"Now we don't have anyone fun to tease," Winter whined as Genadritch pulled back a branch from the forest.
"Fun? I wouldn't call Omega fun," Genadritch said as he tightly clutched his double sword in his other hand.
"How long were you with him?" Kaldeen asked.
"Not long," Genadritch said.
"Omega?"
Genadritch stopped and held his sword in both hands, warily looking around.
"Show yourself," he growled silently.
"Who in the world are you guys?"
Genadritch whirled around and placed one end of his sword on the person's neck, his serious face slowly fading away.
"Leviathan?" he asked as he lowered his sword. "Aren't you...?"
Fairy Leviathan giggled. "Dead? No. Who says we stayed in the blast of Omega?"
Genadritch nodded, but then immediately brought his sword back up.
"Defend yourself, Leviathan," he growled.
"Huh?" Leviathan said as she looked confusedly at him. "What for?"
"You attacked me and Omega that one night." Genadritch held his double saber closer to Leviathan's neck.
"What? No! I never did that! I don't know who you are!" Leviathan exclaimed as she lifted her head, trembling slightly.
"She's been with us the whole time," Fefnir said as he walked into the area, his hands clutching the large guns that were his. "Harpuia had to do something. Something about Master X."
"Fefnir?" Genadritch asked, lowering his sword once again. "Are all of the three guardians alive?" Fefnir nodded. "How? Is it like what she said?" Fefnir nodded again. Genadritch dropped to the ground, his hand on the top of his head. After a while of him sitting, Winter plopped down beside him.
"What're you thinking about, friend?" she asked.
Genadritch looked up and grimaced. "Yua. Need to find Yua..." He jumped to his feet and broke into a run, heading back the way he had come.
"Hey! Where're you going?" Leviathan called.
"I need to find Yua!" Genadritch called over his shoulder.
"If there's a fight to be had, I'm in!" Fefnir bellowed as he followed Genadritch with heavy footsteps.
"Fefnir! Wait! What about Harpuia?" Leviathan exclaimed.
"He'll find us eventually!" Fefnir called back.
"Come on, Winter and Kaldeen!" Genadritch shouted over his shoulder.
"Are we going back to that Omega guy?" Winter exclaimed happily.
"If he's with Yua, yes. Otherwise, no," Genadritch said.
"Maybe this Yua person's a good person to tease too!"
Genadritch groaned. "Can you not tease her?"
"Why? You like her?" Winter asked.
"Never met her," Genadritch said. "I think there's a connection between us though."
Faintly, through the fibers of his gloves, a symbol glowed, its markings unknown to anyone except to Genadritch.
"True love!" Winter exclaimed as she caught up to Genadritch. "Put me on your shoulders!"
Genadritch quickly pulled Winter onto his shoulders and increased his speed, slightly hovering as he ran.
"Not so fast!" Leviathan called. "I can't run that fast!"
"Me neither!" Fefnir yelled.
"Hurry!" Winter called over her shoulder. "We've got to meet his girlfriend!"
Genadritch grimaced. "She's not my girlfriend, Winter."
"I know," Winter whispered in his ear. "I just like teasing people."
Genadritch chuckled. "That you do, Winter."
He slowed down his pace slightly so that way Leviathan and Fefnir could catch up and mentally wondered what Yua looked like. He had seen a picture of her. She was very cute at that age. It was more than just a date, though. He was to protect her with his life. That's what his army-dad, Yua's dad, had charged him with. No matter what. That was his unarguable duty.
They reached Neo Arcadia quickly, Fefnir and Leviathan panting heavily.
"Couldn't you have slowed down a little bit more?" Leviathan asked.
"It was fun! I like the wind blowing through my hair!" Winter exclaimed as she hopped of Genadritch's shoulders.
"You had the easy part, girl," Fefnir growled.
"Oooooh! This one sounds like he'd be fun to tease!"
"Maybe you better not, Winter," Genadritch said.
"I think introductions are in order," Leviathan said, purposely putting herself between Fefnir and Winter.
"I'm the Winter! The greatest pickpocket in the world!" Winter said happily as she extended her hand towards Leviathan.
"I'm Leviathan. This guy's Fefnir," Leviathan said as she shook Winter's hand.
"I hope you're as fun to tease as that Omega guy!" Winter exclaimed.
"So Omega's back?" Leviathan asked.
"Yeah," Genadritch said as he nodded. "He and us split directions recently."
"I've got a score to settle on that guy!" Fefnir bellowed.
"Just because he's still alive?" Genadritch asked.
Leviathan nodded her head. "As long as he's alive, the world won't rest. We've already got enough trouble on our hands."
"Supposedly, he cares about Ciel," Genadritch said. Leviathan and Fefnir gave him a disbelieving look. "It's true."
Fefnir scoffed and started to walk forwards. "I doubt he's changed."
Genadritch took the lead again, walking backwards. "He's still pretty aggressive, but he doesn't seem to want to kill everything in sight."
