Chains Of Pride

"So how about it, do you think can cure Kura now?" Makoto asked as they walked along the corridor.

"It's too early, I just became an Avartel, and Kura's been in that realm much longer than I have, but I believe I should be able to do much more than I was before." Rikona answered.

Right now they were going to the meeting room, something Makoto setup as per Rikona's command. Everyone was to be there, everyone except for Numani who said they can start the meeting without her.

"After this meeting, we're going to address the rest of the Taliums so they can be aware of our plans going forward."

After saying this, Rikona had already arrived at the door to the meeting room. Opening it up, she saw Yang Min, Gin and Zutto Shu.

"Hey everyone, I know you're all tired, we're gonna keep the meeting short, as I have to address all the other Taliums, so they can get some rest, and...I'm sorry about how hard I've been pushing you all."

When the Taliums in the room heard what Rikona said, they couldn't help but smile while letting her know that it was fine and that they knew why she did what she did.

"These back-to-back missions haven't been so bad, the amount of Taliums that broke through to Genesis has skyrocketed! Some Taliums even moved to the next stage becoming a Core Genesis." Gin said a hard to hide smile on his handsome face.

"Trust me, the feeling you get when you summon your construct for the first time, there's no other feeling it." Rikona replied with a smile of her own.

Yang Min looked at her and asked, "You said that a construct was the physical manifestation of a person's inherent nature right? I always wanted to ask, why is yours the Perennial Mechanism, something that controls time?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that I love time, it would be more accurate to say that I fear it, or the lack of it," Rikona said solemnly.

"You fear a lack of time?" Yang Min asked for clarity.

"Yeah, most of my life, I was riddled by deadlines that I set for myself and even now I want my fellow Taliums to be liberated as fast as possible. Time has always controlled my life, or I've based my life around it, trying to catch up to it or have enough of it."

"So I guess when I summoned my construct, something related to time was bound to be the result, I wasn't even aware until I got my construct. Anyways, this is not what we're here for, I need to let you guys know exactly what we're going to be doing from here on out."

Rikona changed the subject seeing as they were going off topic. Makoto walked from beside her to take a seat, following which, she did the same.

"Alright, so here it is, we're gonna take a break from missions for now. We're gonna consolidate our power and then we're gonna hit their HQ." Rikona said calmly.

"WHAT!!" Was the word that everyone in the meeting room shouted in shock.

When they heard they were going to take a break at the start, they subconsciously let their guard down, then this happens.

"Hold on Lady Rikona you're not thinking straight, whaddya mean HQ?!"

"Please tell me when you say HQ you mean Harry's Quidditch!"

"Makoto that last one doesn't make any sense, and Gin I mean Headquarters," Rikona cleared.

"But Master Rikona, we've been hitting their bases all this time and we've been barely making it out with everyone everytime." Yang Min said.

"She's right, it seems early." Zutto Shu commented.

Makoto looked over in surprise "Hey look at that, the big guy is up to 5 words, ah, they grow up so fast."

Clap!

"Can we focus!" Rikona had to clap her hands to get the attention back to herself. "The next step is to hit the HQ here in Japan, the bases are not doing as much damage as we would like it to, there are too many"

"We'll lay low for now, I will personally try to help the Taliums here to break through to the next stage. This means Gin, you're gonna be getting your construct a lot earlier, and the same goes for Zutto Shu and Yang Min and a few others." Rikona stated.

When she finished speaking, everyone looked to one another before they stared back at her.

"When are you planning to carry out the attack?" Makoto asked, breaking the brief silence.

"There is no set time, when I'm satisfied with everyone's strength, it is then that we'll make our move. I don't want anyone dying on me here, so we all need to grow stronger before setting off, no matter how long it takes, however, I expect a respite of a month and a few days at most."

She looked at everyone when she finished speaking, "Well, what do you think?"

Everyone looked at each other once again. Rikona stared at this odd gesture and thought to herself, "When did this start happening? Makoto is blending in really well with the Taliums, sometimes I have to wonder if he's one himself."

"I like it."

Unexpectedly, the first one to answer and agree was Zutto Shu.

"Well, if the big man agrees, what right do I have not to?" Makoto's question inferred his agreement shortly after.

Not long after, everyone nodded in acceptance of Rikona's agreement. This would give them the time to rest and recharge, while at the same time giving them the time they needed to grow stronger.

"Oh yeah, I want to use this time to try and cure Kura, but can anyone tell me what Numani was doing th-"

"Slam"

"I did it!" Like the prodigal son that returned, so did Numani burst open the doors of the meeting room.

"The hell Numani?! What's so important that you'd forego a meeting and would you calm down!?!" Rikona was nearly frightened to death because of the sudden intrusion.

Still shaking from the excitement that overwhelmed her, Numani tried her best to calm herself, "I found a way to get the collars removed without killing the Talium, more accurately, I found THE way to take off the collars, and we can even try it now!"

The sudden revelation stunned everyone in the room. This was really good news, with a sudden influx of new Taliums to bolster their ranks, this means their attack on HQ would carry less uncertainty.

"N-Numani are you s-sure?" The one who asked the question was Yang Min. It was understandable that she was a bit hesitant, the Talium that died from her hands was still fresh in her mind. She saw first hand the grotesque scene this careless action incurred. She didn't wish to relive that in any way, shape or form.

"Trust me, I was able to hack into the Association's RAD files at HQ and it was there I found the code for those collars, they're all different, but I was able to grab all of them, I only met a small hiccup along the way." Numani stated that last part offhandedly.

"That's great Numani, man I am not gonna lie. The first time we found you, I didn't trust you, but now I don't know what we'd do without out. Thank you" Makoto's heartfelt praise for Numani really hit home for everyone except for one.

"But what was the little hiccup you hit along the way? It's not anything to worry about right?"

"Eh?"

"What was the last hiccup you hit along the way?" Rikona asked the question once again.

"Oh," Numani scratched the back of her head while staring at the ceiling. "It was just something so-so."

"What do you call so-so? Kyros Numani?" Calling her last name was a sign to Numani that she best stop beating around the bush.

'Sighs...'

Giving up, Numani decided to spill the beans, "I may have kind of, in a way, almost, nearly, not wholeheartedly-"

Rikona lost her patience, "Numani!"

"HQ was able to lock on to my signal and I'm unable to stop them from discovering our location!" Numani took a huge breath after saying that out in one go.

Everyone was stunned once again, but because of horror.

Makoto looked at her with trembling fingers as he pointed, "C-Curse you!! I know we shouldn't have trusted her, and now the Organization is coming to f**k us in the ass! Damn it all!!"