Climax Crisis: Chapter 1: Awakening Nightmare

His emerald eyes opened up to a golden sky that lingered above him as a ice cold breeze had awaken him from his slumber on top of a hill top. "It's so peaceful." He mumbled to himself happily as he felt the long grass gently brush against his body as the tree beside him swayed back and forth in the breeze in a rather soothing manner.

"It really is~"

Jin sat up to find Tsubaki who was dressed in a mid-length dress that looked godlike with it's design. Her head was tilted upwards to the sky above as she gazed at the golden glow of the sunset.

Her mere smile was breath taking to him, as it gave him a sense of warmth and comfort in his darkened world. In a instant he turned his head away from her gaze in attempts to cover up his heating cheeks, despite her eyes had already catched a glimpse of the red dusted cheeks.

He cleared his throat, "So... where are we?"

Tsubaki giggled as she threw herself at Jin; wrapping her arms around him as she did. "What do you mean, silly?"

Jin wrapped a single arm around her slender body as he replied, "It's just... I don't remember how we got here. I don't remember anything apart from-" At that moment he stopped himself as a vision of himself being beaten by some kind of black beast, whilst Tsubaki was carried from him. He let out a gasp as he pushed Tsubaki off him as he found himself shaking.

"J-Jin, what's wrong?! You look like you've seen a ghost." She exclaimed in a distorted version of her voice.

Hearing her voice; Jin turned and gasped as he looked at his childhood friend. Her eyes were no longer visible and she now possessed a razor tooth-like grin. "WHOA!?" Jin yelped as he sprung to his feet while the scenery around him became pitch black. He looked frantically for Tsubaki, however it would seem that he was all alone.

"You're all alone now." He heard a familiar voice claw it's way into his ear and by the mere tone it caused the hair on his body to stand straight.

"S-Saya?!" He muttered.

"You're the reason why she's gone again, Jin. You've been selfish, cruel and shut her out... This... this is the price you pay." He looked behind him to see his purple haired sister standing there as she held Tsubaki's body within her skeletal arms. "Because of who you are... I shall grant the both of you... death."

Before Jin could even muster a response he found himself being showered in black ooze, making it hard for him to even breathe as the ooze burned it's way into Jin's mouth and down to the back of his throat, spreading like forest fire as it made his skin twinge. "GGGAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Jin gasped deeply as he shot up in his bed, looking around frantically to find himself in a room that resembled a NOL medical bay. He then looked down to the hospital gown that was now glistened with his sweat. "So you've finally decided to wake up, JinJin?"

The blonde looked to the left and what he saw left him baffled, "Taro?" The dark skin and haired man beside him was none other then one of his roommates from the Military Academy. "Of all places to be... what are you doing here?" He asked in a hostile tone, "N-nevermind that, what day is it; and what happened to me?"

Jin asked as he threw the white bed sheets off him as he attempted to get out of bed. Only to find himself stumbling as soon as he got to his feet. "Whoa! Calm down, JinJin. You're in no shape to move around after what happened to you." Taro said as he helped the blonde to get back into his bed.

Jin looked at Taro as he felt disorientated, last he knew he was watching his childhood friend being carried away from him, yet he couldn't remember why they were running. "Taro, get straight to the point... Do you know where Tsubaki is?"

Before Taro could even answer to Jin at that very moment the two men heard the oak door slowly creek open. The person who slowly pushed the door and entered had spiky black hair and a loosely fitted white shirt with black silk pants. He was none other then Kagura Mutsuki, Taro's cousin.

"Hey cous!" Taro cheered as he waved his arms around in excitement from the mere sight of his relative.

"Well, well, well... it seems like our friend Jinny decided to finally wake up, Taro." Kagura snickered to his cousin as he strolled to the end of the bed Jin laid in. He then let out a playful smirk aimed at the injured blonde, knowing full well that he was rattling Jin up like always.

"K-Kagura!" Jin sprung up in his bed, finding himself compelled to ask, "Kagura, what happened to me?"

Kagura let a pout from Jin's straight forward attitude. He just couldn't possibly understand why he always had to be on top of everything, couldn't Jin ease up and just relax for once? Kagura thought to himself through a sigh, "Always straight to the point with you, isn't it?" Kagura let out yet another sigh before responding to Jin's question, "You were ambushed by the Imperator. She ended up placing a spell on your bodies to stop you from moving. Makoto did mention that she managed to break free, however she did manage to grab Noel and Tsubaki and escaped. You on the other hand... well, apparently before the girls left they told me that Ragna had turned into the Black Beast.

Kagura placed his hands into his pockets as he circled around the bed and strolled over to the window. "When I found you... you were all mangled. You're lucky to be alive, let alone not having any broken bones..." He looked to the blonde who was wrapped in bandages up to his head with pity.

"Very well... So tell me, where is Tsubaki, Kagura?" Jin looked around in curiosity as he found it rather surprising to see that Tsubaki wasn't there, latching to his side to make sure that he was alright. After all, this was the woman who would set aside everything else just to make sure that he was alright.

"Well Tsubaki is-"

"Only the truth, Kagura."

"She's within the city, helping and aiding those who are in need."

