Echo of Nothingness (EON III) Continuation

"There's so much emotion right now" Yuu noted as he watched Zach reconcile with the others. Bashfully wiping away his tears out of view lf the others, embarrassed that he llst composure in front of everyone. He always had to imagine himself as a strong figure, like the heroes he idolized...but, like Natsumi had mentioned before, he wasn't a hero yet. So he saw no harm in venting out some of his emotions. When it came to the matter of coming a long, Yuu was taken back by Umi's, looking around the room awkwardly, he assured himself she was talking to him. His eyes lit up slightly "You want me to j-join your team!? Of course I'll be happy too~" He squeaked out, blushing as he cleared his throat and smiled, "Keep your cool, Yuu..." he muttered to himself, "you need the friends..."

Then, to everyone's surprise, the parents came home...and all the sibling drama boiled over. Though he wished nothing more than to beat the ever loving crap out of Rohan, his complete diregard for his sister, rude personality, and evident criminal background pissing him off to no end. The matter of the fact was that they were in someone else's home, and this was definitely something he had no right nosing into at the moment. So he opted to silently seathed.

When it came time to leave, Yuu hesitantly scratched the back of his head, "I think I'll stay behind, no one else really knows about our captives, and I don't trust the a**hole around them either, good luck!" He waved as they Umi's group left. 'Not too mention...', he turned and looked at Danyell and Kios, his face brightening in childlike glee 'I GET TO MEET MRS. DANYELL, AND KIOS!!!'. He gushed as Danyell hugged him, "It's good to see you too, Mrs. Danyell. Leios offered me food, ypu two are very alike apparently!" Quickly shaking Kios' had Yuu smiled brightly, "It's an honor to meet you Mr. Kios! You have no idea how happy I am right now" Letting Kios hand go, Yuu visibly shook with excitement, "We have a lot I need to tell you two now that Zach, and Umi aren't here to explain!" He gestured to the two knocked out warlords, "We captured two warlords!", He showed off his battered body, flexing his arm "I even saved Umi and Zach...and jumped through a lazer beam! And, and..." he slowly sputtered out as he collapsed slightly, the physical and emotional toll making him pay at the moment

The tears still rolled down his face, warm as he brushed them away. Zach nods vigorously as Umi and Leios urge them onward. He runs his hands through his hair nervously, feeling the grit of salt from the sea water still, seems this day just wouldn't end. But maybe, he thought, he'd end up in his old room at the Fahlih estate. With it's high canopy and plush cushions. He decided he would ask his companions to stay with him as Umi had wanted them too. Alas there was still much to be done.

"Maybe it's best we head out before-" He began to insist. Zach was partially afraid Danyell and Kios would stop them and partially afraid of what they would have to say about the matter. Part of him still clung to the hope this was all a misunderstanding. For all they knew his mother could have disintegrated into sand to escape her foe, ust taking a little while longer to coalese than it usually took. She could be sitting with his uncle right now, or have a letter on her way to him right now. Nothing was certain. That why they had to go soon.

Leios summoned the shadows and they descended, Zach felt a familiar feeling wash over him as his body melded into darkness.

Feels like the sand dissolving technique you could never get right.

The darkness was peculiar in the way it had never been so dark to him, not light, not a single ray could reach him and he could create none of his own. Their was a peacefulness about it, it was the silence he'd desired at his worst a few moments before and it was over before he had the chance to use it to his advantage.
They reformed before Kios and Danyell, Zach seeming rather spooked. He was almost ready for a reprimanding, not just for their sudden late night departure now but their 'shopping' excursion that took a week. And their loss of Liss. He felt the worst about that. Amongst other things on his mind at the moment.

Prepared for a scolding he was stiff as Kios embraced him. He returned it awkwardly, uncomfortable by the way his uncle sounded so matter of fact. A rage spiked within him, how many else knew before he did? What information did they have but he didn't. He bit his lip, it wouldn't matter soon, he could just ask Zachariah the First. He would know. He would tell him.

"Thanks Uncle Kios." he says quietly, offering a sad smile. He was enthralled with his own thoughts about the exchange, tunnel vision, the anticipation of the trip, he wasn't pulled into the sibling strife until Umi raised her voice.

The sound of a curse from Natsumi's lips was as unfamiliar as his own name. Zach shoulders stiffened and he whipped his head around to catch the view of Rohan and Natsumi quarrel. His anger sparked fiercer but he supressed his urge to interject. There were obviously things being said that needed to be said. And what did he know about the situation? Nothing. His shame grew deeper as he realized how little he knew about Natsumi, depsite their week together. What could he say to make it better? Nothing.

He could only flinch as Rohan said his name in accusation.

Though he did wonder, would he and Soloman be like this is they had the chance to be?

"Natsumi?" He whispered quietly as Rohan left. Danyell approached the young girl first, Zach watched helplessly on until it was his turn for another embrace. He couldn't convey in words how grateful he was for Danyell's perspective, she was uncertain like him, she had hope just like him. More tears welled in his eyes as she embraced him and kissed his forehead.

"Thank you..." He muttered, "Thank you all..." He said weakly. Looking up at Yuu, Zach was surprised, "Are yous sure?" He asked timidly, but the blond seemed set. That made Zach worried. "Okay, hold down the fort."

Leios then initiated a their travel again. The darkness embraced them once more. For a moment Zach was at peace.

---------------------------------------
The worlds maw opened to them again. This time in a familiar place. The Nilisian desert sprawled in either direction, vast and seemingly endless. There were rocky outcroppings to the north and south. The sun low enough to allow them some escape from it's harshness. His eyes traced the outcropping to the south.

"Yeah this is it." He looked to the them. "Ryujin is right below us." He pointed to the southern rocks. "That's one of the city entrances." His mother had made it a priority that he and his brother knew how to navigate the desert. "It's probably best we enter through the gates, teleporting inside might have gotten us arrested given the... circumstances of the governement..." he said feebly. Zach trudged towards the gate. He actually had no idea how bad it was, he had a suspicion his uncle had shielded him from the worst

For a few moments after she’d returned to the group, there was silence. Her relationship with her brother had always been strained, and she’d snapped it in half. Honestly, she didn’t know how she should feel. Absolutely none of what she said had been fabricated in the slightest, but did that make it right to confront him? It had been years since the last time Rohan had showed her that he cared. Perhaps pretending was the only way she’d ever be happy.
Perhaps it was better to suffer in silence than to speak up, and lose those you love.
Slowly carrying her gaze up to Leios as she caught sight of his darkness reaching out to her, Natsumi watched breathlessly as he pulled the cigarette from her head before destroying it. Her lower lip trembled slight, however she managed to steady it by drawing in a deep breath. Now wasn’t the time.
This wasn’t about her.
Zach was hurting far worse.
Accepting his hand as Leios reached out to both she and Zach, the young woman’s gaze drifted back down to her feet. Was she really in any condition to make this journey? She’d been an emotional wreck before ever adding Rohan into the equation... Yuu’s sudden withdrawal from their mission really caught her attention, through she couldn’t bring herself to lift her head. Maybe-
No.
She’d begged for them to take her.
Pleaded for them to let her help.
Regardless of what Rohan, or anyone else, thought of her, she had to go. If she said quiet, and gave them both space it should be fine. She’d try her best not to be a burden.
And with that she felt the world melt away into a kind of comforting pitch blackness.
Leios’ powers were really something else, if was as if she could just escape for reality in an instant with them. Dissolve into a safe and empty space filled with absolutely nothing.
She longed for a similar feature in her own senshitsu, a place to cool down at in silence... But alas, she didn’t think she had anything to replicate his technique.
***
Sometime later they reappeared deep with the desert. It was still late at night, but within minutes Natsumi began to crave a glass of water. While she was used to hot weather, she was immediately able to tell the stark difference between Kagutsuchi’s humidity and Nil’s dry heat. She felt like a fish out of water.
Pushing the thought aside as her two companions conversed, the downtrodden redhead waited for them to finish before following after Zach in silence. While her family had but on a lot of vacations, the massive underground cities of Nil had for whatever reason never been a location. She wondered if Zach’s comment about their current state of government was the reasoning behind that, or if it simply wasn’t a tourist destination. Still it was nice to have something to thing about besides Rohan, and she wondered if the makeshift group could actually manage to have fun on their journey. Even with everything going on, an underground city sounded almost other worldly to her. It was funny how one could spend years in one place, never understanding what the next country over was really like.
She wondered if they’d have different methods of medical practice and architecture.
Most likely.
Maybe if things winded down a bit she’d ask Zach about it.
For now the distraction was a welcomed thought.

Waving silently as her son disappeared into the night before pulling her husband inside, Danyell chuckled softly in response to Kios’ comment. This kind of interaction wasn’t all that unusual. It was kind of a wonder that someone as smart as her husband hadn’t formulated a million ways to fix that, much less mentioned it to her until now. “Well, you and Leios have a very professional workplace kind of relationship... Outside of training, it’s been like that since he was little. You two were never ones to waste time playing sports, you sort of just dove into bigger things. Which makes sense since he’s very intelligent and talented, always seeking out the next challenge. When he gets back maybe you could take him out to do some of those father son activities you’ve both missed out on... Something as simple as playing catch in the yard... It also wouldn’t hurt to give him a hug every once and a while, and dote on him a bit.” Then thinking over his comment regarding Rohan, the brunette slowly shook her head. “As much as I love Kama and Cherokee, I fear that may stem from a lack of parental guidance and discipline. Hopefully one day Rohan will figure that out on his own... I know deep down he’s a sweetheart. He used to love when I babysat him.” Finishing with a slight shrug of the shoulders as her attention turned to Yuu, the boys comment made her laugh. Everyone in her father was good about offering food to guests. Probably because they themselves were pretty big on food. Cooking, and eating, was a great way to fit some family time into their hectic everyday lives. Though she did have to agree, Leios did take a lot after her. “I’m glad you two got along. Leios has a his quirks, but he has a wonderful heart. Even in the times he miscalculates, I’ve learned over the years that his heart is always in the right place.” Nodding in agreement as Kios mentioned Leios’ bedroom being open, Danyell blinked in surprise as Yuu fell to the floor. The poor boy was exhausted. “You go ahead, I’m not as stealthy as you.” She whispered softly with a smile as her husband crept up the stairs to check on their daughter. Bending over to the blonde boy as she extended a hand, the tired mother pulled him back to he’s feet before leading him up the stairs. She turned into the first room on the right, and carefully maneuvered through the countless projects and machinery before making her way to the bed. “Sorry about the mess, Leios isn’t the best at keeping his room in order. Though it should work for one night.” Promising softly as she turned to leave, Danyell waved goodnight before shutting the door and following her husband back to their room. After staying awake the entire previous night, and handling all the stress of the day, she was ready to finally sleep. Everyone in the house needed it.
(*Enter The All Magical Timeskip*)

Zach was hyper aware of each breath he took as they crossed the treck of desert. The dry air welcomed him home but the sand itched and made his exposed skin crawl like it had never done before. He kept his eyes on the rocky outcropping ahead where his answers may lie, but his body and intuition fought him all the way.

