Chapter 24 - We're Still Here

2 Days Ago

Sakyo had been the one to help Takanosuke clean himself up after he had fallen off of the railing at the stadium; though the scratches on his hands, legs, and face weren't even anything to worry about, he was grateful for the older blader helping him even though he didn't have too - Sakyo had simply shrugged it off as they both walked down by the river, Takanosuke almost skipping along behind the redhead like he usually did.
The silence was quite awkward between the two sometimes when things like these occured - Sakyo really didn't seem like the type he would so concerned about someone else getting hurt, or bothering to really help them at all.
But Sakyo had indicated that Takanosuke was the only person he really thought of as a 'friend', so... Well, it really confused the blond on exactly how Sakyo felt about him whether as a friend or not but he didn't question him, he usually just followed him around like a puppy because he really looked up to him.
Yet even with their 'sort of' friendship there was still awkwardness between them - though Sakyo tended to be less obvious about it.

"Uh, thanks Sakyo.." Takanosuke said awkwardly as he followed along behind the elder, "For patching me up, I mean."
Sakyo let out a soft humming sound as he continued walking, not looking towards the younger.
"Don't worry about it.." The Dragoon Blader said gruffly as they walked, "Just be more careful next time." Takanosuke's eyes widened slightly at that word of advice before a smile crossed his face.
"Okay." He agreed cheerfully as he followed along behind the elder blader - but of course, the memory of what happened earlier that day came back to his mind.
The images that he had seen before his closed eyes, things that seemed so real and yet so unimaginable at the same time that he didn't know what to make of it - there was no way those things could be real, it wasn't even possible, but... At the same time, a thought and a memory came to his mind about how it just might make sense, just maybe. But it was in a way that most people weren't likely to believe.
But even so, he wasn't able to stop the next words from coming out of his mouth.

"Hey, Sakyo.." Takanosuke began, "Do you believe in seeing the future?" Sakyo stopped walking abruptly at that question, his red eyes turning in slight confusion towards the younger blader.

"Why do you ask?" Sakyo questioned as he turned slightly towards his friend, curiosity somewhat coming up in him from his unexpected question.
"W-well, no reason.." Takanosuke said hurriedly, averting his eyes away from Sakyo's, "I-I was just w-wondering, is all... Like, do you believe in the gift of Foresight."
Sakyo raised an eyebrow slightly. Where was all of this coming from so suddenly? "Does this have something to do with what happened earlier today?" The redhead asked, looking intently at the blond with stern eyes.
"N-no it doesn't!" Takanosuke said almost too quickly, "W-well.. At least, um.. Not exactly, but.." His own cerulean blue eyes caught Sakyo's red ones, seeing the look in his eyes that was capable of sending shivers down his spine and forced him to tell the truth. Eventually, he just gave in.
"Well..." The younger blader started, "I-it sounds weird, but.. I saw something. Like saw something that wasn't there, but kind of in my head.. I-I don't know what it was, but it felt like... Like it's supposed to mean something.."
Sakyo listened intently to Takanosuke as he spoke, finding interest in this subject that he normally wouldn't have been interested in at all.
"And how did it happen?" The Dragoon blader asked, still looking at Takanosuke intently as he waited for an answer.
"I-I don't know.." The Griffin Blader stuttered, "I me- I mean, I-I kind of think I know what the answer is, but... You'd think it's ridiculous."
A silence passed between the two of them, neither of them saying a word as if the silence was all that they needed to speak - and even in the silence that was somewhat broken by the soft waves and the cries of the seagulls, Takanosuke already knew that Sakyo was waiting for an answer.
With a shaky sigh he looked up slightly through his eyelashes, offering an answer that he knew as ridiculous - and yet at the same time, it was the only thing that made sense.
"My grandmother was a seer..."

Present Day

Kite and Eight had reported that Gingka had - once more - began hyperventilating while the others were at the WBBA, though thankfully it wasn't anything to serious as it had been earlier that day.
Madoka now stood beside his bed, gently making sure of his condition before they all settled down for the night - the rest of them had gone home save for Zyro who stayed at the B-Pit with Madoka, helping the brunette with Gingka to make sure that he was stable for the night.
The shop owner hadn't said much since they returned from the B-Pit, but the aura that had been around her previously had diminished and replaced with one that didn't reek of hopelessness and despair, agony and dread, like it had before.
They had all been glad for that when they felt the air around her clear up. Zyro was now the one who could tell the difference the most, seeing as how he was now alone with both her and Gingka and could - somehow - feel both of their auras.