Jin frowned in response to Kagura, sending the man on the edge of his nerves. After all he knew that Jin hated lies, so whenever Kagura wouldn't be honest with him it sent him almost insane from the stress. "What do you mean that she's aiding those in need? What on earth happened?"

"Well, you know her. She's got a big heart... and arse." Kagura then cleared his throat as he answered to Jin, "Ever since we all split off, suddenly people within the cities have been getting really ill... But, I'm sure it's just a small malfunction in the Ars." Kagura then slowly made his way over to the door as he looked to Jin once more. "For now just try not to worry about anything. I've got to go and check in with Kokonoe, so I'll come and check back with you soon."

"Kagura wait!" Jin called out to the black knight, only to be silence by Kagura closing the door behind him, leaving the blonde with his excitable cousin.

"Well that was... different." Taro muttered rather nervously underneath his breath since he knew the longer he stayed in the same room with Jin, the more Jin will be eager to play twenty questions with him until he got the answers he wanted.

"Taro~" Jin smirked evilly as he watched Taro's panic expression like a hawk and it's prey.

"Jin?! O-Oh, no! Com'on, don't do this man!"

Once Kagura shut the bulky wooden door, he came across a sweet young girl with soft brown hair that was tied back into a ponytail with a silk red ribbon. "Ohh, Kagura!" She called out softly, "May I ask but, why did you tell Jin that Tsubaki was still in the city?" Kagura walked beside the young girl who was originally on her way to see Jin to heal his wounds, since she was one of the only mages left in the world, especially since her magic consisted with healing capabilities that could help Jin's grave wounds. However, due to her air head personality running into Kagura had completely distracted her.

Kagura closed his eyes for a moment while responding, "Well think about it. Tsubaki up and left us with nothing but a small letter to go off..."

"But, she mentioned that she was going after Ragna to... k-kill him." Her words broke as she felt a stinging pain in her heart, while her soft pink eyes began to water from her distress. After all, she had developed strong feelings for the silver haired man through her past experiences with him. She couldn't help it, she mostly loved the cool personality he had with a bit of a bad boy attitude. So the mere thought of Ragna being hunted like a deer pulled at her heart strings.

"She did... but, she also mentioned wanting to help people. So I wasn't lying completely about where Tsubaki was." He let out a sigh as he continued, "Besides, this was mainly for Jin's safety."

"Jin's safety?!"

"Well think about it, with the state Jin's body is in now, how do you think Jin would react if he were to find out about Tsubaki?" Kagura stopped and turned to Celica who's facial expression bluntly displayed that she wasn't following what Kagura meant. "He would jump at a instant to follow her just to make sure that she's safe... and of course to scold her silly for leaving in the first place."

"Awwww~~ That's so romantic! Jin and Tsubaki really do love each other very much, don't they?" Celica let out a angelic smile at the thought of the very wanted couple, to Kagura's dismay though as once again she was ignoring him.

"Ah Celica baby, You're not following again!" Kagura grumbled as he felt irritated by the innocent, air headed nature she possessed. Yet, it always caught his eye in a inflation manner.

Kagura sighed as he continued walking along side Celica down the hallway and down the stairs, while strolling down the elaborate hallway together Kagura's mind began to wonder. 'Everything has been so hectic lately. I at least hope everything is alright on Tsubaki's end... Hopefully she hasn't found Ragna yet, not until we have found him first at least. Which reminds me..'

The two of them had reached the end of the first floor hallway and at the end they found the entrance to the Mutsuki manor and a small door that lead to the basement. "Sorry Celica, but do you mind if I go down alone? It's just I needed to speak with Kokonoe about some important issues." He kindly requested in a seductive tone, that of course flew over her head once more with his 'subtlety'.

"Oh, of course. I'll see you later then, Kagura!" She waved to him as she let out a brightful smile before turning away as she made her way down the hallway.

Kagura took a deep breath before knocking on the door, he heard a muffled response of the word 'enter' before he carefully pushed the door wide open as he made his way down another flight of stairs. Once he reached the bottom of the stairs he found himself inside a small laboratory completed with metal walls and various computers and devices all over the room.

Kagura, about time." He turned to see a cat beastkin standing there in the middle of her organised mess of a room. She had two pink tails complete with matching cat ears and long hair. Her golden cat eyes stared at Kagura eager to give him the updates he requested.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I ran into Celica an-"

"Just cut the chit chat and just listen to what I have to say.." Kagura knew she was rather rude and cold towards others, but lately she was acting rather strained and distraught. Which truth be told was the usual for her life, however Kagura knew the more you bottle things up, the more you'll get close to a breaking point.

"So this is what we've gotten on the situation thus far..." She grabbed out a note pad that had various scribbles written on it for her to read out. "The levels of concentrated seithr within the cities are at a min-able rate."

"Wait, what?!" Kagura gasped as his head was thrown into a loop.

"Look, I don't have a answer for this one. But, my educated guess is that the seithr is being drained, possibly to the boundary since there's no indication of any large quantity of concentrated seithr." Kokonoe then continued on with a more darker news for the Black Knight. "There's more... there have been reports of the majority of people within the lower depths of the cities have been eroding away into what witness' claimed as 'clouds of seithr'."

