Guardian

by yasha012

I used to want to save existence... I saw it as this beautiful place, capable of fostering life in all of its many forms. A place with the potential to nurture so much Light. But the closer I got to it... the more I fought for it… the better I could see the Darkness waiting within… the evil we would all rather forget. (Part 4 of the Hero series; sequel to "Eternal Shadow Falls".)

184. The Raid Begins

Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this epic struggle… especially for the one who has no idea what's coming.

~保護者~

"The Raid Begins"

~保護者~

It took all of three seconds for Shadow to understand what had happened, where he was, and what kind of danger he was once again in. His heart hammered in his chest, but he knew better than to let any of his fear show. Fear was weakness. Weakness was a flaw. Flaws were punished. He swallowed everything back as best as he could while subtly testing his restraints.

While a lack of courage and adequate strength had kept him trapped the last time, things were different now. As usual he was strapped to some metal table, secured to it with cuffs around his ankles and wrists. However, they were made of some sort of energy this time rather than metal themselves. Energy that, somehow, seemed to be keeping all of his powers locked away within him. Gerald couldn't have done this. Only his abductor, Nareish, could have been the one responsible.

Worst of all, however, was the muzzle on his face. Simply feeling it there unlocked memories he hadn't known he'd had. He'd been small, hadn't been taken from the hive more than a month ago, and was always muzzled even when in his cage. Black Arms tended to bite and claw, after all. Lacking claws, he had bitten Gerald more than once out of fear and a desire to defend himself.

It hadn't taken long for Gerald to build a muzzle and attach it to him. Shadow had been too little and too unfamiliar with any of the technology (even comparably low-tech items like this one) to know how to free himself. His one means of self-defense had been suddenly taken from him, and it was then that his fear toward the man had truly begun to solidify. And now… now he was muzzled again, likely due to his vampirism, and that fact alone made him unwillingly shiver.

Two pairs of footsteps began approaching, the sound of them echoing faintly in the hall. Soon Nareish and Gerald walked into view, already in the midst of a conversation. "While you prepare for the eventual arrival of your new weapon," Nareish was saying, "do what you will with your old one. I don't care if you torture it, kill it, or merely collect final data from it. Just know that this will be your final opportunity to do so. As much as I enjoy angering his moody little partner, I have other targets I intend to begin focusing on for the time being."

In response, Gerald nodded easily. "I will work as I please. This will be an… interesting time, to be sure," he answered. "I will ensure that the new weapon cannot betray and turn on me like this one has."

"Good. I look forward to whatever improvements you make in the future," Nareish murmured. Then she said, "I will leave you to it. Ciao, Doctor." She vanished without further ado.

The old man finally turned to face Shadow with a vague display of disgust. "You once were exactly what I had wanted. A perfect weapon capable of death and destruction, yet you chose to disobey. Do you understand how disappointed I am with you?" Unable to speak with the muzzle on, Shadow studiously avoided looking at the man and tried to focus on keeping himself calm. However, Gerald's words created additional emotions within him that he was finding somewhat difficult to bury. Gerald continued, despite the lack of response. "It's led me to discover something. You have outgrown your worth to me. I should have realized sooner, but such a disobedient weapon is worthless. Knowing this… I'll be using you to perfect the next one. A mix of a god and one of your original fathers."

Hearing this caused an unexpected spike of anger, as well as some perfectly justified alarm. That anger caused Shadow's pupils to narrow to a degree, but the fact that he suddenly realized this muzzle was coated in the scent of his missing father's blood was what truly began to make his anger overcome his fear.

Gerald grabbed up a blade off a nearby table and walked closer, his irritation and disdain now plainly showing. "You will be nothing more than a stepping stone to my next great work. How does that make you feel, hm? You fought so hard to be free and have emotions, and what has it done for you? Are you angry, or are you afraid?" This finally earned a vocal response as Shadow's pupils narrowed more fully and he began to descend into an altered vampiric state. He growled hatefully at Gerald, but was otherwise still unable to speak or react.

The madman stabbed the weapon into the table next to Shadow, effectively dulling the blade. "You are a weapon. You do not have emotions! This is all you are good for now!" Shadow let out a sound somewhere between a vampiric hiss and a Tokarian snarl, pulling tightly yet futility against his restraints.

Full of spite, Gerald lifted the blade and stabbed downward at the hedgehog. The horrible screeching of metal tearing apart sounded in the second before it could make contact, an onyx black figure slamming into the ground in front of Gerald and snapping the blade effortlessly in one hand. "That's my boyfriend, bitch!" Toru snapped, kicking the old man aside and into a nearby wall.

With Gerald temporarily out of commission, Toru gripped the table Shadow was stuck to and pulled, tearing it in half and tossing it aside as well. "I wish I could have been here sooner, but I'm here, Shadow," he whispered, working to make sure the hedgehog was freed. Despite having not recognized Toru at all the last few times this sort of thing had happened, enough of Toru's scent was getting through the muzzle for Shadow to pick up on. That got through to him to some degree, and it was enough for him to remain relatively calm toward the man for now.

Only once Shadow was freed did Toru wrap his arms around the other man, taking a second to calm himself. "I'm so glad you're okay. Let's get this damned thing off you." At first, Shadow started pulling away as he had the last time Toru had grabbed him in any way while in this state, but he soon stopped when he understood what Toru was trying to do. The chameleon soon began working to take the muzzle off, but to no avail. A touch of panic set in and he tried a bit harder. "What the fuck? Why can't I get it off?"

Shadow couldn't verbally answer him, nor did he try to. His attention strayed from Toru and toward the hall. Crimson eyes narrowed and he took in several deep breaths in an effort to discern what he was smelling. When he really wasn't able to with the scent of blood filling his nose, he somewhat roughly grabbed Toru and turned him around to look that way, then pointed meaningfully. Toru glanced in the direction of Gerald, watching as the man stirred from unconsciousness, before nodding. The chameleon soon disappeared down the halls of the ARK, searching for what Shadow was trying to point out.

It didn't take long for a young, kind hearted aura to be revealed to his trained senses. It was coming from a room isolated far away from the labs and whatnot and seemed to indicate that its owner was resting. Toru changed his movements to travel more quickly now that he'd figured out where it was, darting down hallways and busting up equipment as he went. Once he was at the room, however, he slowed himself and took care to not be overly destructive, pulling open the door and walking in.

There was a bed in the far corner of the room, and there slept a golden-haired girl of whatever same strange species Gerald was. From seeing Shadow's childhood memories, there could be no mistaking her for anyone other than Maria. Without hesitation, Toru walked forward and collected the girl, holding her close and teleporting out of the realm briefly. He returned to Tails's home long enough to hand off the girl to one of the people staying there so he could return. He was not going to have a child on a battlefield. That would have been cruel.

Toru floated out in space for a moment before the violent series of explosions rocked the realm. The chameleon turned to watch Ghune enter the realm, cloaked in shadows and magic as the part of Nareish's army that was immediately visible was torn and twisted to death by the powerful explosions. He could only smirk, knowing that this was the true beginning of this raid. However, he couldn't stay long, so he teleported back into the ARK to make sure Shadow was okay.

Shadow had gotten off of the remains of the table by now and appeared to have struck Gerald to knock the man back out again. Now he was focused on investigating impossibly old claw marks throughout the room, each set coated in his father's scent. Faint hints of stains from black blood only further escalated his mixture of fear and anger, to the point where he was barely reigning in his aura now.

Toru saw what was happening and moved over to Shadow, gently taking hold of one of his arms and teleporting them both off the ARK to ensure that he would be okay. Though Shadow initially started to jerk away from the hold again, Shadow's attention switched the instant he realized they were relatively far away from the source of his anger. Still, the anger lingered, and there was only one course of action that he was set on carrying out.

Utilizing a vampiric ability, he mentally cast one of the single most powerful destruction magic spells out there - one mixed with a truly dangerous level of Darkness magic as well. Tali Reimus. Instantly, explosions vastly more violent than had actually been warranted began shredding the ARK. The destruction spread far and wide within seconds, rapidly starting to approach the pair of them as well as the few additional allies that were in the immediate area.

Toru didn't have time to react before Ghune appeared in front of them, conjuring up a massive bubble to contain the explosions, arm outstretched as she glanced to Shadow. "Cease," she demanded, utilizing her limited ability to control other vampires. Though he bared his teeth at her, even in this state Shadow wound up obeying her - albeit not happily. He was distracted from that, however, but a sudden sharp pain in his lower back.

