SHIN SEKAI: SPARK OF THE NEW WORLD

Prelude to the Grand

   Three years passed with peace and there was no attacks from the order. It seemed that the defeat of Albus had caused them to take their enemies more seriously and make bigger, longer preparations.

   

   Mina and the others didn't know what the order was planning but they definitely weren't doing nothing. They had managed to raise an army of thousands; all valiant and powerful, each unit with their own speciaty.

   There was the 'Storm riders' who rode large mounts into battle. Most of them wielded wind and lightning techniques, and the elites among them rode their elements. This unit was trained by Minna who knew more about Yen's power he did. Yen on the other hand joined in training under her.

   Another unit was the 'ground breakers' who specialized in 'ground breaking' earth and fired techniques. Led by Inumaki these warriors have been trained to bend the ground below them to their will, and the fire users among them helped in their eruption techniques. 

   Inumaki doubled as the leader of the flame unit but he didn't give them any 'cool' names.

   The 'shuan gou' unit was led by Lee. Almost none of them wielded the shuan gou but they were all talented swordsmen.

   Susan led the rescue and medical units alongside Rosewell. The units comprised of those who wielded recovery magic and those who were swift and silent.

   And finally there was the king's army. They were the best of the best. Every single one of them was strong enough to push Yamato to his limits and some even managed to win against him a few times. This unit was led by Yamato himself and Fubuki and Kojiro were also part of it.

   All the army's weapons were forged by Susan and Lee with Sora's treasures as the materials. No one knew how Susan's machine worked but it wasn't like they cared after receiving their shinny swords.

   Some significant changes happened during this three years of peace. Yen and Mina got officially married. Lee and Susan did the same. Others also wedded but Rosewell was the only one with children; twins to be precise.

   Every citizen was registered, accommodation was good, and the city's economy was quickly growing. They increased in wealth and in power and everything went smoothly, but it was all about to change.

   One morning which was supposed to be a pleasant one turned sad for Rosewell. He woke up like he did every other morning; early while others were still asleep, kissed his beautiful wife on her forehead and went to check on his twins.

   As he got to their room where they were supposed to be sleeping, they weren't there. He immediately panicked and started checking everywhere he could for his baby boys, then he noticed that a window was open.

   Without any second thought, he immediately leaped through the window and started running on the roof tops of the lower buildings. He didn't know where to go but luckily for him, there was someone running far off in the distance and he was Sharp enough to see before the person turn a corner and run out of sight.

   Rosewell used his instincts and full knowledge of the city's layout to determine where the suspect would go and followed a shortcut to immediately catch up. 

   He made sure that there was no room for escape as he approached. He had surrounded his target with his petals and left very little space for movement.

   Rosewell's suspicion was right but there was just one not so little problem: the suspect was with only one of the boys.

   Rosewell kept his target contained and jumped high above every building in the city. He had the sharpest eyes but it seemed that whoever was with his other boy was long gone.

   He came back down took his child from the hands of the one he had captured and said "Remove your mask"

   Slowly, with trembling hands the suspect removed the mask, revealing the face of a young girl. She was scared; probably because of all the sharp petals that surrounded her but what Rosewell saw behind all that was her inexperience.

   The manner in which he caught her with ease and the way she was trembling in fear before him showed that she wasn't trained properly. Rosewell was worried about his son but he couldn't help but wonder why they would send such an inexperienced agent to carry out a mission in the middle of enemy territory.

   The sun was coming up and people were beginning to wake. And Rosewell took his prisoner home for further questioning.

   He did not waste time in strapping her to a chair and asking questions.

   "WHERE IS MY SON?!!" He yelled

   "WHERE IS HE?!!"

   but he couldn't get any answer from his prisoner she just repeating the words "I don't know" as she flinched in fear.

   "Oh no I'm doing this wrong" Rosewell muttered to himself as he tried to calm down. He paced around the room taking deep breaths with his hand placed on his chest, and when he finally calmed down, he came back and asked. "What is your name?" 

   "I'm unit B80" she answered

   "I don't care about your serial number" Rosewell replied.

   "I'm asking for your real name. What is it?"

   "B80 is the only thing I've ever been called" she replied

    "Are you a robot?" Rosewell asked

    "No" she replied

    "Then why do you have such a name?" He asked, and she bent her head down and replied with a sad voice, "only the elite get real names. The rest of us are expendable"

   Rosewell smiled. He didn't get any useful information but he had found a way to milk all the information he could out of his prisoner.

   "Betty" he said 

   "From now on I'm going to call you Betty"

Rosewell knew it was working as soon as he saw how much her eyes widened. Then he slowly squatted in front her and looked her in the eyes and said. "Now Betty, tell me the details of your mission" as he smiled from ear to ear.