Chapter 24 - Hopeless Remnants

Although Tithi had agreed to call Kyoya back if he managed to find something in the Mist Mountain Shrine (albeit reluctantly), he knew that he very likely wouldn't be. He truly didn't know what exactly he was looking for, or even what had really been happening over in Japan (as Kyoya had previously mentioned) for the CEO to ask such a thing of him, so the chances of him actually calling him back were slim to none.
As far as he knew, something big was happening over in Japan with Tsubasa, something that Dynamis had supposedly been involved in - at least, that was what it had sounded like when Kyoya had contacted him again after seeming to have a talk with the WBBA Director over on the other side of the world.
The news of Dynamis's death sure seemed to strike something once Kyoya had asked him and he had answered. The young man wouldn't have really thought beforehand that something big was happening after he had found Dynamis's body; maybe it was simply because he hadn't been able to care about anything else once he found his friend.
He hadn't known why exactly Dynamis had died - he still didn't know, and he wasn't sure he really wanted to - but somehow it seemed to be connected to whatever it was that was happening over in Japan.
He supposed, for Dynamis's sake, he could at least try and do as Kyoya had asked.

As of now, he found himself wandering the many halls that made up the Mist Mountain Shrine, the darkness barely illuminated by an natural light that seemed to always be there, just grazing the walls and not allowing complete darkness, pale blue eyes casting their sorrowful gaze upon the many inscriptions and other such prophecies that littered the stone walls.
Many were in languages that Tithi weren't even sure still existed in modern society, while others were in simply made up of pictures that had been long-weathered since their creation. There was only a handful were actually in languages he knew, even if he wasn't fluent in them - however, none of them bore any relation to something that would probably be important, unless Tsubasa and the others in Japan were having some form of conflict with seraphs.
Letting out a heavy sigh that echoed in the almost unnatural silence, Tithi continued on and looked to keep his spirits up, since he knew that may be the advice Dynamis would have given him in this situation.
Whatever the Guardian had died for, the Legendary Blader would try and assure that it would not all be in vain. Considering that Dynamis seemed to somehow be connected to whatever was happening Kyoya, Tsubasa, and the others, the purple-haired boy reasoned that the Guardian had been killed for a reason, rather than just reckless rampage.
Tithi knew for a fact that, although the world had seen and heard of them all as the Legendary Bladers that had helped in the fight against Nemesis 7 years ago, nobody really knew that Dynamis had even existed up to his death most recently, so it was highly unlikely that just some random person could have done that to the Jupiter Blader.

Nobody was even really aware, but for a handful of people that the former Guardian had deemed as worthy, even knew about the Mist Mountain Shrine, so any chances that it wasn't something possibly otherworldly were completely off the checklist.
That in mind, he had at least had some sort of key subject that he was looking for within the Temple, even though it was vague.

In the continuation of Tithi's search, it wasn't very long before he came back to the large chamber of where he had found Dynamis's decaying corpse, the hall silent but still echoing with events of the past that were far out of the purple-haired boy's reach.
Although his stomach lurched uneasily, he was somehow able to ignore the faint stench of death that still remained, his eyes just barely glancing towards the gradually fading chalk words on the floor before moving back to the many walls and pillars that surrounded him, blue orbs tracing the etchings in the stone like a pencil.
This was the last place Dynamis had been in before he had died, so he reasoned that it had to have meant something...

Perhaps he had found something here?

That or he had found something elsewhere and he had simply been killed here after...

Tithi knew he would never be able to understand the full story of what had happened here while he had been away, but that was fine, because he really didn't need it.
All he needed to do now was search the Mist Mountain Shrine to see if it contained anything that could remotely be helpful, at Kyoya's request, even if he didn't know exactly what it was about. The dark-skinned male sighed through his nose, his footsteps halting as he stood there in silence, pale blue eyes half-lidded as he starred at the rough stone floor for a moment.
He had no idea what exactly was going on outside the walls of Mist Mountain, but he knew it wasn't good... Agreeing to look for anything may have very well been a mistake in itself, if what had happened to Dynamis was anything but go by, and he knew that he could very well meet a similar fate.
However, he really didn't care all that much about it.
He was young, yes, but he had lost most of everything that he really had, which really was only a handful of things.
The Legendary Blader knew very well he was probably putting his life on the line for this, but, really, what did he have to lose? For Dynamis's sake, it was enough.

