Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) during this calm before the storm… especially for the ones who missed so much.

~保護者~

REVIEW REPLIES:

Hello, MelGamingPlays! Yep, we finally get to meet her! And she's not quite what Sonic was expecting, I bet. XD Also, yeah... poor Sonic. Lol.

~保護者~

"Tragedies"

~保護者~

Following Wave's lead, Sonic, Steam, Tails, and Cream hurried down familiar hallways toward what had once been Jet's office. Now it was the office of a new queen, one that Sonic knew nothing about. All he could reasonably infer (aside from the fact that she was descended from Jet's daughter, Hannah) was that she would likely be powerful. He knew nothing else. In a way, that made him a touch more nervous than it probably should have.

Rounding a corner, the group came upon Alana and Sein just as they appeared in the corridor. At this time, Jet had only just appeared on the planet with Sein… and yet, in a way, he had been here for quite some time. He was already in the office, in fact. Wave noted this and said to the recently-revived couple, "Jet's in there." She pointed at the door in question. "We're about to meet with the queen real quick, if you'd like to join us."

Alana left off looking around long enough to shift her gaze to the door and nod. "Alright."

Wave walked up to the door and, without knocking, opened it up to let them all in. Right as she did, the queen (who couldn't initially be seen from the doorway) said, "Surely that will not be the case. Our defenses have held for centuries. They are unlikely to fall now."

Jet responded sternly at right about the same time that the door opened. "An instant is time enough for tragedy," he reminded her. "The question has never been if the defenses will hold. They will not withstand an assault of that nature. Tragedy will come, whether or not you decide to prepare for it. The real question, miss, is whether or not you feel you are ready to deal with that. Once I am gone, it will be up to you to be strong for our people. You and you alone. And they will need you to be active, not remain idle as you have been."

Gone? That word echoed in Sonic's mind sharper than it should have. The word could be innocent enough. Perhaps Jet just meant when he was no longer on the planet. But something about the way he said it… It unnerved Sonic deeply.

"So, hold on. Can you guys give some background information as to what this is all about?" Sein asked, crossing his arms as he walked in beside Alana.

By this time, the group had fully entered the room. Sonic managed to lay eyes on the apparently very young queen as soon as they did so, and said eyes widened. She's… practically a kid. In Babylonian years, she wasn't that much younger than Jet. She couldn't have been older than fifteen, in fact. And yet, her aura exuded power and intelligence… both readily hampered by the usual stubbornness and irritability of teenagers. Her crossed arms and deep frown further completed the look.

Wave walked over to Jet and murmured, "What's going on?"

The queen answered. "Business as usual," she huffed, "in a manner of speaking. The planet is at stake as always and he doesn't think we're prepared for it."

Sein sighed softly. "I don't think he'd say that without some sort of backing to it. It sounds unreasonable to try and not plan ahead of time for a potential attack, and risky."

Visibly trying to stifle his own temper, Jet rubbed at his temples. As proof that he wasn't entirely succeeding, he unintentionally began speaking much more like he used to in the distant past when he'd been more open with people. It almost made Sonic wonder just how long Jet had been arguing with her, for him to be losing his cool this completely. "Look," he said tersely, "the God of Demons is an evil so vast that he openly despises other forces of evil. That isn't the sort of shit you want to mess mess with. And besides that, he gets stronger when he's pissed. Always has. And you lot have done a fantastic job of inciting his wrath. So unless you want to suffer and die, I suggest you stop wasting time and actually listen for once. You aren't ready, but he is."

"Our defenses have held against him time and again," the queen retorted sharply. "What makes this time any different from the rest?"

Steam groaned and rolled his eyes. "I've been face-to-face with him recently enough, and it seems like there were some of your people in his territory. He's not the type to just bring people into his territory all that often, so chances are they pissed him off by going there, were slaughtered, and got him more pissed off. It's not unlikely that he'd show up and really try to cause hell on your planet. If your defenses held, then that means he wasn't seriously trying to kill you. But now he might be."

Tails suddenly piped up, eyes wide. "Why were there Babylonians there?" he asked, dismayed.

"He's been after these stupid shards," the queen muttered. Now she seemed defensive… but also regretful. "Some of my patrols started vanishing in a specific region of space, so I sent out further troops to investigate. They reported back that they had found one of those shards near the wreckage of one of our ships. They believed they could bring it back, and I allowed them to try. There were no threats present at the time, but they found some sort of portal and went through it. Never heard from them again."

Muscles tensed on the green hedgehog's body in a minor show of agitation. "The God of Demons wouldn't go after some 'stupid shards' if they weren't important for something. What you did was get in his way, and now he's definitely pissed off about it."

"Those aren't ordinary shards," Tails helpfully explained, though the worry never left his tone. "They're pieces of some kind of a portal, we think, and he needs every scattered piece in order to repair it. He's obliterated worlds even larger than this one in his quest. Granted, few were ever defended like this one is, but…" He trailed off, closed his eyes, then asked quietly, "How long has it been since his last attack here?"

