By Your Side

There once was an Imprisoned Girl. She was captured in a cold, dark and lonely prison. One day the girl received a book. The book had a certain story.

''"A certain girl in a country was imprisoned by a Monster. A Hero appeared and defeated the monster. The End."

The book's story only had a Beginning and an End. The other pages were blank. Because the story couldn't be established this way, the girl wrote a story in the book, relying on her own memories.

The Beginning was already set, so it was okay to write the progress of the story. The Hero had left on a journey, going through many hardships, then stood in front of the Girl. Then the Hero slew the Monster.

But the Girl did not like the story. So she started rewriting the story. But the End was already decided. The Conclusion was always the same.

The Girl was actually the Monster itself.

The Girl was captured inside the Monster. The Monster that went devouring the world. The Girl had rewrote the progress that led to the conclusion several times. Even if the book became worn out. But even though she kept on rewriting the story, the Hero kept on slaying the Monster. The Girl was never saved.

Because she was a Monster. The Monster had to be slain. The end couldn't be changed. The Girl who had kept on rewriting the story begged the story's Hero to save her. But the Hero did not listen to her. Because she was the story's character.

The Actor had acted out the act she was given. The Hero only killed the Monster, gaining the title as a Hero.

The Hero never saved the Girl. The Girl had fallen in despair. Because it was a story that she had wrote, but it did not listen to her wishes.

The Girl continued to believe that the Hero will come save her.''

It was yet another Sunday; Giselle Mercury was sitting upon the couch as usual; lounging around as if it nothing was wrong—when in fact, with the current state of affairs, any sane person would be terrified out of their mind. However, Giselle, was the Phoenix Knight—the legendary figure who saved the galaxy over and over; so in a sense, her carelessness could be justified.

A teenage girl with a trim, young-and-beautiful appearance approached Giselle. She had a kind, soft expression on her face, contrasting her words. She had large, D-cupped breasts, wide and womanly hips, a shapely rear, a thin waist, long, beautiful legs, and a perfect physique. Possessing blonde hair, her hair flowed loose and messy, with a few tendrils sticking out and a small cowlick on top of her head. She had a pale complexion and emerald eyes. Dressed casually, the girl sat down on the chair opposing Giselle, asking, "Hey. Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Go on," Giselle sighed, "But make it quick. I care little for idle chatter. Rosa, what did you want to talk about with me?

Rosa began to explain, "You see, about four hundred years ago—"

Giselle immediately cut in, snapping, "Did I ask for your life story? No."

Rosa let out a deep sigh; obviously annoyed at the woman's terrible attitude towards flashbacks; though on some level, she realized that Giselle was right in a way—that was Rosa's personal cross to bear. "Alright, "thanks" for that—"

Giselle, suddenly more attentive, told Rosa seriously, "Go talk to Tsuruko about it. While I may be a scientist...Tsuruko's a lot better with people than me. And besides, you two are great friends, right?"

"Gary's just this super cool guy, you know? He doesn't care about the way he looks, but that just makes him so much cooler." Tsuruko prattled on about Gary Straights, as Deen, exasperated, sighed,

"Oh, huh. That's great, I guess. Maybe we should—"

"And he's not just kind, he's reliable too. He always means what he says, and you can totally trust his word." Tsuruko's voice suddenly became rather high in pitch, as she yapped, "I-mean-he's-my-hero-oh-and-I-know-you're-thinking-no-one's perfect-I-know-he-has-his-flaws-and-sometimes-he-makes-me-so-mad-but-I-love-that-about-him-too-no-other-guy... can-compare-to-my-hero."

Deen twitched a bit; obviously irked at her talking about the man with such a high-and-mighty opinion. "I get it, can we just get back to—"

"He-has-this-amazing-body-and-his-face-is-so-handsome-he's-tall-and-broad-and-makes-me-feel-so-safe! Oh, and even though he's big and tough, he can be so adorable. That's Gary. You done asking?"

Deen immediately stomped on the ground subtly; as he said through his clenched teeth, "...I'm done, yeah. Thanks for all the detail."

"Hey, Tsuruko." A voice called out; as Tsuruko swished around, noticing Rosa approaching her with an unusually serious expression upon her face. "We need to talk." Without another word, Rosa suddenly clenched Tsuruko's right hand, squeezing it tightly—the sensation of grasping cold steel freaked her out a bit—before walking off, dragging her elsewhere.

"R-Rosa, where are we going—" Tsuruko was suddenly silenced, as Rosa continued to drag her along. Surprisingly, it seemed that Rosa had enough strength to drag four hundred tonnes of reinforced Orichalcum.

Rosa turned around, clutching Tsuruko's hands tightly as she asked genuinely and worryingly, "Tsuruko. Can you believe in me, no matter what happens?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" Tsuruko answered without hesitation, "We're best friends, Rosa! Best friends are always there for each other."

Rosa let out a thankful sigh of relief. "Then I suppose..." One of her hands broke off from Tsuruko's; as she hoisted it up high—in an instant, Rosa's right hand became covered in a sparkling demonic light, as it transformed into a black and golden claw. "I need to let off some steam. Let me tell you all about myself..."

