Lake Miseria

After the shocking battle with the strange creature that attacked, Mirai found herself by Lake Miseria. Something was bugging her, it was probably because she has never seen anything like it before and that it was completely real. It was no movie stage work or any of the like. Not only that, some cards of her deck were affected. I still can't believe any of this honestly, it seems to good of a dream to be true... dream... hmmm...

Mirai pondered at the thought. She looked at her deck and pulled the three cards that got affected by that strange life-endangering encounter. Thankfully they were single copies of them but they were crucial units to her strategy and every copy counted. Purgation Breath, Celyn, and Cynric. Single copies of those three units were completely black like if something removed the art forcefully and left an empty card with just their names. This was probably the first time the blond klutz actually took something seriously. Normally she would be so forgetful and clumsy but something about her now would say that she is completely focused on what had just happened.

"I don't know why... but what happened back there, I know its not the same but I feel like something very similar to this happened before. Like in those dreams that I usually have... hmm... " The girl looks up at the sky as if there is probably an answer up there waiting for her. "Why... why do I feel like something is missing?"

Haruto was on his way back to the Espoir Mansion when he found himself walking near Lake Miseria, a place he had yet to visit ever since he got here.

"Huh, must have missed this area...oh" he said, as he saw a woman sitting near the edge of the Lake holding 3 blank cards, and not white blank, but black blank.

"...Not more casualties..." he said, as his deck reacted for a slight moment then returned to normal. "This woman was there...and why is she looking up at the-...I see." he thought, as he walked up to her.

"You looking for something miss?" he asked.

"Huh?" The voice of a boy approaching him snapped Mirai out of her pondering trance. "Not really, I'm just trying to figure something out but I'm not having much luck." She said to the boy who approached to her while holding the three blank cards still. Apparently she never heard of the term "stranger danger" but giving how her personally is so open and giving, she spoke to the random boy with trust. Which then gave her an idea and ask the boy if he has seen cards that turned black before. There is a high possibility that the boy may not know what she is talking about and deem her a crazy lady but it was worth a shot.

"Say, have you ever seen something like this before? These Vanguard cards once had art and text before but now all that is left is just a black spot with a frame that holds their name!" Mirai said to the boy while showing him the cards while also showing him the same exact cards that still looked like they always did.

Well she's straight to the point.

However, her prospect was striking, Haruto does not yet know the pain of losing his own units but it hurts him to see other units go through that fate.

"..Sadly yes." he said. "I'm assuming you fought those reaper creatures as well?"

It was a fairly basic question but giving away information to the public was taboo, he needed more information about this person before he gave away anything, "My name is Haruto btw, Haruto Hayato."

"So that's what those ugly bully monsters were called. Reapers huh? They sure live to their name if they were able to do this with my cards!" Mirai looked at her distorted cards and then back at the boy. "Yup! I fought one and I can't believe I actually lost to it even though I went all out! I never lose when I give it my all so this was a complete shock to me!" She felt embarrassed, her small pride hurt acknowledging that it took an interdimensional creature to beat her at her best.

She looked at the boy calling himself Haruto carefully. Something felt strange, "Ha... ru... to... hmmm, say Haruto, have we met before? I feel like I knew someone by that name! I know it sounds weird but my imagination tends to run wild and thinks that I met with people I clearly never seen before!" She smiled hoping that didn't make things awkward and scare him away.

Footsteps came towards the two as Raiden walked in the direction of the lake. He had come to the area to relax, to take a moment to think. He had hoped this place could give him some sort of clarity that could assist in his thought process. There was still much to think about. The Reapers, Malice, and now Gear Chronicle. All of these things couldn't be randomly happening at once. What was the connection?

His thoughts were stopped as he saw two familiar faces. One he JUST saw and another from someone he had been worried for. He started to walk towards the two in particular as he said, "It seems like we run into one another again, Haruto." The fact that he used his name was a sign that he had seen the contact information given to him. "And Mirai... how are you doing? I haven't had a chance to talk to you in a while." Seeing Mirai's face told the tale, her loss before bothered her. Still, he wanted to hear it from her before jumping to conclusions.