The queen frowned a touch deeper. "A couple centuries. Perhaps less."

"I still find it completely unreasonable to not fortify defenses and try to plan for an upcoming attack," Sein said, sighing. "You're not against a normal foe."

"I admit that this entire problem is partially our fault," Wave murmured, sharing a glance with Jet. "Because you were so young when you were thrust into this mess, we've tried to shield you from it. That's something we can no longer do. We can't promise anymore that we'll be able to keep the fight away from here and that everyone will be safe. It's just not feasible at this stage. There's far too much going on these days. But you have to understand that this… this is bigger now than it ever was. Without defense, our people are doomed. We need your help to try to prevent that, Saraya."

Taking no time to think this over much, Saraya shot back with, "I don't think you understand my position here. There's nothing left to use, nothing left that we can fortify our defenses with."

That didn't sound right. None of that sounded right. Alana felt concern bloom within her. "Surely Father would have left you all with something…"

Saraya cast her a puzzled glance but just said, "We have nothing. We haven't since about a century after the last time you," she glanced at Jet, "last visited. It simply hasn't mattered until now. What we've been left with has been enough."

Jet felt his temper flare again, but this time it took the form of cold calmness. "Pull the schematics for the barriers. Now."

Knowing that that tone meant she could be in serious trouble here, Saraya did as she was told. She pulled up a spherical hologram and tossed it to him. He immediately expanded them and began looking it over, something Alana quickly joined him in doing. "There are many weaknesses," she murmured. "And there are openings as well. Here, here, and here. Why have these not been repaired?"

"The knowledge of how mostly died with Kath," Wave was the first to say. "Jet and I can do it too, though, provided we're informed."

The jab made Saraya scowl. "Like I said, it hasn't been relevant until now."

"Relevance is subjective," Steam huffed. "It still should have been handled long before this, especially if the last attack really was centuries ago."

Jet further expanded the hologram. There were glaring errors in what little bits of repair work that had been done here and there, but most areas hadn't been touched at all. Eventually, he spoke again. "We could have dispersed eons ago," he murmured changing the subject abruptly, "back when the Night first came to claim us. We did not. We let ourselves become cornered. Though we won that war, we have remained in that same corner throughout the years. We still remain in it to this day. There is no escaping it, not now. Our best offense is to provide our best defense. If we cannot, we will die. There is no alternative." Something needs to be done.

Turning to face his old friend, Sonic asked, "Jet?"

The hawk shook his head, closing the hologram as he did so. "It is the nature of all of us to survive, whether we like it or not. These were our worlds, our solar systems. We were all here first. We were here when the Night came and we will be here to herald the dawn, if we can defend ourselves adequately when the time comes."

Sein straightened noticeably. "And defend we will. I'll be damned if any of us would let our homes be attacked and not go down fighting. I, for one, refuse to let this god take down a second place that I can call home after I already lost my first. And none of you strike me as the type to just give up when shit gets hard," he said boldly, his gaze flicking across to everyone in the room. "Regardless of abilities in battle or what you think of yourself."

Looks were traded, and no one said a single word to deny what he had said. Instead, Cream slowly asked, "So what should we do, then?"

"Repair the barriers, first and foremost," Wave stated without hesitation. "And we need to establish stronger barriers on Mobius as well. The ones you guys set up before work fine for defending against basic fodder-level demons, but they won't stand a chance against anything stronger."

"We should also make sure we get everyone's weapons together," Tails added. "...Plus I'll need a chance to work with Shadow to make sure he can help us in some way."

Sonic ground his teeth together. "How much of a time crunch are we looking at here?"

"There's no telling," Wave shrugged. "Jet's off monitoring the situation right now. He'll let us know when time begins to really run out."

Now Sonic was really confused. Because Jet was standing in the room with them, talking quietly with Saraya again. "He… I- What?" Tails and Cream traded bewildered looks.

Something seemed to click in Wave's mind right then. "Oh, right… You guys don't know. Sorry." Before he could even ask, she proceeded to explain, "Immortals, once they reach a certain 'level' (so to speak), can clone themselves at will. Though it's not as easy as it sounds. They're basically existing in more than one place simultaneously, sharing thoughts, memories, and so on. So, he's here, but he's also not." She paused, then thought to add, "The clone is the one that's not here right now, if that makes you feel any better."

Sonic took a breath. "So we know what needs to be done in general, but what do we do? As in, the rest of us. Not you and Jet."

"Well, aside from Tails's little project and the usual training, there isn't much for you lot to do," Wave answered. "Not yet, anyway. There will be soon - very soon, in fact - but not now. We can mostly manage at the moment. But when the time comes you will be informed. I promise you all that. However, I don't want you to worry yourselves sick. This will be serious, I can't deny that. But this isn't going to be 'the big one' or anything like that. The God of Demons has way too much else on his plate right now to bother that much with us." She looked between the lot of them, then said, "And like I was saying, Jet and I will deal with it for now. Sonic, I want you and that brother of yours to get some rest. I'd say the same about Espio, but… well, you know. Tails, Cream, I'd like for you two to try and relax as well. It's not as necessary for you to sleep, though."