Manipulating the sand underfoot to ease the trek for his companions Zach lead them to their destination. As they drew nearer a small group of buildings became apparent. Some were built into the stone of the outcropping, carved windows and archways formed a sort of gate at the base of the stone. But there were smaller buildings as well, made from weather wood, but they were few compared to the sprawling structure of the stone fortress. A closer look shows the intricate carvings with the stone itself. The patterns are faded around the edges of the settlement, from erosion, but as they drew closer to the gate they became more defined, more complex, until the simple geometric shapes memorialized grand battles of Nil's history, above the very gate the eery likeness of a fully grown Nilisian Sand Worm loomed, it's spiraled maw open wide as if to swallow them should they get too close.

His awe never waned, from the first time he had seen the South Gate when he was a young boy, pointing out details to his brother, to when he came through alone when he was sent to live with his uncle three years ago, and finally now, with Leios and Umi at his side. His eyes traced the carvings, up and around the walls again, until his gaze was interrupted by a looming figure right in front of him. Zachs eyes widened, a tall, weathered and neigh grotesquely muscular man stood in his way and he'd nearly walked right into him. A fumbling apology on his lips, the man only looked down at Zach critically, beneath dark hooded brows, his dark skin riddled with scars only added to the mans menace factor. The lines on his face and the grey streaks in his short hair commanded not only respect but fear. But before Zach could even form an apology, the mans dark aura cracked with a smile.

"COUSIN ZACHARIAH!" The man boomed, Zach let out a startled noise at his name being said so loudly, blinking up at the man in confusion. He fumbled for his words still.

"C-cousin? Cous- Cousin! COUSIN ZORAN!" The mans face lit up, giving him a feverish nod. "COUSIN ZORAN!" Zach exclaimed as the older man swept him up into a bone crushing bear hug.

"You are so big! Look at you! You're toes are almost still on the ground!" Zoran exclaimed. "I remember when you could fit in the palm of my hand!" He cackled.

"I don't." Zach said monotonously. His cousin only laughed louder.

Zoran noticed his company, gently placing Zach back on his feet he observed them. "Who've you brought to the gates Zach? I don't recognize them." He says pensively, as if he would recognized any Ryujin citizen who would pass through the gates. Zach believed that wholeheartedly. Zoran gazed at them critically, the telltale Fahlih eyes burning into the two.

"Oh! These are my travelling companions." Zach said defensively. "This is Natsumi and that's Leios." He gestured at the two respectively. "Oh- uh..." He turned to stand beside Zoran and face his entourage. "This is my cousin Zoran," He looked sheepish, "He's my moms oldest sister's son." He trailed the family tree in his head. Despite the title of cousin, Zoran was only a few years younger than Zofia and Zachariah the First. Aunt Zena had been happily married by the time the twins had been born.

"We're both Seconds you know!" Zoran stated proudly, joyfully putting an arm around Zach's shoulder, "I was named after our grandfather!"

The joy of being reunited with Zoran had briefly distracted him from his overwhelming mindset but the weight of his heart crept back up into his throat and he called his cousin to attention.

"Cousin Zoran, we're in a bit of a hurry, can you open the gates, we need to see Uncle Zachariah."

Zoran nodded, looking side to side before whispering "He just came through earlier. He was walking around, plain as day could you believe it?" Zach's brow furrowed in confusion. What had Zoran heard?

"Zoran, we don't know if it's true-"

"It is true Zach. Marcy heard it from Aunt Zelda, her husbands still in the guard you know-"

Zach blinked in confusion, "What are you talking about?" Zach had assumed it was regarding his mothers fate.

Zoran eyed Umi and Leios suspiciously, then sighed, his eyes downcast. "The council... their all dead but you're uncle, Ryujin is plunging into chaos. We've managed to contain the information in the city as of now, but it's only a matter of time before the nations hear about the void in power..."

Rohan and Natsumi has gotten into many arguments before, but none were as bad as this one. This whole thing had Rohan in a bad mood so he decided to ignore the blonde kid admiring Danyell and Kios, he went back to check on his team. Making sure they were still sleeping. Rohan was too caught up in the moment to notice his hands shaking, he sat down next to Sahara and Iggy trying to calm down his hands. He decided to stay awake just Incase the last warlord tried to attack, or if the prisoners tried to escape. Morning came without Rohan even noticing, he was focused on the warlord the whole night. His eyes felt heavy but he had to fight through it.

“You should get some sleep” Kama said coming down the stairs. He walked into the kitchen to make coffee for everyone “Some agents from the YF are coming to pick up your mother and sisters. To one of our many homes, i suggest you go with them... where’s Natsumi? Is she back yet?”

Iggy slowly opened his eyes, stretching and yawning as he struggled to get up. He noticed Sahara and Rohan next to him then he remembered where he was. There was a lot of strangers so he decided to stay put.

Stirring with a soft moan as she heard an unfamiliar voice, Sahara slowly awoke to find a man standing across the room. He appeared to be in his late 30’s or earlier 40’s, though he was still quite muscular and dashing. Rohan’s father she’d met briefly the day before. His unexpected presence absolutely terrified her. Abruptly sitting up and scampering back a ways, the young took in her bearings along with a few deep breaths. Then everything slowly came back to her. She was in a home belonging to one of the great heroes her father had told her of at bedtime as a child. An ally of Rohan, and friend of his parents. Glancing over to her two companions, she gently brushed her now extra messy braid over her shoulder. That’s what she got for sleeping on it.
Then her gaze fell to Rohan’s shaking hands. Had the man across the room said something? What could have caused such a reaction? “A-Are you a-alright?” Crawling back over to the red headed boy, Sahara took both his hands into her own before resting her other on top of them. “W-What happened?” She questioned gently, yet earnestly. In all her time with Rohan, she’d never seen him like this. Whether he was angry, or frightened, she couldn’t be sure. All she knew was that something was indeed wrong. Then she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. “C-Couldn’t you s-sleep? Y-You were exhausted... We all were.” Biting her lower lip as her expression deepened with concern, Sahara briefly glanced over to his father. She didn’t know what they’d been talking about before she’d awoken, but she really only needed to know one thing. “H-He can’t g-go o-out to fight again, S-Sir... He’s not w-well...” Slowly turning her gaze back to Rohan, the blacksmith slowly dipped her head apologetically. “I-I’m sorry... I-I know it’s not my p-place, but y-you really should rest f-for a l-little.”

DannyGirl~ wrote:For a few moments after she’d returned to the group, there was silence. Her relationship with her brother had always been strained, and she’d snapped it in half. Honestly, she didn’t know how she should feel. Absolutely none of what she said had been fabricated in the slightest, but did that make it right to confront him? It had been years since the last time Rohan had showed her that he cared. Perhaps pretending was the only way she’d ever be happy.
Perhaps it was better to suffer in silence than to speak up, and lose those you love.
Slowly carrying her gaze up to Leios as she caught sight of his darkness reaching out to her, Natsumi watched breathlessly as he pulled the cigarette from her head before destroying it. Her lower lip trembled slight, however she managed to steady it by drawing in a deep breath. Now wasn’t the time.
This wasn’t about her.
Zach was hurting far worse.
Accepting his hand as Leios reached out to both she and Zach, the young woman’s gaze drifted back down to her feet. Was she really in any condition to make this journey? She’d been an emotional wreck before ever adding Rohan into the equation... Yuu’s sudden withdrawal from their mission really caught her attention, through she couldn’t bring herself to lift her head. Maybe-
No.
She’d begged for them to take her.
Pleaded for them to let her help.
Regardless of what Rohan, or anyone else, thought of her, she had to go. If she said quiet, and gave them both space it should be fine. She’d try her best not to be a burden.
And with that she felt the world melt away into a kind of comforting pitch blackness.
Leios’ powers were really something else, if was as if she could just escape for reality in an instant with them. Dissolve into a safe and empty space filled with absolutely nothing.
She longed for a similar feature in her own senshitsu, a place to cool down at in silence... But alas, she didn’t think she had anything to replicate his technique.
***
Sometime later they reappeared deep with the desert. It was still late at night, but within minutes Natsumi began to crave a glass of water. While she was used to hot weather, she was immediately able to tell the stark difference between Kagutsuchi’s humidity and Nil’s dry heat. She felt like a fish out of water.
Pushing the thought aside as her two companions conversed, the downtrodden redhead waited for them to finish before following after Zach in silence. While her family had but on a lot of vacations, the massive underground cities of Nil had for whatever reason never been a location. She wondered if Zach’s comment about their current state of government was the reasoning behind that, or if it simply wasn’t a tourist destination. Still it was nice to have something to thing about besides Rohan, and she wondered if the makeshift group could actually manage to have fun on their journey. Even with everything going on, an underground city sounded almost other worldly to her. It was funny how one could spend years in one place, never understanding what the next country over was really like.
She wondered if they’d have different methods of medical practice and architecture.
Most likely.
Maybe if things winded down a bit she’d ask Zach about it.
For now the distraction was a welcomed thought.

Sammich wrote:Zach was hyper aware of each breath he took as they crossed the treck of desert. The dry air welcomed him home but the sand itched and made his exposed skin crawl like it had never done before. He kept his eyes on the rocky outcropping ahead where his answers may lie, but his body and intuition fought him all the way.

Manipulating the sand underfoot to ease the trek for his companions Zach lead them to their destination. As they drew nearer a small group of buildings became apparent. Some were built into the stone of the outcropping, carved windows and archways formed a sort of gate at the base of the stone. But there were smaller buildings as well, made from weather wood, but they were few compared to the sprawling structure of the stone fortress. A closer look shows the intricate carvings with the stone itself. The patterns are faded around the edges of the settlement, from erosion, but as they drew closer to the gate they became more defined, more complex, until the simple geometric shapes memorialized grand battles of Nil's history, above the very gate the eery likeness of a fully grown Nilisian Sand Worm loomed, it's spiraled maw open wide as if to swallow them should they get too close.

His awe never waned, from the first time he had seen the South Gate when he was a young boy, pointing out details to his brother, to when he came through alone when he was sent to live with his uncle three years ago, and finally now, with Leios and Umi at his side. His eyes traced the carvings, up and around the walls again, until his gaze was interrupted by a looming figure right in front of him. Zachs eyes widened, a tall, weathered and neigh grotesquely muscular man stood in his way and he'd nearly walked right into him. A fumbling apology on his lips, the man only looked down at Zach critically, beneath dark hooded brows, his dark skin riddled with scars only added to the mans menace factor. The lines on his face and the grey streaks in his short hair commanded not only respect but fear. But before Zach could even form an apology, the mans dark aura cracked with a smile.