The chameleon amongst them blinked a few times. "How…" He decided against asking Ghune anything, waving it off. "Nevermind. Don't wanna know how you did it."

Ghune huffed a little. "Shadow, Toru, your jobs here are done. I recommend you both return home or stay in the back with your allies." A thought crossed her mind, and she teleported a flask into her hand, tossing it over. "Take this, too. You'll need it soon."

Though confused, Toru simply caught the flask and glanced to Shadow. "Hey, come on. We should get moving." Needless to say, he didn't get an answer. Once his pain ceased for the moment, Shadow (who appeared to be ignoring them both entirely) switched his full attention to pulling at the muzzle in an effort to get it off.

Ghune approached and investigated the muzzle briefly before sighing. "I will obtain the attention of an older Immortal. This reeks of Nareish." And of Black Doom. That whoremonger is approaching her final days.

"...Thank you," Toru murmured. "I appreciate the help."

The woman blinked once before rolling her eyes. "My aid comes without need of thanks… for the two of you. Now, get the hell out of here."

Toru gently took hold of one of Shadow's hands. "We should go for now," he said gently as Ghune teleported away. "We'll get the muzzle off soon." That was enough to get some of Shadow's attention back on him. It took a moment for him to really take the time to listen, however, but once he did he tensely lowered his arms for now. It wasn't clear why he was listening to Toru at all this time, much less so well, but the fact that it continued to happen was nothing short of promising. The chameleon didn't question it, instead using this time to teleport themselves back out to Mobius so that they'd be further away from everything happening.

Now that they were far, far away from the source of his anger, that particular emotion began to rapidly die away in Shadow. Fear lingered, but his pain was far more prominent again for a few tense moments. Once it ceased, his eyes rapidly started changing back to normal. Toru kept Shadow close, making sure to leave an arm wrapped around the hedgehog's shoulders. He didn't exactly think it was a good idea to take him near everyone else, so he teleported the both of them to the Highlands. I really just want him to be able to relax…

~保護者~

His guard was low, deceptively low. He didn't raise his arms once even as enemies flowed in his direction. Simple flicks of his blade preceded sprays of blood, many of which perfectly blinded the approach of others of this army. These imbecilic creatures and beings were hardly a match, yet, his presence did matter in the grand scheme of things. He was indeed helping to thin the herds greatly, and keep the attention split in multiple areas. That green hedgehog was foolish, but he knew what he was doing.

Espio was the only reason he'd really shown up, truly. That, and Aniko, of course. They had every intention of being here, and so he came to watch over his family and protect them. He didn't think they needed it… but staying behind felt dishonorable after having lived his life without them in mind.

His Darkness lashed out at one particular enemy, tearing them apart. He then used the mangled corpse as a weapon and shield from oncoming 'threats' before they too died a pathetic death. Not a full two seconds afterward, there was a blur of dark magenta to his left. It vanished as suddenly as it had come, leaving a trail of additional corpses in its wake. That trail continued on and on into the distance until it was out of sight.

Rather than focus on it, Ryuji chose to instead keep his attention on his own fights, ending an enemy without ever touching them. A careful, calculated movement of his hands created a burst of pure Darkness that pierced the hearts of everything around him and tossed the corpses out of his way. Another chameleon crossed his path right then, but even more briefly than the first time. Haru was only visible for a second as he and a stolen spawn of Malevolence battled their way through the air, and then the pair of them were gone.

Several moments later, Espio reappeared. He skidded to a halt around twenty feet from his grandfather, boots skidding in the dirt. A quick lean allowed him to avoid a slice across his throat, and an idle swipe of his own sword ended the life of his would-be attacker. He looked around, almost appearing to be trying to find someone or something specific, then vanished for a second time.

Ryuji snapped his fingers and stood there silently, watching for his grandson while beastly figures of Darkness surged from his body and tore into whatever was too close to him. He found himself far more concerned about the wellbeing of Espio than whatever was around him, so he chose to pay everything no more attention.

In a flash, Espio was gone yet again. He was only gone for a few minutes before appearing once more, this time by Ryuji's side. "Have you seen a woman in shinobi garb?" he quietly demanded.

"I have not. I have my visibility clouded by the corpses that continue approaching," Ryuji muttered in vague irritation. "Who is she?" he demanded in return.

"...The mother of my children," Espio reluctantly admitted. "She's extremely dangerous. I killed her once before, but Nareish revived her."

"Then she must simply die again," Ryuji murmured, properly drawing his blade. "I have no doubt that it is necessary."

His assertion earned a grim nod. "She is Nareish's right-hand," he further admitted, tightening his grip on the handle of his own sword. "Her death is more than just necessary."

"Do you have an inkling of her location?" Ryuji questioned, frowning deeply.

"She has been lingering at the edge of my senses," was the muttered reply. "So far, she has stayed too far out of range to properly find."

Ryuji frowned for a moment before his eyes shifted to gold, walking forward. "We will find her. She cannot stay away forever."

The thought, So he thinks, drifted through Espio's mind, but he decided not to voice it. Instead, he very instinctively braced himself. A split second later, there was a heavy impact on his sword that sent him skidding backward again.

With that, she was suddenly just there, idly flicking someone else's blood off her free hand. "You two are so impatient," she chided with a sigh. "Honestly… You used to be so much more fun, Espio."

"You're a fool." Ryuji murmured, wasting no time in responding with an attack of his own, holding nothing back now that his protective instincts toward Espio had kicked in.

Nyokae jumped out of the way while Espio remained tensely in place. She then huffed. "I think not," she responded. "'Bored' is a more accurate description."

He didn't let up, shooting after her with murder in his eyes. "You've caused enough problems."

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Nyokae launched herself at Espio. That promptly unfroze him, and the two of them clash violently for several moments. He then threw her off and leapt backward a couple feet to get out of range of another strike. Nyokae sighed again. "Boring," she accused again. "I like you better when all your hatred isn't all locked up inside."

That earned a scowl. "I'm done doing what you want," Espio muttered. "Your manipulations don't work anymore."

"Do they need to?" Nyokae quizzed, eyebrows raising. "I seem to recall that lovely dangerous side of you quite liking our violent encounters." She left it at that and turned back to Ryuji. "And you… You're a fresh, new annoyance. I will test my mettle against you properly sometime, no doubt. As for you, Espio, you and I will be meeting again very soon." Her promise was followed by her disappearing once again.

Espio let out a tense breath, his grip still tight on his sword. I froze… Fucking idiot. He didn't think he'd ever frozen up like this before. At least, not since he'd been very small. That it had happened now was nothing less than a severe irritation. He vented just a small amount of that irritation by cutting through whoever or whatever had tried running up on him and his grandfather, then did his best to simply bury the rest.

Once it was abundantly clear that Nyokaei was gone and staying that way, Ryuji's eyes returned to normal and he muttered something under his breath about the woman. "Espio, come closer," he said softly, sheathing his blade and ignoring any oncoming danger briefly. The younger chameleon uncharacteristically hesitated before obeying the command, mild though it ultimately was. Ryuji created a barrier of Darkness around them both and let out a sigh. "Would you say that this woman is like Kal, from your experiences?"

Though he looked away, Espio soon answered him. "She is worse, in some ways."

Ryuji closed his eyes. "Then perhaps… I understand you better than I once thought." The man glanced outside of the barrier, frowning. "We will face them together. You will always have my sword at your side."

Espio let out another slow breath. "...I know it," he admitted quietly. He paused, thinking over the promise Ryuji had just made, then said, "And you will have mine, as well."

It didn't take long after that for the two to part ways. They had a battle to return to and enemies to kill. Left on his own again, Ryuji resumed what he had been doing before. Corrupted people and creatures alike perished rapidly, one after another, in bloody sprays. The carnage he was wreaking continued on for several minutes, only for him to pause when something caught his attention.

In the distance, a faint shadow was moving. It was almost impossibly dark, so much so that virtually the only indication of its presence was the fact that the faint starlight of the area couldn't be seen through it. That and, of course… the fact that everywhere it moved, bloodshed followed. Anything and everything that was caught in its vicinity suffered dismemberment and death. It was clear that this was some kind of person, but who or what they were was impossible to say.

As they continued to walk through the battle, yet more enemies spontaneously died around them as though sliced apart by an unseen blade. Heads rolled. Limbs flopped. Blood sprayed and poured and splattered. Battlecries turned wails and screams of pain and fear. Those sounds were cut off by attack after attack, and soon the hordes began to disperse in an effort to escape with their lives. It was futile.