In response, Sonic tossed a look toward Jet. "...You sure?" he asked. "The way he's behaving… you might end up needing a hand."

Wave knew what he meant. It may not have been as obvious to anyone else, but she and Sonic knew Jet very well. They knew he'd been anxious since Sein and Alana had so suddenly come onto the scene. They knew that his sudden display of temper and lack of patience in dealing with Saraya just now was a sign of stress, stress that had only been heightened by Tein's recent death. They also knew that, because of his autism and the fact that he'd never really received much therapy in his life, he struggled to cope well with such things. Most oftentimes he would resort to isolating himself, picking fights with big baddies so that he had an excuse to brawl, or that sort of thing. Those already weren't good (in particular that last option), but what would arguably be worse was if his stress levels wound up escalating his emotions to the point where he couldn't cope. And Sonic, rightfully, was worried that Jet might be headed there. His judgement on the matter was sound. Jet, after all, had largely mastered keeping up an act of impassivity on all fronts. For his emotions to be spilling out so visibly meant that they were already strong. This could get worse, even if we take steps now to try to prevent it.

She sighed a little. "I've been trying to work on de-escalation already," she informed him quietly. "Things haven't improved much but, if nothing else, they haven't gotten any worse so far. If things get too bad, I'll come and get you."

Though he possibly wanted to argue, Sonic ultimately refrained. "Yeah. Okay."

In an effort to conceal her own concern, Wave forced a smile. She gestured to the door just as Jet took off once again. "Go on, then. Off to bed with you."

He huffed, but nevertheless followed her instructions and turned to leave with Cream at his heels. Tails offered a small gesture of farewell before he, too, departed. "Bye, Wave. See you in a little bit."

"See ya, Shorty." The fox smiled and exited the room, shutting the door behind him. With them gone, Wave turned to Sein and Alana. There was no doubt in her mind that they had paid attention to everything that had just been said. Alana was wearing a small frown that only barely managed to convey her worry - worry that Wave knew was there because Jet often wore that very same expression. Definitely could have tried harder not let her overhear… she seems worried enough over him as it is. Shooting a glance slightly to the left, she took in Sein's expression to gauge his emotions as well. The male hawk's face bore a general thoughtfulness to it, and with such he seemed a bit out of it. Seeing this, Wave quietly suggested a distraction. "How about you two go and explore for a bit? It might take your mind off things, at least temporarily."

Given that she suspected he needed to be distracted, Alana accepted this offer readily. "We will, if your queen does not mind."

"She won't," Wave assured. She looked over at said queen. "Right?"

Saraya waved her hand dismissively. "I really don't care what you do. Just don't break shit."

"Of course," Alana murmured. She tugged gently on Sein's arm. "Come. Let us take a walk."

A few blinks served as the initial response before he glanced over and gave a nod. "Alright."

Before they left, Wave quickly interjected, "On this floor, down at the end of the hall, there's a pair of double doors. It's an ancient observatory that we've been maintaining over the years. It…" She looked down and away. "It was Kath's private space."

Sein gently pulled off in that direction, interest piqued greatly at the mention of Kath. Giving Wave an appreciative nod, Alana hurried after him. She caught up to him in mere moments, just in time to see him approaching the two guards stationed on either side of the doors to the room they had been directed to. When Sein approached, the two guards attempted to stop him only for the hawk to gently push them both aside and continue on his way.

Needless to say, the guards were not at all amused by his actions. Sighing, Alana walked up up to them and exchanged a few quiet words. Things were settled in short order, and she proceeded inside after Sein. Once inside, her steps faltered, for the very first thing she saw was a very old framed photograph resting atop a table… of a fairly young Kath, Laralei, and Azerel, with both hawks offering rare small smiles to the camera. Sein hadn't noticed until Alana stopped, turning to see what had grabbed her attention only for his eyes to fall on the photo. The faintest of smiles broke onto his face before he coughed to grab his wife's attention. "That's another of those one in a million chances Cere mentioned a long time ago."

Blinking back some mistiness in her eyes, Alana nodded. "Yes… I suppose it is." Walking over to the table, she glanced around the room a bit more. She spotted various other tables, many books and scientific instruments, all manner or papers and writing utensils… Really, it was all a bit cluttered and chaotic. It was familiar, all of it, this 'organized chaos' as her mother had so often called it. "It appears that Father used this room as an office space as well…"

"So I can see. Stuff strewn about everywhere." Sein picked up a random device off a table and turned it to inspect it. "Damn. Pretty old too. Older than me, maybe."

Alana shot him an amused glance. "...Indeed." She looked over some other various tools and such and added, "Some of these devices are clearly ancient for this timeline, and yet… they are far more advanced than anything that existed in our timeline." She fell silent, mulling over how truly long it must have been since her parents had died here.

