All In All

"Sorry I'm late."

Naoki looked to see Kayo too had come along, but she was dressed in some rather strange armor which reminded her of a knight of some kind. She wasn't too surprised to see Kayo here. If Sayaka was coming, then she would have since they lived together.

She wasn't sure why Kaori was acting like that towards Sayaka but she figured it out later. "She's here because she wants to help."

Kayo only payed the newcomers a bit more attention. "Eh, we could get the small talk done later. The less time we waste the better."

Already Naoki went to follow Enma further into the castle along with Emanulle and the others, the later who had been mostly quite. Maybe they were thinking, she wasn't sure.

Inside, the castle was huge. Stairways that seemed to go on practically forever to different parts of the castle while the long hallways stretched even further. With all the interior, the place seemed more like inside a strange city then in a castle.

Emanulle looked around. "..How are we suppose to find Olrox inside here? It's like a maze."

"We'll, if you guys tracked him all the way here then it shouldn't be too hard to track inside his own castle, right?" Kayo said. "Unless the magic or whatever in the place makes it harder."

Enma glanced over his shoulder. "I'm following the trail to Naoki's mother, actually. We find her, it kills two birds with one stone. We can ensure her safety, but also, Olrox doesn't like having his 'prey' taken from him. He'll come, and stupidly think that this time he'd be able to win. He's that arrogant. Though he might actually have a trick up his sleeve this time, I'm not sure."

Naoki just followed anxiously, she wanted to get to her mother as soon as possible. She didn't know what to expect when they finally caught up with her mother. Olrox, she wasn't sure how strong he was but with everyone here they should be more or less okay, she reasoned. Kirito-san was really strong, so was Enma and everyone else.

The only one weak here was her. But she was going to change that, no matter what it took.

For the most part, surprisingly or not they weren't attacked further. Perhaps Olrox hadn't had extra security due to the fact the place was mostly hidden. Or the fact the place was so big it meant he simply didn't have the man power to guard every important spot.

Two large double doors stood in front of them, but cracked enough for the group to go through. It was a throne room of some kind; a large red rolling carpet candle lights, and a large throne. On the side walls were various old fashioned pictures, likely from the Victorian Era.

Sitting on the throne was Olrox, a wine glass in hand and by his side a young woman in a maid outfit with horns. Her face had a blank, passive look to it but she seemed to be paying attention to the group had arrived.

"Ah. You've arrived old friend." Olrox said to Enma casually. "I'm sorry the welcome crew wasn't up to your expectations, but it is hard to find good help these days."

Naoki didn't care about that, she stepped forward. "Give my mom back! Where is she?!"

Olrox chuckled. "Impatient aren't you young one? She's unharmed. As for where, that is a good question. You won't be able to find her traditionally even with my friend here due to magical wards. Now as my dear friend Enma would like to believe I survived this long being stupid, I've prepared a guest for all of you."

He motioned to the maid. "Meet Kamaury. I know she doesn't look like much but I assure you she's strong enough to fight you all together. If you're lucky, you'll be able to push her to use her true form. She's a fine assistant and golem. Though seeing is believing, why don't you demonstrate by showing our friends the door Kamauryr?"

They simply nodded. "If that's your wish master."

Kamaury stepped forward, and took a stance. Feet shoulder width apart, slightly crouched posture with her fist into a claw-like shape.

Kayo didn't know why, but she got a bad feeling about this one even if she hardly looked all that intimidating. "Keep your guard up." She mumbled.

Enma paused, looking her over. "A golem, eh? Then I have to wonder if she's being forced to obey you, or if she's obeying you simply because she doesn't know any better or has nowhere else to go?" He walked calmly over to her, stopping about five feet away from her. "Kamaury, was it? Before we fight, and I have no doubt that you are going to attack me and try to throw me out, I have a question. Assuming Olrox were to die, how would you feel? And what would happen to you?"

Kirito was rather curious. He'd half expected Enma to just try and kill her immediately, as he seemed perfectly happy to do to anyone in his way. Perhaps he'd misjudged the situation. Samara, meanwhile, was attempting to sneak off to find Junko on her own. She figured she could pull it off, nobody tended to notice her unless they really knew her. She didn't even notice when a magical shroud covered her, concealing her from sight, or the way that the cat was looking at her as she left.

Kamaury's expression didn't change. "Nothing. I obey Olrox because he is my current master." She said, her voice flat. It wasn't like or dislike, just like stating the weather. Olrox made a rather displeased expression on their face. She didn't pay attention to this. "Nothing would happen, should he die.I would simply have to find another master. That is my purpose."