Within moments, this trail of carnage turned toward Ryuji… only to stop several feet ahead of him without doing him any harm. At this distance, a nearly invisible chameleon comprised of pure Darkness just barely could be seen. It was impossible to tell where they were looking, but after a few seconds of silence it became clear where their attention was. "Speak," they said softly. "You will tell me what is occurring, and you will tell me now."

"A raid," Ryuji explained after a moment of stunned silence. "Against a woman that has apparently been a threat to all of existence for some eons. This attack is meant to weaken her forces and remove stronger allies of hers from the fight, even if only temporarily."

The chameleon said something in their people's original language, one nearly lost following the genocide in Zyr. Then they said, "Your grandson and mine are unwell. Mind them. I intend to handle the rest of these termites myself." They started to move away, but stopped when Ryuji spoke.

"Should you happen across a chameleon woman named Nyokae, eliminate her," Ryuji murmured. "She is a large reason why my grandson is unwell."

"...Nyokae," the chameleon repeated slowly. "She was but a welp when she was stolen away from us. How does she live?"

"I know not," Ryuji murmured. "However, she has died once. Nareish revived her."

The chameleon suddenly hissed furiously at Ryuji. "Nareish was the one to take the girl," they revealed, voice full of hate, "and the one to cause the attack on our home. I was forced to awaken far too soon, to nearly kill myself saving what few of us remained. Nareish is the only one who needs to die."

Ryuji's eyes filled with a newly burning hatred, and soon they were attempting to change colors once more. "It was her? The woman we face now is that foul being? She caused the genocide?"

"Her wars are what drove the Light users to change," the other chameleon bit out. "She is to blame, for she plays with the balance of existence as though it is little more than her private toy." The being shifted and there was the vague sensation of some invisible blade being pointed perilously close to Ryuji's throat. "Stay out of my way. I will not kill you, but I will maim you if you disobey." They vanished entirely without another word.

Despite the evidence clearly stating that this being was none other than the first chameleon, Ryuji still chose to scoff now that some of his shock was wearing off. His sudden fury likely wasn't helping. "As if I would," he muttered. In an instant, he chose to vent his anger with a violent explosion of Darkness, briefly encasing any creature caught and killed within. Anything he captured was soon 'animated' and used as a weapon against the rest of the army as Ryuji stormed off to cause more death.

~保護者~

Shei didn't… feel well again.

In control though he was for now, being in the midst of such violence and bloodshed had his newly awakened energies stirring within him. Atani wasn't there with them, citing her lack of skill in such large brawls, and that made sense to him given that most of her abilities were purely defensive in nature. Her not being here was all around good. It meant she was safe, and only his powers were the ones people had to be worried about.

By "people", that mostly meant Aniko. And while he hated to know she was so burdened and concerned, her presence by his side had always been a source of comfort. That was about the only thing helping him maintain control right now. Ducking below a wild and frankly wimpy punch, he stabbed his opponent through the heart, then turned to look at Aniko and check on her.

Aniko dove back into a roll to avoid a slash, then cleaved the blade behind her with her bare hand. In short order, these two enemies were dispatched and she returned his gaze, nodding to affirm that she was okay. The fact that she didn't have her blade drawn meant that she found these particular enemies to be unworthy of effort, hence why she was brawling with her hands.

Returning her nod, Shei pulled off one of his gloves before snapping his hand out to grab an enemy's wrist. His toxic skin almost instantly caused said enemy to begin melting away, subsequently ending their life. Releasing his hold, he slipped the glove back on and resumed using his sword to keep the throngs at bay. It didn't take long for him to stop, however, when his eyes picked up on a vague black shape not far away… and all the hundreds of beings that were dying around it. "Aniko, what is that?"

Aniko stood up straight and walked her way to Shei. "We should move, quickly," she murmured. "It is… undoubtedly one of our kind." She could sense something, but she wasn't sure what. It bothered her enough that she was wary.

"That does not inherently bode well," was the equally suspicious reply. He watched as the chaos continued to spread, yet never managed to come too close to them. "Is it… avoiding us?"

"Correct," Aniko murmured. "Either we leave the hordes and allow them free reign, or we should attempt to interact. I am not fond of the latter."

"Nor am I," Shei admitted. "Lead the way, Aniko. I will follow and cover your back."

Aniko vaulted off of an oncoming blade and launched herself into the air, twisting and cutting down the few enemies she passed to clear the way for Shei (who was hot on her heels). Her momentum carried her far enough to leap off one more enemy and land into a far less populated area. With any luck, they'd be just a bit safer there.

~保護者~

It was difficult for Sein to be here, in this realm. It reminded him once more of everything he'd done under Nareish's control, and that made focusing difficult. As such, his body was riddled with small cuts and bruises already that normally would have never been able to form. He still had his head about him, though, able to react to more life threatening dangers in an appropriate manner.

His shield sprung to life from his gauntlet and deflected a blade, allowing Sein to cleanly slice the offender in half. He felt a different weapon catch on his back and he swung his shield, bashing them on the head and sending the enemy flying.

Close by, Alana loosed a beam of aura from her palm that struck a different opponent on their armored head. She forced them back and away until the sheer force of her attack finally broke through and took them down. Once that was accomplished, she looked worriedly at her husband. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he assured quickly, swiping with his sword above her head and hitting a beast aside with the flat of his blade. "Just distracted. A lot on my mind… being here."

Alana glanced upward at his weapon, then nodded. "Try not to dwell," she murmured. "Not right now, at least. Whatever remains on your mind after this is over, we can talk it out together."

"It's hard to put aside," Sein answered. Briefly, his gaze wandered. Especially when Jet is going to be in her line of sight… He shoved the thought aside and tossed his blade behind him, letting it sink into a foe and sending a beam of aura into and through it to obliterate every enemy in its wake.

"I know it is," she answered, creating several explosions around them with her aura. "But you must try. We cannot risk being distracted, Sein. Not here. Our son could need us at any time. If we are injured, we will not be as much use to him, or anyone else."

This served as a reminder of his main reason for being here, and the male hawk sighed out of frustration at himself. "You're right." His sword flew back to his hand and a small pulse of aura shone from all of his wounds, healing the majority of them (due to the lack of severity any of them held). "No way in hell I'm letting my son be at risk without my aid."

Faintly, Alana smiled. "There you are," she said softly, fondness in her tone. "I thought I had lost you, for a moment."

"Only for a moment," Sein answered, managing one of his gentle smiles. "But you always bring me back."

"Or at least I always try," Alana said. "Are you alright for now?"

Sein glanced to the side briefly, not to avoid her gaze but instead to check around them. "Until we return home. I definitely would like to talk when we're back on Babylon."

"Then that is what we'll do," she promised him. "For now, let's return to battle. I believe more of them are headed this way."

"You read my mind," Sein grinned, gripping his sword again. "Mind taking the lead?"

"Certainly." Tossing him one last small smile, Alana took off back into the chaos around them. Sein was close behind, his confidence renewed and blade shining brighter than ever.

~保護者~

He hadn't seen her so focused and calm in their entire existence, before or after being dormant for eons. Yet, here she was, masterfully controlling the battlefield and giving him free reign to unleash hell on Nareish's army. She would surround them with walls of ice, and then all would be scorched until nothing remained.

Pyrun was curious what had changed, but now he had an idea of what it was. The woman had grown fixated on a Babylonian. He supposed it was a crush, or maybe more than that. Whatever it was, he was thankful. She seemed to be in better spirits.

Yareis turned suddenly to face him and shifted a hand up, spearing a particularly stealthy enemy that had snuck up behind him with an icicle of its own blood. "Watch your back," she warned, returning her attention to what she'd been doing previously.

He didn't have the heart to tell her that he'd killed it by boiling its insides before she did. He let her have this victory, content that his other half was… less angry. That was good enough for him.

~保護者~

It was no secret to people who knew her that fighting was something she was good at, especially when given free reign to go where she pleased. That was why the crunch of something's skull under her bat was so satisfying.

The flows of blood around her incentivized her to go for something else, though, planting her bat on the ground and letting all of the red liquid be gravitated freely toward it. Any that made contact was absorbed quickly, filling the object and making it glow a faint crimson. When it was done, she hefted the weapon up and slammed it into a beast, using it as a projectile and sending it crashing through the hordes. "Woo! Take that, shitbag!"