Gingka's, however, as strong as it had been, was now weak and could barely be felt; from one blader to another, Gingka's aura said way more about his condition and how much longer he would last than his heartbeat actually did.
"How are you feeling, Madoka?" Zyro asked out of concern for the brunette, who jumped slightly at hearing his voice as if just noticing that he was there at all.
"O-oh.." The brunette said in realization, "Better, now.. I guess Maru was right, I was acting... It was pathetic.."

"Well, a lot of us could've been in the same position..." Zyro said in a subdued voice, "The same thing almost happened with me.."
Madoka's turquoise eyes looked towards the ginger-ravenette, and in that moment she didn't see the innocent child that had been so excited about the tournament a few days ago.
There was something different about him, as if he had aged in such little time that it was frightening.
She had seen the light that had been in Zyro's eyes, and now - as he gazed down at the comatose redhead - that light, while still there, had weakened, as if plagued by the war that stood between them and Alcorin; they knew this was all because of Alcorin, which is why they were fighting to find him, but... The damage he had dealt would forever remain.
"What stopped it?" Madoka asked out of curiosity at Zyro's words, as she made sure the blankets were pulled up where they were supposed to be.

"I promised him.." Zyro said, gesturing towards Gingka with his eyes who breathed weakly on his bed, the heart monitor sounding off every 5-6 seconds with his heartbeat, "I promised I would save him.. I guess that's the one bit of motivation I have for not giving up on him yet."
Madoka looked at the boy for a moment before a soft smile crossed her face.
"I know Gingka would be proud of you for that.." The brunette said gratefully, "With all that's happened, at least one of us still has hope."

"Hey, Maru does to." Zyro said with a small smile that was almost sad, "And so does Dynamis from the looks of it."
Madoka made a soft humming sound as she looked towards the ground slightly.
"Yeah, I guess so.." She agreed, "I just hope they're okay, but... Then again, Maru has Dynamis with her.. She should be fine."...

"Dynamis?!" Maru cried as tears made their way into her eyes, unable to prevent them from falling off of her eyelashes and running down her cheeks as fear and panic spread through her veins as she tried to shake Dynamis awake, "Please, wake up!"
The pinkette breathed heavily in panic, tears welling in her eyes and obstructing her vision as she didn't know what to do.
"Dynamis, please!" She cried out, shaking his shoulder as it did nothing to wake him, seeing the calm expression on his face with slightly parted lips, as if he was knocked unconscious by the impact on the pillar that they were both under.
Maru couldn't stop the tears that slowly rolled down her face.

What was she supposed to do?

How was she supposed to do it?

Where? How? When? Why?

She was 6 years old, what did Alcorin want from her?

Why had he just left her here with Dynamis, who was now unconscious and injured.. Unconscious and injured, right?.. Right?..

Maru whimpered through her tears as she bit her lip, putting her hands on both sides of her head since her hat had fallen off as the edges of her eyes hurt around her temples, giving her a headache from the force of the tears that made their way out.
She bit her lip hard to suppress the sobs that filled her, trying not to panic despite the situation she was in.
Violently wiping away the tears in her eyes, Maru placed one of her hands on Dynamis's shoulder, and the other on his side near his waist and pushed him over onto his side, hearing something that terrified her as his head rolled to the side.
A tear fell down her face as she went over and positioned his head so that he was facing up, ignoring the sounds that appeared to be coming from his neck as she hovered her cheek just above his mouth to see if he was breathing... He wasn't.
A small whimper escaped the girl as her hand went his his chest, just above where his heart was - she felt nothing.
Now panicking, Maru leaned over and placed her ear against his chest right where her hand had been, searching for something - anything - that could give her the smallest shred of hope that she could... That she could... She heard nothing.

Maru, this time, was incapable of preventing the sobs from escaping her, her small hands grasping at the fabric of Dynamis's robes as she cried into the chest of his now lifeless corpse.
She had barely anything when Alcorin had thrown her aside, yet she had heard something like muffled talking, almost whispering that was inaudible, then there was a cry that she heard, a male once... And then something slamming against something, and.. A faint snapping sound.
The whiplash effect, she had read about it.. But at this point, she really wished she hadn't made that decision to do so so long ago; knowing how Dynamis died was not a comforting feeling, even if everyone said that knowing how someone died was so, but... What was she supposed to do?..
Dynamis had brought her here, she had followed him obediently to try and find a way to save Gingka, she had believed and trusted in him and he had been right that there was a way to save Gingka, and then... Alcorin killed the one person who knew what the answer was.. There wasn't enough battery in her laptop for her to translate anything into a language that she could understand - even at her age it was hard for her to understand some things, but... This wasn't fair.
Maru was alone now, entirely alone with no way to get back home at all because of how young she was, entirely alone with no one except for the corpse of the one person she had.. So she cried.
She cried into Dynamis's still chest from the feeling of being so alone, so afraid until her chest hurt, until her head ached and her eyes felt like they were going to fall out of the sockets. She had no way to get home and no way to contact anyone anymore, and... She was alone.