"Yeah, no shit. I can't even tell what this thing is." He spun it gently in his hand, prompting a rapid set of beeps that panicked him and caused him to set it down quickly. "Dunno if that's a bomb, but I want no part of it."

A grey eyebrow arched. "Do you truly believe that Father would keep a bomb near all of his papers and books?"

A shrug served as the most immediate response, Sein edging away from the table slowly. "Maybe. He's just odd enough to."

"You are the only odd one," Alana huffed. She walked over to the device and examined it, then switched it off. "You only turned it on. Relax." When he didn't immediately reply, she turned her attention to looking over the rest of the items on the table. Within seconds she had located a holographic projector not unlike the kind they had been familiar with as children. Slowly, hesitantly, she picked it up. This was a device that could store many files, similar to Mobian video cameras and the like. The possibilities excited her, but also made her nervous. "Do… you think he left anything on this?"

Sein walked over and inspected it quietly for a moment before simply turning it on with no hesitation. "Only one way to find out, eh?" Immediately, the last file to be recorded started playing.

Right from the beginning, it was clear that a child had a hold of the device and was running around with it. After much shaking and panting, the tiny bird slammed into the double doors, then jumped up and yanked on the handles to make the doors open. Immediately, Kath (who was significantly older than the Kath they had known) stopped what he was doing and looked over. "Suri, what are you doing?"

The child shouted happily in reply, "I found your thingy! It makes videos!" She ran fully into the room and shoved the camera into a once-sleeping Azerel's face. "Say hi, puppy!"

Sounding vaguely amused in his own way despite his usual cold exterior, Kath huffed. "He is no puppy." The video ended after that.

Sein blinked a few times at the video before glancing to Alana, amusement lighting his eyes gently. Alana managed a small smile. "He seemed… happy," she murmured.

"Definitely. I'd know that tone of voice anywhere. It was a rare thing with me around."

"Not as rare as you believe, actually." She back looked to the device before handing it to Sein. "Here. Pick another." Sein idly searched through the device before settling on one that looked like it would be interesting.

This recording was another short one that Kath had not recorded himself. In fact, he was part of the focus in the recording, as was Jet. The pair were sparring - perhaps, more accurately, brawling - while someone else stood off in the distance and captured footage of the whole thing. There were flashes of aura, heavenly blue and vivid yellow, each ending in brilliant explosions. Sword slashes were traded, many impressive acrobatic feats were displayed... It was quite the display, truly, and over much too soon.

Once the feed ended, Alana happened to glanced around and let her eyes skim over the various tables, only for her gaze to land on something… newer? Giving a Sein's arm a small tug and gestured for him to put the device back on the table. She then walked over to the odd little book she had spotted. She picked it up and, with a confused frown, read the simplistic title aloud. "'Excerpts'..." She checked the book over again. "This looks vastly younger in age than everything else in here."

Sein set the device down and followed after Alana quietly, tilting his head curiously at the book. "Well, open it. Let's see what it's talking about."

Taking heed to his words, Alana opened the book and read aloud the first short passage.

The war for Mobius saddened the Babylonian king - now the new Guardian - deeply, though no living Mobian understood why.

"Would you have me tell them?" his ever-faithful scribe inquired softly as he mourned in secret over all those lost on this day.

"No," Jet murmured, rising to his feet from the blood-tainted grass. "My sorrow is my own. Others need not know of it."

"Oh, so… this is about Jet, then?" Sein asked aloud, raising his eyebrows in faint interest.

Equally as surprised as Sein no doubt was, Alana murmured, "And he was king… how unusual." It wasn't that she wasn't proud; far from it. It was just odd, given how matriarchal their society had always been. She glanced at Sein. "Should we continue reading this?"

Sein shrugged, motioning for her to go ahead. "Sure. We're already doing it." Returning his shrug, she read the next passage.

Even those with hearts of gold grow bitter at times, for even those of purest Light may experience taint. When asked today why his fights, why continues to struggle even when he aches so deeply, the cold king responded, "I don't do it because I want to protect anyone." His head lifted toward the sky as the sun set before him. "Why I continue to fight even in the face of my own unspeakable sufferings is no one's concern save for my own." And it was on this day that we were enlightened of his real feelings, the power of the truth he left unsaid.

"Does that not sound impeccably like Kath? Especially that first line and the vague 'I don't share my motives with people' thing he had going there?" Sein asked.

"Father was always… secretive," Alana murmured, "in much the same manner as Jet is being described here. It is fitting." Sein simply gave a nod in response, sighing softly. Trying to distract herself from now painful memories, Alana resumed reading until Sein interrupted her with a response.

"Tell me what it means to be a Guardian."

"I cannot explain to you that which has no set definition."

"Try."

"I make no promises I cannot keep."

"For me."

"... ...In part… it means defending those you love."

"So why am I defended, Guardian?"

"...Friendship is said to be merely another form of love."

When she smiles, there is a tiny miracle… and he almost smiles back. Almost.

(-)

"Defeat is inevitable…" she told told the Guardian grimly, "... for someone. Make sure it isn't you."

He gave a mere scoff and vanished into the fray.