More approached, and she gave them all the same treatment. Eventually, though, she found herself quite bored of all this, looking for anything to keep her entertained. She wasn't going to leave, of course, but having an interesting time would certainly help her keep herself in line. That was when she saw another Babylonian that struck her fancy, flying over to them instantly.

The Babylonian in question happened to be Nier. With his sword coated in freshly drawn runes, he launched himself a truly huge opponent. Two slashes caused severe electrocution. A third caused simultaneous freezing and burning damage. The fourth and final caused some form of plant life to explode out of the wound, killing the brute from the inside out. Nier dodged away from most of the bloodshed, grumbling to himself about the mess all the while. "Nasty," was about the only word he said that was loud enough to hear.

Ryint figured that she'd be nice and use her bat to create a shockwave in the direction Nier had dodged away from, cleaning up the area with relative ease. "Well, aren't you a cute one? What's your name?" she asked, grinning.

Though her sudden arrival startled him, he didn't show it much beyond slightly widening his eyes and quickly looking at her. "...Oh, right, sorry," he said after a few seconds too long of silence. "Name's Nier. And you are…?"

"Ryint." She winked a little and idly tossed her bat over her shoulder, letting the impact of it falling on a creature indent the thing's skull before pulling it back to her hand with magic. "Good to meet you."

He raised his eyebrows at her action, but nodded. "Yeah, same to you," he responded politely in kind. Almost idly, he drew fresh runes in the air and started flinging them at the enemies approaching them. A variety of effects were unleashed, ranging from elemental attacks to paralysis to sudden violent illness and so on.

"Woah! What kind of magic are you using?" Ryint asked. "I've seen all kinds from Ghune and Akol, but this is so different!" she commented.

"They're runes," Nier answered. "Think… Think of the hexes Hexans use. It's symbol magic, and different symbols do different things. Difference is that mine is based on one of the early versions of Babylonian language, and hexes aren't based on any language."

Ryint grinned. "That's incredible." The woman suddenly whirled around and slapped a beast's head clean off its body with her bat before turning back. "It's not often I get to see something so unusual."

"Well, I exist to upend expectations, I guess," Nier chuckled. Then he asked, "You're a vampire, right? Never thought I'd meet one of you in person. Not when your leader is, rightfully, so protective. It never struck me as wise to venture too close to her territory."

"You likely never would've been in danger," Ryint explained, not bothering to answer an obvious question. "She's quite reasonable. Really good at discerning if someone needs to die or is allowed to live." She winked in amusement, snickering. "Really, though, you would've been safe."

"It's sometimes best not to take unnecessary risks," Nier shrugged. "I've been needed on the frontlines for most of my existence. Battles like this one are pretty average in my day-to-day life. The less I risk being injured elsewhere, the better. So, whether the odds are in my favor or not, I'm probably still not going there."

Ryint laughed a little in reply. "How's about you join me there one day, then? If I'm escorting you around to get a drink or two, nobody will bat an eye and you'll be way safer than if you traveled with Ghune. Who knows, I might even call you cute again!" The woman was unabashed, the grin obvious on her face.

Those eyebrows raised again. "You… want me to accompany you to your world?" he asked carefully. Surely she can't be implying what she's so obviously implying… right?

"Yeah!" Ryint said. "Oh, and I'm not the blood-eating type of vampire either, if that was something you were worried about." She leaned over on her bat, chuckling. "I got stuck with feeding on souls, actually. Imagine my confusion when not even the original vampire knew exactly what to do when I first got turned."

Nier managed a chuckle. "I can only imagine," he agreed. "And, no, I wasn't worried. I don't exactly bend to stereotypes in terms of how I choose to view people." He paused for a few seconds, thinking, then shrugged. "I suppose I wouldn't mind going with you. Any change of scenery from this hellscape would be great."

"Good. You like alcohol, or are you one for other types of drinks?" Ryint asked. "I'm down for either, but nothing gets me more in the mood than tea."

"I mean, I have had alcohol before," Nier laughed, brushing right over her final comment in a manner that clearly communicated how unbothered he was by it. "It's not really my thing, though. It's silly to admit, but I've never actually tried tea despite how long I've lived."

The smirk on Ryint's face was plain to see. "Ghune herself says I make the best tea on our planet. You have to try some." She stood upright and created a whip of blood from her bat and used it to catch and lob an enemy away. "That's what we'll do, then! I'll give you a tour of the place, make you some nice tea, and we can relax and hang out. Anything beyond that is your choice." She winked again, choosing to be vague with her words yet still plainly obvious about her intentions.

"Sure," he agreed, laughing some more. "Sounds good."

"And," she continued without hesitation, "next you can take me somewhere nice or interesting. Make it a routine?"

"Sure," he said again. "I've got my own tiny planetoid that I live on. We could probably have a nice picnic or something sometime and enjoy the weather. It's always pleasant there."

Ryint chuckled. "I knew I'd like you. After the picnic, though, I'm crashing on your couch. Gonna keep that fact straight."

"'Kay, so now I know a new piece of furniture I need," was the lighthearted reply.

"Hold on," Ryint said, holding up a finger for him to pause. "You don't have a couch? We're totally fixing that, unless you'd prefer me to sleep in your bed."

"I just don't have one because I live alone," Nier shrugged. "I had one relationship in the past, but when he stayed over, yeah, he slept in my bed with me. I don't mind getting a couch, though."

Ryint shrugged as well easily, slapping her bat onto a clip on her back. "Whatever you're more comfortable with, honestly. Just know I have a tendency to find my way on top of people if I sleep in the same bed as them. Happened a lot when me and Ghune got trapped somewhere for a little while." The woman snickered. "She kept throwing me off the bed."

Nier shook his head. "Sounds like you've got some interesting stories to tell. But, hey, let's iron out the logistics when we have that tea, alright? Another horde is comin', so we should get back to it."

"Oh, shit, you're right! I'll see your cute face later!" The woman vanished suddenly, appearing elsewhere on the battlefield and causing visible bloodshed despite the distance she had gone so rapidly.

Chuckling to himself one last time, Nier shook his head and began preparing more runes. What did I just get myself into?

~保護者~

Han didn't fully understand why that "Steam" person had asked him and Ylden to come here. Or, more accurately, he didn't understand why Steam had asked him. It did make sense for Ylden to have been asked, he had to admit. Ylden knew what was going on, for one thing, and he seemed to be regarded as strong. Han was strong, too, but he had no real clue what was happening.

The first of his issues, he reflected as he drew a hex in the air with a finger, was that he didn't even know what a "raid" was. He guessed that it was some sort of an alternate name for a large battle… or something. Why they were engaging in said battle, though, was another mystery. This Nareish person was someone dangerous, that much he grasped, but why did that mean they had to come here and so aggressively confront her and those working under her? It didn't make sense.

A flick sent his hex flying ahead of himself. It was a simple one that paralyzed the victim. With his previously annoying and quick-footed opponent caught, Han had a much easier time blasting the other being apart with a burst of magic. After that, he sighed to himself and looked around. Ylden wasn't hard to pick out amidst all the carnage. In fact, he was the primary source of it in Han's immediate area, as far as he could tell. He cast a barrier around himself for a moment so he could watch what the man was doing.

Ylden masterfully twirled his scythe, cleaving through anything whether it be blade, armor, or flesh. He hardly used his magic, but in the time that Han was watching, the cat activated one of his spells. He leapt into the air and threads of Darkness magic latched onto every enemy in the immediate area, pulling them into a massive ball that was eviscerated in moments. Ylden floated above the gore and used his Darkness to swallow another group of the army into a void that shredded them apart.

The cat landed once more and approached Han calmly, catching one enemy by the face casually and allowing them to drop dead merely from coming into contact with him. "Is something the matter, Han?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed with obvious concern.

"I don't like killing," he said unhappily. And it was true. He hadn't known it before, but this… was far from something he enjoyed doing. Every death he inflicted was making him feel worse and worse.

"Then let me handle it," Ylden said. "I won't ask you to keep killing things."

"Why was I even asked to be here?" Han questioned, crossing his arms. He suddenly felt… irritable, he supposed. That was an emotion he remembered, though not well. Perhaps he hadn't often felt it before? It was possible but ultimately didn't matter to him.

The cat paused momentarily and frowned. "I don't know. I will ask Steam when this is all said and done. If you would prefer to leave, I can return you somewhere safer and without as much bloodshed."

Han drew a small hex and threw it in the face of a soldier that was charging their way, and they promptly slammed downward into the ground where they were forcefully pinned. "I would prefer that as opposed to being here."