"COUSIN ZACHARIAH!" The man boomed, Zach let out a startled noise at his name being said so loudly, blinking up at the man in confusion. He fumbled for his words still.

"C-cousin? Cous- Cousin! COUSIN ZORAN!" The mans face lit up, giving him a feverish nod. "COUSIN ZORAN!" Zach exclaimed as the older man swept him up into a bone crushing bear hug.

"You are so big! Look at you! You're toes are almost still on the ground!" Zoran exclaimed. "I remember when you could fit in the palm of my hand!" He cackled.

"I don't." Zach said monotonously. His cousin only laughed louder.

Zoran noticed his company, gently placing Zach back on his feet he observed them. "Who've you brought to the gates Zach? I don't recognize them." He says pensively, as if he would recognized any Ryujin citizen who would pass through the gates. Zach believed that wholeheartedly. Zoran gazed at them critically, the telltale Fahlih eyes burning into the two.

"Oh! These are my travelling companions." Zach said defensively. "This is Natsumi and that's Leios." He gestured at the two respectively. "Oh- uh..." He turned to stand beside Zoran and face his entourage. "This is my cousin Zoran," He looked sheepish, "He's my moms oldest sister's son." He trailed the family tree in his head. Despite the title of cousin, Zoran was only a few years younger than Zofia and Zachariah the First. Aunt Zena had been happily married by the time the twins had been born.

"We're both Seconds you know!" Zoran stated proudly, joyfully putting an arm around Zach's shoulder, "I was named after our grandfather!"

The joy of being reunited with Zoran had briefly distracted him from his overwhelming mindset but the weight of his heart crept back up into his throat and he called his cousin to attention.

"Cousin Zoran, we're in a bit of a hurry, can you open the gates, we need to see Uncle Zachariah."

Zoran nodded, looking side to side before whispering "He just came through earlier. He was walking around, plain as day could you believe it?" Zach's brow furrowed in confusion. What had Zoran heard?

"Zoran, we don't know if it's true-"

"It is true Zach. Marcy heard it from Aunt Zelda, her husbands still in the guard you know-"

Zach blinked in confusion, "What are you talking about?" Zach had assumed it was regarding his mothers fate.

Zoran eyed Umi and Leios suspiciously, then sighed, his eyes downcast. "The council... their all dead but you're uncle, Ryujin is plunging into chaos. We've managed to contain the information in the city as of now, but it's only a matter of time before the nations hear about the void in power..."

The sand was impressive and so was the sand worm statue but Leios wasn't in the mood to enjoy the sights. He was just following along until Zach nearly bumped into a man near the entrance to the city who was even taller than Zach was. He was ready to back his cousin up if it came down to a scuffle but the mood suddenly changed as they proclaimed each to be cousin and cousin. Unsure of how to act in front of the rambunctious relative of Zach, Leios elected to stay silent. While the two were talking Leios began wondering if this Zoran counted as his cousin too but he decided that the odd circumstances that made him related to Zach through Sehun's side probably didn't extend much further. Leios did eventually speak for a short bit when Zach introduced himself and Natsumi to Zoran, "Nice to meet you Zoran. I'm also Zach's cousin, although through his father's side." He wasn't sure how the Ryujin side of Zach's family felt about Sehun but if it wasn't good then Leios would rather get it out of the way sooner.

Leios' eyes widened when he too heard the news about the Nilian council. He had come with Zach and Natsumi to help his cousin re-cooperate and meet up with his uncle but it was looking like a lot more pressing, and dangerous, matter was brewing.

[The Final Warlord is...]
A cloaked woman sat in the dark ruins that was the base of the warlords. Glancing up she scanned over the location, the empty room was where she would train her Warlords, train to fight, train to work together. She clasped her hands together as she bent down further, releasing a shaky breath. "They failed..." she spoke, her voice hollow as she contemplated the idea. Lnna had disappeared, Ying had been injured and was currently recovering in the base, And Judah and Ryuji were both...

"No, I was the one who failed..." she stood up as she walked forward, her memories of her students flashing. How hard she trained them, where did she fail them? They weren't weak...the fault was hers alone.

She stumbled before dropping down to her knees, "They weren't ready, they weren't ready" she shook her head as she cupped her face into her hands "Lnna, and Ying are hurt, Judah and Ryuji are dead, and now even my Cassidy and Alexander are..." she lowered her hands as they shook violently...slowly, an inky blackness overcame her right hand.

...And it's all your fault...

"D̸a̷m̴m̴i̷t̷!!" She roared as slammed her fist into the ground, black wind swirled and tore into the surrounding area, shattering stone as it lashed out. Her hood flew back as her wild pink hair blew around violently. "All I wanted, was a chance to be able to...to..." she shook as tears streamed down her face, the same blackness, inching up from her neck as it spread. "This is all my fault, my precious disciples, I've failed you...Lynna, Ying...my dear Judah...and my sweet little twins" slumping down she wept silently as, 'I'm sorry, I've availed you all nothing...and all we've accomplished was defeating Zofia...

Maybe it is time to quit-

Pausing, the woman slowly sat back up.  Her attention drawn to cool wetness on her hand, looking down. Her hand was bleeding, she store down at the blood. A dark expression crossed her face, as she gripped her fist tighter as more blood was drawn out. Her cobalt blue eyes darkened, the black mark now stretching out across her right cheek, it slithered upwards as she stood up "I'm not done yet..." she growled, "I started this because of thise cowards who gave up, I won't give up..." she stood up as black wind swirled around herself, "Everyone, I'll continue to fight for your dreams, and once I slaughter those bastards...Jove, and whoever destroyed Fuji are next"

She looked down at the black marking and blood, "Even if it means losing myself in the process...now then..." Black wind danced about her as her pink hair bellowed, the ruins around her were being broken up by the ferocity. A drop of blood fell from her hand, before vanishing in a faint red glow

"It's time for Eve Skyslayer of the Heroes to join the hunt..."

[Yuu, post Timeskip]
Yuu's eyes shot open as he lay spawled out on the floor like a sack of potatoes amidst the clutter of Leios' room. Shooting up as he looked around, he recalled last night as he wiped off the drool running down his chin. Sitting for a moment before clutching his hair tightly "I feel asleep!?" He panicked "Two of my idols show up and I fall asleep before getting a good impression going!? Crap!"

"What time is it!?" Shooting up, and then tripping over something as he slammed back into the floor, he crawled his way over to the window. "Ah, morning...I should totally make breakfast for everyone. I'm sure that impress them-" he paused briefly as he looked down at his hands, counting off the Siopelos, the thug and his friends, and wasn't there two others. "Ohhh, we have prisoners..." Yuu realized as he quickly made way to the door, reaching out he noticed a small draft. Looking down he blanched at the current state of attire, "my clothes were wrecked!" He slowly looked over at some of Leios' clothes, "I mean...he isn't wearing em right now"

[One quick change later]

"ALRIGHT!!!" Yuu yelled bursting out of Leios room, Yuu checked self over as he adjusted to the new clothes. A bit of a tight fit considering the difference in bulk, 'Leios needs to put on a few pounds' Yuu noted fidgeting with the clothes as he stumbled about "Time to wake up everyone! We got to interrogate the people trying to kill you!~" Yuu had no intention of letting himself be quiet, if a group of weridos were trying to kill his new friends and Idols, then they needed to get down to business pronto!

"Alright, this is a crime scene! Time to get down to business--" Rushing down the stairs and running into the living room, Yuu skidded to a halt as he spotted the others in the room. The Thuggish brute, and the green haired girl, and a stranger- "Kama Yousenju!" Yuu beamed brightly he extended his hand out as he ignored the others "I'm Yuu! I'm a big fan of you and the other heroes!! Hey, hey, can I get an autograph..." forcibly pulling himself out of his excitement, Yuu glanced between Rohan and Kama before reeling back out of way between the two, 'What the heck is this sensation!? Crap, I walked in on a seriously tense note didn't I!?' Yuu looked between everyone, the sudden weight of being a total stranger causing him to slowly back away.

The talk between Rohan and Kama was interrupted by the heroes fanboy. It wasn’t a big deal though, Kama was just about done with Rohan for now. So he turned to greet the overly excited boy “Hello Yuu, nice to meet you. Looks like you are our number 1 fan. Thanks for the help. I hear that you brought these two yesterday. Nice work.” Kama gave him a thumbs up and pulled a pen from his pocket. He got a napkin and gave him the autograph he wanted “I’ll give you a better one when there’s something other than a napkin.” Now that that was taken care of Kama walked over to the defeated warlord. He brought a chair over and sat in front of them “do we have alcohol here? That should be strong enough to wake them up.” He asked the boys, but he shouldn’t expect an answer from them. They didn’t live here, so he decided to go look for himself. After a few minutes of searching he found some laying around in the kitchen. He brought it back along with some napkins “hopefully it works.” Kama placed the napkin on top of the opened alcohol bottle and gave it a quick turn “that should be enough.” He did the same to another napkin then reached out to the sleeping warlord, he put it right in front of their noses so that they could smell it with now problem.

While Kama dealt with yuu and the warlord, Rohan could finally rest. Through the week he had only slept for a few minutes, plus not eating much was taking a toll on him. The injured has been healed but he was extremely tired, his hands were shaking. Sahara taking his hands and holding them tightly was helping him greatly, and he was grateful for her support “I’m good... I’m good” he forced out. He was obviously lying, the red head was about to pass out. He collapsed on Sahara’s shoulders but wasn’t out just yet. He still had something to do “I’m fine...”

Upon finally reaching the entrance to the underground city, Natsumi found herself at a loss for words. Though she was in a terrible place emotionally, that didn’t prevent her from gazing to the intricate sandy arc in awe. The amount of detail put into the opening made it feel more like a piece of art than an entrance. However after a few moments she managed to pull herself out of her wonderment, thanks to the sudden stir within the group. A giant of a man bumped into Zach, before seemingly challenging him for a few moments. For a second she was sincerely worried. They were all sleep deprived and exhausted... Another fight was the opposite of what they needed. She wasn’t sure they could even take someone like this in their current states. Luckily it never came to that however. Her emerald eyes widened as the two seemingly hit it off, before Zach took the time to give some much needed introductions. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Natsumi. I friend.” She quickly responded with a short bow, forcing all the energy she could muster into her usual perky tone. Though that too was tired and worn.
All of the comforts of home seemed to be lost to her for eons now. She wanted Taro. Her baby boy, oh how she missed him. And her fuzzy bunny slippers, with the cute ears. Oh! As well as her teddy bear. What she wouldn’t give to be in one of her silk nightgowns, curled up tightly with her pup and stuffed animal on her heaven sent mattress. This week had confirmed and old fear of hers, she was spoiled. However that no longer bother her in the slightest. By that point she would settled for a blanket and a spare pillow or lap. She just wanted to sleep. Now.
Perking up slightly at the sudden heavy news, the young woman froze for a moment. They were all... Dead? But how? Why? Her father often did business in Nil, yet she hadn’t even been aware the country was having minor difficulties. Much least something this major. “...We should go check on your uncle.” She finally whispered in encouragement, waiting for Zach to make the next move.
And get some sleep.
Though now wasn’t exactly a time when she could voice that particular complaint.
She had to be supportive.
Besides she was sure if she passed out they’d find her a bed eventually.
Until then she’d follow Zach’s directions.