The purplette looked around from where he was standing, looking at walls off to his right and the pillars on his left, all littered with inscriptions and drawings that he had a difficult time making out, both because of the darkness and the many languages they were written in.
Observant eyes looked over the many details that were carved into the walls, only able to catch a few words but unable to understand the rest.
Broad shoulders set, Tithi walked forward a bit, scanning the walls and pillars around him for anything that he could understand, that may prove useful...
Just as his eyes looked over the wall on his right again, the pale orbs caught something that was familiar too him, drawing his attention towards a large kind of tablet on the wall, engraved and in-scripted as everything else was.
A small high-rise lead up to it, nothing more than 4 stairs, as though it was something far greater than most.
Tithi knew, however, that that was just the way the temple was designed, and that it probably didn't mean too much - but simply because he was able to understand what it was saying did he think that it might actually be symbolic. The purple-haired blader climbed the four simple stairs, standing on the high-rise in front of the in-scripted wall behind him, his eyes scanning over the markings and drawings engraved centuries ago.
Simply standing there seemed almost surreal, something like an aura remaining there, like a soul that still believed that it belonged there, standing where he was standing, reading the messages that it had probably never finished. Out of all of the prophecies and messages lining the walls of the Shrine, this was one of the few that Tithi was able to understand.

It was in Arabic - his mother tongue.

He had remembered teaching Dynamis a bit of the language some years back as repayment for teaching him what he had known thus far. It hadn't been a lot, but it had been enough to get the Guardian by should he ever have a need to use the language - Tithi doubted that he ever did.
But even so, his mind wasn't focused on the fact that he could understand what was written, or on the strange air that filled this small space of a rise, but on the actual contents of what was there.

It told of Nemesis, the God of Destruction.

Like an origin story, it told of his creation, (or at least what was presumed to have created him) his many abilities that ranged surprisingly to lengths beyond just 'destruction', his story of being sealed away centuries ago by the ancestors of the Solar System Bladers... Tithi furrowed his purple eyebrows against his dark skin as he took all of it in as he read, unsure of what exactly to make of everything it was telling him.
It was definitely good for some form of history lesson, but what did it really do to help?...
It probably wasn't very likely that they were dealing with anything Nemesis-related back in Japan.
After all, Gingka Hagane had destroyed the God years ago with no trace of that darkness left behind.
Supposedly, anyway.

Even still, he supposed there was a possibility, but what good would this do when it really didn't anything about something prophetic that could give him a clue?
All it was was a backstory, an origin, a religion that barely existed anymore, a telling of what the God had been capable of when he had still existed. There wasn't anything blatantly obvious in any of it that would possibly help, unless something was written in code, though it was doubtful that anyone would have thought to do that at all for seemingly no reason.
Still, it was intriguing, to say the least.
Once the young blader reached the bottom of the tale, he skimmed back up it again all the way to the top, his broad shoulders heaving slightly as he exhaled through his nose in silence.

Three brothers...

Weird story, for a God that didn't exist anymore, and had never truly been acknowledged all that much.
Keeping it in a corner of his mind, Tithi turned around and walked down the high-rise, continuing on through the grand chamber filled with stories that he barely understand.
And almost with a snap of one's fingers, the aura that he originally felt where he had been standing was gone...

After his call to Tsubasa, Kakeru had waited about an hour (or was it ten minutes?...) before going to older brother's room.
The doctors had told him that he could see him whenever he wanted beforehand, so he knew it wouldn't be a problem when he went in, considering he was family and all. Goosebumps had automatically coated his skin a shiver ran through him at the sight that he had never thought he would see of his brother; an oxygen mask over his mouth, hooked up to an IV and monitor that showed his heartbeat, blood pressure, and vitals, indicating that he was, indeed, still stable. The doctor had already told him of the extent of Kyoya's injuries, which had seemingly been some form of strangulation - although they were unable to find any bruising -, and minor head trauma that had given him a concussion.
However, the doctor had said that they had taken care of it and that it shouldn't cause any further complications with his healing process.
While Kakeru was able to take at least some sort of comfort from that, the sight of seeing his brother so beaten up, so... vulnerable... (that word doesn't suit him...) and hooked up to machines and drips was very unsettling. Kyoya was a very prideful person; stubborn, persuasive, devious, and Kakeru had only ever really known him to be just that.

Even with running their company as young he was, his brother had never cracked under the pressure and remained solid - or at least as far as he knew, since Kyoya would more than likely never allow him to see him cry simply because he was an older sibling, and that was usually how it was supposed to work.
The sight in front of him was like looking at a completely different person, and Kakeru subconsciously kept wondering if he was indeed in the right room.

However, he was.

There was no denying it.

Letting out a breath through his nose, and a small, almost uncontrollable shiver, Kakeru walked stiffly over to a chair against the wall and pulled it over to beside Kyoya's bed, adjusting it properly so that he would be able to face the elder.
The room was cold, almost uncomfortably so, but the younger greenette brushed it off as he sat down in the barely comfortable chair, his blue eyes never leaving his brother's hospitalized form, his brows unconsciously turned upwards in worry and his bottom lip narrowly tucked under his upper one.
He had told Tsubasa that would try to get something out of his brother if he could about what he had been researching before he was attacked, and he did plan on fulfilling his promise, but he knew that also came with complications.
He would have to wait for Kyoya to wake up, and judging from his concussion and the brief blocking of his airway, that might not be for quite awhile.
Kyoya's doctor had also warned him that his brother could also develop amnesia, which Kakeru knew himself was a very liable after-effect of a concussion, even if only minor. Although he was sure that Kyoya would pull out of it fine (he was too stubborn not to) he was still greatly worried about the aftermath of what could happen.

