Author's Note: Whew! Chapter 4 is finally finished. I'm working on Chapter 5 at the moment. Enjoy~!
A blade, already soaked in the blood of Sync the Tempest, now found itself being pointed upward, tip touching the throat of a rather stunned Largo. Sync himself was still trembling from the pain of having endured such a wound, and was now staring into Jade Curtiss' eyes – the sight of them alone seemed to intensify his agony. The God-General swallowed hard, raising a hand to move the colonel's spear away from his throat, but the weapon did not budge, nor did the brown-haired man's threatening stance.
Luke was on his feet now, a reasonable distance placed between himself and the black lion, who was glaring intently at the hooded figure that stood between them. The blade in the mysterious intruder's hand twitched, as though of its own accord… as if the glinting red sword, rather than the person, wanted to spill Largo's blood upon the ground. From the corner of the redhead's eye, he glimpsed the third God-General, who looked very similar to him, stepping down from the platform before the door. He was pushing Ion forward, in his general direction, murmuring curses to himself.
"This isn't the time or place to fight. The entire structure could collapse. Take your Fon Master."
Luke stepped forward hesitantly, grabbing onto Ion's shoulder before guiding him behind the figure still brandishing their weapon. He ran a hand through his hair, eyes nervously darting between the God-Generals, Jade, the newcomer, and those unconscious. It seemed as though Tear was starting to come around, pushing herself up against the nearby pile of rubble, rubbing her eyes.
"Stand down," Asch commanded, drawing out a blade of tempered steal, that which glistened, smooth and black in his hand. He directed the weapon at the cloaked individual who'd remained locked in a standoff with Largo, and eyed them carefully. "Sheath your blade." The figure took their time deciding, quite apparently, before replacing the sword at their side. Somehow, Jade was the only one who noticed the lack of any sort of sheath. Another pause was felt, before Asch too replaced his weapon, and grabbed Largo's scythe. Once the man was again in procession of his weapon, he nodded curtly at the stranger, almost a gesture of honorability, and began to follow the red-haired God-General sprinting across the bridge and into the darkness.
Sync, standing slowly as to avoid unnecessary blood loss, passed the colonel with a sickening smile upon his maw. Jade found that smile infuriating, much like his own party members found his near-constant grin. The tempest was going to live – after all that they'd down to prevent their own allies' deaths. "Damn," Jade swore beneath his breath, dismissing his weapon with a mere wave of his hand. The footsteps of the escaping enemies eventually faded into silence, giving way to an awkward balance between those conscious.
Tear had found her staff somewhere midst the rubble, and was currently providing aid to the more unfortunate members of the party: those who'd been badly injured. Guy did indeed have a broken rib, and Anise was bleeding from a rather nasty shoulder wound. The Locrian sergeant was thankful that Natalia, however badly bruised, was still in a state to help with the healing. Perhaps Luke had been right; taking a second seventh fonist along was proving to be more than useful.
"So, who exactly are you?" It was Luke who shattered the peace (not to anyone's surprise), most impolitely accompanying his words with a harsh poke of the cloaked figure's shoulder. The stranger didn't reply, instead, turned such that they were facing the opposite direction of the red-haired teen. This greatly aggravated Luke, who spat on the ground and trailed after the one currently walking away from his question. "Hey, hey, I'm talking to you!" he roared. The stranger simply continued walking, moving to examine the door which Ion and Asch had emerged from.
"Hey!" Luke tried again, and again, raising his voice each time he yelled at the newcomer. Still, they offered no verbal response. Tear and Anise stood from their kneeling positions, both glaring daggers at the redhead; Luke refused to relent, looking down at his feet in anger. Mieu was there, silently staring at the cloaked one upon the platform. On a whim, the ambassador bent down to pick up the tiny blue beast, and then hurled him at the stranger's back. "Are you deaf?!"
"Luke!" It was Jade's voice this time, still cool, still riddled somewhere between seriousness and ever-persistent amusement. The single word – the boy's name – managed to prevent the redhead from launching any further assault. He stood as though frozen in time, chest still heaving due to his previous screaming. Slowly, Luke backed away, before turning toward Tear and the others; if he couldn't question the stranger, he could at least remark rather snidely about their general arrogance to Guy – he'd certainly be willing to listen to the red-haired teen's rant.