Ylden briefly encased them both in Darkness and began moving. "Let's go, then." Han only crossed his arms and followed after him in silence. As they approached the portal to leave, Ylden prevented any and everything from being able to come close enough to need to be attacked. All the while, Han continued to flick hexes around to pin down and paralyze anyone and anything that wasn't wise enough to dodge. Ylden perked up as they walked, his head swiveling to look for something. He wasn't sure what he was sensing, but he wasn't alarmed. What the hell is going on…?

The cat almost swung his scythe when someone else appeared in the sphere of Darkness he'd created, if only due to being surprised. However, he stopped when he realized it was Eila, an ally, and simply watched her quietly. Eila walked up slowly to Han and frowned slightly. "How… did you end up corrupted?"

Han frowned back at her. "I didn't. That… 'Faein' dealt with it."

"If you've been purified before, you got corrupted again," Eila said bluntly. The white cat stared at Han for a moment before pointing at a specific point on his shoulder. "That's where it occurred. Did something or someone touch you there?"

After a pause, Han shrugged. "Some woman, as she was saying farewell."

Eila decidedly did not like that answer, if only because there was so little detail. She knew he had lost his memories before, meaning that he wouldn't know how to stop her from reading his mind. As such, she peered in, speaking softly. "I have to believe that whoever this woman was has corrupted you…"

"Even if this is true, how the hell do you know?" Ylden asked pointedly.

"I was corrupted by dark magic and the God of Demons at the same time," Eila countered, glancing his way. "If anyone is to know corruption and how to spot it, it's me." Don't say what you're thinking, Ylden. This minor bit of conversation had bought her enough time to find what she needed to know, looking back at Han. "You were definitely afflicted with corruption. That woman you encountered was there by no accident." Han didn't wind up saying anything, just sort of huffing and looking away. "For your sake, it may be necessary to let an Immortal at least ease this until it can be addressed. It's going to make you act in irrational and unusual ways, and I can tell that you are normally not this sort of person."

I don't care. For whatever reason, Han held his tongue rather than give vent to that little thought.

Eila picked up on this and instead chose to appeal to a different part of him as she called out mentally to Alana and Sein. "You like traveling and exploring, but things like corruption will twist and turn that against you. You won't have things to enjoy anymore except violence." Now that did strike a bit of a nerve. She was right, after all. He did enjoy those things immensely. The idea of having some corruption… thing… take that away was beyond vexing. "Allowing our allies to ease the corruption will ensure that you can still enjoy those things until the corruption can be properly removed. It'll be…" Eila found herself at a loss for words, then suddenly pulled them together again. "It's better to have something than nothing."

After a moment's silence, Ylden sighed a little. You're right. His thought was pointed at Eila, knowing that she was reading their minds currently. "Alright. I can hang tight while Sein and Alana get here."

Eila glanced his way, then looked back at Han. "I'll try where I can to help with it, but there's no guarantee I can do much." She was quiet, then her eyes widened marginally. That shock I just felt… Is that… Oh, hell no, this is bad. The cat kept her thoughts silent to the outside world for now, turning away. "They should be here momentarily. I need to return to Silver. His goofiness may be his demise if he's not careful…" Eila managed a smile, knowing that this was nothing more than an excuse, and was even a lie to let herself escape the conversation. He was actually handling himself perfectly fine, she reflected as she teleported back off to wherever she'd been... at least for now.

Just as Han looked away, Alana suddenly landed close by. She nearly tripped on a discarded spear, but quickly regained her balance and composure. "Honestly… what a mess," she murmured to herself, kicking the weapon into the distance. That it happened to stab through an enemy's back was purely coincidence and nothing more. Sein appeared beside her moments later, using his aura to blast away the carcass of some creature that had been impaled on his claymore.

Taking a look around, Alana decided that there was no blatant threat. As such, she had questions. "Why were we called here?" was, of course, the most pressing one. Having heard from Sein what had happened to Han's memories and the like, she directed the question at Ylden. It was easier, and not just because he was more likely to even know. Han… We met him when we were still just children, didn't we? I think he even built some of our toys…

Ylden took in a deep breath. "Eila seems to think he was corrupted again. She said something about you guys easing the corruption until it can be removed properly," he explained. "But, frankly, I'm not sure how she knows, even with her past."

"We know little about her, and as such we aren't at liberty to guess," Alana said. She looked at Sein, now worried. "I do not feel we have the training or experience to tackle this… but what are your thoughts?"

Sein walked a little closer to look at Han, frowning softly. "If it's true, we have to try. I can't just ignore something like this." He looked to Alana, a wan smile on his face. "I'm willing to trust Eila and make this attempt. She seemed to think we could, so maybe there's a shot at us helping, even if we can't remedy the situation."

"I do not see how we could," Alana answered, voice quiet. "We perished long before we were at the point in our training to learn things like this."

The man set a hand on Alana's shoulder. "I'm not going to back out without trying."

Alana sighed. "I did not say we would not try." She turned to Ylden. "Will he allow us to try helping him?" With Han's irritability steadily increasing, she didn't want to risk addressing him directly.

"Han, are you okay with this?" Ylden asked gently.

The Hexan let out a soft, "Tch," and turned his head away. "I don't care what they do. I just want to leave."

Ylden motioned for them to hurry, leaving the bubble of Darkness to engage the battlefield again. Sein walked forward to Han and took a breath, trying to decide how to approach this. Alana moved to join him and murmured, "You should lead our efforts. I am even less experienced than you are, as things stand."

Sein took a breath and nodded. He held up his hands and tried to pull at the corruption Han had with his energies, at least trying to lessen it so Han would be okay for some time. Alana did everything she could to help him while also silently apologizing to the Hexan when she saw him wincing. This cannot be a comfortable experience, she mused. Still, they were making some progress… more or less. "Sein, how much more do you think we can accomplish?"

"A bit," Sein said. His effort was visible on his face, pushing himself to make sure he could help at all. Alana didn't question him. She followed suit and continued to try and do what she could. After some time of effort… Sein reluctantly decided that he couldn't do much more. "That's all I think we can do for now," he said.

The moment they retracted their energies, Han sort of stumbled into a sitting position. Their efforts working both with and also somewhat against his magic had left him unsteady and somewhat lightheaded. What the hell…

Sein offered a hand to him. "You okay?" he asked softly, frowning. "I didn't think it would affect you that badly…"

"Kevah n'ti," Han muttered, rubbing at his eyes briefly. He then proceeded to stand up on his own while readjusting his glasses. "...I'm fine."

If Sein wasn't so in tune with emotions, he might have thought that Han was lying. He picked up quickly that this wasn't the case. The man retracted his hand and smiled weakly. "Sorry about it, regardless. I'll try to find a way to help you more."

When Han only nodded, Alana turned her attention once more to Ylden. Heedless of whatever the hell he'd gone off to do, she teleported him straight back to them and said, "We've done what we are capable of. It may be wise to escort Han to someplace safer regardless, however. He was quite adamant about leaving, after all."

The cat briefly froze himself to prevent swinging his scythe at Alana for having appeared and taken him so suddenly, ultimately putting away the weapon and nodding. "I will. You two can return to the battle."

"Since we now have your permission, I think we shall." Her tiny joke now said, Alana turned to Sein. "Let's be on our way, Sein. We should make our way closer to Nareish in case Jet, Wave, or Steam need us."

Before Sein could reply, Ylden piped in. "Allow me to aid this," he said, raising a hand and muttering, "Mortem." A straight line of all this chaos died at once, giving them a direct path to where they wanted to be. "This should save you some time."

Sein blinked a few times and nodded. "Thanks."

Alana, meanwhile, smirked. "I knew there was a good reason why Father respects your work." She took her husband by the hand and tugged him along as she took to the air. They had somewhere to be.

~保護者~

Dodging out of the way of some enemies Cyril seemed to be pursuing, Sonic swung his sword just in time to block an attack with a large axe. He winced and flattened his ears at the harsh cry of metal on metal, but a blast of fire was sufficient to end the short-lived standoff. As the brute he'd been clashing with stumbled backward and away, Amy lunged and swung her hammer. A single blow to the temple downed their opponent, and Sonic heaved a sigh of relief. "Thanks," he said. "That guy was starting to become a pain in my ass. Couldn't get quite close enough to take him out."

"No problem," his wife responded, lifting her hammer onto her shoulder. "Turns out his peripheral vision sucked, so it worked out."

