It had been three months; three months of waiting, of preparation, of research, of working in shifts with Hikari Mirabilis, but now the Ark had been completed at last. It was gratifying to know that his counterpart in the alternate universe that Hikari had originated from had been just as diligent in the female Murakami's mental reconditioning as he himself had been with the male Murakami. Hikari was equally as dedicated to the success of the Ark project and the triumph of Chronos as Imakarum. Lacking any real duties of her own at the time, Hikari had taken to assisting Dr. Balkus with his research.

He was still not any closer to finding out just why or how female doubles of Imakarum, Guyver I and Guyver III had appeared when it was very obvious that none of them belonged there. It was an aggravating situation for Dr. Balkus, the fact that he did not know just how these doubles had come to exist in the same place and time as their originals. Still, having Hikari to assist with the Ark project was very useful.

Now, with all of the Lords of Chronos - and one Lady of Chronos - gathering at the top of the pyramid-shaped Dead Sea Plant main building, was not the time to consider things besides how to best infuse the Ark with the energy it would need to take its intended place in orbit. Lord Alkanphel would likely know how to do this, but he and Imakarum had not arrived as yet; only eleven of the thirteen Zoalords stood atop the south-western platform of the Dead Sea Plant's main building.

"What is the status?"

"We are at seventy percent, we will at least be able to run some tests."

"They're coming," Hikari said, smiling calmly as she looked out at the horizon. "They're going to be here soon. I should go, he wants me to meet with him."

Inclining her head slightly to him, a gesture of respect that Dr. Balkus had become quite familiar with, Hikari flew off into the sky.

"Now where does that woman think she's going?" Luggnagg de Krumeggnik asked. "For that matter, where is that that counterpart of hers?"

"He didn't come to meet me as I had been expecting," Fried'rich van Purg'stall stated. "Perhaps he is with Lord Alkanphel. Hikari seems to be certain that they will be arriving soon."

When the three figures emerged from the bulding, Lord Alkanphel in the lead with the two, nearly identical forms of Imakarum and Hikari Mirabilis striding along behind him as an honor guard. The remaining ten Zoalords bowed to their master as he stepped forward into the front of their group.

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With Masaki and Sayuri keeping pace behind him as he walked, Alkanphel walked into the center of the group of his Zoalords as they bowed to him. As he made his way to the forefront of the group, Alkanphel smiled. Soon his Ark would be complete, and it would take its place among the stars. Then he would be able to find the Advents themselves and demand an explanation for their treatment of him.

He would have his answers.

"We begin now! Krumeggnik!"

Alkanphel, after hearing Luggnagg's acknowledgement, could literally feel the energy radiating from the Zoacrystal of his Zoalord of Wind. The slight answering rumble from under the water let the Supreme Zoalord know that his Ark had accepted the energy that was being offered.

"Kablarl!" Alkanphel called, and again he felt the energy spike and his Ark rumbling in response. "Caerleon! Jarvil! Waferdanos!"

-Masaki, Sayuri, which one of you would like to take the duty of supplying energy to part of the Ark?-

"Galenos! Li Yentsui!"

-If Imakarum wishes to take that task on himself, then I will leave him to do it.-

"Purg'stall!"

-Sayuri has made her preference clear, Masaki,- Alkanphel said, despite the fact that his only female child had not exactly done so. -What is yours?- "Shin! Balkus!"

-I will abide by your decision, my lord Alkanphel.-

Resisting the urge to smile - his last children were so very loyal - Alkanphel turned his attention back to the Ark. His Ark. "Imakarum!"

The thrumming of the Zoacrystals as they resonated with energy, and the answering rumble from the Ark was very satisfying, letting Alkanphel know that the energy they were infusing into the Ark was being accepted. Hamilcal had done very fine work indeed.

"And now it comes to me. Alkanphel!"

The resonance was even more powerful now that the Supreme Zoalord himself was participating in the infusion process, and Alkanphel was starting to see flickering lights in the water. That, combined with the increased amount of rumbling that he could hear coming from under the water, as well as the ripples he could see spreading across the water, let Alkanphel know that his plans for the Ark were one step closer to fruition.

The once-ripples on the surface of the Dead Sea had become large waves, and the rumbling had become much louder by this time. Alkanphel knew that his Ark, imbued with the energies of his Zoalords, was almost prepared to rise above the waves. When his spaceship burst triumphantly out from under the waters of the Dead Sea, Alkanphel grinned proudly.