"Now. Prepare yourself."

Then she was suddenly gone from her spot. Not teleporting, she was really just that fast. She appeared above and behind Enma above in the air but didn't strike him. Instead her fist slammed into the ground, creating a visible blue shock wave.

Naoki was knocked off her feet violently and sent reeling unable to right herself; Kayo pulled out her sword to slam into the ground as she went skidding back creating sparks along the way. Emanulle had to partially transform to regain his balance in mid-air to avoid crashing through one of the walls.

Kamaury was already gone again. Kayo suddenly found herself face to face with her, and at the moment brought her sword in a arc.

Only to have it caught with one hand; even Kayo struggling using both hands and her weight made her unable to budge her opponent.

Olrox was pleased at this, and added himself onto the mix. Her channeled one of his spells, creating a magical symbol just over head as seemingly hundreds of small 'energy' needles went to strike Kirito; Emanulle happening to be in the general area. The later was able form a red energy sphere around himself for the blunt of it. It also served as warding off stay shots that would have gotten to Naoki otherwise.

Kamaury would find Sayaka coming at her from behind with her sword, while Kirito had to move to avoid the brunt of Olrox's attack, deflecting the rest with his swords. Once out of the zone, a magic circle formed around his arms briefly before his swords glowed. He slashed through the air, sending energy blades toward the vampire.

Kaori suddenly appeared off to Olrox's right, unloading a high-tech assault rifle on him. Enma, however, seemed to be assessing the situation at first. Then, he began walking toward Olrox calmly.

Kamaury didn't seem concerned about Sayaka, merely pushing Kayo back with her sword into a wall before letting Sayaka's own momentum carry her off guard by side stepping. It was almost like she knew Flash Step but it was just her moving fast.

A energy arrow sailed through the air towards her before Kamaury casually caught it with her right hand. After briefly observing the area, she tossed it back at its sender. Naoki gave a surprised squeak and ducked under cover as the arrow went past her and through the wall.

Olrox wasn't sure what kind of weapon Kaori had, but it looked like Nobus or military. As such he didn't want to chance taking too many shots from those types of weapons. He was able to form what seemed to be some type of visible gylph in the air that blocked the shots, but was unable to do the same for Kirito's attacks as it had been weakened before.

Kaori frowned as her shots were blocked, returning the rifle inside her shield, pulling out... she seemed to like rocket launchers. Suddenly, however, she was above Olrox, firing straight down at him.

Sayaka stumbled, but spun, slashing at Kamaury wildly, still inexperienced with her new powers. It was her first time, after all. It didn't matter much, though. The instant Kamaury had targeted Naoki, Kirito crossed the room. "Starburst Stream!" Kirito's swords glowed brightly, before he launched into a a vicious combo of strikes.

Olrox wasn't idle and was able to move before the rocket could hit him. Against unknown things it was best to keep moving until you could make a proper access of the situation. However, this made unable to weave out of the way of a certain Arkon's energy blast. The force caught him off guard, and they grunted on impact, knocked of their feet before regaining balance quickly.

Kamaury actually went slightly on the defensive for one, but what was surprising was she 'blocked' with her arms. Whenever the swords contacted her arms, there was a large amounts of sparks.

Kirito grit his teeth, irritated by her being able to block his strikes with just her arms. Based on what was going on around him, Kamaury was clearly the greater threat. Once finished with his attack, he leapt back, away from Kamaury before she could capitalize, lashing out with a blade beam to cover his retreat. As soon as he did, however, Sayaka was filling the gap striking at Kamaury's supposed blindspot.