"Yeah," Sonic chuckled. His eyes were drawn up and to the far left by a flash of white. When he squinted, he could just barely make out blue fur and white clothes. On the one hand, his stomach sank. On the other hand, his relief grew. "Mom's here," he murmured. He took a second to whip around and cut through some hideous beast that started running their way. Then he turned back to Amy and pointed. "See, look. She's over there, I think. Or at least she was."

Amy looked where he was indicating and also squinted. "Yeah… that does look like her," she agreed. Her concerns mirrored his own when she then asked, "Is she even up for this? We haven't seen or heard from her since everyone battled Armaris. I thought she was off resting again."

"I thought so, too," Sonic said. "And even if she was, I doubt she's recovered enough from everything to be handling a brawl of this scale."

"You're right… But neither of us can convince her not to be here." Amy managed a smile in spite of the circumstances. It faltered only a little when she had to pause to knock several smaller creatures away with her hammer. "She doesn't let on to it much, but she can be just as stubborn as your dad. If she wants to be here, no one is easily changing her mind."

Somehow, this reminder allowed Sonic to also smile. "Guess that's true," he admitted. "Still, I'd feel better if we kept an eye out for her, just in case."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Shall we get back to it?"

"Let's do it."

With that, husband and wife leapt back into the fray together and disappeared from view.

~保護者~

Being in a fight without a weapon was a pain. It was doable, sure, but a pain nevertheless. It was also an annoyance. Kath greatly wished he still had his sword, and not just for practical reasons. It was a sentimental matter for him, too. His sword had been a wedding gift from Laralei's parents to him. He'd treasured it, much as he had once treasured his time spent with them as a child. Her mother and father had been like a second set of parents to him as well. To lose the last tangible belonging he owned that came from them was… hard on him.

A great many years had passed since he'd last felt the cold emptiness of depression. Centuries of therapy and medication had seemingly rid him of it for good - an impossibility, he knew, but that was what it had felt like. Losing one significant item was enough to bring it back now, after all this time? Perhaps it was due to the general emotional turmoil of these past few weeks. These had been… trying times, after all.

Learning he not only had a grandson but also several great-grandchildren had been a shock. Knowing that that grandson was in rather dire straits due to an emerging existential energy was cause for much stronger concern than he had anticipated, as was the knowledge that the boy had once been tortured. He felt a mixture of fear over Sein and Alana's safety every time they went into battle against Nareish's forces and confidence in their abilities to make it out alive. Laralei and his father's revivals has stunned him and thrown him completely for a loop. Arkiri and Tarin's revivals had done the same. And then Sein's corruption had occurred, forcing him to live now with the memories of what it was like to be violently struck down by the once lost boy he'd helped raise.

All of this emotion was far, far more than he was used to dealing with. Perhaps that was the true trigger behind the twinges of depression he was starting to become aware of. It was a distraction regardless, however, all of it. He strove to push it all down and away while nimbly side-stepping a somewhat slow-moving attack to his right. A blast of aura from his palm was enough to send the person's fresh corpse reeling away from him before it collapsed lifelessly to the ground. Taking that sword for himself was tempting, but…

Well, he didn't deem it wise to expose himself to whatever unique brand of hell was used in the forging of that blade.

Realistically, he had his hands anyway. Straightening his fingers and keeping them together so that his hand was open but flat, he made a fast sideways motion of his hand. In a straight horizontal line ahead of him, close to a dozen enemies found themselves bisected and dead. It had only taken an instant, but this wasn't his preferred method of fighting. He couldn't simply stab an opponent in a vital place and end them with minimal gore. Slicing and chopping was all he could do with this particular power. That translated directly to… an unsightly mess. One that had sprayed the clothes he'd only just changed into after he and Sein had recovered in the medical ward.

Sighing, he turned around, only to be mildly surprised (yet also really, really not) by the sight of Tarin battling not too far away. When did she get here? It took no real time to decide that that was sort of irrelevant. His more pressing concern was whether or not Arkiri was also here, despite his comparative lack of combat prowess and expertise. Once he'd decided that the man didn't seem to be (and certainly wouldn't have been) anywhere near here, he flew over to Tarin so as to join her.

While he'd never been as close to her as he'd always been to Arkiri, there was still a bond there - one that he certainly cherished. He'd learned a lot about combat from her as well. They hadn't fought together in so long… whether it be through sparring or side-by-side in a genuine fight such as this one. Now wasn't the time to be focused on reminiscing, but perhaps… Perhaps sticking close to such a close ally wasn't such a bad idea. As such, he completed his approach and murmured, "I should have expected that you would come," while cutting away another line of approaching enemies.

The woman was… focused, to say the least. Whips and blades of water flowed around her as her blade cleaved the one behind her, albeit with effort. "While my place is facing demons, I cannot ignore a threat such as this," Tarin replied. "Where is your blade?" she asked pointedly, concerned.

Kath alighted on the ground beside her, sighing as he did so. "Broken," he reported, a touch of sullenness in his tone. "That can be explained another time. More are coming." With another motion of his hand, he indirectly sliced through a line of approaching small fry.

Tarin understood his plight, allowing the water she controlled to encase her arms and leave bands of it flowing over her. "If you could use my blade… I would let you. I am sorry to hear yours has broken." The woman turned and showed an incredible display of near-impossible flexibility. Her body warped briefly around an attack as her arm shot around and sliced through the top of the enemy's spine. When it dropped dead, she glanced back to him. "Are you alright? You can speak to me. I… may understand your emotions regarding the blade better than Arkiri."

The hawk initially only shrugged, but after close to a minute of wordless fighting he relented somewhat. "It was a gift from Laralei's family," he reminded quietly. "I was… close to them. Everything else they left to me was destroyed when Babylon fell. The sword was all I had left."

"I feel your pain," Tarin murmured. It was true, to a point. She was a strong empath, and it had aided them in the past. There were things Arkiri could never truly understand, try though he might. Tarin, however, had always been capable of feeling his emotions and helping him understand them when it made little sense. "To lose a family tie… A trouble I have endured. It is a dark time, emotionally."

Dark… I suppose that is true. "I did not know you had lost something as well," he murmured. A flick of his finger caused a lone enemy to be cut in two while he spoke.

Geysers of water erupted into the air around them, Tarin taking a moment to inundate their enemies. "Freeze it, would you, dear?" Being called such a thing made Kath huff, but he did as she asked without wasting any time. Once this had happened and she was given a free moment, Tarin turned to Kath. "I once owned a helmet from my mother, given to me before she passed. I wore it to battle every day until an enemy tore it off of me. It is a unique kind of pain."

Kath inclined his head and gathered a ball of aura in his hand, then let it loose. As their frozen foes shattered utterly like glass, he rather idly assessed the next incoming crowd. "I suppose it would be," he agreed.

"Perhaps… there may yet be a way to repair the weapon?" Tarin asked softly. "A skilled smith could fix or reforge the weapon so you may yet retain its memories?"

"It is only a mortal's blade," Kath acknowledged, "but it was forged using a technique that was old even to my parents' generation. I do not know of anyone alive today who could repair it."

"Is it possible your new allies may yet provide information?" Tarin turned her gaze behind her and waved a hand, firing spears of yellow magic into the sky.

"I am not poking around for information from people I have barely met," was the vaguely uncomfortable reply.

"What if I asked nicely, and Arkiri accompanied you?" Tarin asked.

Kath sighed. "I would still prefer not to."

Tarin passed him a sweet smile. "It is not for me. You would be doing this for yourself… at my request." She winked.

"I am thus far disinclined to accept your request," Kath grumbled stiffly, cutting through some more enemies.

"Just… ask Arkiri. He could find the right person," Tarin explained gently, beginning to hover with her yellow magic flowing around her. "Now, I do believe some enemies are specifically requesting an ass whipping. We may be the right people for the job, hm?"

"Indeed."

~保護者~

Combat wasn't much Ythene's forte, her area of expertise, or something she felt even a modicum of enjoyment in. She much preferred intelligence gathering and communications, both areas she felt comfortable saying she had skill in. Yet here she was, taking part in this raid anyway. It was necessary to do, and she knew that. Teyan and Eona were still busy reviving people, but with each fresh life they restored they grew that much more tired and slow. Progress was sluggish at best now as things stood. They couldn't be wasting their energy on a fight.

And besides, Teyan's prodigy needed guarding, just in case.