Haruto focused for a bit and realized who she reminded him of, but that made no sense since the person she resembles was a bit more...serious, still this helped lower his guard.

"You know I kind of have the same feeling though it might just be that you remind me of someone I know, either way yes this phenomenon happens when you face those monsters...sadly we have yet to find a solution for it-" he words were interrupted by a familiar face approaching them.

"Heh, it seems that we do indeed....wait hold on I did not catch your name yet." he said, as he turned around to speak to Raiden.

Still, realizing he read his contact info was reassuring, and now Haruto knows the name of the woman he is talking to, "So it's not her..." he thought.

"Hmm.. For once, some peace and quiet" Neo said watching the clear waters of the lake.

"So much chaos lately, feels good to be able to kick back and relax a little" He said to something

Seeming like his adventure had been going on forever with no rest, Neo stood near the lake and eventually just stood there thinking about everything that has happened to him up to this point.

"Oh? I get that a lot too! It's weird, I guess it's true what they say that somewhere in the world, you have a double you don't know about!" But to more important matters, those creatures are real if the boy named Haruto knows about them. What's worse is the dangers of fighting them, the cards in her deck are also at risk. It's not death but losing a card and basically becoming useless is as close as death is for a card. She was listening in to what Haruto was talking until a familiar person came to them, it was Raiden.

"Hey!!!! It's Mr. Thunder Man! It's been a while! I'm fine sorta but what brings you here?" Mirai feels happy to have someone new to talk to as well as someone familiar all gathered here by the lake.

Raiden was confused about what they were saying. Its as if the two of them knew each other, and yet they kept saying they did not. Could this be another part of the mysteries of this area? Raiden had no way to know for sure, but Mirai did seem to have a power to her that was something similar to Noel and Seifer. They didn't seem connected, so why was that?

"My name is Raiden Mujo," he began by answering Haruto. He then turned to Mirai and said, "And I came to take some time to think and clear my mind. You saw the monster from before. Unfortunately it isn't the only one of its kind, and they have the power to hurt many people if they aren't stopped. If I had learned their weakness sooner, people could have likely been spared, units wouldn't have been deleted and had their existence removed from our world. I'm still not even sure how they do that..." It was clear he had a lot on his mind.

"Oh, Its Noel" Neo said noticing her when she said Thunder Man

"I came to relax and get my mind off of some things, and to get some peace and quiet also" Neo said

"Its been awhile, how are you?" Neo asked

With that Haruto finally knows the name of everyone here, well almost, this new guy was particularly surprising.

"Raiden huh, ight and yea we still have to figure out how on earth they are able to do this to cards, unlike the lock phenomenon this is more long lasting, it even lasts outside the fight-" his words were interrupted by the new guy approaching them.

Bingo, that guy said it out loud lol.

"Heh, outspoken I see, this is Mirai not who you're thinking of, but good eye what's your name?" he asked, to the new guy.

Mirai was overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of people. She was hoping to have some time alone to be able to grasp what has been going on but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. She didn't truly mind since she always likes having people around to spend a good time even during troubling times.

Mr. Thunder Man Raiden was also here for the same reason, to find a clear state of mind to be able to sort out everything that has happened. Apparently there has been more monsters than the one Mirai encountered. It makes sense since she felt the presence of one and even somewhat saw one a while ago during an time that she had passed out for unknown reasons. This is honestly the first time she even retained this much detailed information in her mind, so many milestones were broken in a matter of hours. Hearing Raiden talk, suddenly a random new person showed up calling her Noel for some reason.

"Huh? I'm not Noel, but it looks like you know her too! Although, we don't look anything alike, haha! But now that you asked, I'm doing good now that I have new people to talk to!" Mirai smiled, unknowingly to her, it was a similar smile Noel does.

"So if thats not Noel then who is she?" Neo said

Neo had not been around in such a long time that he felt that he had missed alot. He started to think of all of his old friends and wondered where they are.

Neo looked at the girl who was filled with so much energy that it reminded him of his past self.

"So uh who are you guys" Neo asked everyone surrounding him

That smile really does not emphasize that she's not Noel, not that Noel smiled that much in front of Haruto, so seeing this side was rather refreshing. That aside whoever this person is he seemed like he was lost or looking for someone.