Despite his efforts to reassure her, it was obvious that Rohan wasn’t in fact doing fine. He looked like he was on the brink of passing out, though she was still surprised when he collapsed against her shoulder. Heat slowly rose to her cheeks as she glanced down to him, and it took a few moments for her to push aside her usual embarrassment. Rohan was just exhausted. If she could take care of him, then she would try her best to do so. Holding his hands all the more tightly as his shaking increased, Sahara quickly pondered what the best way to help comfort him was. “I-I could make you some t-tea!” She offered with a soft smile, though immediately felt that was the wrong course of action. If she made tea then who would support him?
“I’ll make breakfast, you’re a guest.” Yawning and stretching out as she entered the kitchen, Lissandra ran a hand through her messy hair before glancing over to Rohan. The arrogant bastard really got put in his place by the looks of things. He looked awful. “You’re looking more better than usual. Did you do something new with your hair?” She muttered with a slight smirk, before opening the fridge. To her surprise they were really cleaned out. Pantry it was. Making tea didn’t take much time at all, though making a meal for so many was a different story entirely. So she decided to get the tea out of the way first. After she finished she quickly ran back to give Cherokee and the kids some, before moving to the three on the kitchen floor. “Here guys, you might want to help the a**hole.” She instructed calmly, before leaving the teapot on the counter for whoever else wanted some. Now the hard part. How many pancakes would it take to feed this many people?
Nodding hesitantly at the girls instructions, Sahara took a sip of her tea and immediately perked up before setting it to the side. It was good! Extremely different than Nilian tea, but still delicious. “T-Thank you.” She whispered softly in reply before holding a cup up to Rohan. “H-Here... Y-You should try s-some.” Encouraging gently as she studied him over, the young woman prayed it would help a bit. Hopefully he’d finally be able to fall asleep.

[Yuu]
Yuu continued to look between Kama and Rohan, 'So that jackass is Umi's brother...so, that means Rohan is Kama's kid as well?' The memory of Rohan and Umi's fight last night still fresh in his head, he gave a analytical glare towards Rohan, who was getting fawned over by the green haired girl. Despite Kama saying he was all done talking to Rohan, he didn't seem upset at all. "Thanks Mr. Yosenju I was just doing my duty as a Hero. I stumbled on Zach and Natsumi being attacked, so I jumped in..." He turned his attention back to Kama, "Got a bit dinged up, but the most important thing is that we survived. She ran off last night though, did you know?" He raised a brow, watching as Kama searched for some alcohol, "Afterall...it's important for a family to look after one another," he glanced at Rohan, he spoke with an edge to his voice "Isn't that right...Rohan?"

And with the sound of Liss entering, the room Yuu's attention was quickly pulled as he spotted her "Woah!? It's a minature Mrs. Danyell!!" Yuu noted loudly, his attention quickly pulled from the others. 'Wow! Another Child of the Heroes!' Yuu beamed brightly, his smile growing wider at the mention of breakfast, 'And she even offers foooooood!!!' Yuu smiled as he followed after her, "Hello! My name is Yuu!~ you must be Lissandra! Your mom and Natsumi have told me about you!" Before, he could continue he spotted Kama, getting ready to wake up the warlords. "Oh!" He clapped his hands together as he bowed, "I gotta go, it was nice meeting you!" He quickly ran back out.

[Cassidy and Alexander]
The two Warlords rested quietly, still tied up by Yuu's coat, unconscious. Both of their faces a covered in either market ink, or make-up. The moment the alcohol soaked was placed by their noses, both woke up abruptly. Cassidy's and Alex's eyes shot open, as did their heads resulting in them hitting their heads together.

"Crap!" Alex snarled as he closed his eyes, moving his arm to rub his poor head, he quickly realized he couldn't move his arms. "What the hell is..." Alex quickly looked up in surprise, ge was tied up to his sister and currently surrounded by...the enemy. His expression of surprise shifted to a heated glare as recalled the fight before, "This is just great. Dammit, Cassidy we got-" he turned to his sister, who was still recovering from the head trauma. The words in his mouth sputtering off, a faint blush on his dark cheeks, Cassidy looked freaking beautiful, a masterwork of make-up adorning her. Cassidy recovered enough as she quickly flinched back under the gaze of the strangers "Alex! W-What's happen-" Her voice died off as she looked at her wide eyed brother, a mess of marker spawled out in absurdities.

"What the hell happened to your face!?!?" They both yelled simultaneously. The two began to thrash about, with Alex moving about Cassidy quickly spotted Rohan and Sahara. "Sahara!?" She froze as fear shone in her eyes, she hung her head as she tried to pivot her body as far away from them as possible, hanging her head in shame. Alex meanwhile, glared at all other persons in the room "And what the hell is this whole setup for, huh?" He growled, putting as much of himself as he could between Cassidy and the others.

Sahara was great at relaxing people, he could probably fall asleep on her like this. Though Liss’ Smartass comments weren’t helping either, if anything he might just stand up again and fight her. He took a sip of the tea Sahara offered him, just like Mrs. Danyells tea when he was little. It made him happy to be drinking it again, though he had to admit Liss, tasted kinda funny.

Iggy finally decided to get up and watch from a distance, he wa s kinda shy to be around so many people. Cassidy was there too, he was happy to see her again but he couldn’t go talk to her right now. Rohan’s dad was gonna ask some questions so he just stayed sitted.

“A hero? Nice to see kids still want to do good for the world “thank you for helping my little natsumi, and no. I had no idea that she left. I’m gonna have to talk her when she comes back. For now... i assume she’s with leios... for now i hope he protects my little girl well” he turn back to the warlord waking up “oh great, you must be confused on why you’re here. So I’m gonna let you guys have a few seconds to calm down.” Kama backed away to give them some space, he didn’t want to scare some kids so backing away for now was the best option.

The tea restore some of Rohan’s energy, though he didn’t want to pull away from Sahara. He just wanted to stay by her a few more minutes. Though he finally stood up without Sahara’s help, glaring at Yuu for his comments, he didn’t know this little sh!t and he wasn’t gonna let him say whatever he wanted “why don’t you go look after your own family. Make us all a favor so your annoyance doesn’t get in the way.” He had been saving that last bit of energy for when the warlord woke up, well he only cared for one... “well well. Look who we have here” he said standing in front of Cassidy. The memory of her turning her back on them and leaving them to die by Judah’s hands just kept playing in his head. Then he remembered that natsumi’s clothes were all torn up from a fight... she must’ve hurt her... “Judah is dead, he was your friend right? Well you’re lucky I’m feeling generous today. I got you one way ticket to go join him in hell” Rohan quickly reached for Cassidy’s neck and began choking.

Kama reaches out for Rohan to pull him away but Iggy best him to it. Iggy punched Rohan in the gut hopping that he would let go. Unfortunately Rohan’s grip wasn’t loosening. “Rohan let go of her! You’re hurting her.” He kept punching him trying to get him off her.

His eyes were locked with Cassidy’s but after a few seconds he let go of her. Kama pulled him away and took him to the other side of the house. Away from the warlords. He came back right away to check on Cassidy “are you alright? Can you breath?”

'That name... He can't be serious, can he...?'

Solomon shook his head, bringing his focus back to the present as he glimpsed the clones beginning to clash with the girl. He could sense a very clear disconnect between his two adversaries, their movements and coordination weren't cohesive by any stretch of the imagination. "Lady luck smiles upon me today," he remarked, as a diagonal stone pillar burst out from the ground under him, sending him shooting upwards toward the ceiling. Simultaneously, a stone pillar shot out of the wall behind Takumi, with an angle that sent the boy hurdling on a crash course toward Solomon. He tackled Takumi in midair as they both broke through the earthen arena's hard ceiling. Looking behind him, he snapped quickly with his offhand, and the rest of the massive roof began to crumble, its large pieces of shattered rock raining down on Kamilla and the clones below. Solomon and Takumi landed on the edge of the structure, and with the roof gone, all that remained was the outline formed by the top of the walls (OOC - picture a hollow pyramid with its top cut off if youre having a hard time picturing this lmao).

"The son of Eve Skyslayer, you say?" he inquired, a touch of genuine curiosity in his tone. He sheathed his daggers, and put his hands up to signify that he simply wanted to talk for a moment. As much as he knew he needed to hurry and finish up this scuffle, he couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. "Let me ask you something, what does the name 'Zachariah' mean to you?" he asked, with a twinge of desperation and urgency pervading his enunciation of each word. The winds of nighttime Wu-Long punctuated his question perfectly, taking the weight of his words and dispersing it throughout the air.

Back down below, as the clones continued to batter down at Kamilla, they all collectively stopped, looking up at their master as they felt Solomon's desire shift away from conflict. At once, they too propelled themselves upward with the same stone monoliths shooting them in their master's direction. With perfect punctuality and synchronization, they landed behind Solomon, momentarily at ease as the battle had come to a halt.

