WARNING: This fic is not for Kai and Elise fans. This story will contain moderate to serious bashing of the two characters. Thank you, that is all.

MÄR Omega: True ÄRM Wielders

Prologue

By: Embers of Inspiration

College, Ginta reflected, was hardly any different than high school. He still saw most of the same people and learned a lot of the same things – albeit at a more advanced level – and had more of the same problems…

To put it simply, life for Ginta was dull.

Of course it had gotten better for him ever since his return from MÄR-Heaven. His grades had risen, thanks in part to his much-improved focus which was now being directed toward his studies. He had become more popular… okay, he was still a video game otaku, but he was a very handsome video game otaku. And apparently, that made all the difference.

Then there was Koyuki, his loving, independent, gorgeous ex-girlfriend and strange though it may be to say, still best friend.

It had happened a few weeks after his return, when he had finally worked up the courage to say those words: "Koyuki, will you go out with me?"

She had given him a brilliant smile with her reply. "Of course!" Together they made a very happy couple – for about a month.

Koyuki had given him a less-exuberant-than-usual smile on a Friday afternoon. "Ginta," she confessed, "I really like you, but I know you don't feel the same way about me."

Ginta spluttered in surprise, trying to gather himself quick enough to deny her words. "Koyuki, I like you very much."

She held up her hand to stop him. "I know."

"Then what – ?"

"I know you like me Ginta, we've established that." Here she grinned a little. "But you're in love, and it's not with me."

Ginta didn't say anything, recognizing the truth as it was told. Koyuki didn't explain further, she didn't need to. Ginta loved MÄR, that's all there was to it. He was constantly thinking about it, constantly as in all the time. He sighed. "You're right, it's not fair to either one of us."

They were silent for a while.

"So," he ventured, "friends?"

"The very best," she confirmed before hugging him tightly. He returned the embrace just as firmly and both teens felt as though something – though they weren't sure what – had just slid into its proper place.

Koyuki eventually moved on to other guys. Ginta was happy for her, but never returned to dating himself, leaving several brokenhearted girls in his wake. Koyuki still received a gift from him every holiday, regardless if she was single or not. If she wasn't, well, it was funny to see her boyfriend's jealous face.

Not that it mattered much since all of her boyfriends ended up jealous of him for one reason or the other anyway.

In fact, Ginta could see her current boyfriend, Lex, glaring at him from across the classroom while Koyuki seated herself next to him. "Good morning Ginta!" she chirped excitedly.

"Oh yeah, this is my ideal version of a good morning."

Koyuki giggled and Lex's glare strengthened. "Are you sure?" she asked. "Because the sun is shining – "

Ginta waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, the birds are singing, the grass is growing, all hail Mother Nature. Perhaps you should pass the memo along to Lex, he seems a little tense."

Koyuki turned to watch Lex's stare become fiercer by the second. She smiled disarmingly at him and suddenly all the tension disappeared fro his face. He mouthed 'Good morning Sunshine' to her. She mouthed 'Good morning' back. Then she turned her attention back to Ginta.

She rolled her eyes. "Men."

"Heeeeyyyy," Ginta mock-complained.

"That aren't you," she amended. "You don't count because you're pretty much my brother."

"That's right," he grinned, "which makes me special."

"You don't need anything to make you special. You just are."

He blinked. "Was that a compliment?"

She shrugged noncommittally. Then their teacher walked in and it was time to be quiet.

As Kai stumbled over another tree root he once again cursed his inability to use ÄRMS. If he could, he wouldn't have to rely on Elise. If he could, he would've been able to do something about the crazy former Chess character that was stalking him through the forest. He wouldn't have to run, like a coward.

He cursed himself in general when he looked over his shoulder for a second, and ran right into a body of water. Great, he thought, how am I going to escape now? Oh, what's this?

Something glinted at Kai from a few feet away. Despite the situation he was in, his curiosity took over and he tugged it out from beneath a pile of rocks. The object in question yawned and blinked up at him, as if water didn't affect it. Kai stared down at Babbo incredulously. No way!

"Connection 100% successful."

Ginta's posture immediately straightened up at the sound of a voice he never thought he'd hear again. A few students who used to be in his class looked around nervously, all of their eyes finding him, all silently asking the same question: "What was that?"

Ginta, conscious of all the attention he had suddenly acquired, merely shrugged. As if he didn't know what was going on. The teacher, whose lecture had been interrupted, was less than impressed however. She glared at the students. "Would whomever it was that just disturbed my class kindly leave? I have no time for interruptions."

Then the room went black.

It was just as Ginta remembered it last time. Chaos broke out among everyone. They could see each other, but people continually tripped over desks and chairs that had, no doubt, been toppled over and knocked askew by the sudden pandemonium.

Ginta stood calmly with Koyuki, who was lightly clinging to his shoulder. "Ginta," she began, but never finished. He unasked, 'Do you have to go?' didn't need to be conveyed in words. Ginta, likewise, said nothing, but his eyes were almost literally dancing in excitement.

The Gatekeeper Clown appeared and the panicking renewed itself. Ginta took in his surroundings, noticing all of his terrified classmates. Geez, he thought, we're all adults here, but by the way they're acting you'd never know it to be true.

He was distracted from his musings by the Gatekeeper. "Hello again young traveler."

Ginta decided to ignore the 'young' comment because he was pretty sure that no matter how old he got, he would be relatively young compared to the Gatekeeper. "Hello."

"I doubt I need to explain to you again why I am here." Ginta shook his head. "Shall we begin then?" The Gatekeeper shook it's right hand a little before tossing the die.

Ginta felt Koyuki tense beside him. He knew that if the number turned out to be anything higher than one, she would insist on going. Yet when the die finally settled, a roman numeral one sat innocently on top.

Ginta turned and gave Koyuki a hug and a quick kiss on the forehead. "I'm off," he told her.

She smiled. "Have fun on your new adventure."

He walked toward the gate, before he stepped through he looked back and waved at her. The next second he disappeared.

Light instantly reclaimed the room, as though it had never been gone. Everyone began to calm down. Those who had fallen picked themselves back up carefully.

Koyuki didn't move. She stood, staring at the place where the dimensional gate stood only moments ago. This was one adventure she knew she'd never get to hear about.

Ginta was gone, and this time he wasn't coming back.

AN: Well, I'm moving out of the realm of characterization, again, finally. Writing actual stories is much harder for me, but I'm never going to get anywhere if I don't try. So, concrit is highly appreciated, devoured and reflected to the best of my ability. ^^

I hope that this is a worthy addition to the MÄR fan fiction archive.

-Ember

Edit: I just cleared up some misspellings and grammatical errors. Nothing seriously plot-changing or anything.