K2323 had achieved the victory he had fought for. Not just now, in the outerverse, having just gone up against six killer alien Relorian warriors, but over the past year, he had been victorious. He had won what he needed to win. That meant something.
It was a matter of pride, perhaps, that over the past year, he had learned a powerful secret about his heritage. Six months of the last year had been spent in research of his past, and the latter six months had been spent trying to free his sister from a prison, becoming the embodiment of fate, and taking over Earth.
Ah, yes, Earth. He remembered a younger Earth which he, once upon a time, visited, going as far as to take near half of the earth country named Japan and recreating it in space. That had been over a thousand years ago, maybe two thousand. He wasn't really sure how much time had passed. He did not know his age.
Age didn't really matter to him anymore. He had taken on the form of a twenty year old for years. Twenty three year old, actually, after his nickname. But really, age was irrelevant, as seen on Earth where there were thirteen year olds who acted more mature than twenty year olds. It was the same for K2323, ply backwards. He acted like a twenty year old, not a two thousand and twenty year old.
He had found Earth to be a pleasant place, though. He had seemingly gained the respect of his new people there. Earth had needed a new leader, he had decided. He had been there for some time before proceeding to rule over some of it's people. He was a man, nothing more, and he wanted his friends on Earth to see that.
So, yes, it was true that the last year had been very successful for K2323. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure if he could say the same of his sister Hikaru. From what he knew, she had spent the past year waging war against Aralangs, fighting his clone and Plex, trying to escape jail, and teaming up with technology viruses.. That wasn't the most impressive track record. It wasn't hard for K2323 to see that his sister had lost herself.
The Outerverse was now under the control of K2323, and thus, indirectly, Hikaru as well. The two siblings had, for once, not fought but pooled their resources for the greater good. The Outerverse was once more under control of the sages. It was prospering now, it's desert climates growing green fertile valleys similar to Era Valley.
K2323 believed that, to some degree, the Outerverse reflected it's current owners inner emotions. Hikaru, being such a survivalist as she was, had owned the Outerverse for a long time. It had varied landscape, much of it desert and clay. K2323 shared this theory with Hikaru following the battle Im the Outerverse.
The battlefield they had fought in was now repairing itself nearly instantly. Green grass was popping up everywhere, hills rising over the flat ground. A mediately sized lake filled up on the battlefield, along with a few bushes and a wooden house.. It reflected now because of any command of K2323 but because of a deep desire inside his soul.
It was perhaps because of what he had been thinking of when he poured his signature into the Outerverse. He had been thinking of his beautiful wife, and what she would have said if she had seen the battle. He was thinking about how much he would love her if she were still here today. He was thinking about how he wouldn't waste a single moment with her if she were still in his life.
That was why this wooden house had appeared. It was his house in the Era Valley where he had lived with his wife some centuries ago. The house still was there, of course, but he suspected it had aged to some degree. He knew that some of his friends from Eta City frequently helped the house, but when he thought about it, Hikaru had apparently kidnapped their people. He would need to do something about that.
He had mixed feelings about what his sister was doing. He knew what she wanted, to a degree, because he wanted it too. The old times. Life was not the same anymore, and he knew that they both knew that. The dimension was different. It was sort of a midlife crisis for the sage three. It did not have to be that way.
As soon as the battle was over, he invited his sister to his house, and the virus as well. He knew that Hikaru had never seen it, nor had she met his wife whe. She was still alive. She had, he believed, met his son. Perhaps at the Excell Tournament, maybe even before then. She probably had not seen him recently.
Truthfully, neither had K2323, and he felt foolish for not realizing this. Where was his son, though? Japae (he quite liked this name) had been infected by the virus, but he doubted his son had been among the infected. Come to think of it, K2323 realized that his son would have inherited his Genesis magic for a short time while he was Fatet. Maybe the sudden loss of those powers would draw his son out, as he did quite want to talk to his son again.