Yawning as a blonde stranger suddenly shouted in excitement, Lissandra continued to work on breakfast with a face that was all but expressionless. A miniature Danyell, huh? It wasn’t like she’d heard that a hundred times. Now, someone making a connection between her and her father... That would’ve taken her by surprise. Honestly, if it were for her eyes, she could’ve been convinced she had a different father altogether. Though she supposed that she also inherited a large sum of his personality. This furthering her faith in her mother’s loyalty. As if her mother were capable of being unloyal to begin with. “Pleasure.” She remarked flatly at his introduction, while rubbing her eyes. Despite sleeping rather soundly, she still felt as though she could sleep for a week. After such a straining experience it was probably possible. If not needed. Luckily there wouldn’t be a need to waste energy on pleasantries though, as Yuu quickly scampered off after Kama.
Liss silently eyed the group in the living room as she prepped the pancakes. She studied them over as they began to freak out, admittedly lost when it came to the scribbles on the boy’s face. Though the makeup had Natsumi written all over it. Slowly shaking her head as they demanded to know why they were in such circumstances, the teen let out a long low sigh. Were they really that stupid? “Probably because you attempted to murder everyone in this household.” She muttered back softly in annoyance before turning to heat her pan. Did they think they deserved a better treatment? Honestly they were lucky to still be alive.
Sahara glanced over to Rohan in confusion as he suddenly rose to his feet. What was the blonde comment supposed to mean? Rohan was looking out for his family... She’d only met him, because he chose to face the warlords for his family. Sure, Rohan had a lot of rough edges, but he meant well. Deep down he was a kindhearted person. He just chose to conceal it.
Wincing slightly at his cold rebuttal to the stranger, the young maiden slowly shook her head. He really had to work on how he handled his anger. As well as proper social judgement. Though she supposed being genuine was a positive quality in its own way.
Then something unexpected happened. “C-Cassidy?” Turning to face her with a deeply pained gaze, Sahara could hardly process what happened next. The shock flickering in her eyes deepened as Rohan’s hand wrapped around the girl’s neck. At first she couldn’t speak, move, or even think properly. However after a few moments of watching Cassidy struggle, and Iggy desperately trying to free her, a scream escaped her lips. “R-Rohan!” Her breath fell heavy, and sharp, as the young man’s father pulled him away. Pain reading through every essence of her expression as Rohan then swiftly left the room.
While Cassidy had betrayed them, and left them for dead, Sahara didn’t want to see her in such a state. Rohan had a right to be angry. He might’ve even had a right to kill her... But not like this. This wasn’t a battle, it was hardly even a fight. The girl was tied up. She had no way to defend herself. After staring at Cassidy for a few moments while Kama checked on her, she slowly stood as well before going to find Rohan. No one was going to say anything to him? That was unacceptable. However it was obvious that he was hurting... The whole situation was going to be difficult. “...W-Why would y-you d-do that?” She whispered hesitantly after finding him in the hallway, unable to meet his gaze.

Takumi glared as he fired a volley of arrows at the clones as Soloman lept, though he was thrown completely off guard by the pillar slamming into his back. Letting out a pained yell as he was thrown through the air, Takumi clenched his teeth as he used his Seishitsu to right himself "Kamilla!" He called out to her as he was tackled in the air. Flying through the air, Takumi wrestled with Soloman before slamming into the ground. Takumi quickly sent a wave of wind towards Soloman, creating a gap of distance between them. He quickly grabbed his bow, drew back as green energy formed, and then paused. He glared hatefully at Soloman, clenching his teeth "...you threaten my life, the lives of the people in MY camp, and Kamilla...." he snarled as he drew more power, "And you expect me to awnser your stupid questions!?" He glared as his clones gathered behind him. With slight disdain, Takumi wasn't fond of the idea of entertaining this psychopath, but given the situation...

"Zachariah..." He spoke slowly, his bow fixed on Soloman "I have an uncle by that name, part of Nil's council. And then there's Zachariah the 2nd, I don't know him too well...been awhile since Mom last visited Zofia, last I heard he was staying over at Kagutsuchi." Takumi still primed on his target, waited for Kamilla to spring up, or for the psychopaths reaction. Takumi's glare hardened as he thought more on his uncles family.

Zachariah the 1st, and her brother Zofia. Who married Sehun, and had two kids...

with light and earth Seishitsu.

a sudden terrifying feeling washed over him "Why the hell does it matter to you!?" He roared at the monsters before him, the wind beginning to pick up harsher, he tightened his grip on his bow, the longer he looked at that sickening eye...the more it scared him.

Masyar wrote:'That name... He can't be serious, can he...?'

Solomon shook his head, bringing his focus back to the present as he glimpsed the clones beginning to clash with the girl. He could sense a very clear disconnect between his two adversaries, their movements and coordination weren't cohesive by any stretch of the imagination. "Lady luck smiles upon me today," he remarked, as a diagonal stone pillar burst out from the ground under him, sending him shooting upwards toward the ceiling. Simultaneously, a stone pillar shot out of the wall behind Takumi, with an angle that sent the boy hurdling on a crash course toward Solomon. He tackled Takumi in midair as they both broke through the earthen arena's hard ceiling. Looking behind him, he snapped quickly with his offhand, and the rest of the massive roof began to crumble, its large pieces of shattered rock raining down on Kamilla and the clones below. Solomon and Takumi landed on the edge of the structure, and with the roof gone, all that remained was the outline formed by the top of the walls (OOC - picture a hollow pyramid with its top cut off if youre having a hard time picturing this lmao).

"The son of Eve Skyslayer, you say?" he inquired, a touch of genuine curiosity in his tone. He sheathed his daggers, and put his hands up to signify that he simply wanted to talk for a moment. As much as he knew he needed to hurry and finish up this scuffle, he couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. "Let me ask you something, what does the name 'Zachariah' mean to you?"  he asked, with a twinge of desperation and urgency pervading his enunciation of each word. The winds of nighttime Wu-Long punctuated his question perfectly, taking the weight of his words and dispersing it throughout the air.

Back down below, as the clones continued to batter down at Kamilla, they all collectively stopped, looking up at their master as they felt Solomon's desire shift away from conflict. At once, they too propelled themselves upward with the same stone monoliths shooting them in their master's direction. With perfect punctuality and synchronization, they landed behind Solomon, momentarily at ease as the battle had come to a halt.

Derekjay2000 wrote:Takumi glared as he fired a volley of arrows at the clones as Soloman lept, though he was thrown completely off guard by the pillar slamming into his back. Letting out a pained yell as he was thrown through the air, Takumi clenched his teeth as he used his Seishitsu to right himself "Kamilla!" He called out to her as he was tackled in the air. Flying through the air, Takumi wrestled with Soloman before slamming into the ground. Takumi quickly sent a wave of wind towards Soloman, creating a gap of distance between them. He quickly grabbed his bow, drew back as green energy formed, and then paused. He glared hatefully at Soloman, clenching his teeth "...you threaten my life, the lives of the people in MY camp, and Kamilla...." he snarled as he drew more power, "And you expect me to awnser your stupid questions!?" He glared as his clones gathered behind him. With slight disdain, Takumi wasn't fond of the idea of entertaining this psychopath, but given the situation...

"Zachariah..." He spoke slowly, his bow fixed on Soloman "I have an uncle by that name, part of Nil's council. And then there's Zachariah the 2nd, I don't know him too well...been awhile since Mom last visited Zofia, last I heard he was staying over at Kagutsuchi." Takumi still primed on his target, waited for Kamilla to spring up, or for the psychopaths reaction. Takumi's glare hardened as he thought more on his uncles family.

Zachariah the 1st, and her brother Zofia. Who married Sehun, and had two kids...

with light and earth Seishitsu.

a sudden terrifying feeling washed over him "Why the hell does it matter to you!?" He roared at the monsters before him, the wind beginning to pick up harsher, he tightened his grip on his bow, the longer he looked at that sickening eye...the more it scared him.

Kamila swung down upon the clone with a mighty force, her hatchet striking it's shoulder, slicing through a matter that was not quite flesh but not quite vapor. The likeness of Soloman crumpled to the dune and began to dissipate.

The next two clones closed in and Kamila knelt on on knee. She slices the dune with her free hand, sending two blades of sand driven by wind towards the foes. They reeled back at the contact, battered but still standing.

"Stop staring at me you creeps." She hissed through her teeth. The clones may not have held the same nausea inducing aura as their original but they still instilled Kamila with a discomfort. She engaged with the one on her right, swinging her hatchet wildly, she heard Takumi cry out in pain above but had enough sense not to look up from her foes.

"C'mon Takumi, don't make me come up there, you're a big boy!" She shouted, embedding her hatchet into the side of a Soloman. The others were enclosing on her though and the walls of Soloman's structure began to shake. Takumi screamed her name and Kamila cursed, rubble from the ceiling above hit the clone before her and rained all around.

She raised a hand skyward to send a blade of wind through the rubble above but it was too late. A jagged stone collided with her right shoulder, tearing her tunic and drawing blood. Her blade of wind prevented the rest of the rubble from crashing onto her, but she was injured.

Kamila could still hold her hatchet and was fending off a clone that hadn't been hindered by the rubble. "Get away!" She cried, tears of pain in her eyes. She made a few swings but none of them found purchase. The Soloman's voice rang clearly, as if he were right beside her.

"Zachariah?" She spat, despite that acid that brewed in her belly at the mention of her blood fathers full first name she allowed Takumi to speak. Takumi could give away family secrets to a psychopath for all she cared. She wasn't part of that family.

She stood, cradling her injured shoulder, praying Takumi wold be smart enough to finish Soloman off while he was talking.

Yuu's expression twisted into anger, Rohan's words and actions were begin to take a toll on Yuu's patience. Flashes of his parents sparked his next words "You don't have any right to talk about family" Yuu snarled, clenching his fist. An overwhelming urge to beat a lession into the criminal scumbag, but Yuu refrained, letting out a long sigh of breath. 'You don't know anything about him Yuu...' He reasoned, his glare shifting to pity as he turned away from Rohan "I truly pray you NEVER experience the loss of your family, especially if you're at fault for it..."

Cassidy watched wide eyed as Rohan approached her, flinching at his words. At the mention of Judah, tears formed in her eyes as she grit her teeth, anger flashing in her eyes "Don't you dare talk about Judah like that!" She yelled, right before he wrapped his hands around her neck and began to tighten. Iggy rushed to stop him, surprising Cassidy as she glared, tears rolling down her eyes, 'Why...why do you care!?' She thought as she let out a strangled growl, 'I betrayed you too...'

"Don't you touch her!" Alex and Yuu yelled, both their expressions turning to rage at the sight, Alex instantly began slamming his foot into Rohan's ribs with full force. Flames erupted off of Yuu as he pulled back a punch to slam into Rohan. Luckily for Rohan, he relented and was pulled out of the situation. "Big man ain't ya!" Yuu yelled after him, he shook his fist angrily as the flames died off "What kinda scumbag attacks a defenseless prisoner. Man that guy pisses me off" he muttered profusely an angry twitch in his eye.

"Oi! Cass, you okay!" Alex's normally stoic face was wracked with worry, Cassidy began coughing out with relief. As Kama approached the two, "Don't you dare..." Alex quickly reverted to his previous expression, intense hatred in his eyes as he raised his leg as high as he could, blackness erupting off it as he swung it down "GET NEAR HER!!!" A massive wave of darkness blasted by Kama and Yuu. The later quickly letting out a panicked yell and falling back. The floor and wall in front of Alex and Cassidy being obliterated by the darkness, Alex's breathing was ragged with anger as Darkness poured off him "You think we can't fight back!? I only didn't fight because I knew how outnumbered we were..." the inky blackness began to writhe, and shutter, "But, outnumbered, or outmatched, I'll kill...every. single. person...who hurts my sister-GAHH!" He was about to continue before receiving a sharp jab in the side from Cassidy. "Stop it...Alex..." she shuttered, taking deep breathes.

