Ch.4- Revelations

After the burning of the utopia, the brothers continued through the desert for another number of days, weeks even; time was irrelevant to them. Their somber sauntering brought them nowhere near civilization nor any other sign of life. The listless looks in their eyes showed nothing more than the despair they felt and the drive to complete their purpose in life. Neither of them said a word to each other, silence served as a conduit for their true feelings. The wind blew harder than ever and sand rained from everywhere. They still pushed on, through the sandstorms, through the stark, cold, barren wasteland without any objection to the harsh realities they faced. As time progressed, the two found it easier to move through the desert with their heads lifted and their sorrows forgotten.

It had been almost a memory to them, the warmth of actual people, it had gotten a bit lonely for them since their encounters in the old desert town. The two reminisced how they helped free that town of their tyrant, at least there the good they did lasted or at least they hoped it did. After what seemed like years, the two saw in the distance a faint light, it shimmered slowly but grew as the brothers approached it. When the light reached its climax, they reached large gates that loomed over them with a almost dominating yet welcoming prospect. As the brothers looked with interest, the gates opened ever so slightly to let a single being through their imperious stature.

It was a somewhat intimidating man, his wore sunglasses that hid his eyes but accented his snow white hair and tan skin. His body looked to be sculpted like that of a warrior but his stride showed sympathy. One feature that stood out other than his demeanor was his arm, particularly his right, which was covered in black symbols and circles that formed a sort of seal all around his arm. This was the only thing the brothers could look at as the man approached them.

His voice snapped them out of their staring trance like the thundering of a storm. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

The sudden question startled the two but it was Alastor who answered back. "We are wanderers of this desert, we are in search of shelter and perhaps a place to rest ourselves."

He tried to smile but only a forced smirk appeared. Markus looked at his brother as he smiled too leaving the atmosphere a little more calm. The man smiled back with a relaxed expression, one that would seem a drastic change from his previous one.

"Of course, excuse my harshness, its been quite tense around here lately. Please, come inside, we'd be glad to give you two a place to rest." The brothers looked at each other and the same though crossed their minds. "We? There are more people like him here?"

The two pondered this thought as they entered the gates with the white-haired man who seemed much more comfortable with their presence than a few moments ago.

Inside the gates, the brothers looked around with wonder as what they expected had been rudely interjected by the new scene displayed before them. What they saw was a myriad of different types of people, none of which looked the same as the other, except for the common humanoid structure of course. Some wore massive armor that covered their battle-scarred bodies, others wore next to nothing except for a small piece of cloth that covered their extremities. Others had robes and average clothing that was unique to certain occults and mystics. There were many merchants and civilians conversing in the lot selling elixirs and treating wounded men and women who looked fresh from battle. What truly caught the eye of the two was the number of people who beared animal-like traits on their bodies. They had morphed ears, teeth, tails, and even possessed claws. These amalgams, being of no hostility, provided a serenity amidst the dust, filth, and squalor around them.

Alastor turned to Markus and whispered to him quietly so as not to catch their new host's attention, " Brother, these people, they look not of man nor beast. Have we really been so far out of touch that this world of ours has grown that much more blighted?"

Markus shrugged, "I'm not sure, but I think that the people here aren't evil. It is more likely that they are the offspring of some creature or being that has emerged after that day. After all, we have been gone for quite some time."

Their host spoke to them without turning, "These people are not monsters, though their appearances say otherwise. They come from all over the lands, it wasn't until a few decades ago that-" he paused, "that those with unnatural abilities began showing up, after the Grand Awakening."

His words echoed into the brothers' minds. Had all of this happened to the world because of that day, and in their absence? Their trip through the compound brought them to a building situated in the center of the area. They entered and were greeted by a seemingly normal girl who had welcomed them warmly but suddenly faded from sight as quickly as she had arrived. Then, from out of nowhere, a man appeared in front of the brothers with an inquisitive and annoyed look upon his face.

"So, these are the travelers you spoke about." He scoffed, "they do look normal."

The white-haired man turned around, "Lloyd, do not startle our guests with your antics."

