Rell never being one to just give up and walk away. He decided now was the time to pull his final card. "Selene!" He barked. "Change of plans, toss me one of those weapons!"
The woman dashed in tossing a weapon to Rell.
Haruko just stood and watched, no urgency for the incoming attack. The lack of reaction doing little more than irritating Rell. "You cocky bitch!"
Digging into his pocket Rell revealed he had the crystia bulb on him the entire time. "You might be strong, judge, but lets see if your friends can handle old world weaponry!"
Rell slammed the bulb into a compartment on the weapon. A radiant glow gleamed in all directions. The blinding light forcing all those present to avert their eyes. The jungle began to rumble as Rell laughed.
Dante and Jessie finally managed to catch up to Haruko, only to see they dived right into an active battle.
The weapon fired, Kaito leaped into action in an instant. erecting a barrier to block the incoming explosion.... but an explosion never came.
Haruko had enveloped the blast in darkness swallowing it in an instant. "Now Rell," she spoke calmly. "Weapons on the ground."
BLAST.
Haruko spun in an instant, slicing an attack in two.
"Everyone on the ground, this is forbidden grounds!" Empire soldiers began flooding into the fray.
Rell acted on the distraction in an instant. He aimed the weapon high blasting it into the roof of the jungle. The ceiling groans as it gave way.
But the blast didn't stop their the explosion much more powerful then he had anticipated as it formed a canyon, ripping apart the jungle itself.
Nanami clicked her tongue. "I was hoping we'd have time to investigate these ruins!"
Haruko gets annoyed as she recalls her darkness. "Dang empire getting in the way!" She sliced faling boulders overhead. She charged darkness into her blade sending a slash at the incoming soldiers blocking their view.
"Change of plans, we need to get out of here!" Haruko shouts and everyone begins retreating.
All but Kaito ran.
His feet refused to move. Through the chaos, through the collapsing canyon, the rain of boulders, the screams, his eyes found only one person.
She was retreating with the thieves, disappearing from him all over again.
Dante looked back, panic flashing across his face. "Kaito! We have to go!" Another boulder crashed into the earth between them, shaking the canyon.
Kaito never looked away. "No can do, Dante." He pointed straight toward the fleeing carriage. "I'm not leaving without Rika."
For a brief second, Dante simply stared at him. Then he let out a helpless laugh. "...Yeah. Figured you'd say that." He slammed his foot into the ground. Ice exploded across the canyon floor, racing forward beneath the carriage like a frozen bridge.
"I'm not crazy enough to chase a flying cart..." He grinned despite everything. "...but I can make sure you have a path."
Dante's smile softened. "Bring our trickster home."
Kaito smiled, glancing back. "Count on it."
Energy fission erupted around him. He launched forward, skimming across the frozen path faster than the eye could follow. Arrows whistled past his head as thieves desperately tried to stop him, but he twisted between every shot without slowing.
Ahead, Rell used gravity magic to pull the carriagehigher into the air. Just as Rika gathered windbeneath them to escape the collapsing jungle, she looked down.
And saw Kaito. Still chasing her. Still refusing to leave her behind.
"Rika!" Kaito shouted, his voice cutting through the thunder of falling stone. "Come with us!"
She froze.
"Don't run away!" His voice cracked. "I already let you slip away once. I'm not doing it again."
Rika's heart tightened.
"But... why?" Her voice was barely louder than the wind. "Kaito... you don't even know me."
He let out a short laugh. "Maybe not completely. But I know enough. I know you joke around when things get serious. I know you keep trying to solve everything yourself. I know you act like you don't care, even when you do."
He looked straight at her. "And every time I imagined the adventures ahead... you were part of them."
"I want you in my guild. I want to see what we can accomplish together."
Rika's vision blurred. Tears slipped down her cheeks before she realized she was crying.
"I'm scared..." Her voice trembled. "If I come with you..."
She gripped the edge of the carriage until her knuckles turned white.
"...everything changes. There's so much about me you don't know."
"So many lies. So many things I've hidden." Her breathing hitched. "What if..."
"...what if you can't accept who I really am?"
Kaito didn't hesitate.
"Then tell me when you're ready."
His expression stayed calm.
"You don't have to pretend with us. You don't have to prove you're someone else."
He reached out both hands.
"We'll figure the rest out together."
Behind her, Rell's voice cracked like a whip. "Enough!" He seized her wrist. "Trickster! Stop listening to him! You know you can't leave!"
Rika looked back.
The thieves.
The life she'd convinced herself she belonged to. The cage she'd mistaken for home. Then she looked forward again.
Kaito was still there.
Still reaching toward her. Not demanding who she'd been. Just asking who she wanted to become.
Fresh tears streamed down her face.
"My whole life..." she laughed weakly through her sobs. "I've lied. I've stolen. I've hurt people."
"You barely know me." She searched his face. "So tell me…can someone like me really belong in your guild?"
"A thief… A liar…. Someone you've barely known."
Kaito smiled. The same steady smile she'd trusted from the beginning.
"Of course."
He raised his voice over the collapsing canyon.
"I'll always choose you Rika. So come with us."
The words broke through years of fear.
Not all at once, just enough. Rika released the carriage.
Rell shouted after her.
The thieves screamed.
Empire soldiers fired.
Gunfire echoed.
Boulders rained from the sky.
The world erupted around them.
But none of it mattered.
Because the only thing Rika could see… was the hand reaching toward her. She fell.
Kaito caught her before the wind could tear them apart. The impact nearly knocked them both over, but he managed to keep his footing as the others pulled them aboard.
For a second, neither of them spoke. Then they both burst out laughing.
Rika wiped at her tears with the back of her sleeve.
"...You're completely insane, Kaito."
He grinned, helping her steady herself before letting go.
"But you're here."
A vein bulged across Rell's forehead. "Kaito..." He clenched his fist. "Haruko Yami..."
His nails dug so deeply into his palm that blood dripped between his fingers. "Hear me now! I swear it, I will make you pay!"
Rika turned toward him. "Shove it, Rell. Deal's off."
She smiled with a confidence she'd never had before. "I'm officially a member of Kaito's guild."
"And together... we're going to take the whole world!"
Kaito's eyes lit up. Those were the words that had inspired his dream years ago.