"Four hundred years ago, I was a resident of Hargeon; and during the Human-Dragon War, I lost my family at the hands of the Everlasting Darkness Dragon; after meeting at an orphanage, me and a young man known as Tenchi Sejren became friends; and Tenchi decided to become a dragon to protect me and their home and, well, I tagged along. By being imbued with the power of dragons, we were granted the power of Ragnarok and given mission to destroy the Source of Magic. In the war's climax, I was too scared to use the power of Ragnarok, so Tenchi became the Tyrant Dragon Vritra alone, but only scarred the shell of the Source of Magic. Taking pity on the people of Earth Land, the Exalted One intervened and crystallized us before we could finish the job. Our crystallized forms were placed within the Vestige, which was taken into the Source of Magic in the war's aftermath."

"Four hundred years later, we awoke from crystal stasis—I had died, so the Philosopher's Stone was implanted within me. I lost the memory of our previous goal and my own dragon form; to keep more people from getting hurt, that idiot thought he had as well, then later took on the burden of transforming fully into Vritra to spare me the guilt and pain. Although Tenchi's dragon power was scorched and unchanging, my dragon power is still active. Tenchi was unwilling to stand by and watch me become the Berserk Light Dragon, and vowed to complete our mission; he wiped my memory as he used Compact Regression upon her, Tyrant Dragon Vritra takes up an entirely new identity, to change the world for my sake. That guy....he's a total idiot. I was left wandering the lands, in search of the answers to my past. However, upon meeting Raike Sejren—an ancestor of yours, I realized who I was—and what my old friend had come to, all in the pursuit of fulfilling a promise. I needed to stop him by my own hands—so, to lure him out...." Rosa's body became enshrouded by demonic light, as she transformed...

...Into the form of a humanoid longhorn beetle. Her body was heavily armoured, with numerous golden pieces of armour which added to her menacing look. Her face was covered by a golden visor, from which her blank, white eyes shine through as she possessed razor-sharp fangs. The armour on her legs was serrated, and there was a glowing golden orb on her chest. "...I created a manmade symbiote, the Sagittarius Symbiote, and implanted it within myself, so I could masquerade as Joker, the leader of the Zodiac Knights. Since the previous Joker had been, ahem, "disposed of", I was able to pose as the ringleader. That way, I could lure that idiot out and stop him myself."

"The Philosopher's Stone beats in my chest—a manifestation of the wish granting power of the Exalted One. Should this heart stop beating, the Exalted One's power will black out as their slumber becomes eternal. When the Exalted One enters a never-ending sleep, the Mystical Magical Power of the ancient times is unleashed. The Mystical Magical Power has the power to warp the timeline and destroy the past; if the souls of the Zodiac Knights are absorbed into the Philosopher's Stone after that wish is fulfilled, then the Mystical Magical Power will shift into overdrive, creating a warp-drive that will mold the world into an existence that suits the holder's desires." Rosa clutched her armoured chest, worryingly stating, "I need to keep it from Libra and Virgo...They have other plans. Right now, the Philosopher's Stone needs to be kept away from the clutches of evil." Rosa sighed and looked at Tsuruko, asking; pleading, "...So...what do you...think of me...now?"

The Phoenix Driver shone an illustrious golden as a large runic circle erupted from the belt; though it didn't touch Rosa at all; as the runic circle began to engulf her. When the ring passed over her, a large golden phoenix erupted from Tsuruko's chest and flew around her, engulfing Tsuruko's body in the lights of the stars; Tsuruko's Soul Armour manifested—azure and silver, with crimson fang-esque attachments adorning her facemask—overall, it had the motif of a bullet train. "Soul Armour Knight...Gaiki!" Tsuruko didn't even hesitate; reflexively, she extended her hand towards Rosa. "Here's what I think. Rosa is Rosa! That won't change."

Tsuruko's took Rosa's hand, as the two instinctively shook hands with a reverse hand grip, with Rosa tapping Tsuruko's fist on the top; Tsuruko's fist tapping Rosa's on the bottom before they bumped fists. "Best friends forever!"

BOOM!

A loud crack resounded throughout the area—as a myriad of blades shot towards the duo at high speeds. Tsuruko's keen eye noticed that these six swords were jet-propelled by quite possibly science, and the tips of the swords were coated with an unknown golden energy. Suddenly, Tsuruko and Rosa leapt out of the way, as a familiar figure descended upon them.

"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" Tsuruko felt sweat gather at her brow—a suffocating magical pressure was being exerted, and she had been caught under it. Struggling to stand to her feet, Tsuruko used Joker's armour as a grip—resting on Rosa's shoulder, she braced herself.

"I've come to obtain what's mine, Tsuruko Sejren!" A disconcerting voice called out; rather thrilled and deranged; what appeared in front of the two was a golden and raven textured elegant gold Übermensch; dressed in the holy robes of a black sage showcasing its divinity, with a jagged, black wings, as the golden helmet's cold, azure eyes stared straight at Tsuruko Sejren. There was no doubt about it; this was Kirika Hotsuin.

Tsuruko Sejren and Rosa Dimaggio braced themselves for battle...