Kaori was keeping on the move as well. What was shocking, is when there was suddenly bullets coming from a half-circle around Olrox despite the fact she was standing in front of him. Enma, by this point, was still calmly trailing Olrox, seemingly in no real rush. He was keeping an eye on things, however. He was willing to wait, but he also knew he needed to keep an eye on Kamaury. If need be, he'd step in; he didn't need to risk her killing someone. The fact that he was mildly worried about hurting one of the others with his attacks didn't help. Particularly that Sayaka girl, who was far too reckless.

~~~~~

Samara had been exploring the castle, following her instincts as best she could. She wanted to find Junko, before anything could go wrong. Finally, she came across a room with rather nice doors. Figuring it couldn't hurt, she pushed them open just enough for herself to slip through.

Kamaury was unable to reach her target, who had proven himself a threat. It did seem like she was ignoring Sayaka. That was until she simply back handed her, causing her to crash into Kayo as the two tumbled a bit.

Feeling her master in danger she ignored the others and closed her eyes briefly. A dark glyph formed around her, about a dozen small ones. Her form was shrouded in a dark mist that covered her from view and then a almost eerie wailing sound was heard as the energy intensified.

When it died down, Kamaury no longer looked harmless but she paid no attention to the others except coming to her master like a bullet train.

It seemed she was done playing. She headed right towards Kaori and the others location.

Olrox grunted as some of the bullets hit this time, but he was unable to form a counter in the heat of the moment. But he pushed for any advantage he could get, which meant taking a few bullets to get closer to Kaori, grinning rather savagely as whip, seemingly made of energy lashed out towards her.



*  *

The room Junko entered had more of Olrox's vampires, playing cards at a table but Junko couldn't instantly be seen. There was about four of them, they hadn't noticed Samara, at first.

"..What in the nine hells is that thing?"

This got the attention of the others who saw Samara as well.

Kaori's eyes widened, and she seemed to teleport off to the side, just barely avoiding the whip, inadvertently putting herself right in Kamaury's path. Kirito was clearly shocked by the transformation, and seemed to think things over. He then stood still, magical glyphs forming in the air around him as he spoke strange words under his breath, concentrating. Sayaka brought herself to her feet, wincing, and helped Kayo up as well. "She's... a lot stronger than I thought she'd be..."

~~~~~

Samara blinked, looking at the vampires. "...Hi. I'm Samara, I'm looking for Junko. She's human, and my mother. Well, my adoptive mother, but... um... yeah. Can you tell me where she is?" Maybe if they thought she was completely harmless, or just stupid, they'd cooperate?

Kayo nodded grudgingly. "She's been kicking everyone's ass. The only person who has been able to fight her at all a bit one on one has been Naoki's new friend."

Naoki quickly got another arrow ready and aimed towards Kamaury--or rather towards her eyes. At the same moment, Emanulle completely transformed pushed Kaori out the way before she could get hit. The fact Naoki's arrow distracted her very slightly was the only reason he was able to avoid getting impaled and instead slammed into the castle wall.

Olrox was trying to figure out where Enma was, he figured the coward was hiding and waiting for him to be weakened first.

* *

This had to be a grave insult to their lord. No doubt the vampires were angry at the sheer audicty of the small doll-like creature. One of them stepped forward menacingly.

"She's down the hall to the left, last room."

Another turned towards them. "You selling Olrox out?"

"I'm not stupid. Enma is here and his other friends are really strong not trying to die for real. After Olrox croaks we can party as much as we want."

"That makes sense. Let's get back to playing cards."

Kaori, when the dust cleared, was staring at Emanulle with wide eyes. She couldn't believe he'd not only protected her, but took a hit to do so. She hadn't really trusted his assertions of wanting to help her up to now... perhaps she should start.

Sayaka nodded a bit. "He looks familiar for some reason... like, really familiar..." She paused, as Kirito was suddenly consumed by a burst of blinding magic. When she saw what he'd become, her jaw dropped. "Holy.... Kayo! Kayo, that's... that's Kirito! You know, THE Kirito, the one they based that SAO character on!" The idea of that happening was shocking, to say the least. Especially considering he'd just transformed into a hulking beast, and was charging toward Olrox and Kamaury. Which was exactly why Enma halted his planned attack... for now. He wanted to see what would happen.

~~~~~

Samara blinked. 'That worked? Wow!' She smiled, waving a bit. "Thank you!" She turned, and bolted out the door, and down the hall to the door they'd told her about. She pushed the door open, peeking in. "Mama? Mama, it's me, Samara! Me and Naoki came to save you! Er... um... well, we have help, I guess... Kirito's nice. Nasty cat though..."

Kayo was surprised, but they had more important things to focus on. Such as what was going on with Kirito, Kamaury and Olrox.

Olrox seem to slightly panick at the feeling the beast Kirito had transformed into and barked a order to his assistant. "Protect me you worthless puppet, don't just stand there!

Kamaury didn't say anything, merely moving in front of her master to better protect him. She wanted to get a gauge of his new transformation before she did anything else.

* *

Junko said nothing, just took Samara in a hard hug getting her clothes wet with her tears. She was beyond relieved far more then she could ever put into words.

Kirito skidded to a halt, and his arm came out of nowhere. He was moving to simply bat Kamaury out of the way, preferring to focus on Olrox.

~~~~~

Samara was a bit surprised, but definitely pleased. She returned the hug happily, snuggling into her adoptive mom. "They didn't hurt you, right? Oh, you look pretty.."