However… Ythene was quite pleased to note that, as they'd both suspected, he didn't even need the protection right now. As ever, his friends are there to watch his back… and he theirs. So long as he is never apart from them, he will never be truly endangered. They will make sure of that. Smiling to herself, Ythene cast a barrage of Chaos Spears into the crowd while simultaneously creating a Chaos Blast at her back. With her surroundings sufficiently cleared for the moment, she believed she had time to address the only person directly in her midst. "Apologies for the violence of my crowd control," she said, "but I simply needed a moment to ask you something. You are Rose, yes?"

Rose landed from the air and skidded to a stop near Ythene. The woman gave a gentle nod and tilted her head gently. "I… do not believe I am aware of your identity, but you have no need to warn me of violence. You were plenty careful to not harm me or others," she explained.

Ythene smiled warmly and gave a polite bow. "Indeed not. My name is Ythene, sister of Teyan. She is the Queen of Chaos, though many regard her as a deity instead. I am most typically her eyes, ears, and voice beyond our home realm but, as she is indisposed, I battle here in her stead on this day. It is a pleasure to meet you, regardless."

"And I you," Rose murmured, returning the bow with ease. "For a proper introduction, my name is Rosalline Moonpetal, a mere being of Light. I am afraid I do not have such an incredible title to my name." She smiled nonetheless, briefly sheathing her blade.

"A last name? How curious. Few have those, in my experience." Ythene brushed that matter aside for now, watching as more and more threats began to approach. "Honestly, they never do rest, do they? Time Stop." Everything froze around there, and she nodded in satisfaction. "Much better. Now we may speak in peace for a minute or so." She looked at Rose again. "Back to the matter at hand… You, my dear, are no 'mere' being of Light."

Rose took a moment to summon a bow in hand, rapidly firing a storm of Light arrows at the now stopped enemies. "My concern lies in that they do not learn," she mumbled, sighing. Her gaze returned to Ythene and she blinked once. "A far more interesting being would be my sister, Eila. I cannot even hold a candle to her when she has set her mind to something." Though… lately she has been having some troubles.

Shaking her head, Ythene strode over to the cat and gently lifted her chin with one delicate finger. "You humble yourself too deeply," she murmured. "It is alright to take pride in oneself now and then. And you, my dear, certainly have something to be proud of. You have begun the journey to join a family as old as time itself. That alone is a truly astounding experience, is it not?"

Rose brought up a hand to clasp around Ythene's to carefully remove the finger from her chin without being too rough by accident. "I suppose I have, but I wonder if I truly was the right person." she murmured softly.

"And who would you have do this in your stead?" Ythene asked her. "Analia? She does not want such a role, nor has she ever. That much I can assure you. Who else besides you two has as much strength, compassion, Light, and love to do this? Hm?"

The cat turned her gaze away. "I would never ask another to take my place…" she mumbled, eyes shifting to the ground. "Regardless… I am still on a journey all my own to return to who I once was, before the pains and traumas of my past claimed my compassion."

"Every Immortal's life is a journey, darling," Ythene soothed as time began to slowly unfreeze. "I am aware of your bond with Jet. He is currently the most powerful Immortal to have ever existed since the Faein first arose. Do you not think he has been on his own journey to overcome many of the same sorts of obstacles?"

"I brought my pain on myself in an attempt to save my sister, an attempt that absorbed my life." Rose suddenly realized she'd never released Ythene's hand, letting her hand fall to her side. "Not that I would have it any other way. I could not ignore her plight."

"I understand. I would have similarly risked all I had to save my own sister. I do not fault you for your decisions, nor should you fault yourself any longer." Chaos Spears began to form all around them and were soon launched into the sluggishly moving crowds around them. "Please, if only for your own peace of mind, I encourage you to speak with your partner about your thoughts and feelings sometime soon. Venting with one's love interest can sometimes help us to feel better."

Rose glanced back at Ythene after a moment, nodding slowly. "We have not had time together often as of late. He recently relinquished his role back to Saethrim, before this raid began, in fact." The cat shrugged. "I will make time when possible. However, I must ask if you have personal experience in the matter of love. My experiences with deities and similar beings is that most do not have such a facet in their life."

"I myself have no personally had such an experience," Ythene chuckled, "but others certainly have. Cere and Finis have been in love for many, many years, and Saethrim has had at least two love interests that I am aware of. Anthea was once due to be wed as well, though things did not work out that way. And, much more recently, Sona and Therin have realized feelings of their own." Her chuckle turned into a bit of a giggle. "And that is not to mention the sweetness that is Cyril and young Eila. Kath has had love interests as well, I believe."

"I suppose this is all true," Rose chuckled after a moment. The cat glanced around them briefly before looking back at Ythene. "If you ever find yourself with such an interest, I am sure you will be a good partner. Your attention to detail is incredible, and you are certainly quite pleasant." Rose smiled gently. "Thank you. I… find that speaking to new people helps me find a new perspective."

"Certainly, it does so for many people," Ythene said, returning her smile. "Come, now. Let us return to battle."

The bow vanished from Rose's hands and she drew her blade, the weapon glowing a bright white despite the silvery metal not having such a tint. "I can draw them in. Perhaps your long range can be of use more with them bunched together?"

"That seems like a sound plan to me."

~保護者~

In the midst of all the chaos that was occurring all around everyone, a black-furred wolf was revived. For Cere and Finis, there could be no mistaking who he was. This was Sothan, Li's maternal uncle and the original God of the Forge. His eyes alone, as orange as the flames of the forge he had once worked within, were proof enough of his identity.

As he'd always worn in the past, he was clad in black boots and black gloves with fingers that only covered up to his knuckles. On the top of each shoe and the back of each hand was a thin outline of a flame in the same shimmering orange as his eyes. From his right ear dangled an earring, one that was simple in appearance but no less important in meaning.

His earring dangled from a thin, delicate, and short silver chain that left the jewel itself hanging just slightly below his right ear. The jewel was a small sphere that almost seemed to have an actual fire trapped within. He had come into existence wearing this piece of jewelry, and he wasn't the only one. In fact, someone else had entered existence with him the same way that Cere and Finis had done together. That person, in his case, just so happened to be genetically related to him.

From the moment life had begun for these two, Sothan and his sister had been immensely close. Their earrings, which they each wore on the same ear, were daily reminders of their bond with one another. She had been the one to make the clothes he'd worn for most of his life. Because of an ability he'd been "born" with (namely that of tying another's lifespan to his own), he was ultimately the reason why she had lived so long.

That had all changed when he'd died.

Sothan had always been a man of few words. He was by no means the "strong, silent type", however, merely a person who was quieter than most in terms of using words. With his small family, that was a bit less true. He had loved them, loved them dearly. In fact, he'd truly doted on his sister and nephew during his life.

Devoted though he was to his passion, he was never distant or unavailable to them. No matter what else had been going on at any given moment, he had always found himself happiest when in their company. Bringing them gifts from his travels or that he had crafted himself had never been expected of him, but rather it had been something he had loved doing.

It was all cut short when he vanished. The forge had been passed down to Li by that point, but his uncle had still spent most of his time in there regardless. One day, however, it was as though he had walked outside and simply never come back. No body was ever found. Nothing was even so much as sensed to indicate that he had found himself in some sort of trouble. Sothan had simply vanished and was later presumed dead, leaving his sister to resume aging and dooming her to eventual death as well.

All of this came back to the man in a rush when he awoke on the ground in the midst of a battlefield, confused and tired and very much in danger anew. His reaction times were sluggish at first, enough so that a downward swipe of a random sword tore open his right shoulder before he managed to get out of the way. It had barely missed his ear and, subsequently, his earring.

Both alarmed and now also a bit peeved, he leapt to his feet just in time for a familiar source of power to erect a barrier around him. Only then did he finally notice the pair of stunned onlookers lingering several feet away. Using a hand to put pressure on his wound, he shot them a beseeching look in the hopes that one of them would tell him something about what was going on.

"Sothan!" Cere shouted, stamping her halberd into the ground and striking down many of their enemies in one fell swoop before running over. "Are you okay?" she demanded to know, deciding to forgo the heart-wrenching reunion in favor of ensuring an old friend was safe. Sothan only nodded, then gestured vaguely around them with a hand. He gave her another look like the one before. She sighed a bit and lobbed her halberd over Finis's barrier, allowing it to strike an enemy and create a field of pure Judgment that Nareish's army couldn't even think of passing through with their lives. "We're in the middle of a war with Nareish, and currently are raiding her realm. I am not giving more details than that, because the rest just needs to wait."