"Just wait. He'll revert," Fefnir said.
Genadritch bent down low to the ground, scanning it for signs.
"Hopefully these are his," he said as he quickened his pace, keeping his eyes on the tracks.
"And let's hope that he's not planning a trap," Leviathan said.
"Leviathan, come here," Fefnir said, getting closer to her. Together, they started to whisper to each other as they entered the forest that was on the opposite side that they had come from..
"What'chya talkin' about?" Winter asked as she perched herself on Fefnir's shoulder.
"BACK OFF!" Fefnir yelled, bashing Winter off of his shoulder.
Fefnir tilted his head slightly back, Genadritch's blade under his chin.
"One more offense like that and it goes all of the way," Genadritch said coldly. "Got it, Fefnir?"
Fefnir snarled. "It's crystal clear."
Genadritch nodded and lowered his blade. "Good. Follow me."
"It's crystal clear," Fefnir said before bellowing, "that you're in league with Omega!"
Genadritch spun around as a blast from Fefnir's gun hit him in the side of the chest, blowing him back, but doing little damage.
"Traitor!" Genadritch yelled as he flung himself at Fefnir, barely avoiding a punch from Fefnir's gun.
Genadritch spun around in the air, his sword grazing Fefnir's shoulder armor. He rolled as soon as he hit the ground, Leviathan's halberd swinging overhead. He got up and spun around, his muscles relaxing almost instantly.
"Gotta help my allies, don't I?" Kaldeen said as he held Fefnir in a complex grab on the ground.
"Let go!" Fefnir bellowed as he tried to move his limbs, only to wince as any movement made Kaldeen's hold more painful.
"How did all of these plants come up?" Leviathan asked as she stood entangled in a variety of plants.
"Never threaten THE WINTER!" Winter exclaimed as she waved her scimitars in the air. Quickly, she added, "And friends."
"Oh. So it was you," Leviathan said flatly.
"So you think I was leading you into a trap?" Genadritch said.
"Not really. Fefnir just kinda leapt to conclusions, but it was something that we were talking about," Leviathan said.
"Leave it to Fefnir," Genadritch said as he spun around. "If you suspect me of being a traitor, then I can end you right now. If you'll stop trying to attack me, then you can follow. All right?"
Fefnir snarled, glaring at Genadritch. "Fine!" he spat. "Just get this guy off of me."
"Kaldeen, you can let go now," Genadritch said. "You can let Leviathan go too, Winter."
"This guy will be fun!" Winter said as the plants pulled themselves back into the ground.
"Okay. No tricks now, all right?" Kaldeen asked, his voice slightly trembling.
"Fine," Fefnir said.
Kaldeen slowly loosed his grip and stood up as Fefnir stood up while dusting himself off.
"Just one question, Kaldeen..." Fefnir said, making Kaldeen raise an eyebrow beneath his ninja hood.
"Yes?"
Genadritch didn't have enough time to react as Fefnir's hand enclosed around Kaldeen's face and ripped off the ninja hood, revealing that Kaldeen was actually a girl, about eighteen years old.
"Knew it," Fefnir said as he threw the ninja hood to the ground and placed his foot on it distastefully. "The tremor in your voice before betrayed more of your female tone."
Genadritch's mind was slowly grasping the fact that Kaldeen was a girl as he walked tentatively towards her as she stood with her head bowed, Genadritch pushing Fefnir to the side slightly.
"Kaldeen?" he asked softly.
Kaldeen sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "Suta..." she said sadly. "Name's... Suta."
"Why did you hide your identity from us?" Genadritch asked as he laid his hand on Suta's shoulder, which she backed away from. Genadritch pulled his hand back, feeling slightly unsure of what to do. "Was there something bad that you didn't want us to know?"
Suta shook her head, but reluctantly nodded. "Sister. Didn't want anyone to know."
"To know what?" Genadritch asked.
"The power of the monsters," Suta said.
Genadritch tilted his head to the side. Why had everything gone silent all of a sudden? He slowly looked around him. Nothing was moving. Not even the leaves of the trees even though a wind was moving through them.
Genadritch looked back at Suta, disregarding the symbol that had appeared on her cheek. Slowly and fearfully, he asked, "Suta. What are you?"
Suta sniffed again. "Sister wouldn't want you to find out."
"Who's your sister?" Genadritch asked more intensely.
"We're the daughters of Zehir," Suta said, slowly looking back up to Genadritch. "We weren't meant for this world."
"None of the things invading this world were. Let them go," Genadritch said, tightly grabbing Suta's arm, "and then let's go."
"I'm not the one holding them," Suta said, avoiding Genadritch's gaze.
Genadritch's eyes widened and glanced back at the others, frozen in time.
"Then do something about it," Genadritch said.
"My sister is more powerful than I am," Suta said, giving him an accusing glare.
"Not many can mess around with time," Genadritch said. "I doubt Zehir can. God of the Yuan-ti."