"Ya know, that sounds vaguely familiar…" Sein pondered, placing a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Almost like I've heard it before."

A grey eyebrow arched delicately. "That would be… because you have."

"Impossible."

"You are Immortal, Sein. You should understand by now that few things can be defined as 'impossible'."

Sein coughed softly, glancing at her. "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over how impossible it is for me to have heard such a thing before."

Anyone else would have laughed, but Alana settled on a milder half-smirk, smacked his arm lightly, and resumed reading.

When he starts to succumb to the darkness of his own emotions, she tells him to remember what he fights for. Sometimes he tells her, "I fight... for nothing."

Sein grimaced faintly at this, crossing his arms with a perturbed expression. Alana frowned but continued reading without a word about it.

Today he visited Mobius, a distant and beautiful world we have not laid eyes upon since the end of their private apocalypse. He sits before a cluster of graves on his knees, head bowed in respect and eyes closed with the lingering echoes of grief… but I know his attention is focused almost solely on one. It is hard for anyone to forget one who was once so close to us… one who gave us so much worthy of remembering.

He says this is the last time he will visit.

(-)

Harmony is peace. Peace is unity. Unity is harmony. This is but one of the Guardian's most basic teachings, and too few care enough to take the lesson to heart. Each time our unity breaks on the front and beyond, the Night gains power over us all. Our Guardian is already crippled. The Babylonian kingdom and all its territories and even its solar system lay in near ruin. His fabled blade is missing. If we lose the strength of our armies as well, we will have lost nearly all that we have left.

(-)

There are days when he sees only Darkness before him. There are other days where it is all he can see behind him as well. On yet other days… it is all he ever sees all around him. In the past, in the present, stifling the air to either side of him, around his throat and suffocating him, in his mind where it threatens with madness and suffering… in his heart…

"Do you… feel that?" Sein asked gently, his eyes glued intently to the words they read.

Taking in a slow breath, Alana answered, "The author was… disturbed. I can still feel traces of their aura on this page."

He took a moment to straighten his posture, breathing softly. "Lots more… Fear, too."

"Deeper into the book, yes," Alana agreed quietly. "It was… intense."

"Let's keep going."

Nodding, she continued.

The Hero of Mobius was the first person to see through the Guardian's bitter defensive mechanism and the raw pain it veiled. He was never destined to be the last… for she sees it, too.

(-)

He describes [illegible] as, "Evil so great, it despises other evil." His words, for once, fail to do the truth justice.

(-)

She reminds him that none are truly dead, even once they are forgotten. He reminds her that they aren't here, and likely never will be again.

Sein grimaced and glanced away for a moment. "Didn't… nevermind. Let's keep going."

Alana cast him a saddened look, but was quick to bury it and comply with his request.

Life is a long and miserable road when you know you walk alone… and he has been firm in the certainty of his perceived loneliness for many [illegible].

(-)

Where we face mere death, he faces… annihilation. The complete destruction of everything he was, is, and ever will be. To be faced with something more and worse than death… some wonder why he risks it.

(-)

His eyes once sparkled when he genuinely smiled, the Mother Tree says. That has all changed. She says it is as if he cares no longer.

(-)

The Night, he says, whispers in the ears of mortals, telling us things we are never destined to remember - and thus never do. In the eyes of the Night, he claims, we are too small to hold the vastness of this entity... or the terror.

I ask what he thinks. He will not answer.

"So this thing is still… around. Bastard." Sein muttered, aura flaring in agitation.

Alana thought back to a time long before, after the death of their planet and their arrival with Laralei on the little planet of Mobius. "Do you remember that man… the one who fought with Mother?"

Perplexed for a moment, Sein fixated her with a confused expression. "That hedgehog?"

"The one who was friends with that woman of Light, yes," she nodded. "Did he not once mention that the Night had been active on Mobius before?" And, more importantly… had the beast returned there, forcing Jet to fight it? How else would he have encountered such an evil?

"He did… but I don't… know if it would have… stayed? Actually, if it had still been there, wouldn't the place be annihilated by now? Something must've happened to get it off Mobius."

"I do not know," Alana sighed. She then shook her head. "But I suppose it does not matter now." With that, she resumed reading.

He says he holds to the belief that there is something beautiful out there. Something that we just have to reach out for. On some days, this statement seems truer than it does on others.

Tonight, seeing him sit beneath the sky with the light of each and every star reflecting off of his eyes, I can see all his wonder, all his suppressed hope, all his dreams… and somehow, I can believe him when he claims to see beauty where so often he finds none.

(-)

"Once, we had peace.

This story is not about that.

Then there was Darkness, destruction, despair, death.

This tale is not about those things, either.

This story comes from a time far after then.

It is a story about what was here afterward...

And what came next."

-snippet from the stories of our king, Guardian-6

(-)

The Guardian, as of late, has come to worry us all. A gruesome bloom of passion and intrigue has risen within him, a curious and most troubling obsession with death… It has been persisting for [illegible] years, but only now are we truly beginning to see it. At times, it appears to consume him, this bid to make sense of mortality. And, in doing so, understand Immortality.