The man turned to face the white-haired man and gave him a piqued reply, "Oh come on, after walking through the lot they should know everyone here isn't normal, but I suppose your right."

He turned to face the brothers, "My apologies if you were scared." He grinned arrogantly and appeared at the white-haired man's side in an instant, his expression more somber.

He whispered, "Sir, main forces have become weakened and our barriers on the South end are being penetrated, the enemy will be upon us in a matter of hours."

The white-haired man sighed and whispered something into his ear and he was off. Alastor had been watching their conversation intently and looked away as soon as they had finished.

The white-haired man turned and laughed towards the brothers, "I'm sorry, I never introduced myself, they call me Gabriel, I am the leader of this army, the Nimron Army, and you two are?"

As he finished, he took off his sunglasses to reveal a rather large crossed scar across his right eye that only made his demeanor more menacing. What appalled the brothers was his eyes. They were a deep crimson red that flared with a bitter resentment through his calm facade. The same thought crossed their minds when they stared into the red pools of Gabriel's eyes but it was quickly dismissed as they found it rude to stare.

The two quickly regained focused and answered Gabriel, "I'm Alastor" "and I'm Markus" the two said, "We're known as Alastor and Markus Dominik, its a pleasure to meet you." The two smiled and nodded in a polite manner.

"Alastor and Markus, the pleasures all mine. So, what brings you out this far into this wasteland?"

Alastor answered, "We're just wanderers, always looking for something new along our journey."

Gabriel chuckled and replied as he fixed his sunglasses to his shirt, "So you told me, its good you like to try new things. Tell me, and I know this will sound completely out of subject, but do either of you know how to defend yourselves?"

The brothers looked at him with a puzzled look until Markus answered full heartedly, "Of course we do! What with all the dangers out in the desert, we can't afford not to!" His boisterous reply made Gabriel smile.

"Good, then could I ask you a favor? You can have anything in return if you do me this one favor. It is of grave importance."

Alastor crossed his arms and looked to Gabriel, " I think I see where this is going, you want to ask us to help you in what may seem an upcoming conflict sometime in the next few hours?"

He closed his eyes and smirked, "Looks like your more than just average travelers. Yes, that's it exactly. So, what do you say?"

The brothers looked at each other and smiled. "Shall we?" asked Markus."Hmm, its an interesting offer, but must we always enter into such useless conflict?" replied his brother. The two turned to each other as Markus spoke, "There's not much more we can hope for, we need a place to stay for now. Don't worry, we won't have to resort to anything drastic. Agreed?" His brother looked to him and nodded.

Alastor answered Gabriel again, "Yes, we'll help." He gave them a enthusiastic smile, "Excellent, I just hope you two are up for things out of the normal." The two chuckled and looked at Gabriel with an unworried expression giving him some condolence.

A burst of screams and explosions filled the air of the calm atmosphere as all three men turned to see the southern wall in flames. Gabriel turned to Alastor and Markus, "Alright you two, lets both keep our end of the deal!" With that the three burst from the central building and into the fray. All around were men and women screaming, some were desperately fighting the enemy with anything they could grab. This all proved to be hopeless, they were at the mercy of the four beings leading the assault. They stayed in the shadows for a moment before one at a time, they began to destroy. There were only four of them, but their power alone was capable of decimating whole companies at one time.

The one who flew over their heads and rained fire on the unsuspecting, spoke to the woman slicing through the bodies of men and women with little effort spraying their blood and severed parts amongst the grave-ridden ground.

"Having fun are we Jen?" he said as he silenced the flame within his palms.

The woman laughed as she replied, "Not in the least, this army is nothing compared to us Harutobi, they're a joke. Let Sarutobi, Dark Blue, and I enjoy ourselves a bit more before we destroy the leader!"

Harutobi grinned, "Do as you please, I'll continue finding amusement with these insects while I wait."

They all continued to slaughter the Nimron Army, no one was safe from their rampage. Merchants and civilians tried to flee but the enemy's lesser soldiers, or Grunts, vile and reptilian in appearance, were flooding in hoards into the compound and slaughtering anything in sight. Greedily they ravaged, clawing bodies with their wild eyes and chittering squeals constantly growing fiercer. The only resistence was a handful of swordsman and other assorted fighters with barely any strength left for fighting. Only when the amassment of Grunts has peaked did the true forces of the Army appear.

