From Dusk Till Dawn – Chapter 4: Delusion
Karma was in fear of the situation she was put in. She didn't think for one second that Yone would have decided to return to Ionia.
"You fool, why have you come back?"
Yone opened his eyes after putting his black rose. "Karma, I don't remember you being so hostile. Regardless, I want to know: where is my brother?"
'Damn, I had a feeling he was here for Yasuo. I'm going to have to take extreme measures.'
Karma stood still. "I haven't seen your brother ever since you and everyone drove him out from accusation."
Yone threw a dagger to the side of Karma, grazing her right shoulder. "I would laugh, but I am in no mood. Where the hell is he?"
'Shit. If I make any false movements, then everyone is lost in hyper reality. At the same time, if I get brutally wounded, the instances will vanish. There's only one answer to this situation…'
"Kaiev Kirivichi!" Karma freed the right side of her body by merging both hyper realities and increasing the rate at which their time moves.
'Karma, this is Udyr. What the hell is going on?'
'Keep calm, and continue training. I am in a dangerous situation and you four must get stronger in the meantime!'
Yone lunged for Karma, but she side stepped it. "Your reaction time is too slow, Yone!" Karma entangled his right hand with an ethereal chain. Yone fell to the ground, and dropped his sword. Karma started to empower a mantra with her open arm, aiming it at Yone.
"Game over, you traitor."
Yone grinned. "Quite the opposite, Miss." Yone pulled the ethereal chain back, and infected the roots with a red dust-like substance. Karma lost her balance, and her mantra suddenly discharged.
"I never was the brightest in your class, but I never lost to dumb tricks. I know that the left side of your body is out of your control; therefore the only side to neutralize is your right."
Meanwhile, in hyper reality:
"You have to show more emotion, Yasuo! I can easily see the weak points in your wind walls!" Udyr's Phoenix stance sent powerful blazes of fire through the weak points in his wall.
'He's right. If I want to protect my friends, I will need to be able to conjure a storm so powerful that not even Poseidon could collapse it. My lack of motivation has gotten to me recently.'
The instance started shaking, and everyone was confused. 'This is Karma, you two need to finish training this instant!'
Udyr smashed through Yasuo's wind wall as he heard this. Yasuo stood still for a second. "No…is Yone here?"
'I'm afraid so, Yasuo.'
"Let me take care of him…" Yone took out his sword. "He came looking the wrong place this time."
Karma nearly snapped the instances out of the pain from the dust. She had no strength left to even withstand it. Yone went on the offensive: "You just never knew when to quit. Let me finish this." Yone's blade was covered with static electricity, and he lunged forward with it. Sparks went flying from the air. Karma used the remainder of her power to open the hyper realities.
'INSTANCE #1, DISPELL!'
"FACE THE WIND!" Yasuo brewed up another storm, and created a wind wall strong enough to withstand the bolts of lightning. Yasuo hesitated for a second, but he pointed his blade straight at Yone when the smoke from the room cleared. "Yone, have you not learned enough yet?"
Yone laughed. "I must say, brother, I am impressed. You look much stronger than you did several years ago."
Yasuo didn't change his expression. He had a mix of emotions, but was mostly frustrated. "You betrayed our family, you left Ionia, and you joined a cult strictly forbidden by our clan. Who the hell do you think you are?"
"I don't know, Yasuo. All I know is that I pursued the path my ancestors would've pursued. What kind of path have YOU TAKEN, BROTHER?" More sparks went flying from Yone's sword. Yasuo sliced the air, and deflected all the shock blasts with the wind.
"The only path that I could have asked for, after I killed you that is. Now all that is left is you finish you off again, and kill the remainder of the Shadow Order."
Yone dashed around Yasuo, and caught him from the back. "Now I need to hear this." Yone flipped him up and shattered the roof. Yasuo couldn't react fast enough, and was thrown to the back of a large building. "Let's have a chat, brother. What exactly have I missed in the time I was dead?"
Yasuo threw Yone back. "You must be affiliated with that fiend, judging from that mark on your shoulder. It looks just like hers…"
"Her?! You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend, Yasuo!"
