now I'm waiting for my wife, Eris to go first, I'll go after that and my subordinates will go the last.

All of sudden, an alien turns around and sees us crouching on the floor. Not good!

"Shit, we've been spotted!". - Hatano intended to raise my wife up to cover her, but I shoved her away

"Gunshots! Gunshots! Gunshots! Gunshots!". - Somehow we managed to run outside, but I had to drag my wife to run since I didn't have time to lift her up

"I've got you, Shera!". - I managed to get my wife on my back, then I ran as fast as possible

"Booooooommmmmmmm!!!". - We were shocked to hear the bomb exploded two seconds after we ran away

I look back while running, and don't see those guys chasing us anymore, it's good. But we don't have time to smile, we keep running till we see... oh no. Is that Reimi...? I predicted this thing when I heard my daughter saying about this. Poor Reimi, she died losing both of her hands, her face is also shredded out.

I avoid looking at Reimi, because I don't want to face the fact that she is now dead. In my mind, there is a hope that everyone will be alive and be fine. I can't accept it, but only know to move forward with my rising anger, maybe there are tears inside it too. I can't stand it!

"Poor her...". - Sarah picked up Reimi's body, she carried her on her back.  "Commander...". - What...? What do you want to say? She is not dead, we'll have another way to save her!

"There will be some way to save her! Just like both of you! We must not give up!". - I yelled at both of them, then kept going

Eris seems to be very sad, she comes to Reimi's body to touch her. I can feel that my wife is still warm, she is still alive, but now she needs medical help right away. However, how can we find...? No, I must not give it up!

"Freeze!!!". - All of sudden,  someone yelled at us when we reached the blue lake

We look up to see them, they turn out to be the soldiers of Demon Kingdom. Lieutenant Rivia seems to be in this unit too because she... yelled at us. She immediately uses hand signals to send her men to the other side of the river to pick, or just to catch us.

"Hey, we are allies". - Sarah explained to them that we were innocent when these soldiers escorted us to their Commander.  "We faced five guys, we killed them, but we have the wounded here, we need help! Please!

(They're not the threat...). - Rivia talked to the soldiers, they soon released all of us

"Sir, the enemy's gigantic zeppelin has fallen in the ocean, but it's not over yet". - She started informing us.  "Impostors are around, we're gonna search and destroy 'em to the last one".  "Now go out and follow our men, we're evacuating the people out of this place, you should go too".

(Scout team, move in). - She returned to tap her comms, ordering a unit to investigate the place further to eliminate the enemy survivors

"Hey, we need medic". - While walking away from the tunnel, I asked a soldier to let me see a medic soldier.  "Hey... I said we need medic!".

"They're busy, Sir". - One soldier replied to me, he shortly returned to his duty

We walk with these troops for a while till we see the light at the end of the dark tunnel. That's the entrance of the Sword Mountain, we walk more till we come out of this tragic place. I don't know what to tell, the scenery ahead is quite terrifying.

Dead bodies can be seen lying all around, the Palace has been completely devastated. Some people are forced to line up for the check, one soldier is walking around every one of them. He is checking whether or not one of them is a hiding impostor.

"Bang!". - A guard got shot in the head, he died but remained a human being

(Sir, we need to do another way to check, it's not effective at all!). - The soldier who shot the man earlier yelled at the one beside him

Too much destruction before our eyes. We follow the soldiers till they stop at a tree, medic soldiers can be seen treating the wounded there. Those men say something to Sarah before leaving us to go back inside the black cave.

"They said that we have to line up to get on a ship". - Sarah informed me, she pointed to the south.  "The dock is over there not so far, people are going there for the evacuation". - Done saying, she gently put Reimi down from her back

"We must wait here, both of them need to be treated". - I told my subordinates to wait.  "Hey, why are y-". - This son of a bitch suddenly moved Reimi away so I grabbed him

"She's dead, mister, don't touch me". - Although I get mad after hearing that, I decided not to make a fuss but to calm down in tears

"Put her down, lemme check on her".

"Ah, yeah". - I slowly put my wife down to let that medic soldier check on her

"Too much blood... her leg is... it's no help, must cut it off to avoid infection".  - The black elf man checked on my wife's burned and shredded leg, then informed me

"No way else?". - I won't mind if this doctor can save my wife, but I'm scared that she may die due to excessive bleeding

"That's the only way to save her, mister".  "Wait a bit...". - He pressed his ears on Shera's chest, he even checked her hand's veins for some reason.  "She's dead". - His announcement made me feel like I was having a heart attack

"What?!!!".

"Don't be sad, mister, many people lost their loved ones today, not just you".

"But maybe you're wrong!".