"And now behold, this great life! My Ark!"

As his Ark rose farther above the waters, Alkanphel felt the thrumming from the Zoacrystals of his Zoalords - twelve of them, at least - grow stronger as the Ark shed the last of its watery coating and powered its way into the sky. Even then, his twelve Zoalords continued to feed their energy into the Ark until it had the needed reserves to achieve orbit, where it would then sustain itself on solar energy.

Alkanphel was satisfied.

"I think we're being watched, my Lord," Masaki said respectfully, looking over his right shoulder.

"Yes," Sayuri concurred. "I sensed them as well. Would you like us to dispose of them, Lord Alkanphel?"

"No, let them be," Alkanphel said, smiling calmly. "For now, they are of very little consequence to us. Far greater things are now at hand."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Shit. That this has to be the size of a small island, at least. And if that's a battleship... Shit. "We're going to have to inform the bosses about this," Nathan Prescott, field commander for one of the larger Zeus Thunderbolt Tac-Ops groups, said grimly.

"That's for damn sure," Jacob Haller, the closest thing that the Thunderbolts had to a grizzled veteran, grumbled. "They'd definitely want to know about that... flying continent."

"Well, let's get back to the base and then we can brief them on what we saw here," John Tyler said, turning away from the still swiftly rising Ark.

Above their heads, the ship continued to rise into the sky. Eventually, it disappeared from human sight entirely.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Breakfast had proceeded as normal in the mansion that they all shared, with Yukari and Shizu setting out the food then Sho and Mizuki offering to help them wash the dishes once the food was all gone. After the dishes had all been washed, dried and put away, the majority of the mansion's occupants had gathered in the main room to relax for a while.

"Hey, guys!" Natsuki called cheerfully. "The paper was just delivered. I know you guys can't go out and find these kinds of things out for yourselves, like you'd probably want to do, but at least we can keep ourselves informed about what Chronos has been doing late... What?!"

"What's wrong, Natsuki?" Tetsuro asked, as all of the people in the room turned to look at the girl holding the newspaper.

"You guys, Chronos just unveiled something... really big. I think you should all come and see this."

Since they knew that Natsuki wasn't one to overreact, not to something so serious as what Chronos was trying to do. That was why all of the people in the living room were gathered around the chair where Natsuki was sitting.

+Well, it seems like we might have a more difficult time getting to the Ark than I had first anticipated,+ Akane said.

+With the Gigantics, however, it might be possible for us to board the Ark and take control of it. We would be required to deal with the Zoanoids in place on the Ark, but that would most likely be substantially less difficult than invading Chronos' Dead Sea Plant and attempting to take the vessel by force.+

+Perhaps a great deal easier. Look at this,+ Akane pointed to a passage in the article that their companions hadn't come to yet. +It seems that Chronos hasn't even selected a crew for the Ark yet. And, given the fact that they are drawing from a pool of civilian volunteers, there would be very little chance that any of them would have the necessary combat experience to repel an attack by two Gigantics.+

+Yes, I think you're right.+

"What I'd like to know is why Chronos went to all the trouble of constructing this huge Ark of theirs in the first place," Tetsuro said, continuing the conversation that had gone on even as Agito and Akane had been discussing their own strategy. "They can't really be telling the truth about humanity's future being among the stars."

"Think about it, Segawa," Agito said. "They are most definitely not going to be carrying any unprocessed humans with them, so who do suppose will be leaving on board the Ark?"

He waited for an answer, but all he heard were the confused noises of people attempting to think and all he saw were expressions of incomprehension.

"The twelve Zoalords, or thirteen as things stand now, would be the ones in command of the Ark," Akane said, when no one else seemed to be able to figure that out. "They would also be bringing along an army of Zoanoids, who would of course be genetically-engineered to be loyal to them alone. It seems quite obvious to me that this Ark is intended to be a warship."

+And that will make it all the more useful to us, once we have control of it,+ Agito said.

+Indeed it will.+

"But what would they be fighting against in outer space? Who would be out there that Chronos considers its enemies?"

"I'm not entirely certain," Akane said, pausing to collect her thoughts. "This is only a hypothesis, but Chronos could be planning to find the Advents that left this planet millions of years ago. For what reasons they would want to attempt something like that, I don't think any of us would be able to understand."