"My name is Haruto Hayato, what's yours?" he replied.

Raiden thought it strange that Mirai was compared to Noel even by mistake. They were very different in appearance as well as personality, though the personality part was more than likely something that he couldn't know. With that said, they did seem to have a similar power. He couldn't help but think about that now that it came up.

He visibly shook off the thought. It couldn't be possible for them to be the same person, could it? It was something to think about later, but for now he had been asked to introduce himself. "My name is Raiden Mujo," he said to Neo before turning to Mirai. "If you want to meet someone new, I can introduce you to Yukino." He was a bit curious as he had seen them both use Seekers. He wondered if they had some kind of connection as a result of this.

"My name is Mirai Hashira! Nice to meet you! What's your name?" A new friend! How wonderful! It's always exciting meeting someone new. She then turned to Raiden who offered her to meet someone else. Someone who also uses Seekers from the Royal Paladin clan and her name was Yukino! More people to meet!

"Yu..ki..no? Another Seeker user?! Amazing! I knew there was someone else! I saw a Wingal during the creature fight and other Seeker units! I would love to meet her!" Mirai instantly got up and was eager to meet this Yukino person. She wondered what was her style of choice with Seekers and if anything, her fighting spirit wants to challenge her to see who can use Seekers the best. This is becoming one of the best weeks in her life.

The excitement on Mirai's face was obvious from her reaction, having trained with Yukino himself Haruto knew how strong and capable she was.

"I recommend it, she's a great person and cardfighter and she might be able to help with this card situation." he said, as he looked back at the deleted cards.

"..You have to wonder what kind of phenomenon this is...these reapers are part of the Link Joker clan which specializes in "Lock" which only lasts in the game, whereas this thing....it lasts until even after the cardfight...almost eternal, no one I know has been able to revive their affected cards." Haruto was speaking out loud at this point, he always was curious as to what kind of power this was.

"The power of the Deletors exists outside of the cardgame," Raiden said as if he was already certain of this much. "I have already seen instances of people and beings who can make the power of the units exist within reality and alter space and matter. The Reality Bangles that Yukino developed are proof of this."

He then sighed lightly, crossing his arms as he looked further at one of his own Deleted units. "I have yet to determine the process, however they can remove things from time and space and, like the Bangles, it is something that effects our entire world. For the sake of peace and Vanguard, it has to be stopped..."

Mirai for some strange reason sensed something was wrong. Maybe intuition but something definitely felt wrong. She got up and looked at the direction of where the Seaside Mega Mall was. Can it be... another one? Her smile and happy mood slowly changed to a more serious and worried mood. Just when her day was looking up and becoming bright like the morning sun too. There hasn't been a moment for her to be her usual klutzy, airheaded self which actually made her a little mad that it can't happen.

"Haruto, Mr. Thunder Man and you who's name wasn't said yet, I think you should follow me. Something is about to happen again..." Mirai held her Seeker deck tightly as she headed towards the mall's direction.

Raiden saw her expression change as he had no idea what was going on, but if she was like this, it was something he wanted to understand. He said no words, only following her towards the mall as he had no way to know what was there. So little time had passed that his deck hadn't even been altered yet.

Karin found herself back at the lake. After her failure at the Descent last night, Overlord had been strangely quiet. When the strength of Aqua Force's new commander had pushed him to the edge, he had ordered Karin to run and escape, realizing it was a battle he wouldn't be able to win effectively... But after that, he hadn't spoken a word. No follow-up order, no instruction to report to Harbinger, or anything of the sort. She let out a sigh.

She had gone head to head with Haruka, who she practically considered family. Even if it was at an order she absolutely could not disobey, it still hurt. All she could do was tell Haruka the truth; She did hope Yukino won. She hoped that she'd find some way to take down Harbinger. She hoped that there was some chance that the Reapers could be beaten.

Karin even hoped she might be given a chance at freedom.

Karin shook her head. Thinking like that didn't mean anything at this point. She was a prisoner to the Reapers, and that was the life she had locked herself into- the price of Overlord's resurrection.

But maybe, just maybe she could...

Karin took out her phone, and opened up a new text message to Yukino. Her fingers hovered just above the buttons, and she waited.