"She's dead, her temperature is lowering... maybe she died a few minutes ago". - That medic soldier left my wife's dead body, I wanted to confront him but I knew it would not go any further.  "Are you okay, little girl?". - Then he started checking on my little daughter to see if she was wounded

"Sit here, Misses". - Two other medic soldiers came before my subordinates, they asked them to sit on the ground

"Sir, lemme check your wound...". - A medic man came to me, he checked on my wounded waist.  "Heal". - While my wound is healed by the man, I have to stand here, looking pointlessly at my dead wife and Reimi... why did I stay alive while they died?!!!

"Let me see your hand, Sir". - Now I don't have time for that, I must find the way to save both of them.  "Haizz...". - That man sighed while checking on my hands

Today I tragically lost two of my foster mothers, my wife, my unborn child and my love. My daughter Eris from the old timeline doesn't have the old memory. She doesn't know who I am, she has my blood, she is my child but she sees her parents as strangers.

I must do something...! Something that can resurrect my wife and Reimi. I must save both of them, I must do something to save both of 'em.

Yeah... yeah... right, we must use the machine!!!

The dimension machine... my mom Amanda said it's not just a dimension machine but also a time machine. I can go back to the past of my world, and I can also go back here, the past before this incident happened to save both of them, I can do this, only I can do it!!!

"Eris, listen, listen!". - While the medic men were treating my little daughter, I grabbed her and hugged her.  "Papa has to go somewhere very far, I'll miss you a lot, cutie!".  "That's the world not just both of us, but your Mama, your aunt, me and others will be forever together!".  "I'm sorry when I cannot be with you much longer, forgive me...". - While saying goodbye to my daughter, I cried while hugging her in my hands

"Join the evacuation, please stay safe... I'm sorry when I can't be with you, daughter!". - I gave my daughter a kiss on her forehead, then I ran away back to the black cave

"Commander, what are you doing?!!!!!". - Sarah and Hatano yelled at me when they didn't know what I intend to do.  "Wait, wait! Commander, wait for us!".

Although the percentage of saving my wife and Reimi will be difficult, I will still do it no matter how. As long as I know the way of using the machine and remembering well the streams of the events, I will be able to avoid unwanted outcomes.

Eris Rigen's perspective

Somehow when the man who claimed to be my Papa kissed me, my mind felt like having something. I mean... gaps in my mind suddenly exploded. And now... I've got many recollections that I've never seen before. I remember that he was my dad, and the one who died here is my mom.

Wait... wait a bit! My Papa is going away! He said he was going to do something!

"Papa! Papa!". - I ran away from the tree where the soldiers were treating the wounded to follow my dad

Papa may do something bad to himself, he is unwell after the recent incidents!

John Rigen's perspective

"Where is it?! Where is it?!!!". - I madly widened my eyes to search for the bag that contains the blue jewels after I ransacked my Alrotz bag

"What are you doing, Commander?!". - Sarah and Hatano managed to keep up with me, their faces were full of sweat

"The jewels, where are they?!".

"But For wha-".

"To save both of them!".

"You're nuts!". - Stop scolding me, I know very well what I'm doing!

"Ah, here they are...". - I managed to find the bag, I immediately got to the pillar

I start pulling out every blue jewel to put them rightly on the molds. Sarah and Hatano look at me very helplessly. Both of them don't resist me, but just stand there, looking to take pity on me. I will show both of you I can save my wife and Reimi, just watch!!!

"Ah!". - In a moment of carelessness, I accidentally dropped the last jewel

"It's good when you helped me". - The thing rolled to Sarah and she used her leg to stop it, I later picked it up

"Commander, you need help".  "Please... I know you're hurt, I'll help you to forget it, John". - Stop wasting our golden time to hug me, Sarah, we must use it to save Shera and Reimi!

"Shut up! I don't need your hug, I need my loved ones to be alive!". - I pushed her away, then returned to the pillar to put the last jewel into the mold

"Hmmm...". - I don't know where we will travel and which era we will return to, but I will surely find the way to save my loved ones.  "Dammit, go now c'mon!". - I smashed the button constantly, hoping that we can travel to another dimension

The ground starts shaking terribly, the hidden door slowly shuts. Some soldiers can be seen running away from the Sword Mountain. Sarah and Hatano don't go away, they stay with me as if to comfort me. I can feel that, they're believing me that I can save Shera and Reimi!

"Papa, where are you?!!!!". - Somehow, my daughter's voice made me startled

Somehow my daughter - Eris runs inside the Sword Cave, she looks around, trying to find me. My daughter spots me at the last moment, she runs to me but the door is too small for her to get inside.

"Run, Eris! Run!!!".

"Kid, it's coming again!".  "Follow us!". - In the last moment before the wall door closed, I saw some soldiers picking up my daughter to run away from the place

I'm very glad that my daughter is safe!

I return to look at the pillar, a very bright white light starts showing up. That's the light that brought us to Euro Grant, now it's gonna bring us back to our world.

I raise both of my hands widely, standing before the light to let it take over me.

"Send us back there!!!!!!!!!!!". - After my voice ended, the bright light blinded my eyes