After all, if that... Alcorin... had come after him even though he hadn't found out anything - although he may have been close - then there was no telling what could happen if they continued on with their search. However, he had promised, even if indirectly, and he usually liked to keep his promises so that he wouldn't disappoint the other party.
Besides, he was fairly sure that Kyoya would still wish for it regardless.
Twining his fingers in his lap, Kakeru simply sat there in silence but for the beeping of the heart monitor and the quiet bustling of doctors and nurses and visitors outside. He looked down, the chill of the room nipping at him lightly as he sat there with a loss on what to do, knowing that it would likely be awhile before his older brother would wake up.
Maybe he should have waited a little longer outside... The few fellows at the office who had arrived after he had gotten to the hospital with his brother could have kept him a bit of company for awhile, even if he wasn't that willing to join in on the conversation.
Even staying out there by himself and listening to the noise of his surroundings might have been better than just sitting and listening to the empty beep of the machine Kyoya was hooked up it.

He probably could have checked on Mura too... She had come to the hospital as well, and had simply been placed in the main room of the Trauma Bay so that her injuries could be treated. As far as Kakeru had seen, said injuries were nothing but a series of scratches across a majority of her body, and, although she had been unconscious upon arrival ever since they had left the TC building, he didn't doubt that she would be fine.
However, thinking back to the fact that she had been possessed was something that couldn't help but unsettle him, and made him rethink the previous thought that she would be 'fine'. He didn't know, and for a brief time, he hadn't really cared - he had mainly been worried about Kyoya.

He should go check... Or at least ask about her...

The young greenette sighed in frustration of it all, hunching over slightly and brushing part of his bangs out of his face, even though they didn't need to be. He was probably just making everything sound harder than it actually was.
He knew how things worked - he could just ask one of the doctors or nurses how Mura was doing, and they could probably find out and tell him or find someone else who could. Kakeru let out a breath through his nose, moving back to sit up properly once more and compose himself.
It was right then did a soft groan reach his ears, a sound that he knew all to well to ever mistake it for something else.

Immediately did his eyes flash to his brother, who still lay there motionless but for his breathing and barely noticeable flutter of his eyelashes.
In an instant was Kakeru standing beside his brother's bed, his hands on the small railing that were always on them as he looked into his brother's face hopefully, watching carefully for any further sign that he was waking up.
Another soft sound escaped Kyoya's lips, slightly muffled by the oxygen mask over his mouth and nose.

Kakeru just stared at him, barely even breathing.

Slowly, eyelids fluttering in weakness, Kyoya opening his eyes just about halfway, the blue orbs slightly dazed and hazy from awakening from a concussion-induced sleep. A small smile automatically made it's way onto Kakeru's face, watching his brother's face intently as those dazed eyes looked over towards him.
For several moments he waited in silence, his heart pounding in his chest and barely allowing him to breathe as he looked for some sign of recognition from his older brother, praying that he's alright... Kakeru's heart leapt into his throat when, only seconds later, a weak smile made its way onto his lips (slightly hidden by the oxygen mask) and his eyes took on a fond look to them.
"..'Ey..." Kyoya said softly, his voice weak but still with something behind it that perhaps Kakeru could only hear. Either way, the younger Tategami almost broke down, eyes filling up with tears that he was reluctant to let fall.
"Kyoya!" He exclaimed happily, immediately giving his brother a loose hug over his chest, being careful not to disturb the wires and tubes he was hooked up to.

"You're okay..." He stated shakily, burying his face lightly into the crook of his brother's neck as he let the tears fall silently. Kakeru felt a hand come up and place itself on his back, lightly rubbing small circles to soothe him and his light sobs.
"..Y'thought I wouldn't be?.." Kyoya asked playfully in his weak tone, the 'hissing' sound of his breathing mask making his face sound slightly disoriented. However, Kakeru paid no attention to it as he remained there for a few moments, minutes, hours, who knew how long before pulling away and wiping at his eyes with his sleeve.
"Sorry..." The younger Tategami apologized lamely, unable to help the tears that came to his eyes anyway after wiping them, "I was just... I was worried, that's all." Vision slightly blurry, Kakeru blinked and almost couldn't bring himself to look back into his brother's face, even with how happy he was - maybe it was a little ridiculous being so overjoyed, since he knew that Kyoya probably would've pulled through fine no matter how bad things had been, but...