For about half an hour, she sat there motionless. Inside her mind, she clashed with herself and her own reasoning about what she was doing, whether she could go through with what she was about to do or not, and what would happen afterward. That last part was something she actually feared.

Karin took a deep breath. She pressed a button and typed a single letter. And she waited.

Nothing happened. She pressed another button, typed another letter, and waited. Nothing happened.

For now, she was safe. For now, she had a brief taste of freedom.

She went to it, typing out a message to Yukino as quickly as she could.

"The leader of the Reapers is invincible. Cero saw it."

With one final button push, Karin sent off the message to Yukino, and tucked her phone back into her pocket. Now she was playing two dangerous games.

Karin once again found herself sitting at the lake's edge, having stopped here during her daily run. She had stopped here for a number of different reasons, a number of different questions- Just who was the voice in her head the last time she heard it, when Overlord had been silent? What did Yugure's return mean? And... Was following Overlord even the right path for her anymore?

So many questions, with no answers.

Karin closed her eyes, leaning back onto the soft grass, and began to consider just what her position was. She was loyal to Overlord. Why? Because of her blood? Because of their bond as Avatar and Vanguard? Was there even a reason beyond that? "No... There's not." It was one of those two reasons, but Karin had no clue which, if either of them, actually meant something to her. She felt her resolve begin to waver.

Then there was her second question, and likely the most important one. Just who was giving her orders? Since becoming a drone, she simply assumed Overlord was acting on Harbinger's will, and relaying orders to Karin herself in response. But when Overlord fell silent the previous night, and Karin still heard the voice in her head loud and clear... It could only mean some other force from the Reapers had been the cause. There was one likely culprit. "Harbinger." If it wasn't her, it had to be Sovereign, or some other high-ranking Reaper she didn't know about yet. None of those possibilities brought Karin any comfort. She had thought she had gone into this to save Overlord. To, at the very least, follow his will and keep him from erasure. But the more she thought about it, the more it seemed like she was under Harbinger's control all along. Karin dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

She opened up her last text message, the one she had sent to Yukino to warn her about Harbinger's invincible shell, and upon reading it, Karin's eyes widened.

She could barely understand what it said, despite looking like plain text. It was almost as if she was reading a foreign language, or trying to perceive something out of a garbled bunch of lines and shapes. Another question found its way into Karin's mind. Just what did this mean?

She slipped her phone back into her pocket. She had enough on her mind as it was, and decided to question that particular mystery later. Karin let out a deep breath, looking up at the sky above her, laying on her back at the water's edge.

"Yugure... Do you even know I'm still on your side...?"

After the events with Gigaton, the Irish champion had a lot to think about. They'd just killed a massive monster in Japan, and it seemed like it threatened the entire world... Just what was going on? And the fact that he could see, feel and hear the units he used... Aedan sighed as he walked toward the lake, staring at the bangle that Aoi had forced onto his wrist. It seemed without this, he would of been completely useless as well. Everything just seemed so strange, as if he was in some kind of manga or anime. "Seriously Aedan, what did ye get yerself into lad?" the red head mumbled to himself as he approached the water's edge.

He almost didn't notice someone else there though but, when he did he tilted his head. Another new person, but he thought he'd seen her before somewhere. Where at? Where could he of seen her? ...He supposed it didn't matter, as he made his way over, giving a rather lazy but gentle wave... Even if she couldn't see him as she was laying down. "Ye alright there lass? Ye look like ye've got somethin' on your mind." his Irish accent was as thick as ever, but it wasn't hard to understand him like usual... And he was at least trying to get past his accent.

Solis had arrived at the lake by himself, leaving the other drones to do as they please, but also not wanting anyone else to bother Karin if he could help it. He knew the cabbage and Chris would laugh at them, and he also knew his partner in Kagero needed none of that. As much of a prick the sun warrior was, he still showed care and concern for this crude woman he called an ally - that Overlord approved of. However, much to his chagrin, some Irishman was approaching her.

Solis wasn't Karin's father or her jealous boyfriend, she could converse with others that weren't drones. He didn't have to like it, however, so he stayed in the back, keeping an eye on them.