Coming from beneath tattered huts, the creatures from before emerged with eyes wild and attacked in a frenzy of tearing claws and unbelievable power. Behind them came the myriad of sorcerers, who began chanting in their druid tongues and sent waves of elemental furies and incantations that bellowed into the sky sending Grunts into a panicked hysteria. Drooling mad and crazed, they began tearing themselves apart raking their claws across their eyes until they collapsed in a pool of blood and bile.

This slowly began to seal the victory of the Army, but nothing would stop the Dark Four from destroying them as well. The battle raged on as the never-ending stream of Grunts continued to fill the compound. The scene of bloodshed and mindless killing only fueled the rage building in the two brothers as they split up to aide their comrades in protecting their home.

Markus grouped with a party of two sorcerers, two women who had the appearances of felines, and the man from before, Lloyd. As a swarm of Grunts ambushed the weakened group, Markus sprung in between them and delivered a series of kicks that flowed and connected with the one before it giving more momentum and power. The assault was repelled in an instant, the four comrades looked at Markus with relieved expressions as they too continued to fight.

Lloyd grinned at Markus, "You're not half bad, for a stranger. Your style of fighting is nothing like I've seen before." Lloyd spun his spear then slammed it into a line of Grunts in his way. They began to circle him but before they could even touch him, he had ended them all with swift, piercing strikes that only seemed a blur. He gave himself a self-assured chuckle and swung the blood from his weapon, "But don't think that means anything here."

Markus grinned back, "Don't worry, I'm sure your poking stick can handle pretty well. But I insist, leave this to me." More Grunts came and Markus planted his heel in each of their skulls.. His arm and legs seemed to moved with a drunken swagger and assaulted the enemy as every hit sent a Grunt flying with a sizzling wound the size of a large plate in their bodies. Though his body was moving erratically, he never lost focused and was seemingly untouchable. He made quick work of the Grunts and had decided to take on one of the Dark Four, the woman slicing through the bodies of his new comrades, the one they called Jen.

He called out to her tauntingly, "That's a nice sword you have, lets see if it can keep up with my fists."

Jen smirked as she changed direction and pursued Markus with much persistence, "We'll see what you think after I've bathed my blade in your blood." No matter how swift the attack, her blade never truly caught him, even as it sliced the air between his skin and her sword.

On the other side of the field, Alastor was assisting group of young mages who kept firing off spells frantically. Just as a Grunt was about to attack the youngest of the three, Alastor came from behind her and took the Grunt's blade to his forearm. He grabbed the Grunt's helmet and crushed it like paper sending skull fragments and brain matter squirming from the crumpled metal and tossed the body aside.

"Alright you three, go somewhere safer and try to help your comrades, they need it. I'll handle this from now on." They listened and took off past where Gabriel was fighting, he had been slicing through Grunts with his hand. His seal on his arm glowed as the grunts seemingly dissolved to his touch. The marks slithered around his arm and curved and spiked until it encompassed his shoulder.

A Grunt had snuck too close to Gabriel for his touch to catch but Alastor had swept behind it and drove his fist into its neck before it could assault Gabriel. It's body tumbled as a gurgled scream screeched out before its vertebrae completely severed and killed it. Alastor's knuckles cracked as he exhaled calmly.

"Thanks, but I think I'll handle it on this end. You go and make sure that our forces nearby are covered." Gabriel shook his arm as blood dripped from his hand and sizzled off his arm where the seal marks were.

Alastor nodded, "Alright, just make sure you live long enough to carry out your side of the bargain. This battle will not be the last of this place or any of us."

He chuckled and continued slicing through Grunts making their bodies fall to pieces. With the mages gone and Gabriel occupied, Alastor had to deal with the hoard of Grunts that had formed around him. They all attacked at once as Alastor broke his foot into one of the Grunt's face, bounded off of the body and spun himself to kick another and drive his heel down forcing the Grunt's face into the ground. All the others came as Alastor slammed his fist into them with enough force to shatter their armor and break every bone in contact. By the time he had brought his arms to his chest, all the Grunts had been demolished and he stood there smiling to himself.