"That bastard was choking you! What do you expect me to do!?" Alex chastised angrily, he recoiled as she turned her head to him. Cassidy's makeup was running down her face as it washed off by tears, "I deserved it!" She yelled, closing her eyes "I hurt people who got in the way, peoe who were only trying to be nice, Alex!" She cried remembering Natsumi, she glanced at Iggy "I...I hurt them. I probably even deserve to let him finish the job-"

"Hold it right there!" Yuu yelled, he was currently patching the floor and wall with ice before standing abruptly and facing them. "You two have done some bad things, for sure. But he was talking about killing you!" he quickly approached them, and bent down to Cassidy, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her so their faces were as close as they could be, "No one...and I mean no one has the right to kill!" He spoke loudly and firmly, "Not that scumbag, not you two and your weird cult. No one, so don't go making light about a human life!" Cassidy stared teary eyed as she stared back at Yuu's stern face, his lips turning up into a smile to try and comfort her.

Until Alexander swiftly slammed his boot into Yuu's face, the blond quickly releasing the white haired girl as he slumped against the ground, "...That's for punching Cass earlier..." Alex mumbled, with a glare. Cassidy let out a panicked gasp as she looked down at Yuu.

"Owww..." Yuu pulled himself up, rubbing his cheek, "I'm gonna allow that..." he groaned, turning to glance at the doorway Rohan and the green haired girl left through, Yuu turned to Kama with a questioning look. "I'm sure you're super concerned about this interrogation and all, but...MAYBE you should be more worried about your son?" Yuu noted with a slight edge to his tone, "He was pretty unhinged last night, said some awful things to Umi, I think he needs some good ol' family counsel. I think I have things from here" Yuu noted with his best smile, ignoring the boot print on his cheek.

Turning back to the two Warlords, Yuu's smile persisted as he stared towards Alex "You really care about your...sister? Am I right. Look, you two did some bad things...but we don't plan on hurting you, we just want to talk..."

Alex glared at the blonde, scanning the room as he weighed his options, turning to Cassidy as she simply nodded pleadingly. Alex let out an annoyed sigh before speaking "All I care about is my sister, and Mother. Let me make that clear, I could care less about any of you. Not you, nor the heroes..." he glared, "so what do you wanna know"

...Outside, the wind began to pick up at a steady, but subtle pace. Dark clouds forming in the far distance...

Derekjay2000 wrote:Takumi glared as he fired a volley of arrows at the clones as Soloman lept, though he was thrown completely off guard by the pillar slamming into his back. Letting out a pained yell as he was thrown through the air, Takumi clenched his teeth as he used his Seishitsu to right himself "Kamilla!" He called out to her as he was tackled in the air. Flying through the air, Takumi wrestled with Soloman before slamming into the ground. Takumi quickly sent a wave of wind towards Soloman, creating a gap of distance between them. He quickly grabbed his bow, drew back as green energy formed, and then paused. He glared hatefully at Soloman, clenching his teeth "...you threaten my life, the lives of the people in MY camp, and Kamilla...." he snarled as he drew more power, "And you expect me to awnser your stupid questions!?" He glared as his clones gathered behind him. With slight disdain, Takumi wasn't fond of the idea of entertaining this psychopath, but given the situation...

"Zachariah..." He spoke slowly, his bow fixed on Soloman "I have an uncle by that name, part of Nil's council. And then there's Zachariah the 2nd, I don't know him too well...been awhile since Mom last visited Zofia, last I heard he was staying over at Kagutsuchi." Takumi still primed on his target, waited for Kamilla to spring up, or for the psychopaths reaction. Takumi's glare hardened as he thought more on his uncles family.

Zachariah the 1st, and her brother Zofia. Who married Sehun, and had two kids...

with light and earth Seishitsu.

a sudden terrifying feeling washed over him "Why the hell does it matter to you!?" He roared at the monsters before him, the wind beginning to pick up harsher, he tightened his grip on his bow, the longer he looked at that sickening eye...the more it scared him.

Sammich wrote:

Masyar wrote:'That name... He can't be serious, can he...?'

Solomon shook his head, bringing his focus back to the present as he glimpsed the clones beginning to clash with the girl. He could sense a very clear disconnect between his two adversaries, their movements and coordination weren't cohesive by any stretch of the imagination. "Lady luck smiles upon me today," he remarked, as a diagonal stone pillar burst out from the ground under him, sending him shooting upwards toward the ceiling. Simultaneously, a stone pillar shot out of the wall behind Takumi, with an angle that sent the boy hurdling on a crash course toward Solomon. He tackled Takumi in midair as they both broke through the earthen arena's hard ceiling. Looking behind him, he snapped quickly with his offhand, and the rest of the massive roof began to crumble, its large pieces of shattered rock raining down on Kamilla and the clones below. Solomon and Takumi landed on the edge of the structure, and with the roof gone, all that remained was the outline formed by the top of the walls (OOC - picture a hollow pyramid with its top cut off if youre having a hard time picturing this lmao).

"The son of Eve Skyslayer, you say?" he inquired, a touch of genuine curiosity in his tone. He sheathed his daggers, and put his hands up to signify that he simply wanted to talk for a moment. As much as he knew he needed to hurry and finish up this scuffle, he couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. "Let me ask you something, what does the name 'Zachariah' mean to you?"  he asked, with a twinge of desperation and urgency pervading his enunciation of each word. The winds of nighttime Wu-Long punctuated his question perfectly, taking the weight of his words and dispersing it throughout the air.

Back down below, as the clones continued to batter down at Kamilla, they all collectively stopped, looking up at their master as they felt Solomon's desire shift away from conflict. At once, they too propelled themselves upward with the same stone monoliths shooting them in their master's direction. With perfect punctuality and synchronization, they landed behind Solomon, momentarily at ease as the battle had come to a halt.

Derekjay2000 wrote:Takumi glared as he fired a volley of arrows at the clones as Soloman lept, though he was thrown completely off guard by the pillar slamming into his back. Letting out a pained yell as he was thrown through the air, Takumi clenched his teeth as he used his Seishitsu to right himself "Kamilla!" He called out to her as he was tackled in the air. Flying through the air, Takumi wrestled with Soloman before slamming into the ground. Takumi quickly sent a wave of wind towards Soloman, creating a gap of distance between them. He quickly grabbed his bow, drew back as green energy formed, and then paused. He glared hatefully at Soloman, clenching his teeth "...you threaten my life, the lives of the people in MY camp, and Kamilla...." he snarled as he drew more power, "And you expect me to awnser your stupid questions!?" He glared as his clones gathered behind him. With slight disdain, Takumi wasn't fond of the idea of entertaining this psychopath, but given the situation...

"Zachariah..." He spoke slowly, his bow fixed on Soloman "I have an uncle by that name, part of Nil's council. And then there's Zachariah the 2nd, I don't know him too well...been awhile since Mom last visited Zofia, last I heard he was staying over at Kagutsuchi." Takumi still primed on his target, waited for Kamilla to spring up, or for the psychopaths reaction. Takumi's glare hardened as he thought more on his uncles family.

Zachariah the 1st, and her brother Zofia. Who married Sehun, and had two kids...

with light and earth Seishitsu.

a sudden terrifying feeling washed over him "Why the hell does it matter to you!?" He roared at the monsters before him, the wind beginning to pick up harsher, he tightened his grip on his bow, the longer he looked at that sickening eye...the more it scared him.

Kamila swung down upon the clone with a mighty force, her hatchet striking it's shoulder, slicing through a matter that was not quite flesh but not quite vapor. The likeness of Soloman crumpled to the dune and began to dissipate.

The next two clones closed in and Kamila knelt on on knee. She slices the dune with her free hand, sending two blades of sand driven by wind towards the foes. They reeled back at the contact, battered but still standing.

"Stop staring at me you creeps." She hissed through her teeth. The clones may not have held the same nausea inducing aura as their original but they still instilled Kamila with a discomfort. She engaged with the one on her right, swinging her hatchet wildly, she heard Takumi cry out in pain above but had enough sense not to look up from her foes.

"C'mon Takumi, don't make me come up there, you're a big boy!" She shouted, embedding her hatchet into the side of a Soloman. The others were enclosing on her though and the walls of Soloman's structure began to shake. Takumi screamed her name and Kamila cursed, rubble from the ceiling above hit the clone before her and rained all around.

She raised a hand skyward to send a blade of wind through the rubble above but it was too late. A jagged stone collided with her right shoulder, tearing her tunic and drawing blood. Her blade of wind prevented the rest of the rubble from crashing onto her, but she was injured.

Kamila could still hold her hatchet and was fending off a clone that hadn't been hindered by the rubble. "Get away!" She cried, tears of pain in her eyes. She made a few swings but none of them found purchase. The Soloman's voice rang clearly, as if he were right beside her.

"Zachariah?" She spat, despite that acid that brewed in her belly at the mention of her blood fathers full first name she allowed Takumi to speak. Takumi could give away family secrets to a psychopath for all she cared. She wasn't part of that family.

She stood, cradling her injured shoulder, praying Takumi wold be smart enough to finish Soloman off while he was talking.

Solomon wore a grin on his face, an expression brought on by a crude mixture of happiness and sadism, but this smirk faded at the mention of his mother. Neither Sehun nor Zofia had particularly positive associations in his mind, whether because of a genuine lack of good memories to reflect on, or because the souls had erased any benevolent associations to his parents from his memory. "Alright then, looks like that's all I'll be needing here. Suppose I'll be on my way now," he replied, dropping his arms to his side momentarily, before noticing Takumi quickly tighten his grip on his bow at the slight movement Solomon had just made. He froze, and the smile returned to his face, this time born more out of amusement, as it usually was for him. Slowly, he put his hands back in the air to their previous, surrendering position. "Tell you what, you can even have your little cesspool of bottomfeeders back. I won't lay a finger on them," he remarked.

A few moments passed, the the tension in the air growing to a peak so palpable that it would unnerve any old passerby. It didn't take a psychic to see that this entire situation was rigged to explode from the beginning, it was just a matter of when. Still, Solomon was never quite fond of being near explosions, they always singed his snowy white hair. As his heels danced against the edges of the stone wall which he stood on, his left eye, the only one not covered by his face mask, began to adopt an unnatural, unnerving blue glow. His usually red iris now emitted this dark blue radiance, spreading a sinister energy across the surrounding area. Slowly placing one foot off of the wall, he let his body fall from the edge of the towering structure. Trails of white energy followed his descent, overflowing from his energy pool, and now tinted with the same dark blue essence that his eye shined with. Quickly, he whipped his head in the general direction of Kagutsuchi, and, pointing his hand toward it while still in the air, shot a blast of the tainted Light Seishitsu from his palm. The beam streaked out into the night sky, and as Solomon was about to impact with the ground below, his body teleported to the location of the beam of Light. He fell a couple of meters down onto a hill, a fair distance away from Kamilla and Takumi.