He was also now aware of his other son, Fiske, from the Plex Tournament. He would have to visit Fiske soon. He wondered how Fiske's mother was doing. He had thought he loved her once, and maybe he had. Maybe it wasn't too late. It had only been a short time since he had seen her.
He recalled their first meeting. A warm smile came across his face thinking of it. That memory, however, triggered a more intense one. He recalled meeting his wife. He hadn't thought of this particular memory in some time, but he supposed it had always been there, lingering actively in his mind. How could he ever really forget it, anyway?
K2323 had ended up in a rather troubling situation. He had offered to give the inn keeper's son a day of magic lessons in exchange for a weekend of board. That would have been no problem, of course, had the innkeepers son, Jake, been listening to K2323 during said lessons.
He had taken Jake to the valley outside of Eta City, known as Era Valley. It was technically the border land then of the Eter Empire domain. K2323 had some basic knowledge of the fact that Era Valley was land of his family in a sense. He had a brother -- half brother -- who was named Era, though Era had recently passed away. He was not sure if Era was named after the Era Valley or if it were the other way around.
K2323 took Jake to a place in the Era Valley where he himself had been trained by his master, Konjan, some years before. He was going to teach Jake one spell which Konjan had taught Kai and himself in this exact spot. He warned Jake that it was a very advanced spell, and that it usually took people years to master it. He was going to teach Jake the spell in a few hours. Dimensional teleportation.
He instructed Jake to first reach within his soul and pull out all the ,magic he could afford to use. He had to be superconductive with magic. At Jakes age and with his experience, that was the only way the spell would work. Jake followed K2323's instructions and did just what he had said needed to be done.
Unfortunately for Jake, dimensional teleportation was not easy at all. It was somewhere of a cross, the way K2323 taught it, between materialization, normal teleportation, and phasing. But it was not easy to learn, and one could often end up randomly teleporting to any location in their current dimension instead if another dimension. Jake did just that, and in an instant, Jake and K2323 were both on a sky scraper in Eta City. Jakes left ear had failed to teleport with them, and now Jake was bleeding and in a good deal of pain.
K2323 teleported back to the training spot quickly to retrieve Jakes ear and rushed him to the hospital where they would be able to reattach the ear through magic. It was at the hospital that he met her. He would never forget that moment. It was like a scene from some movie or something.
He and Jake sat in the hospital room as Jake was being worked on by a couple of surgeon sages. The leading doctor walked into the room. She was beautiful. Dressed in a medical outfit, too. Her blue eyes sparkled, her brown hair glowed. She was the most beautiful woman K2323 had ever met, and her name was.... Julia.
He explained to her what happened with Jake, but he could barely form a coherent sentence in the presence of her beauty, and she could not keep from giggling at his dumbfound stutter. He could have sworn right them that he was in love. And maybe he had been!
He had fallen in love with Julia.
As K2323 walked towards the copy of the house where he had lived and loved with Julia, he motioned for his sister and his sisters friend to come with him. He no longer had his wife to love, but he had something else. He had family. Now, it was time for that family to come on top once again, despite all odds.
The kingdoms had been taken by the mortals, those who did not understand. This was a takeback!
Or at least, that's what K2323 had thought before Animas arrived following the battle. K2323 watched as Animas told Hikaru of her new state. He was just about to speak up when.... A voice shouted out through the crowds of the now semi released beings who he once knew and loved. It was a voice that sent chills through his spine. A voice which he had heard oh so recently, but one he really had not heard in years.
He did not understand.
When he saw the double Hikaru he thought at first that she must have been a clone. He had suspected when he found out about C2323 that there were more clones, perhaps of his siblings. It could have been created when she was in prison. That made sense.... Until she showed signs of being ingrounded, something K2323 had only heard of once while Fatet -- by looking into a brief glance of his own fate, of course, which had not revealed much.
But when this Hikaru spoke of the Excell Tournament, he realized so much. He looked at this second Hikaru now, eyes aflame with curiosity. "You have gotten weaker too, sis. But I suppose we both have been holding out secrets."