Then, a voice came from behind him, "So, you can take a couple of Grunts, but what about me?" Before Alastor could turn towards the source of the sound, a sword stabbed through his stomach as he had been pierced from front to back all the way through.

Alastor's eyes widened as an exasperated breath expelled from his mouth and he slumped forward. A man appeared in front of him, his eyes dark, piecing blue and his hair completely black, only the blood splatters on his suit had given him any real distinction in color. He chuckled darkly as he wedged the blade deeper into Alastor's stomach making him convulse and cough raggedly.

As if by some innate sense, a twinge of pain shot through Markus as he turned to see his brother impaled and hanging onto the blade that had pierced him. Markus's eyes bulged with of fear and anxiety as he looked at his brother's skewered body. He cried out, "Al! No!" leaving himself wide open to Jen who had still been pursuing him. As Markus looked on, he felt cold steel fall onto his shoulder and onto his vital artery at his neck. Jen giggled as she forcefully pushed down on the blade trying to lacerate his shoulder more.

Alastor gripped the blade forcibly as Dark Blue's blade laid embedded in his stomach and his head dropped down making his hair dangle lifelessly. Suddenly, as if possess by madness, Alastor chuckled, then burst into a full, echoing laugh that stop all fighting in that complex.

"So, you enjoy impaling your enemies rather than slicing them? You know, it looked like fun, I just might try it." He looked up at Dark Blue, his eyes consumed by a bright, piercing gold color that emanated an almost invisible vapor and struck fear into his soul. His manic grin and crazed eyes was enough to catch Dark Blue by surprise, it was his chance.

The sound of grinding stone and tearing flesh filled the air as Dark Blue had been impaled six times by stone spikes. He had been raised in the air so that the source of the horrid mutilation could be seen. The spikes came from the right arm of Alastor, who no longer had any flesh, but cold stone in its stead. His body decorated in symbols and marks which quickly flicked then faded except on his neck, right shoulder, and left eye. The sword he had removed from his stomach sent sparks across the floor as sand poured from the ineffectual wound.

Dark Blue could only utter a few words as he coughed up blood and torn internal tissue, "W-What in the world are you?"

Alastor chuckled and answered in a slightly disgusted and unforgiving voice, "What am I? I am the curse of a once great city, the embodiment of my people's salvation, their revenge."

The spikes snaked through Dark Blue as they pushed him off and onto the ground. "I am neither human nor demon, I am Fallen and my only way back into grace is to destroy her and her beast!"

Alastor's arm returned to normal as he punched the ground sending a shockwave through it making hundreds of arms rise out and grab any enemy nearby and crush them in their cold, unforgiving grasp. Dark Blue, still alive yet bleeding profusely, had enough focus to dodge and escape them but the Grunts had no hope. One after another, each of them were constricted and crushed as their bodies were erupted violently sending their entrails across the ground and decorating it with mounds of mulched cadavers.

Everyone looked at Alastor with fear and panic evident in their eyes as he turned in Markus's direction.

"Brother, we cannot hide it anymore, let us show these people the culmination of our people's sin and their only chance at redemption."

Markus chuckled as symbols flickered all over his body, disappeared, and remained slightly under his left eye. Jen looked at him as he stood up breaking her sword into pieces, her blade had rusted and deteriorated in a matter of seconds. The pieces seemed to be broken down particle by particle leaving only chunks. Jen jumped back and stared at her sword hilt which had been rotted and then looked to Markus as the same sadistic grin shown on his face.

He laughed aloud and replied to his brother, "Alright then, even though it would be a waste to use it on these peons, it has been awhile since we've cut loose like this. Lets see if all those years of training were actually worth all the trouble."

Markus darted across the ground with even greater speed than before, dissolving the path of ground beneath him as he went, to the side of Alastor. The two stood there, as entities greater than any these people had ever seen; their marks apparent on their bodies and their true power still in question. The Dark Four, Gabriel, and every other being on the field had stopped in awe at these to figures, the two mysterious men of unspeakable might and wicked descent.