The wolf's eyes narrowed. Unexpectedly, he chose then to speak. "She killed me," he abruptly revealed, a tinge of bitterness in his tone. "Stole me away and made a spectacle of my death to her cronies. Where is my hammer?" Hearing this, Finis's dark eyes widened a little out of shock (and not just because Sothan had graced them with three full sentences in a row) and he suddenly vanished.

Cere frowned deeply. "It was Nareish?" she demanded harshly, anger flaring to life in her eyes anew. Sothan nodded once. The Hexan called back her halberd and struck the ground with it, sending pulses of her energy rocketing through the battlefield. With that done, she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fuck," she muttered. He was so angry that he spoke that much?

Meanwhile, Finis reappeared at the forge. It took no substantial effort to locate Li, but the item he was after would be much harder to find without help. As such, he immediately addressed the God and asked, "Li, where is your uncle's hammer? You have it, yes?"

The wolf was immediately defensive, far from his usual relaxed and happy demeanor. "Why are you asking?" he asked, frowning deeply.

Shadowy arms crossing, Finis asked again, "Where is it?"

Li snapped his fingers and a wall shifted to reveal a hidden room, one where the hammer was visibly stored and kept safe. "Right there, now explain why you're even asking. You of all people know I hate talking about it."

"Explanations can wait. There isn't time." Finis wrapped some shadows around the weapon's handle and promptly vanished with it in tow.

"Hey!" Li snapped suddenly, teleporting after the God of the Night. The moment he saw the weapon after he landed, he snatched it away from Finis and held it on his shoulder. "What the hell are you doing?" A touch exasperated, Finis simply pointed. Li looked and his eyes widened, his free hand going to cover his mouth as tears welled up. "S-Sothan…?"

Despite the cacophony of sounds surrounding them all, Sothan heard him. He teleported straight to his nephew, heedless of the danger, and quickly grabbed the younger man's shoulders. "Thank god," he breathed, relief filling his once angry eyes. "She didn't get you… Good."

Li sobbed openly, overwhelmed by the fact that his uncle was actually back after so long. "I- I never thought… I'd see you again…" he mumbled, holding onto the arms of the older wolf for comfort. Sothan wasted no time in pulling him in for a tight hug, murmuring a few reassuring words as he did so.

Meanwhile, Novei appeared in the exact same place Li had moments ago, sword in hand and her attention on Finis. Only after a moment did she realize what was happening. She looked to Li and found herself dumbfounded by the situation before her. Five seconds ago, he was actually angry for the first time…

The current God of the Forge put his focus on his uncle, holding himself close and mumbling softly. It was all so much to be experiencing all of a sudden, and he didn't try to comprehend it all. Sothan gave him a gentle squeeze, then released him. "C'mon, bud," he murmured. "There's some ass to kick, yeah?"

Li lingered in the hug with Sothan for a moment, then stepped back and wiped at his eyes, holding out the massive hammer to his uncle. "This… is yours," he murmured. "It's time you take it back."

Taking his old weapon in one hand despite it's borderline impossible weight, Sothan gave him a smile. He was fresh out of words for the most part, but for his nephew… well, there were always words to spare. "Care to join me? I never did do that last sparring match with you."

The younger wolf chuckled a little. "No… you didn't. We can… handle that one later." Li waved a hand and brought several blades to his sides, smiling. "And I might've learned a few things in the meantime. Maybe I can impress you."

"Looking forward to it." Sothan turned, briefly gave Cere the peace sign as a farewell, and then walked off into the fray with his hammer in hand. Li followed shortly behind him, the weapons he'd summoned twirling to life around him and taking on a mind of their own.

Novei, however, remained still. "What the hell did I just watch?" she asked, looking to Finis and Cere.

Cere glanced over, knowing full well how much Novei meant to Li, and managed a smile. "That was his uncle… Someone he hasn't seen in… well, eons." She thought for a moment, then added, "Someone you want to be on the good side of, too."

"Li was still new to the forge when Sothan died," Finis further explained. "You have an idea by now of how long the forge has been Li's. That's about how long it's been since the two were separated. Sothan was the original God of the Forge and taught Li much of what he knows."

"It's someone important to him," Novei gathered after a moment, nodding. "I… have not seen such happiness in him. I suppose it makes sense, now."

Finis nodded. "You might as well go join them. They'll be wreaking havoc soon, no doubt."

Novei nodded as well, twisting her neck to crack it, resulting in a violent series of pops and snaps. "Suppose so." Weapon in hand, the Therian went on the hunt to find her boyfriend.

~保護者~

Silver let out a yelp and ducked. Slightly wide golden eyes watched some sort of disk of pure dark energy whizzing over his head. "Jeez, that one nearly had my name on it," he breathed to no one in particular. He retaliated with several sickle-shaped attacks of cyan psychokinetic energy, then teleported to a slightly safer location in a flash. Realizing who he'd appeared by, he managed a relieved smile. "Boy, am I glad to see you," he said. "These guys are nuts. Every one of them keeps trying to behead me, of all things!"

"Your power is from your mind," Eila murmured, idly taking a few steps closer to Silver. Her eyes were glowing a bright purple as her magic flowed over the battlefield. Spells fired off in several different directions all at once. "It only makes sense for them to try and take it from you. That's why I've got enemies coming for my head and hands."

"Well, I'd rather they didn't," Silver grumbled. "I like having my head attached, thank you very much." He created more sickles and hurled them into the crowd with scarcely a glance at where he needed to aim.

One came from the sky directly at the hedgehog, but it crumpled under the force of its own movements colliding with a shield Eila conjured up. The body was tossed aside without dropping any of the gore on Silver as she walked closer. "Watch around us for a moment. I'm going to do something."

Silver blinked, then idly waved her off. "Got it covered," he assured. "Do whatever you need to do."

Eila knelt down and placed a palm on the ground, muttering words in an entirely different language. Once her chant ended, which didn't take all that long, the enemies around them froze and dropped dead before Silver's eyes. "Fucking finally. Never get to use that one."

Raising his eyebrows, Silver let out a low whistle. "Not that it didn't pay off, but mixing psychic powers and magic is a pretty risky move," he said. "It's not exactly something most people do. We don't know much about the specific dangers or anything."

"If it backfired, I surely could have shattered my mind once more," Eila answered. "Considering the height of the spell I used." The cat ultimately shrugged. "I am not concerned, though. If anyone has the-" She cut herself off and stood upright, raising her hand once more. "Something approaches. Be on guard."

"Yeah, I sensed it, too," Silver answered. "Whatever it is, it's coming fast." Psychokinetic energy gathered around him to give him lift in preparation for him to start flying.

Eila took a few steps back and glanced up to his face. "I'm going to trust you to slow it down. If it's indeed hurtling itself in my direction, it will get what it deserves. Understood?"

"Got it," he told her. "Like I said before, do what you need to do."

With his words, Eila chose to trust him fully and knelt down once more, the ground glowing with her magic. It didn't take long for the oncoming threat to come into view. When he spied it, Silver sighed. "Well, at least this one's not armed. There'll be no lopping off of heads this time, I guess." He took to the air and encased the large being with his powers in an effort to slow it's wild charge. It took a surprisingly great deal of effort to succeed, but in the end it was good enough. Hope this is slow enough for her.

Eila made no comment on his efforts, feeling pleased enough with them. The woman waited until it was right within range to swing at her before calling out, "Liberar!". Her words triggered the trap she'd set, magic flowing into and ensnaring the creature's body in threads and chains. "Silver, you can deliver this to the afterlife," she murmured, turning away and tightening the bonds holding the massive creature.

The glowing cyan tint in his eyes brightened slightly in response to him further utilizing his powers, and then the creature simply went limp. He promptly released it and gestured for her to do the same. "I shut it's mind down," he explained, shrugging. "Erm, permanently, that is. It's done for."

She waved a finger and the creature toppled to the ground, huffing. "Thank you… for the help. It would have been much more difficult for me to face that thing alone."

"Likewise," he answered.

After a moment, she glanced over with a vague smile. "I'm glad I met you, Silver."

This made him smile back at her immediately. "Same to you," he said. "I knew I was right about you."

She didn't know what to say or do in response to that, so Eila did what she was best at… somewhat. Deflecting. "More are approaching. Our endeavors attracted a lot of attention. I'm counting on you."

"I've got your back, don't worry." Tossing her one of his trademark grins, Silver gave her a thumbs-up. "Let's do this."

Eila let her magic flow free, managing a smirk. "Yeah. Let's kick some ass."

~保護者~

15,089 words this time. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support. Posted (at about 11:25 p.m.) 03-20-22.