Suta sighed. "Then I don't know who it is."
"I wish I knew more of the secrets of the Eldritch Titans," Genadritch said. "But I don't. What should we do?"
Suta looked around carefully. "Perhaps... it's not us they're after?"
"You mean that they're looking for someone else?" Genadritch asked, folding his arms.
"No, no, no," Suta said quickly. "Maybe it's some creature after its prey?"
Genadritch nodded. It was a thought.
"I guess we prepare for battle, then?"
Suta nodded and unsheathed her katana while Genadritch gripped his double sword more tightly.
"Sorry, guys!" Hiroto exclaimed as he walked into view. "You are the right ones, right?"
Genadritch raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
Omega walked out from the rear of the group of Assassins, Genadritch snarling as his knuckles whitened from his tightening grip.
"Crawling back to me, eh?" Genadritch snarled.
"It was the Assassins that brought me back here," Omega said grimly.
"So you'd just let us die out here?" Genadritch asked angrily.
"I never said that," Omega retorted.
"You implied it," Genadritch said as he put his sword in its sheath.
"Sorry for the time freeze, but Haruto wanted to make sure that no one was around," Yua said as she walked to the front.
Genadritch's jaw dropped. "You? You're Yua?" The symbol underneath his gloves flared to life. The sudden appearance of them startled Hiroto into bringing his gun up to bear. "Guess so," Genadritch said, ignoring Hiroto's reaction. "My name is Genadritch. I knew your father," Genadritch said as he extended his hand towards Yua.
Slowly, Leviathan, Suta, Fefnir, and Winter regained their movement as Yua looked down slightly, tears forming in her eyes.
"You... you knew him?" she asked.
Genadritch nodded solemnly. "He charged me with your protection."
"So you're with our objective then?" Hiroto asked, taking the foremost spot.
"If it involves protecting Yua, then yes. If it means protecting others against the monsters, yes," Genadritch replied.
Hiroto smiled and looked around at the group. One by one, they gave him reassuring smiles. Hiroto turned back to Genadritch with a grin.
"Welcome to the Assassins," he said.
Genadritch nodded as a smile slowly emerged. "I might as well know all of your names."
"I'm Hiroto," Hiroto said, placing his hand on his chest.
"I'm Haruto, Hiroto's brother," Haruto said.
"I'm Thor," Thor said with a large smile.
"Pleasure to meet you, Thor," Genadritch said, chuckling.
"I'm Axl!" Axl said as he popped out from the back.
"I'm Odin," Odin said.
"And I'm Alpha," Alpha said as he slowly walked into view.
"Oh, no. You're with HIM?" Genadritch asked.
"No. He's with us," Hiroto said. "We're working together to defeat the demons."
Genadritch huffed and nodded. "I'm keeping my hand on my blade at nights."
"Why couldn't you be as well mannered about it as he was?" Haruto asked Omega.
"Quiet," Omega snarled.
"And two of the Three Guardians," Hiroto said. "I didn't know that you were alive."
"We escaped the blast radius. Harpuia has business elsewhere," Leviathan explained.
"Hi-ya! I'm the Winter!" Winter said after padding up to Hiroto. "I'm from the air!"
"Um... okay?" Hiroto said as he tried to pat Winter on the head.
Winter instantly backed away. "I'm not a kid! I'm the Winter! The greatest pick-pocket in the world!"
"The biggest whiner," Omega scoffed.
"How does this work?" Winter asked as she fiddled around with Omega's blade's handle as she revealed it from behind her back.
"Gimme that!" Omega said as he dove to grab it, Winter nimbly dodging.
"Are you all right?" Winter asked as she walked closer to Omega.
"Give it!" Omega snarled as he lashed out to grab the saber. Winter quickly backed away and stuck out her tongue as she pulled out her scimitar.
"It takes a lot more than that..." Winter said as she licked the blade of her drawn scimitar. "Ow! My tongue!"
"Serves ya right!" Omega snarled.
"Can we continue the introductions?" Genadritch asked. "So can you give him back his saber, Winter?"
"Uh-huh! All's you have to do is ask, Omega!" Winter exclaimed as she handed the saber back.
"No thanks," Omega said under his breath.
"This is Suta," Genadritch said as he slowly put Suta to his side, his hands on her shoulders.
"Ah, so she was a girl pretending to be a boy," Omega said, slightly grinning.
"Yes, but she claims to be a daughter of Zehir," Genadritch said, a little curious of why Odin suddenly turned white.
"Zehir?" Odin asked, trembling slightly. Genadritch nodded.
"She doesn't seem to be a murderer, so I suggest we treat her like any human being," Genadritch said.
Odin paused for a moment before nodding, although shakily. "It is only just."
"Shall we get going? Axl also suggested that we go and grab Ciel and X," Hiroto said.
"Sounds good to me," Fefnir said. "Harpuia's there anyway."
Hiroto nodded. "Then lets go."