Kamaury at this angle was able to block the strike, however she was pushed out of the way long enough just for Kirito to get a hit off if he was fast enough. Olrox cursed and quickly through a hasty shield knowing he wouldn't get one strong enough in time, let alone one needed to stop Kirito in this form.

* *

Junko slowly shook her head. "No, thankfully. Let's just get out of here."

Kirito wasn't known for not capitalizing on his opportunities. His claws broke right through the shield, and Olrox would find himself impaled on them before he could react. After a growl from Kirito, he was flung across the room. Except he was stopped in midair by a hand grabbing his throat. "So, Olrox. How does it feel? Being defeated by so-called 'lowly humans'? Admittedly, that man over there is an Arkon, but the rest are human. As is the young man that just impaled you. Interesting, isn't it?"

~~~~~

Samara smiled, and nodded. "Okay, let's go. Naoki and the others are probably done now. They're fighting that mean guy that took you."

Olrox gave a bitter laugh. "Who cares. Power is power, and that power bested me today. That's the nature of this world and one of its few universal truths."

Kamaury couldn't approach, if she did Enma would kill him before she got there. "Release him."


Emanulle limped a bit towards the side so he could rest, he got his ribs cracked at least from taking that blow but it could have been many times worse. Naoki saw this and became a bit concerned.

"Are you okay Mr. Santos?"

"I'll be fine my kind heals quick." He waved it off. "And don't have to call me Mr. I'm not that old."
* *

Junko wasn't sure she heard right. "Naoki? You don't mean our Naoki? She's not a fighter."

Enma paused, and glanced at Kamaury. "I have a question. Is there anything you care about? Anything that, if someone took it from you, or tried to harm it, you would want revenge?"

~~~~~

Samara covered her mouth. "Oops... um... well, I guess you'll have to find out. Naoki gained magical powers by entering a contract thing. She wished for me to be alive, and in exchange, she protects people from monsters called Witches... she has a magical bow, it's really pretty."

Kamaury didn't understand why he was asking these strange questions, or found them relevant. Never the less she couldn't reach her master so the logical idea would be to further continue talking for now. "I care about myself. I have no wish to die. Other then that, no I do not care about anything."

This enraged Olrox. "Ungrateful bitch! I am your master, how dare you speak like that!"

Kamaury tilted her head. "Technically, only my form is female but since I lack reproductive organs, genital, libido or anything else that would not be accurate. Ergo, bitch is not accurate. Yes, you are my Master. The same as many others in the past. But you forgot Olrox just like them, I do not have emotions or think like you humanoids do. I thought I was through with explaining that. If you like, I can do so again should you survive."

Kamaury hadn't meant to be insulting which made it worse, but probably everyone listening felt that burn.

In the background, Naoki saw Junko and ran up to her in a tight hug.

Enma gave her an odd look. "Hm. The lack of emotions or the like doesn't mean you can't want something. If you could have emotions, an anatomically correct body, things like that, would you want them?" He knew of no way to give her what she wanted if she did, but it was a thought. He was also enjoying let Olrox bleed out.

"No." Kamaury's answer was surprisingly fast. "I will not change for anyone. A Master can wield me as they wish but I will not alter my being for their sake. It is the line for myself along with self preservation I will not alter even if they command me of it."

Enma smiled. "I asked if you would do it if YOU wanted them. Not if your master did. I wanted to know if you would alter yourself by your own desire and decision, not someone elses. Your reaction shows me that there is something there. At least a spark of free will. Of soul. That's good. You'll need it." His hand tensed, and Olrox's throat and spine were crushed under his grip. He dropped the vampire to the ground. "Because Olrox is no longer your master. So you need to you that free will of yours, and decide what you want to do. And just so you know, I have no desire for a servant, so no, I will not be your new 'Master'."

Kamaury didn't react what so ever when her now dead master was killed, she merely looked at his corpse for a moment. The next moment, the strange mist covered her form again and when it died down she was back to her normal form, the dark presence from before residing back into herself after the fact.

..Only now she wasn't sure what to do at first. Logic dictated that she leave and figure things out as there was nothing to truly tie her to the castle. This was a confusing development, she was a weapon so without someone to wield her power she was at a bit of a loss to proceed. After a moment though she picked one direction and began walking away. Then she paused.

"The quickest way out of this residence is the other doors to the side. If you want out quickly, then that would be logical." Without another word, she vanished through one of the doors.

Naoki thought the girl had been strange, but she didn't seem so bad. She turned to her mother. "..Let's go home."

By this time, Emanulle was thankful his ribs weren't hurting nearly as much as before, a good rest would be what the doctored ordered after this little adventure. Kayo was of the same mind.