How was this even fair?!

Had Alcorin known that this would happen, that by killing Dynamis he would leave her entirely helpless with no one, no way to get home and no way to get home at all.
Maru sobbed heavily, lifting herself up off of Dynamis with a tear-stained face, backing away slightly while fear and panic were the only things she felt.
"What am I supposed to do?!.." She asked no one, her voice going hoarse from the sobs that she had let out earlier.
Few tears now fell from Maru's eyes, having been nearly drained dry of them from crying into Dynamis's dead body - she didn't know what to do. She was panicking, and she didn't know what to do, what was she supposed to do now?!
Why had this happened in the first place?

Why to her?... Why to them?... Why...?

"Maru..."

Maru gasped softly at the sound of her name, unable to recognize the voice that spoke in her head. Tear-filled lavender eyes glanced around in a near panic, fear flooding through her veins as she the voice rang in her head before gradually fading - what, was she losing her mind now?
Did the panic of the situation cause her to hallucinate, was she dreaming? Could all of this - hopefully - just be a dream?..

"Maru..."

The pinkette tensed as the voice seemed closer, turning around slightly on her half-skinned knees with her hands below her chin, as if ready to catch the tears that now weakly rolled down her cheeks.
"H-hello?.." She called hoarsely, barely able to even speak now from the amount of crying that she had previously done.

She was crazy... She was crazy... It was a dream... It was all just a bad dream... A bad dream...

Even if it was a dream, she was trapped here.

Her and Dynamis had gone through a maze when entering the Temple, one that she knew that anyone could only get through with Dynamis's help - she couldn't remember the way, she had barely been paying attention from how tired she had been.
It didn't matter what she did... She was trapped here with no way of contacting anybody, no way escape, no one way home... They had failed Gingka... They had said they would find a way to save him, and they had... But they had failed.
She had failed by letting Dynamis's inevitable fate run its course, let him die just like that before she could even blink.
Now she was alone... And Maru had no where to go.

"Maru..."

The girl suddenly found herself wrapped in a white light, closing her eyes tightly as they stung from the brightness, the ache in her head seeming to intensify as she heard faint whispers from all around, as if the spirits of those who had gotten themselves lost within the maze of the temple, or killed for that matter, had come to taunt her about what she failed to do, mocking her until she broke under the pressure and wilted into nothing more than a pile of promises that she had failed to keep.
Slowly, Maru opened her eyes as the light slowly dimmed and brought her back to where she was, seeming to gather all up into one single figure in front of her as she keeled on the floor, the light gradually taking a human form and yet with no specific details that could truly tell her if it were male or female..
It was an ethereal type of being, pure white with no specific outlines to fully make out what it looked like, specks of light floating off of its body as if it were slowly breaking apart - and as she could see, they weren't much taller than her.. Taller than her and Eight, but not as tall as Dynamis had been.

Barely was Maru able to see eyes, eyes that were barely visible from the light that emanated from the being - there was an aura about them that was comforting, reassuringly, and yet sad and sorrowful all the same, as if it had spent its entire existence since birth in regret and anguish.
Yet Maru sat there, quivering in fear before the ethereal being that stood before her, of which - in all reality - may have only been a child itself.

"Maru..." It said in a small and broken voice, a weak one that sounded like the whisper of an angel, a sound of purity, innocence, and yet fearful for whatever reason.
Slowly it extended its arm towards her, its fingers almost taking a true solid form as they reached forward and gently brushed against her cheek..

"He's still here..." It's voice was captivating, something that was so surreal to hear and unimaginably clear, echoing through the halls like some sort of a god, "We're still here..."
Maru's eyes widened as the ethereal being vanished before her eyes, only for what appeared to be another of it appear near the archway that her and Dynamis had entered through, as if beckoning her to follow it - it's form almost seemed to have diminished now that it was further away, like as if being in this world was weakening it little by little.
Maru, tears hanging silently from her eyelids, slowly got to her feet with her skinned knees threatening to knock together and force her to fall down again - the blood on her knees had dried now, and they felt sore as she stood and looked down to her side.