"They want to find the Advents?" Tetsuro asked, looking at the still-confused expressions on the faces of his friends and fellow refugee rebels.

"As I said, it was only a hypothesis."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The scent of warm, tropical air was one that Hikari would have enjoyed a great deal more under other circumstances. As it was now, she was far more concerned with the welfare of her Lord than with taking note of something as mundane as her surroundings. No matter how tranquil or beautiful they were to her senses.

Imakarum was with her, and between the two of them they supported the frail, failing form of their beloved Lord Alkanphel. There was obviously something wrong with him, something that he did not want the other Zoalords to know about, else they would not have been standing alone at the summit of this lonely mountain in the shadow of an empty temple. The echoes of the stone made it very clear that there were no residents aside from plantlife inside the temple that they stood in front of.

"Not even Fried'rich or Shin know anything about this island. Only Hamilcal and I have ever set foot on this secret island of mine. Until now."

Imakarum's hold on Lord Alkanphel's waist was slackening, and after she felt a quick tug on her own arm, Hikari loosed her grip as well. Lord Alkanphel slowly pulled away from the warm comfort of their arms, moving forward to stand on his own. Still close enough to them to be supported if he faltered, but far enough that he showed some independence.

"I would like to thank you, Masaki, Sayuri, for coming here with me."

"Of course, my Lord," Imakarum said.

"We could do no less for you, Lord Alkanphel," Hikari added.

"Of course," Lord Alkanphel said, sounding wistful as he continued to stare out at the vast expanse of jungle surrounding his temple.

And then, without a single warning sign, Lord Alkanphel collapsed. Both of them rushed forward, but it was Imakarum that kept their Lord from falling to the hard stone floor of the temple. All that Hikari was left to do was to stroke Lord Alkanphel's pure white hair and murmur soothing words into his pointed ear.

"I will need to rest again soon," Lord Alkanphel said, gently brushing Hikari's fingers with his own and then closing his hand around hers. "My hibernation period is very near."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

As Imakarum lifted Lord Alkanphel into his arms, he watched as Hikari settled into step just beside him. She really had no other choice; Lord Alkanphel's right hand was still firmly clasped around her left, and even if she'd been able to free herself, Hikari would not have left his side. He knew his counterpart as well as he knew his own mind; she was loyal without question.

"The last time I was indisposed this way, Guyot rebelled," Imakarum watched as Lord Alkanphel enfolded Hikari's left hand between both of his own, and was momentarily grateful that the hallway and the staircase they were all approaching was wide enough for both of them to walk abreast. "I don't know what could happen this time. Deal with the situation, Masaki. Let Sayuri help you; obtain the unit-G at any cost. Do it quickly, before my hibernation becomes permanent."

"Of course, Lord Alkanphel," Hikari said, bowing her head slightly in respect and submission. "We will do exactly as you order."

"Good. That's why you both were recreated to be true Zoalords; devoted to me and me alone. My faithful servants." -Beloved son and daughter.-

Imakarum found that he had to smile at the obvious warmth and affection in Lord Alkanphel's statement, and beside him he saw that Hikari was doing so as well. Right up until she teleported away. About to demand just where the woman thought she was going, Imakarum watched as she returned.

There was a decently sized bundle of cloth in her arms, and for a moment Imakarum wondered what Hikari was thinking of doing. Then she began to spread the cloth over Lord Alkanphel's stone bed, and Imakarum realized that the cloth was in actuality a blanket. A very soft blanket, from the look of the fabric, and Imakarum found himself smiling once more as she gently laid it out over Lord Alkanphel's stone bed.

Lady Hikari could really be quite... maternal at times.

"You can rely on us, Lord Alkanphel," Imakarum stated, even as Hikari placed a gentle kiss on Lord Alkanphel's brow.

"Rest well," Hikari said, rising from her crouch to stand beside him once again. "We will find a way to acquire a Guyver unit for you."

Turning away from the sleeping form of Lord Alkanphel, Imakarum proceeded Hikari out of the temple. The sharp clack of the stone doors as they closed allowed Imakarum to put Lord Alkanphel's condition out of the forefront of his mind, though he would never and could never forget his Lord's condition.

-Yes, they are both very skilled,- Imakarum considered the matter of the two Third Guyvers. -We will simply have to find a way to deal with them, in whatever form they appear before us, my Lady.-

-We will indeed.-