For even Immortals do die… albeit in an infinitely different [illegible].

Sein tapped his fingers against his arm, narrowing his eyes. "That doesn't sound… entirely natural, yet at the same time…"

Pursing her lips together, Alana frowned at the page. "I agree," she said.

"My problem is that it also does. Something about it does sound natural. That's the thing that bugs me most."

She nodded her head in tense agreement. "Perhaps more was written about this." She resumed reading before he could answer.

Kingdoms shatter in his wake. Darkness crumbles with each step he takes. With each stride, he forces evil to retreat. Such has been the truth of his existence for many eons. And yet he does not remain unchanged. No longer is he stolid and [illegible]. Something has happened to him, something he deigns to explain to none. His obsession with death only grows.

(-)

He speaks of Zyr… the Black Gate… of Zenith and Malevolence… of Eona, Eras, and the Light… and of something that transcends them all. Something that is of both Light and Darkness and yet is not, something that is more than Chaos. Something stirs deep within existence, he claims… something we have reason to fear. Something from which even the Night begins to flee.

It is from his lips that we hear this claim of what is slowly coming to be, a new energy in a new realm with new will and new sentience of sorts… Our Guardian knows not what it is, admits so openly, and yet is fascinated with it to the point of growing obsession.

It is often said that dark energies seek to corrupt from the moment they come to be. If that is so, then perhaps that is the explanation we have been seeking, the answer to our endless questioning of what has happened to our Guardian. We can only pray that he somehow recovers and finds himself again, before it is too late for him to be saved.

"So… this is the Void. It finally came to be, then." Sein sighed, pulling his arms closer together.

They had known for many eons that this energy was coming, and that it would be vile. But to think that it had attached itself to their son… Alana took in a slightly shaky breath. This is… This is not right.

Sein took a moment, frowning. "We can't… do much of anything about it. I highly doubt that, at least. Best we can do is try to help him in handling it."

"If it is even still present," Alana responded carefully. "He has shown no sign of it since our return."

"Why would an energy attach to someone only to detach, much less an Immortal?"

"I do not know."

"For now… let's just keep reading. We won't be able to figure out much more at the moment." She simply nodded and kept going.

"If existence is death and to die is to have existed… then tell me… why do we live...?"

-Guardian-6

(-)

An excerpt penned by the Guardian-6, transcribed to this page for the sake of memory.

"Truth is lost in the vastness of this sea of lies. It watches as it destroys us, hungry for our pain. In Dark waters its fangs are bared, ready to devour, seeking to consume all Truth and all Lie and, in essence, everything.

Truth and Lie.

Where does one and the other begin?

Understanding is… dangerous.

No one speaks of it. No one tells the tales of the day the shepherd's staff became the shepherd's sword, the shepherd's gun, the physical manifestation of the shepherd's will to live. It is never discussed anymore why we bear the marks we wear so proudly, these honored gifts once given solely to those who stood as pillars of Hope and Light against the devastation of the Night. As our many ages of prosperity and Truth came screeching to a halt, we stood defiant against the coming end. We were the first line of defense… and in many ways the last. But no one speaks of those things. No one speaks of the Truth… or of the Lies the Night brought.

What I wish to convey is… understanding. Benign comprehension. Logic without judgement.

The stories people tell these days… They sing tales of Light and of Darkness. But something, something out there has transcended such unimaginative limitations and rules. It's far easier to believe in the madness of normality than it is in this, but… I cannot deny the things I sense, the whispers I continue to hear day after day, night after night. Truth is something I have long sought to reclaim, ever since the Night swallowed us whole, but something always hinders me.

Secrets.

Creation is, in many ways, built upon secrets and the encryptions that keep those secrets safe.

They say truth is where we seek it, but what are we meant to do when all we seek is hidden by secrets we alone cannot uncover?

The whispers once took enough form to resemble a genuine voice, a voice which seemed to say, 'Burn the world. Burn all words. Burn them all away until they cease to be.' It is a Lie, one I have been presented with before. The Lie of power in exchange for Death… I will not fall into such treachery. It asks then, it always asks, 'What is your answer, then, when the only True answer is extinction?'

'From the space between realms is where I come,' it tells me. 'Fragments of stars and realities burn in my footsteps and shine in my path. In my hands I hold the Truth of Life and Death, the Truth to all that you seek.'

This power, whatever it may grow to be, is but a spark now, it is true. But I often have to remind myself that sparks are just as capable of giving Life as they are of utterly taking it. In response, it tries to convince me that sometimes the only answer to it all is to burn everything away… to start anew. I suppose it is fitting, then, that we have weaponized the once-unknown. If this force continues as it is now, I will have to burn it away until there is nothing left, lest it do the same to us all. Until that day, the Lies are destined to continue. The Secrets will forever remain in my way. The Truth I seek will lie buried someplace where I cannot reach it.