Yasuo started to get aggressive. "It's because of you bastards that Riven can't live peacefully." Yasuo clashed with Yone multiple times, until finally Yasuo hit a steel tempest on Yone's chest, which pulled him upward. "Life consists of the guardians, and of those fools who think they are doing something for a greater good. It's people like YOU who make my life even harder!" Yasuo slammed his sword down on Yone, but it was blocked.
Yone tried to take it down a notch. "You don't even know your parents, brother…"
Yasuo, instead, raised it up. "GO TO HELL!" Yasuo was about to crush Yone into the ground, but he vanished.
'Are you serious? There is no way he has gotten that fast.'
"I thought you knew better, you little pest." Yone appeared behind Yasuo. Both clashed, and they eventually fell to the ground. "You know that I have powers beyond your imagination ever since I left living the life of ignorance."
Yasuo laughed. "Ignorance…funny that you pick such a word, brother."
"Enough." Yone put his sword down. "I merely want to talk. I have no motive in killing you just yet. Why do you enjoy living in the shadow of others? You were unable to surpass me even through death."
"You really piss me off, Yone. A warrior isn't made by strength or knowledge alone, but one's will to fight and protect those who are precious to them!"
Yone didn't have it in him to respect what Yasuo had to say. "That's ludicrous. I outshined you in your prime, and I could outlast you in a fight to the death if I wished. I gave up on the idea of honor and guilt, and I finally have the answers to my past. True strength lies within those who aren't afraid to do whatever it takes to get there."
Yasuo turned his back. "You haven't changed a bit. I already know there is no saving you any longer from what you have done, so the last option for me is to walk away." Yasuo started to leave, knowing Yone wouldn't attack him. Instead, he was halted.
"I have one last thing to ask: did you kill the exile who slandered your name?"
Yasuo grasped his sword for a second. "Her name…is Riven…and she is not a monster like you."
"I take it the answer is no, then. I knew you had a soft spot, but from what I understood when I was alive, you had revenge on your mind."
Yasuo took his hands off his sword. "Not anymore, Yone. That blindfolded path of misery is over, and it would have only created more emptiness to kill her. It is not that I love her, but I have strong feelings for her will as a warrior. She managed to escape from the hands of Zed and turn a new leaf."
"You say you don't love her, but then who is it that you love?"
Yasuo hesitated for a moment, because he was in doubt of his answer. "I would say my wife, but I do not know where she is, or what she is planning with her life now that she has fallen on the wrong path. Her name is Ahri, and she is a sweet person with a mix of emotions. For all that I know, she may not come back…Regardless, I am done with you. Don't come back to Ionia any longer, brother. I have no remorse for traitors."
Yone watched as Yasuo vanished in the wind. He was still quite unsure about what he had to say. 'What do you mean no remorse for traitors, brother? You made an exception for that exile girl, and you still have feelings for the wife that openly left you for the Shadow Isles. You are a hypocrite, and yet I can't say I didn't see it coming. We will meet again soon Yasuo, but I will not take you so lightly like I did that day you put me to rest.'
Yasuo went back to Karma's place and the door was wide open. In it, he saw Udyr, Lucian, and Soul lying with Karma still unconscious. Yasuo called out to them. "Sorry about earlier, but what are we going to do now?"
Udyr got up. "There are a few options, but we have discussed the idea of storming the island we think Zed is most likely located in. You will take out the gatekeepers, and Soul and I can destroy Zed."
"Interesting, but what about Riven and Annie?"
"I don't want either of them involved. If Annie gets hurt, that is on me. If Riven gets hurt, that is on all of us. Not to mention, Riven is still dangerously wounded, and there is a slight chance she might still be in the hands of Yorick."
Yasuo tried to think it out in his head, and he forgot about Jin. "Where did Jin go?"
Udyr gulped, and looked to the ground. "We have bad news…"
"W-What is it?"