A slow breath was drawn from the colonel, tremors passing along his spine as he moved to examine the door alongside the hooded figure. He cleared his throat, glancing sidelong at the one who now stood beside him, hands tucked neatly behind his back. "Might I be so privileged as to be informed of the name of our savior?" Jade had to resist throwing in words such as valiant, strong-hearted, or anything else generally considered snobbish and irritating.
"…do you ever stop, colonel?"
Perhaps it was not the response which surprised him. Then again, perhaps it was. Jade Curtiss knew that voice, knew it very clearly, and the mere sound as each syllable poured from their lips sent horrible reflection and infinite questions searing through his mind. Very suddenly, his entire body felt as though it'd been encased in ice, and he was struggling for breath, drowning, almost, and – no, no, that can't be right. It's your imagination.
"Pardon?" The single word was a plea for the voice one more time, just once, so that he could be certain. Regrettably, the answer never came, the figure instead turning toward the bridge. They descended the steps, and began walking down the path between the rock piles, as though Jade had suddenly become non-existent. At the joint of earth and bricks, they paused, looking over their shoulder from beneath the cover of the cloak.
"I suggest you move. This place is going to cave in." And then, what even was that? Almost like a casual wave, the stranger raised two fingers, before quite remarkably hurtling over a nearby stone and down, down, into the seemingly endless abyss below. Jade was quite certain they'd survive – no point in telling someone the structure was going to collapse and then committing suicide to rid themselves of the problem. But this experience, this one brief moment, those words – however distance – they left a bitter taste in the colonel's mouth. He frowned, thankful to still be facing away from the group, brow furrowing in confusion. It was as though they'd not heard the stranger's warning at all…
I know what I heard… but I must be hearing things, because what I thought is completely improbably. Impossible, even.
"Jade? Is something wrong?" It was Natalia who was speaking to him, her presence suddenly just to his left. Quickly he returned to his ever-present grin, the frown and the confusion locking themselves away within his brain instead. He turned to face the Kimlascan princess, tilting his head as though he was the one who'd questioned her.
"Not at all. Though I do suggest we take our mysterious visitor's advice. The ground is beginning to shake." Of course, only Jade had noticed the minute jolts upward from the earth below – he had excellent perception of such things – and so it was no surprise to him when Natalia gasped in response.
"You mean an earthquake?"
"Yes. I'd certainly hope that there wouldn't be any other force causing these tremors, princess." Jade wasn't entirely sure why he'd added the last word, whether it be for formality's sake, or just for the further annoyance of his comrade. Perhaps both... no, no, mostly annoyance.
"I told you not to address me as such, Jade." Did she miss the part about the earthquake entirely?
"Right, of course. Let's move." She might've been slightly offended even, not that the Necromancer cared very much, as she stomped off toward the remainder of the group. They were up on their feet relatively quickly, navigating the vast array of hallways and chambers toward the exit – thankfully, it seemed as though one of the God-Generals (Asch, most likely) was watching out for them, as he'd deliberately left a spill of healing potion here and there along the correct path. There was not much guess work to it this way – they merely had to follow the glowing traces of liquid, and, above that, the smell of wintergreen. Ten minutes had passed upon their return to the central chamber, another five given to escape to the outside world, during which time Luke complained at least once every ten stairs.
The colonel paused to give everyone time to catch their breath after running up what must've been several hundred steps. He appeared to be in no need of a stop, however, which led to the almost accepted roll-de-eyes from Anise. Several minutes passed, after which time, Luke turned in horror back to the massive structure that was the Zoe Ruins – sinking into the desert sand. "Whoa," he managed; taking a step back and reeling at the sheer magnitude of what could've been a disaster had they not escaped when they did.
"Colonel, who was that in the ruins?" Of course Tear would ask; Jade sighed, shaking his head pitifully.
"I have no idea. I just thought I could strike up a bit of light and cheery conversation."
Hope you liked it! ^.^ See you again soon~