At the same time that Solomon stepped off the ledge, his five clones propelled themselves off of the stone building with a blast of this twisted Seishitsu, landing on the ground below in the midst of the panicked refugees. Wearing blank expressions on their face, their bodies began to expand quickly, like a balloon being filled over its limit. And, like a balloon, they all burst at once, exploding intensely in a cruel, but beautiful explosion of energy that swallowed not only the entire campsite, but the surrounding area as well, annihilating the entire nearby town, and taking the refugees and citizens inside of its blast radius along with it.

Solomon gazed over at the eruption from a safe distance, witnessing the destruction caused by his Soul Seishitsu, a result of the souls corrupting the purity of his Light, amplifying its power, but in the process, making it indiscriminately destructive. In the moments where the realm of the souls allowed him to tap into their power, he lost all inhibition and discretion, his will and intention being surrendered to that of his masters. It was a mockery of the Seishitsu, a stark departure from the righteous and controlled, disciplined Light of his father. This was something different, something truly unholy.

"I'm many things, and almost none of them good," he affirmed to himself, "But, I'm no liar. Just like I said, I didn't touch a hair on their heads," he said smugly.

He turned away away from the carnage before he could accurately admire his handiwork, the glow from his eye disappearing for the moment. Immediately, he slumped over, his body falling down onto the soft ground of the hill. His fingertips gripped the dirt, but he lacked the energy to get himself back up. It was to be expected, to be fair. Creating each of those clones drained him of about a tenth of his total energy, and since he had elected to have them self-destruct instead of returning to him, all of that energy had been thrown to the wind. He pulled himself forward, crawling on his stomach while his hands clutched and clawed at the dirt as he neared the edge of the hilltop. With one final motion, he threw himself off the top, mustering enough energy to soften the dirt below the hill, cushioning the impact as he fell hundreds of feet down to the ground below. Landing on his back, the impact knocked the wind out of him, but he was able to hang onto consciousness for just a bit longer. Solomon clenched his fist, and a mound of earth rose up from under him, and barreled forward toward Kagutsuchi. In his line of business, it was essential to have a sound knowledge of geography, and as such, he had learned the ins and outs of the lands like the back of his hand. Staying conscious though, would be another challenge entirely. Still, it didn't seem like he would need to exert himself much more than maintaining his earthen rover on the way to Kagutsuchi, so he hoped the journey would give him enough time to recuperate his energy reserves.





Solomon sat up, feeling a cooling breeze wash over his body from the speed he was travelling at. Though he relished in violence and combat, the only place where Solomon truly felt at home was when he was alone, watched over only by the Earth around him. He felt in-tune with the world, a rare sense of harmony that he didn't have the luxury of feeling very often. Though the souls held domain over him, the one thing they would never be able to take away from him was the natural world.

"The Ashen ones..." he whispered, the mere utterance of the words gave him goosebumps. He didn't like to address them by their real name, he always felt as if each time he mentioned them directly, they took one step closer toward his soul which, unlike his deadbeat father, wasn't protected by some stupid mumbo-jumbo spiritual seal.

"That was them, wasn't it? They let me do that, back at the village." he said, a bit louder this time. Over the past few hours, as the night dragged on and his energy and sanity slowly returned to him, he had more than enough time to think about what had happened. Solomon had never been a remorseful person, and he could probably fill up a whole city with the amount of innocent lives he had taken throughout his lifetime, but for some reason he felt uneasy about killing all those people in Wu-Long. He didn't really feel bad because of either of those two people he had fought with at the camp. Clearly they knew Zach, which means they must be of some importance to him, but he had a sneaking suspicion that they were still out there somewhere. They weren't some ordinary Seishitsu users, and he could easily tell that they were too strong to be killed by just one explosion, however destructive it may have been.

Maybe it was because hearing about Zach for the first time in so long tugged at something which had been locked away so deep inside his head that he had forgotten what it meant to feel it:

His humanity.

He laid his head back down, the mound of earth still speeding across the vast landscape. Skyscraping mountains lined the horizon, and he slowly fell asleep watching the skyline as it trailed across his vision.




He woke up to find that his mound of earth had stopped moving, and as he got up, and hopped off the top of it back onto solid ground, he saw why. After an arduous, but altogether relaxing few hours, he had arrived at the edge of Wu-Long. Not too far from him was a group of fisherman sitting on a small dock, with a medium-sized shack to its side. All three of them were staring right at Solomon, one of them with his mouth wide open, one of them clearly having his eyebrows raised, and one of them wearing a stone-faced expression. However, they were all obviously confused by his entrance, and he didn’t blame them. This was a country of wind Seishitsu, so an Earth-user, especially one with an appearance as off-putting as his, was a bit out of the ordinary. Besides, they seemed like simple fisherman, grounded in their lifestyle and satisfied with it, so any sort of departure from the norm, no matter the size, was likely a surprise for them.

Solomon, with his strength now recovered from his encounter with Takumi and Kamilla, motioned his arm downward, and the mound sunk back into the ground. As he walked over to them, he could see two of the fishermen shift their gaze over to the one who had the poker-face before, who now stood up, waiting to greet Solomon. Ordinarily, he may have simply done away with all of these people and taken their boat for himself, viewing them as mere roadblocks to his objective. Granted, they were still just roadblocks, but he didn’t have the same violent urge to push them out of his way. After all, with a solid lead on Zach’s location, and having just finished that meditative trip across Wu-Long, he was in a better mood than he had been in years.

Just as Solomon approached them and was about to greet the one fisherman who had moved to the front of the group, he saw a fist hurdle toward his face, catching him straight on the cheek. “You… There’s no mistaking it. I know that face. You’re the one who took my Susan away from me…” he grumbled, his voice becoming louder with each word he spoke. Solomon still stood in the same spot, unfazed by the fisherman’s sucker punch. “I didn’t think I would ever get the chance to look at you dead in the eye and make you understand just how much you fucking stole from me,” he continued, his anger and frustration building up faster, and faster. “But, now that the Gods themselves have brought your sorry ass back here, I swear on my life, I will not let you leave here alive! Even if it means I must die to take you with me.” he finished. He brought his arm down on Solomon’s head, and a sharp gale of wind came down upon him, cutting a lock of his white hair from his head. Again, and again, the fisherman threw his arms toward Solomon like a conductor, stinging gusts of wind bearing down on the Wanderer, each being delivered with all the might of a cyclone. Cuts and lacerations lined Solomon’s body, one for each precious memory that Solomon had stolen from the man. His friends, the other two fisherman, now stared on at them with from a couple of paces away with uneasiness and horror on their faces. Eventually, the fisherman got tired, taking slow, labored breaths, winded from the massive amount of exertion he had just put himself through, especially for a relatively pedestrian fighter.

The man was speechless, but truly there was nothing more to be said. His fury, his depression, his envy, his mourning, the fisherman had put all of it into that series of attacks. For the first time since the Fisherman had begun his assault, Solomon took a step forward. The fisherman flinched, clearly terrified, but this was a man that no longer had anything to lose. For years, he had been a husk of his former self, clinging to the hope that one day, he would be able to find some sort of closure, some retribution for the death of his wife. Now, he had found it, and death no longer seemed to him a tragedy, a loss, or something to fear. Now, it was simply the next step… the only step left for him to take.

The fisherman bowed his head, preparing himself for Solomon to take his life as he had done to his wife many years ago. And so, the man stood there, with his head down and his eyes closed for what seemed like an eternity. Instead, Solomon walked past him, placing a hand on his shoulder as he made his way to their boat. Solomon said nothing, and neither did the fishermen, as he entered the small vessel. The sails were already set, and everything had already been situated, a stroke of luck considering Solomon rarely found himself travelling by sea. Without another word, he undid the knot of the rope which kept the boat attached to the docks, and the boat began to drift out into the ocean, away from the fishermen and their shack.

“Never make a promise that you can’t keep,” he whispered. Solomon knew that the fisherman could not hear him, the boat had already put a good distance in between them, and his quiet tone didn’t make it any easier. Still, he had a feeling that the fisherman got what he needed out of the encounter, whether or not the man had realized it yet. And, with that, he took his place at the head of the sailboat, and put today’s encounter behind him. All that mattered now was the destination: Kagutsuchi, and with it, he would find Zach. He would find answers.




The sun shined luminously above him as the boat neared a docking port on coastal Kagutsuchi. With how eventful yesterday was, it felt like it had been months since Solomon had seen the sun-lit sky. Docking his boat, he made his way off, and left the small seaport town, heading in the direction of the nearest, larger town where he would be able to get a sense of where on the island he currently was.

Trudging through a dense forest, he arrived on the outskirts of what should have been a bustling, populated city, but the only individuals patrolling the streets were soldiers. Upon inquiring into why the locale was so empty, the soldiers replied that they too were mostly in the dark about what was going on. Apparently they had been sent orders to lock the city down, keeping all civilians inside and in shelter, because of explosions resulting from a conflict further into the city.

As Solomon made his way closer into the inner portion, the buildings and streets around him began to look more and more damaged and demolished. “Well,” he figured, “If there ever was a clue meant to lead me to Zach, it couldn’t have been more obvious than this…” he observed. He had expected to feel some kind of sixth sense, or spiritual sensation when he finally got near enough to his brother. It was just an assumption he had made, considering his entire life revolved around the unseen and the paranormal, but strangely, he felt none of that. Still, he continued inward, deeper into the ruined portion of the city, hoping that, by chance, he would run into his brother in the midst of whatever was going down in this city. Knowing how the strange and unusual tended to gravitate toward him, it was a safe bet.

Sure enough, just as the destruction of the city looked to be at its worst, a monolith of a building made its way into his peripheral. “What in the…?” he muttered, staring over at a house that stood completely pristine and intact in the middle of a sea of crumbled homes and shattered windows. Plumes of smoke and ash still remained in the area, but he waded through the rubble, making his way toward a scene that seemed straight out of a psychedelic dream. He was slightly unnerved by the unnaturally perfect condition that the house remained in, despite the fact that it seemed to be the epicenter of all the disrepair.

With a deep breath, the air flowing into him and slowly back out, he knocked swiftly on the door, three times.

"Oi! I'm not done talking to you!" Takumi spat out as he watched Soloman lurch away, that ungodly eye of his taunting him all the wall. Takumi's bowstring still pulled taut, and still primed at his target. Takumi slowly stood up as Soloman reached the end of the wall, had it not been for the number of clones...Takumi would have been more willing to risk a shot. But he was outnumbered, and as much as he wanted to put down the man like the sick dog he was, Takumi was more concerned on surviving and getting the camp back in order.

"Who the hell are you" He growled out, his words digging through the harsh tension the cool night air bellowing soundlessly. Soloman's promise were hollow as the demonic eye on the man...