Since when was her backpack there?.. And since when had she put her laptop in it?.. In all actuality, Maru found that she didn't really care how that happened, but just picked it up and swung it around her back as if she were supposed too.
As she walked towards the ethereal being, her footsteps echoing in her ears just like Alcorin's had, it vanished once more, appearing farther away in a form that looked like it was slowly fading away.
Maru stood there silently for a moment, her body feeling numb, just wanting to collapse and succumb to the darkness just as Dynamis had unwillingly, think that - for a few moments - everything really was okay.
Not have to worry about anything anymore.. Maru's lavender eyes looked back over her shoulder, back at the corpse of Dynamis of which lay beneath the pillar in a peaceful manner, entirely lifeless yet looking like he had died a peaceful death with no regrets.
For many moments did Maru stand in silence, a tear rolling down her face as she glanced over towards the ethereal being that she was seemingly to supposed to follow.

With a thought crossing her mind, Maru opened one of the pouches on her belt and pulled out a small piece of chalk that she carried around with her - she had no idea why she did so, but maybe this time it would actually be something useful.
The spirit that wanted her to follow it said nothing as she hurried back over to Dynamis' body, sniffing softly as wrote something on the ground in big letters so that it would be noticeable, making sure to make it look like it was bolded and the letters were big, assuring that Dynamis's body was placed in a manner as to not disturb his eternal rest.
By the time she was done, the chalk that she had left was half gone from what she had written, standing up from her blood-coated, aching knees and looking at what she had done.
Maru's lavender eyes made their way to Dynamis again, a single tear falling from her eyelashes with a silent sob before she turned to follow the spirit that still awaited her, and still slowly began to fade away from weakness.
The words Maru had written remained there, entirely and eternally present to the spirit of the Guardian of the Mist Mountain Shrine as he forever protected what he had vowed to - and even long later, perhaps months or years, when his corpse had long decayed and left nothing but a skeleton, when an old friend of his returned to the Shrine in all hopes of seeing another of his kind again, those words remained.

You(He) Didn't Suffer

He sat there in his room, like he was always told to.

Never leaving unless escorted, as he was too weak to make it around on his own - he could walk, but not very well.
So he sat there, blue eyes staring off into the distance while his head was tilted to the side a bit, barely even having the strength anymore to hold it up all the time which was mainly why he was always told to stay in his room.
He wasn't given much choice as he sat there almost lifelessly, almost not even sitting in his chair anymore as his hair surrounded him an even poured out of the sides like waterfalls.

He was unsure of why they never cut it... Why they never chopped it all off considering how much of it their was, and how much it usually got in the way.
Though that wouldn't particularly matter, in the condition he was in.
Yet it always allowed him some alone time to himself, being completely and utterly alone except for the voices that weakly spoke inside his head, recognizing the tiny voice that remained in the back of his mind.. He knew what he had to do - they were always there to tell him.

He blinked his eyes, the lights in his room shutting off automatically as if on cue, glancing towards either side of the room slowly before staring straight in front of him.
His breath escaped him softly, weakly, as a screen appeared in front of him, blue eyes staring nearly aimlessly at it and yet seeing everything that it had to offer.
Half-lidded eyes blinked softly, observing what he was seeing on the small screen before him with no fear of being seen doing so - most of them knew what he did to occupy himself in his spare time, so they would think nothing of it.. They weren't able to currently see him as it was, anyway.
His lips parted gently at let out a soft breath that sounded like he was out of it, as if he were exhausted from just sitting there - but everyone knew why it was that way, and at this point they didn't even care about him or his condition anymore, just about 'him'.

Finding him, retrieving him, and doing to him exactly what had been done to himself. All he could do was sit, and hope that it would never happen, that they would never find 'him' - maybe that was what he was doing this for, to assure that 'he' was never found by them.
But he knew that that was already inevitable, as they already suspected as such.. But even with the hopelessness that receded in his aching soul, he listened to the voices that often spoke in his head like old friends that he had known forever, listening to them and hearing them clearly as if they were right beside him - maybe it was all for a reason, as his eyes stared at the screen and seemed to narrow in the corners like they were imitating a cat as the irises turned a crimson red...

In Metal Bey City, the next day so far had seemed exceedingly better than the last, especially with Tsubasa and the news that they had so far completed the scan with what the blimp was able to reach of the city and that the results would soon be delivered too him once they were finished profiling.
As of now, Hikaru had come into his office and discussed the matter of Gingka's condition as she had not been present yesterday when Zyro, Madoka, and the others had been there.