"None of this makes sense, Kokonoe. How on earth can people just 'disappear' into seithr?" Kagura snapped as his face tensed up while his mind began to spin. "Kokonoe, at least tell me... have we-"

"No," Kokonoe abruptly stopped the black haired man, "We still have been unsuccessful of locating neither Izanami or Ragna. We've combed most of the Hierarchical cities for any signs of them but, we haven't been able to turn up with anything."

Kagura sighed deeply as he placed a hand over his eyes, "Have you guys at least-"

"No, I'm sorry. Homura is still missing. I've already sent search parties to each other the cities within the Ikaurga Federation, so the chances are that he's managed to slip out of the Federations border are the most likely conclusion."

Kagura took his hand off his face as sweat dripped from his forehead, his master had entrusted her child to him, to protect and raise Homura into a great leader. Unfortunately though, he has failed to protect Homura and now the small child was out there all own his own. "...Ugh..." The black haired man slowly walked towards the exit of the room, only for Kokonoe to call out to him.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"I-I need to go and get some air." The man grumbled in response as he dragged his feet up the stairs. Once he reached the top of the stairs and closed the basement door behind him, he ran into his loyal servant Hibiki Kohaku.

"Colonel Mutsuki, is everything alright my lord?" The slender stature boy asked as he followed behind his tower boss towards the entrance of the family manor.

Kagura turned his head over his shoulder away from Hibiki as he grunted, "No, we still haven't found our lord and this is all my fault... I should of never let the young lord come with us." The man's voice was gruff and his eyes squinted as he pulled a cigar out of the small box in his pant's pocket. As Kagura placed it onto his lips and began to lit the cigar a foul taste filled his mouth as he breathed in, as if he was inhaling fumes of smoke mixed with the stench of sewage. He longed for it to help calm his nerves so that he could hash out a new strategy to help find his lord and the enemy, but to his dismay, all the smoke caused was more anxiety and stress then before.

Watching his master fall to his deepest depression, Hibiki felt a urge tug within his mind, the need to go and find the young lord himself. After all, with the type of background and training Hibiki has a child, he knew he was the best fit to save their lord. His loyalty to Kagura however, strained his will to go in search. To him, despite his wishes, whatever Kagura's orders were Hibiki would follow through them to the end. Never disobeying his boss.

Although, he knew gradually those feelings would slowly evolve into a selfish will.

Within a lash yet, darkened forest that surrounded the outskirts of the Ikaruga Federation the young red headed maiden Tsubaki Yayoi slowly strolled along the path within the depths. Her sapphire eyes squinted from the sight up a head of her, there was few wolf looking creatures made from a blackened mist that dawned red eyes that illuminated in a eerie manner.

Her slender fingers slide onto the handle of her ruby dagger before gripping it tightly in her grasp. She stopped in her tracks once the monsters sensed her presence and locked their eyes onto her tender looking flesh as their mouths gaped open with lowly growls. Before they could react fast enough, Tsubaki with-drew her blade and swung it as it formed into a bladed whip as it swung across, cutting each of the monster's heads off in one clean sweep.

Once the bodies of the black mist hit the ground as they eroded away, Tsubaki placed her sword away while still keeping her guard up. She let a soft gasp of air escape her lips as she raised her gaze to the tree tops meters above her. 'It's been ten days since I started searching for Homura... and it's been two days since I left Ikaurga on 'her' request to find Ragna but, how do I find him?'

She looked down and around, all her eyes could see was trees, grass and the darkness that foreshadowed the dread and the unknown that lerked beyond her. 'I really hope that Jin's alright.' At the moment of thinking of Jin, she had a flashback to when Makoto carried her away over the squirrel's shoulder and how she watched Jin get beaten half to death by the monster Ragna had molded into. "AH!" Tsubaki fell to her knee's and clutched her ears while trying to drown out the agonizing screams of Jin's. "J-Jin." Her eyes opened slightly as a tear rolled down one of her burning cheeks before falling onto the dirt below her as she felt her heart become heavy. "I-it's okay, Jin's okay! Calm down!" She took a few deep breathes to help calm herself down.

The moment of induced anxiety was cut short as she felt a small gust of wind rushed past behind her as it made a silent whisper. Her eyes burst open as it struck fear within her. "Please, don't..." She gasped out lightly out before rising to her feet as she began to scamper down the dusted path in hope to escape from those eyes. These eyes that believed they still could control her.

Word Count: 3,267

A/N: Hey guys, back with my new improved remake of what used to be my favorite story to work on ^_^; But anyways, I'm sorry if the quality of the story was a little lacking. Lately I've been dealing with a few things and my ability to write has been affected. But, hopefully all will get sorted. I was pleased with the dream scene though since my boyfriend for the start was a bit of a proof reader for me so, thank you Chris XX I will mention though, I did have a extra scene pulled from this chapter which I'll add to chapter 2. So look out for the next chapter, thank you for reading everyone, please leave me some feed-back/reviews as I highly appreciate criticism and pointers for my work and I'll see you all in the next chapter of whatever I update next, bye!