And then Soloman fell back.

Takumi watched wide eyed as he watched the man fall, before being torn from Soloman to the clones that propelled themselves towards...

"THE CAMP!" Takumi yelled, time seemed to slow to a halt as he watched the clones light up. A ungodly panic ripped through his body, a surge of adrenaline scorched through him as he completely diverted his attention to the clones. 'Everything we lost!' taking aim, the single arrow notched into his bow string had been gatherering and charging energy the entirety of the exchange, 'Everything we worked to build up!' The Divine Relic coursed with radiant green energy, pouring it's own power and Takumi's into his next attack, 'THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!!'

With one fluid release, just as the clones erupted into a unholy explosion, Takumi loosed the arrow. It instantly tore through the air, erupting into a single massive spear-like blast. The force it emitted shaking the very heavens itself, Takumi being blasted back as it cut through the ether. As it came into contact, a massive whirlwind surrounded the explosion, tearing inward as it struggled to snuff out the blast.

Takumi slammed down into the ground, smacking the back of his head into the hard stone. Coming too a couple moments later, he slowly, pulled himself up. Off balance, and still reeling from his wounds taken during the fight, Takumi slowly walked towards the edge of the pyramid. Looking down, shadows covered his eyes as he looked down at the destruction. Though the Fujin Yumi couldn't nullify the explosion, it's holy power was able to weaken it. "...Everyone should have ran with the evacuation..." He prayed, but he doubted everyone left. He scanned over the wreckage of the town...and the camp. "So much effort, so much time to gather materials, people, recollect important mementos, and records..." he muttered, gripping his bow to the point he was visibly taken, "...All that progress, wiped out in mere moments"

Falling down to his knees, tears began to sting his eyes. Looking down, he recalled that this was the second time...that someone tried to destroy Fuji. The memories of his temple in ruins mirrored in the tattered and torn debris of the tents and crates. How much blood had been spilt this time? Faint whisps of black circled around Takumi, wind picking up around him as his heritage seeped through into his Seishitsu. Takumi slowly stood up, black wind swirling around him, lashing out at the ground and surroundings. Takumi's breath becoming uneven with anger, as the image of that eye burned into his mind.

How much destruction has him home faced, how much blood painted the ground...All because of one person.

"GODS DAMNED MONSTER!!!" Takumi roared with all his might, his face contorted with rage. Screaming to the heavens, praying that monster was still in hearing range, "I'M GOING TO END YOU!!! DON'T BOTHER PRAYING, THERE ISN'T A GOD IN THIS WORLD THAT CAN SAVE YOU FROM ME!!!" Black wind exploded off him, beginning to take a step, he collapsed as the drain on him became too much. The agony of loss and pain, as well as the energy he put into his anger bringing him down. The wind died down as he tried to pull himself up, tears running down his cheeks, cursing himself under his breath as he struggled.

Seiya was different somehow. Though August himself couldn't say exactly why. In fact, if one were to rely solely on their senses, there will be absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Yet, nonetheless, the feeling refused to leave him be.

His father was, thankfully, gone. Though, in truth, it bothered August that he didn't tell him where he was going, or even bother to bid him farewell. August shook away the thought. If his father sensed so much as a slither of weakness from his son, then he will undoubtedly punish him.

August took to the air. If he was lucky, his father wouldn't return until dusk, giving August plenty of time to have fun. Well, have fun by his standards at least.

... .... ... ... ...                                                                
Disgusting. Thought the son of Jove. Utterly disgusting.

The sight of city so repulsed the boy that he half-considered blowing the entire thing into smithereens. Such hideosity had no business existing within his world. Luckily, for the citizens, he had enough restraint to not give into his impulse.

As it turned out, August didn't even have to use the matrix to track down Leios' house, it was, after all, the only one that hadn't been completely destroyed.

There was someone there. Someone standing just before the door. Someone he didn't recognize. August didn't like it. Sure it wasn't his house, nor were it's occupants his family, (not biologically anyways) but he didn't like the idea of strangers suddenly appearing on their doorsteps, especially after everything that had happened in the recent weeks.

Summoning a fistful of flame, August was just about to attack when suddenly the matrix began to burn within his chest. This feeling. He allowed the flames to fade away. Sehun.

Finally bolting out of her room that morning thanks to the sound of an explosion, Danyell stormed into her living before scanning over the sudden hole in her wall. “What the fu-!” Her daughter started from her place in the kitchen, before falling silent thanks to the stern gaze of her mother. Having but a few moments to fully comprehend the situation, the middle age women then crossed both her arms before standing proudly over the three teens. “Yuu, that is not how you will address your elders in this household! You are to treat Mr. Yosenju with respect, understood?” It was no secret that Danyell was the least powerful amongst her family, however her tone carried a weight only a dedicated mother could master. Even someone as mouthy as Liss dared not to back talk her. “Now, why don’t you let the adults handle this? I won’t have another child injured under my care.”
Finally turning to face both the teenagers tied up before her, Danyell’s gaze hardened once again. “Do you think I make a habit of mistreating children? That I enjoy this? You have endangered my family, and that action will have consequences. Consequences your family will have to bare.” Speaking firmly as she slowly scanned them over, her tone finally began to soften. “But this fault lies not on your shoulders, entirely at least. I can’t imagine a parent raising their children to fight a war that remained unnecessary. Personally I’ve always preferred to approach difficulties through communication... So what do you say we have a little chat?”
Pausing a moment as three knocks sounded from the door, Danyell raised a finger before sighing as she moved to open it. “I’m sorry, but we’re very busy-!” She growled in irritation while yanking the door open, before suddenly freezing in place. The first thing she saw were his eyes. One now filled with a questionable dark aura, in some ways similar to that of her husbands crimson orbs. However it also felt completely different. After recovering from her shock, the brunette tightened the ribbon around her nightgown before slowly reaching out to touch his face. It had been years. She could hardly recall how he’d looked as a child... However there was no refuting how much of his father resides in his appearance. “Oh my Jove.” Finally wrapping her arms around him tightly, Danyell blinked away the tears forming in her eyes. “Solomon... Your parents have been worried sick! We were worried sick! Where have you-?” She began to gently inquire before finally noticing Jove’s son behind her nephew. Luckily she recalled his name, despite only briefly meeting him one before. “August... You’re back as well.” Hesitantly releasing Solomon, she offered him a broken yet loving smile before stepping back inside. “Come in, both of you... It isn’t safe out.”

As Solomon continued to wait on the doorstep, not entirely sure of what to expect upon its opening, he heard footsteps behind him. More than likely it was just some straggler from the city, or a small animal rummaging through the wreckage. Still, after yesterday, his senses were heightened, and he was much more on-edge than usual. His radiant eye shimmered and his muscles tensed, but he stayed focused on the quaint wooden door before him. For all he cared, Jove himself could be behind him at this very moment, ready to tear his soul right out of his body, but he was much too close to answers, to stability, and to certainty to turn back now.

Crackling embers broke him from his trance, and he whipped around to come face to face with a black haired boy, his fist hurdling toward Solomon at an incomprehensible speed. He put his arms in front of his face to brace for the impact, but just as quickly as shifted his mind into conflict-mode to prepare for the incoming assault, August stopped. The intense fire burnt out, and a look of shock adorned the man’s face.

“What the...?”

His expression was interrupted by the sound of a door handle turning behind him. Frantically, he turned back around toward the door, placing his arms neatly behind his back in a formal posture. Truthfully he wasn’t really sure what to do or how to act, he didn’t really interact with people at all unless it involved one of his contracts. He was expecting to be greeted by a servant or butler, but instead he was greeted by... someone. A woman who he didn’t quite recognize, but judging by her intense reaction to him, she must have known him from somewhere. Solomon recoiled as Danyell reached her hand toward his face, putting his fists up in defence. To his surprise, instead of a fist to the face as he was accustomed to, she pulled him into a hug. Solomon scowled under his mask, pushing her lightly aside after she let go of him, ignoring her greeting and walking inside before she could finish. “Listen, I don’t know who you are, and my parents are dead as far as I’m concerned. I don’t know how or where you know me from, but frankly, I don’t have time for distractions,” he stated stiffly, stopping in his tracks a few steps into the house.

There were people surrounding him, quite literally everywhere he looked.

‘What in Jove’s name?’ was his first thought. Call it naïveté, but he had half-expected to just walk in and find Zach right away, simple as that. Clearly, judging by the two teenagers currently tied up, and the multitude of others going about their own business, it was not going to be that simple.

Solomon turned back around to face Danyell, a twinge of annoyance and frustration building up within him. “Is this an orphanage or something?” he asked sarcastically, a strained and tense vibe overcoming him. He felt dozens of eyes shift toward him at once, obvious apprehension in their gazes. “Well, now that I’ve got all of your attention,” he began, “Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on here?”

Rohan took a few deep breathes to calm down a bit, he let his anger get to him again. That’s the only thing holding him back. Shaking his head as Sahara came to check on him while the others calmed down and proceeded with interrogating the warlord. “I’m sorrry... i just... All i could think about was how she just let us to die... i shouldn’t have done that. I know what i did was wrong.” Rohan leaned back against the wall, his eyes looking out the window into the islands volcano in the distance. “I should apologize when it’s over... she’s not at fault of anything that happened.” He turned to meet Sahara’s gazes, giving her a weak smile “thank you... I guess i could use some rest now” he said while sliding down the wall into the floor, now that he was sitting comfortably. Rohan finally closed his eyes.

Kama summoned fire from his hand to block the darkness attack from the warlord, afterward he looked around to see the damage he caused. Just a hole, nothing too bad... he’ll pay for it later. Turning to Yuu who’s time was something Kama did not like. Before he could speak to the boy he was interrupted by Danyell, stealing his words. The knock on the door was definitely suspicious, but danyell let the two boys inside. He only knew the second boy, August... but the one with white hair and creepy eyes was a new. Apparently danyell knew him “Solomon? I’ve heard that name before, but from where?” He said to himself before turning back to the warlords “have we cooled down yet?”

Iggy popped from behind Kama and Yuu. Immediately going over to Cassidy “hey Cassidy...” he was holding a paper towel from the kitchen and wiped her tears since she was tied up “you looked a-amazingly b-beautiful with your makeup!” He forced out after finishing with the tears “b-but you look even better without all of that.” Iggy couldn’t do much right now. He wanted to untie her, but it was impossible. All he could offer her right now was a small smile “everything will be fine, I’m sure of it.”

Maxwell came rolling from the living room, stretching and yawning. He definitely need that sleep after dealing with the whole Fuji, and warlord situation. The interrogation was not his area of expertise, so he rolled over to the kitchen where Liss was making pancakes “is it always this lively around here? The pancakes smell incredible by the way. What can i help with?”