The Meet Up

It has been a year since the major part of the war happened, and Kohaku had just returned from the land of malice but everything about him was different. He was more in-tune with things and had a solid outlook on how life was supposed to be and how it was now was not it. He grew taller to six feet, one inch while his hair was in locks and had skin of bronze or golden selection. The straight lines below his eyes symbolized his awakening into a Kekkai which was an amazing life changing experience, that and the fact he has adopted a child was enough to make life fun filled. He was walking down the streets of the land of madness and from a distance he could see the castle, he held Gaia in his hands as she slept soundly. The clouds covered the beaming sun which provided a great shade while the breeze blew in, overall it was a good day, Kohaku had to meet up with new people, he needed to give his ideas and loyalties to a group who was worthy; maybe today was today.

Against one of the walls sat a person that had been off the radar for quite a while. Arikiko had his head dropped to the floor, eyes closed and his breathing was obviously barely happening. He was a Zireh it wasn't as though he had to breathe very much anyway. The sound of gentle footsteps against the ground though caused his head to rise before he scanned to the side, taking notice of the other male that was walking down the street. This was when the differences in Arikiko would be noticeable. He was still rather short, standing in at only five feet and five inches tall but he was stocky, his body well-built and muscled from the use of extremely heavy weapons. The veins in his eyes and the colour of his lips had both changed to deep purple. A slight smile lit up his features though, purple irises shining before he rose to his feet.

Reaching behind him he grabbed his friend, a massive axe that sat against the wall, black in colour with bright red leylines of power running over it. Oddly this axe was silent but Arikiko's left arm... Was not. A voice rang out from under his skin, high and sweet, echoing through the air unnaturally and it was definitely female. "Ari, you recognise him don't you? The little girl he's carrying is just so cute though, oh I just want to cuddle her." Arikiko laughed mirthfully at that and clenched his hand.

"You know I'm working on it, Chromia, it's still going to take some time though." He told her, his own voice deep and thrumming, backed as though by some infernal force. He then paused and walked over to Kohaku, waving his arm and placing Morghul upon his back. However he didn't call over to him, due to the sleeping child, instead he waited until he was close to talk. "Kohaku isn't it? Heard about you from the roster of the Midnight Bucaneers... It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Kohaku would hear the voices and as he picked his head up from looking at Gaia and when he did Arikiko was in his presence, it was always a pleasure to meet and talk to one of such capabilities and status. Yes I am Kohaku, it is also a pleasure to finally meet someone of your status, this beautiful goddess right here is my daughter Oya. Kohaku had a constant smile on his face, his daughter and his dreams kept him on the path of enlightenment, the Midnight Buccaneer's was a organization he felt was going in the right direction of what the standard should be in this world. How has the crew been I have been gone to go awaken and I am just returning, care to fill me in on what happened while I was gone and where we are going from here?

A soft squeal leaped out of Arikiko's arm as Chromia noticed the little girl in Kohaku's arms. As a more motherly person, she just couldn't help herself. "By the Shinigami! Oya is just so cute, I'd just snatch her up if I could. Although in my current form I do not think that would be possible." A little giggle left Arikiko's arm and he reached down, running his hand over his own forearm, stroking it affectionately for a moment before sighing.

"I do apologise for her, when I awakened I was... Burdened with h-" "OI!" "Shush Chromia, I'm talking. Anyway, I was stuck with her and had to deal with a few months of squabbling between Morghul and Chromia, really annoying when only you can hear it." Arikiko laughed softly and then reached forwards, gently brushing his fingers over Oya's forehead before a deep, subsonic voice growled out from his back.

"I only barely tolerate Chromia, she is in many ways much the opposite to myself... So of course I will dislike her." "Whereas you're just an asshole, Morghul." "That insult might be effective if I had such orific-!" Arikiko then coughed loudly and both of the weapons shut up.

"So as I was saying, I myself have awoken and honestly little has happened. We managed to pick up crew and materials, enabling us to finally build the Midnight Kirin once we find a suitable Smith and once the flagship is built we shall start raiding, small at first and build up to some of the more masterful plots. How did you come about a little one though? I cannot tell with Nova... But is she a hybrid?"

Kohaku would chuckle whenever the weapons would disagree between each other, he felt they were cheerful spirits. He still wondered how they truly felt about being sentient but it was truly the knowledge of their wielder. As Arikiko went to rub her across her forehead she would begin to move a bit but her eyes would stay closed as she was still sound asleep. That's good to know we have made some progress and you awakened as well, as for Oya I found her alone on my way back from the land of malice and adopted her as my own. I feel as if we were meant to meet so it was only natural to do so, she is a soulless if I am correct; I can see your weapon has taken a liken to here that's a good thing seeing as she needs a female figure in her life. Quick question has your personality changed since awakening? Kohaku was curious as to the new transformation of Arikiko seeing as they had something in common, they both awakened at an early age in their life which was a huge transition to adjust to at first.

"You found her on her own... I cannot believe that someone would ever just leave such a precious little one! Aaaagh! I want to kill whatever horrible parent would leave a child like that!" Chromia's voice rang out, slightly more hysterical for a moment before she calmed down and gave a nervous little cough. "Sorry..." She whispered before falling silent, allowing Arikiko to talk on his own without the added distractions of two other spirits wanting to talk.

However Kohaku's question got an odd reaction out of the Vanir and straight away a small amount of red started to leak into his purple iris but he reached up and clamped his hand over his eye, gritting his teeth for a second. When he removed his hand, his eye was back to normal. "My personality... It changed well before I awakened... It was not me who changed during my awakening but it's not something that I would like to talk about. How about you? Did your personality change upon you awakening?"

Spoiler:

Kohaku was understanding in how chromia felt when she said what she did, apologizing was not necessary as she spoke her mind a he was all about doing that. His question seemed to cause some sort of episode that was quickly put down by Arikiko, it was something that kept his interest but it was not a subject Arikiko wanted to stay on so he switched it knowing something's are better left unsaid. Umm yes it did drastically, I feel as if I am more in-tune with my mind allowing me to control my emotions to a higher degree, due to training I was left in a coma for a few months which tested my spirituality to see if I would give but there is no way I am meeting the shinigami this early in my life. Kohaku would begin to rock Oya as she gave out a slight whimper from being done so, all the talking around her would eventually wake her up as it was only a matter of time.

"More in tune with your mind and able to control your emotions..." Arikiko echoed wistfully, a soft sigh leaving his mouth before he took a step back and gestured onwards. "Well you looked as though you were going somewhere before I stopped you, so why don't I walk with you instead?" A slight smile lit up his features and his eyes almost seemed to glow for a second, tapping into some form of connection. The connection tapped into was certainly an odd one and then he dusted down his clothes. "I need to try and think of a way to find a suitable Blacksmith for my plans... I've heard talks of this Epsilon organisation and I was going to meet with one of them to get some information on a Blacksmith or similar to create the Flagship of the Midnight Bucaneers. Unless you have any better ideas or know a 'Smith yourself, Kohaku?"

Well it was a funny coincidence that Arikoko asked such as thing as he was headed to the Land of Greed In search of such a person with blacksmith qualities. He would start walking and talking with Arikiko and thoughts ran through his mind of the name epsilion and it's weight, he couldn't really know who they were. Uh No I don't really know of any other place other than greed, maybe epsilion is stationed there but since your are meeting a member of their group how about I accompany you? I was also in search of a capable blacksmith to forge me some weapons in use for battle and some supplies for Oya so what do you think? If he chose to travel alone it was cool as well as he had a few stops to make anyway, might run into another familiar face or training for the long haul that was ahead of them.