Few speak of the Night that once tortured us. They refuse to remember, to understand that there are yet more shadows, always more shadows, rising from the Darkness and hungering for all our hope and all our Light.

My own Light flickers, at times. It grows weak.

I seek to understand, to know without bias and without opinion. To simply know and be, and this forces me to study. To learn. I study this essence, whatever it may be, and I know it does the same. It will learn little from me… and I little from it. We are trapped, in a way, each seeking what we cannot attain, each striving for what may be impossible so long as we remain as we are. But that does not mean that there is no… connection. I have learned some things from it, things I never had any desire to know.

From this essence, I know pain.

It is nothing like I had ever believed it to be before.

It is ice, and it is fire. It is the Light of a thousand burning suns and the Darkness of a million dying worlds. It is everything and nothing, yet still something. It is Truth and Lie and Secret all at once, and yet none at all. It is unfathomable agony, yet it is unattainable bliss. It is nothing… and everything.

I feel I drive myself to the edge of madness, rambling hopelessly while trying to explain what cannot be put into words, to explain what I simply know.

In reality, its simplicity is staggering. The simplicity, that is, of Truth and Lie.

New voices often reach out and seek to challenge the new energy and its will, saying to me, 'Before you lie two paths. There is the worship of Death, the world-killing way where you live as Death and Devastation. There is the Sky, our Light, in which we build new life against the onset of ruin, striving toward a gentler future. You have walked with us this far. Do not abandon us.'

This new essence, these voices, they whisper unto me, 'Let us speak of the terrible beauty of becoming ourselves. We are the gaze and glory of Light and Darkness together, the cunning and knowledge, the triumph and brawn… we are everything they are and can be, and yet we are beyond them utterly. Love and the desire to kill... the Truth you seek says that they are one and the same. You may not believe these words yet, but the rest of what we have told you over all these years… why do you ignore them so?

You deny Truth until it becomes Lie.'

And there it was. The moment of understanding. The time when I finally knew where one ended and the other began. But understanding always seems to breed new questions, and now I am forced to ponder the morality of this all… and, above all, whose Truths to believe. In years long past, the answer may have seemed so obvious as to be a pillar of Light in the center of Zyr, but now… Now I know not what I believe, let alone what I should believe.

I am lost… and this time I do not think I will be able to find my way alone."

-Guardian-6

There was so much here. Too much to unpack in one sitting, surely. The pair traded a glance, silently agreeing to try and go back over this later, and resumed reading. They came to the same conclusion about the one following this as well.

More words penned by the hand of the Guardian-6, once more recorded for the sake of memory… and concerned documentation.

"I promised to myself once, 'I will learn all the secrets of our destiny, and in doing so reclaim the Truths we once treasured.' But these days… these days I am forced to wonder if I am growing into a nihilist. It all, in many ways, seems so pointless. My actions lack the meaning they once held to even me.

These days, I don't do much except break things. Evil things, granted, but regardless. I break creatures, people, kingdoms, worlds, realms… when the need arises, I make them cease to be. But to die is to have existed, and they will forever remain in some way or another. Sometimes, it feels as though no true lasting good comes from my actions… even if they do save the lives of those I am supposed to yet care about.

The voices whisper, 'The only way to make something good, something undefeatable, is to make something that cannot be broken. The only way to achieve this is to break everything.'

They say that existence itself runs on Death. It may be yet another Lie but, in a way… it almost feels more beautiful to know."

(-)

Yet another excerpt… this one smaller than the first but no less concerning.

"They have begun a new message. They often repeat their old phrases, but now and then they say something new, something that catches the attention and forces the mind to ponder.

Now they say, 'You made them strong. Follow my trail and you will lead them into Eternity. You love them, and love is war. Love is of Death as Death is Love. Love is Life, and Death is Life. Life is Love and Death. If truly you feel these things, then follow me.

I am the breaker of wills, yet I have not broken you. Your existence, as all are destined to be, is and always will be war, too. I will give you nothing to aid you… Nothing but my Truths and this mark that all deserve to bear.

What is at war is healthy. What is at peace is forever ill. As you learn more Secrets, your power grows, and as your power grows you learn more secrets. One such Secret is that the only meaningful relationship there can be is the attempt to destroy. The only true right is existence while the only true wrong is nonexistence.

You wonder often what will become of you when you truly die. It suits you to consider such matters. You may not yet see it, but in all you have done in your life you have become a great ally of Death. Continue on your current path, slaughtering all who believe and act opposite of you, and you may yet become synonymous with Death itself.

You yourself have died many times, but these deaths were only temporary. Your echoes, the echoes of your past Deaths, haunt you, and rightfully so. For each Death is a failure, and failure deserves only punishment and more Death. These are my rules, and yet you turn your head to me. You listen, fascinated, to each word I deign to speak. When you call upon my power, should you ever choose to, you gamble with your own soul. It is why you hesitate and never reach back to me, why you still remain as weak as you are.