The whole room was silent for a moment. Udyr proceeded to tell Yasuo what he understood from what he saw in his vision and what he heard from his call with
(3 hours earlier)
"This place is full of unrest." Jin crawled through the Twisted Treelines of the forest where he knew the reaper would be. Without a doubt, it only took him a few minutes before he gazed straight into the eyes of the haunting ghoul.
Jin jumped off the tree he was spying off of, right behind the reaper. "Finally, you've shown your face."
The man looked behind, and gave a grin at Jin. "Hmm, back for more are we? You Ionians never know when to quit."
"Enough is ENOUGH!" Jin pounded the ground, and sent a fissure towards the reaper's direction.
"How delightful; this time I can take you alive." The reaper rushed towards him with his chain in his right.
"Bring it on!" Jin took out his two daggers. The reaper advanced, and was cut off by a glowing orb.
"Stop Thresh, he means no harm." It was Ahri, who stopped Thresh straight in his tracks.
Thresh put down his chain. "Oh, my bad sweetheart; I have a tendency to killing things I hate. I really need to fix that."
Jin was in so much shock, he dropped both his daggers. "What the hell is this? Ahri, why are you negotiating with the enemy?"
Ahri had a long look on her face. "Jin, you saved my life. I am merely doing something in return. Not only that, but you could've hurt Thresh." Ahri went to Thresh's side, and he patted her head.
Jin was furious. "THAT BASTARD TOOK MY WIFE AND CHILDREN AHRI! ARE YOU INSANE?!"
Ahri sighed. "Calm down, child. I have my own questions to ask of you."
"What do you want?"
"Is Yasuo coming for me?"
Jin's phone started going off. Udyr's voice called out: "Jin, give me a status update. Have you found anything? Yasuo wants to know where Ahri is when you find her."
"Y-Yasuo…" Ahri's heart sank to the ground for a second. "Hand me the phone, Jin."
"Like hell I will, you traitor!"
"I see, then." Ahri spirit rushed towards Jin, and punched him back to the ground. "I refuse to take no for an answer as long as I live." Ahri opened the phone. "Udyr, honey, where are you?"
"What the hell…"
"Calm down, Jin is fine…for now."
"Why are you in the Shadow Isles, you fool?"
Ahri laughed. "Maybe you should come and ask me in person. I really miss Yasuo and the rest of you."
"What have you done this time?"
Ahri decided to make things interesting. "If you want me back, you should come to the Twisted Treelines in the Shadow Isles. I'm not ignored in this place, am I, Thresh?" In the background, they could hear the haunted reaper laughing.
Lucian took the phone right out of Yasuo's hands. "What the hell did you say? THRESH, I'LL KILL YOU!"
The phone disconnected. Jin couldn't get up, and was dragged back by Ahri. "Don't even attempt to overcome my paralysis. It will only make things more complicated. In the meanwhile…Thresh."
"Say goodnight, Jin." Thresh stomped on Jin, and put more nightmares into his head. "Now then, who was that you were on a call with, darling?"
'Yasuo…Yasuo might still like me. The next time I see him will determine for me if he really matters to me. In the meantime, I have to play with Thresh.'
Ahri put her arms around Thresh. "He was just an old acquaintance from Ionia. Don't worry; you are all I need in this life."
(Present time, after Udyr told Yasuo everything)
"I also noticed in the vision there was a thick wave of spirit energy. It must mean that there are others who guard that place, and we need all the help we can get."
Yasuo clenched his fist by his side. "Ahri, why did you do this to yourself? I have no choice but to accept."
Lucian put his glasses on, and got out both his guns. "We're gonna need more coffins after those demons are done with us."
Udyr nodded. "Soul, this will be the proving grounds to show everything I taught you, Son." Soul smiled back.
Yasuo looked at Lucian. "Lucian…You and I will get our wives back. Even if I have to kill my brother again, I will get Ahri back."
'This time, I can't allow anything to go wrong. I promised Miss that I would protect her, and with that promise I also need to make sure she doesn't fall to those demons either.
"There is no more time to wait. We must continue our journey immediately."
'Nidalee, Krystal, Senna…we are coming.'