"So in other words, he's not doing so much better." Hikaru summarized after Tsubasa's brief explanation to her.
"To summarize, yes.." Tsubasa said as he walked over to the window that was almost his wall in his office, gazing absently out at the city with his reflection only faintly blocking his view of which always happened, "I just don't know what more we can do.. I don't know if we'll be able to save Gingka or not, and I don't even know if we'll even be able to track down Alcorin.. I know Maru and Dynamis are trying, and that they're nearly convinced that there is a way to save him, but even still... We've done some crazy things in our days, but bringing back someone from the dead or the very inevitable brink of death hasn't been one of them. At least not as much as I can remember."

"Well, I guess we just have to hope for the better.." Hikaru said as she looked down to the floor slightly, "I mean, I hope they can find something.. They probably won't, but I guess we never know... The least we can do is at least try and search for Alcorin and see if we can find him, even if we don't.."
Tsubasa breathed out slightly, feeling as if the weight of the world and everything that had happened so far was just about to pile up and come crashing down on him all at once, barely able to put together all the pieces in his mind as brushed away at his bangs, only for them to fall right back into place like they always did.
"I guess so.." The Director agreed almost absent-minded, staring off into the sky with his golden-brown eyes as he spoke, "As long as we're still breathing - as long as Gingka is still breathing - he's not going to get his way.. One way or another, we'll track him down and give him what he deserves."
Hikaru tilted her head slightly, looking up from the ground to Tsubasa with her bluish-purple eyes.
"And what does he deserve?" She asked out of curiosity, watching as Tsubasa turned back towards her slightly and opened his mouth, seemingly about to answer before the ringing of the phone interrupted them.
Hikaru fell silent as Tsubasa hurried over to his desk and picked it up and held it up to his ear.

"Hello?" He asked in the immortal phrase as he answered the phone, his eyes focusing on the mere edge of his desk as he listened to what the person on the other line was saying, his eyes shifting every now and then, "Yes, this is he."
Hikaru looked at Tsubasa intently as he spoke, being quiet perhaps in hopes that she could hear what was being said by the caller - she could faintly hear mumbling and even catch a few words of what the conversation was, but that was about it.
"Wait, what?" Tsubasa asked, barely able to believe whatever he was hearing from the person from the other side of the line, "Was she with anyone?... You're sure?.."
Hikaru's brows knitted together in concern at seeing the look on Tsubasa's face, seemingly worried as she watched the look in his eyes morph slightly.
"O-okay." The silverette said over the phone, a slightly worried look on his features as the conversation seemed close to it's end, "Alright, thank you... Goodbye.."

With a haunted look on his face, Tsubasa hung up the phone which seemed to ring in the silence like it would in a canyon.
Hikaru looked at Tsubasa with concern, her bluish purple eyes watching his movements as he slowly looked up at her.
"Someone found Maru near the Egyptian city of Sohag.." The silverette said, startling the blunette as her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.
"What?" Hikaru questioned, barely able to believe what she was hearing, "Why?.. W-was Dynamis with her?"

"No, she was alone.." Tsubasa said, looking down at the wood of his desk as even he tried to process what he had been told, "She was half starved and dehydrated, dried blood on her knees from scraping them.."
Hikaru, with her next words, stuttered as she established all of this in her head.
"Well, who found her?" She asked, struggling to keep her laptop in her arms as she visibly shook in the slightest bit.
"There as a helicopter around where Maru was.." Tsubasa began to explain, "It was dark, and they weren't looking for her, but they somehow picked up a signal from laptop, which didn't have any battery left in it... How they managed that, I have absolutely no idea, but they're considering her lucky that they found her at all. She's being flown back here as we speak.."

"Well, what about Dynamis?" Hikaru asked, concern filling her voice while using one hand for gestures that were meaningless, "If he wasn't with her, then where is he?.."
That was the moment when Tsubasa fell silent, an uncomfortable aura filling the room and radiating from Tsubasa alone - it was something that he guessed Hikaru didn't like, but at the same time it didn't really seem to bother her, at least on the outside.
The silverette licked his lips and looked for the words, knowing what he had been told Maru had said to them and trying to figure out how he was going to explain this.
Hikaru looked at him with worried eyes, and it was finally then when he decided to look up into those bluish-purple eyes and speak the truth of which was an all too cruel reality.

"Dynamis is dead..."