Your mind alone is an unfathomable weapon. When you think, worlds break. The slightest inflection of will may shatter realities by the dozen. Secrets, though none mine, peel apart for you like the skins on a fruit. But you are a rare thing, for there have always been too few of your kind. Your kind lost their way immediately after the departure of the Faein. You were weakened, lost, wielding powers you knew so little about. Yet, in doing all that you have done, you have surpassed all that came between you and those first four. But you can be so much more than this.

Walk with me.

Transcend.'"

"So he… hasn't accepted the Void…" Sein murmured, frowning. "Though, it's trying to convince him to."

"It was doing everything in its power to entice him," Alana answered softly, "to sway his beliefs and cause him to believe its lies. And it may well have done far more than what was written here. There is no telling what else it has told him… what else he may have begun to believe."

"I assume that it hasn't gotten through to him yet. At least not fully."

"But there is no way to be sure, Sein."

"I'm gonna trust my gut, but either way, we have to be cautious of it. I'm damn sure it won't take too kindly to us butting in on it's plans," Sein said. Alana nodded once."Wanna keep hunting down more information? Maybe there's some more that he, or someone else, wrote that could give some more insight."

It was a sound plan, so Alana relented. Sighing, she closed the book and set it down. "Alright."

~保護者~

"Are you certain an attack now is wise?"

Cracking his eyes open, the god of demons stared distantly at the floor. He was sat upon a stone throne of sorts, one where he often rested when the urge struck him. Now was not the time for that. Instead, he sat on the edge of his weathered seat, hands clasped in front of his mouth and elbows on his knees while he thought. "Why ask for answers when you already have them?" he retorted quietly.

Perhaps surprised by the lack of anger of said questioning, the general standing beside him was momentarily rendered silent. When he spoke next, he had apparently decided it would be wise to phrase his words more carefully this time. "I understand that those people encroached, sir, and that that alone is worthy of punishment. But surely there is more to this."

The god let out a soft hum of acknowledgement and said, "That world has also temporarily become a rallying point for the boy and his friends."

Frowning, the general ventured, "You wish to confront him?"

"No. Not personally. I have elsewhere to be." There was a moment of silence before the god decided to continue. "There are more important matters to attend to on that world currently, at any rate."

"The Immortal?"

"No… not him. The other two."

The general's eyebrows shot up. "Other two? Were they not just born?"

Normally that would have been the case, but not this time. This time, some rules had been skirted around… and that required a bit of investigation. "The pair that died were replaced by Immortals from a separate reality," he murmured. "Such a thing would not have been done if they were not important in some manner."

Now the general was beginning to understand. "Should we test them?" he asked. "Many warriors would be eager to test their mettle against such foes."

The god waved a hand dismissively. "Let them. I do not care if they die." He paused, then added, "Do not send the most powerful. They are needed elsewhere."

"Understood. I'll send the third tiers. They should be sufficient for such a test."

For a long moment, the god thought. In regards to demons, there were six broad levels of power with vast room for fluctuation to be found in each. The highest of these tiers (the sixth) was his, occupied solely by the actively ruling god or goddess. The lowest tier was, naturally, the first was reserved for the fodder and various hatchlings and other demonic young. The fourth and fifth tiers would be leaving with him shortly, leaving just the third tiers and below to carry out the attack on New Babylon. As his general had said… they would suffice, this time. "Fine."

"Shall I allow the fodder to follow them in?"

"Let them do as they please. If they die, then so be it." The pair fell silent for several long minutes before the god spoke again. "Alynn and her sisters will attempt to follow you into the battle."

The general's eyebrows again raised. The god seldom acknowledged his own daughters, leaving them to their own devices most of the time unless he saw fit to train them now and then. Such was the nature of demonic parenthood, sometimes. "Your orders, sir?"

Again, he was dismissive. "Let them. They are more than old enough for a hunt."

Knowing that the triplets were powerful despite how very young they were, the general didn't think this was necessary… but still, he asked. "Do you require them to be guarded?"

His inquiry required a moment of consideration, but just a moment. "No. If they believe they are prepared to handle sneaking onto a battlefield, then they must either prove themselves or suffer the consequences."

It was a dangerous thing to do, truly, but the general nevertheless questioned, "Even though they are yours?"

In response, the god let out a small growl. "Blood is irrelevant in this matter. They deserve no special treatment. Favor must be earned. It is not given freely."

Still, the general pressed the matter. Demonic or not, the god was a parent. Even demonic parents closely guarded their young, often to an extreme extent. While it was true that demons had virtually no capacity for love and the like, it was also true that the god had fiercely protected the triplets until they had been capable of being out on their own. Virtually none had gone anywhere near the three and survived. And Alynn and her sisters were still very young. Surely he wasn't ready to leave them completely alone in this scenario, was he? It didn't sound right. "And should their lives be too severely threatened?"

At this, the god executed a short snarl and stood, beginning to stalk out of the room. "Then I will deal with it myself."

~保護者~

8,922 words this time. Hope you all enjoyed, and thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all his help! New chapter will be up tomorrow! Posted (at about 10:00 a.m.) 10-10-19.