"'S okay." Kyoya said softly, a reassuring tone in his low voice that brought the younger's eyes back to him at last. Although Kyoya was clearly groggy from the morphine the doctor's had given him, he was obviously coherent enough to express a clear look of reassurance.
Sniffing softly, Kakeru wiped at one of his eyes with his wrist again, willing himself not to start crying again as he tried to focus on what he needed to ask his older brother. "K-Kyoya..." The younger man began somewhat shakily, "You... You remember everything that happened before you passed out, right?" Kyoya made a soft sound, blinking for a moment and remaining silent, his brows furrowing together slightly as though he was trying to recall something.
For those few precious seconds, Kakeru couldn't help but hold his breath.
"Yeah... If bein' choked against a window by a psychopath is s'posed to be the last thing I remember..." The Legendary Blader said tiredly, exhaling heavily against the mask covering his mouth and nose and making a heavy 'hissing' sound.
Kakeru let out a breath of relief, feeling his lungs metaphorically give thanks for being allowed to take in air once more. "Oh, thank god..." He breathed with a sigh, relief flooding over him as he took in the fact that his brother was fine... He remembered everything, he's okay...

Kyoya made a soft wheezing sound, which Kakeru could only guess was a small laugh since that was what it sounded the most like. "..Yeah, well..." The CEO said lightly, "...After going through something like that, I don't think I'm going to forget much... Obviously, Tsubasa doesn't seem to be getting it this bad.." Kakeru knew the last part was meant to be said with amusement despite Kyoya's low and gravely voice, so he simply smiled a little.
"Um, yeah..." He agreed awkwardly, "About that... Kyoya, if you don't mind me asking, did you actually find out anything that could've helped Director Otori before.. He.. Attacked you?" Kyoya - who had momentarily looked away - turned his gaze back towards his younger brother at this question, blinking slowly and remaining silent before answering.
"No..." He replied, "..But I'm pretty sure I was on my way to finding something that he didn't like... I had an idea of what to look for and a way to look for it, and obviously he didn't approve of that..."

"What was it?" Kakeru asked, eyebrows furrowed as he watched his brother closely as to assure that he didn't show any signs of pushing himself too much - he had just woken up, and it wouldn't be a good thing if he strained himself, even if not physically.
"Mm... Do you have a pen and paper?.." The older asked.
"One sec..." Kakeru replied, digging into one of his pockets and pulling out a small notepad that he carried around with him should he ever had a need for it, then taking out a mechanical pen from the pocket of his shirt and clicking it so that he would be able to write with it.
Hovering the tip over the pad of paper, Kakeru looked back towards his brother. "Go ahead." He said gently, ready to listen to whatever Kyoya had to say...

When Director Hideyoshi had sent Naomi on a task to discover the device their seemingly deleted file had been brought up to, he knew that she knew that he likely didn't really need the results to know what had happened.
Of course, he had no way of saying what the purpose had been, and no way of knowing what exactly had happened either, but he didn't need any of those things to know where it had gotten too. Of course, it was a suspicion, but considering the past circumstances and events, he wouldn't be surprised if he was right.
However, he would be sure to get the results either way, just to confirm whether or not he was right - and, though he didn't entirely consider himself arrogant, he hardly doubted that he was wrong. He had been around for a long time, and in his line of work, he had discovered and solved many puzzles that normally people would give up on otherwise.
He was a very observant man, and he knew treason - whatever the form - when he saw it. Surely, he couldn't have thought that he would simply be able to get away with something like that and go unnoticed, had he?
Surely not, he was smarter than that.
Maybe Hideyoshi had underestimated him in more ways than one, considering all the years in between, but he would likely never know.
On the brighter side, if it was indeed as he suspected, than that could definitely lead them into a direction that they had been unable to go for many years. Because, surely, it couldn't just be an accident, now could it?

Hideyoshi pondered this to himself as he strolled almost casually down one of the many hallways of the large building known as their Headquarters, the muffled sounds of workers and bickering from the many rooms and areas he passed sounding dully in his ears while he took no real interest.
They were simply doing what they had to do, like all of them did, and that was that.
Unless there was something that required his attention and needed his word for something, none of it currently had to be any of his concern. As of right now, his only concern was of the final results of where that deleted file had been at, and what all of it could mean for their research, whether for better or for worse.

"Director." A tight voice called out to him in a firm tone, and Hideyoshi had no need to turn around to know who it was after working with her for so long.
However, he did anyway out of sheer habit, his dark eyes settling on the form of Naomi coming up to him from down the hall, her Ipad tucked under one arm while several papers with clutched firmly in her opposite hand.
"Hello, Naomi." Hideyoshi greeted politely, a cunning gleam in his eyes that was clearly reflected more so by his glasses, "Did you manage to get those results I requested yesterday?"

"I did." The brunette responded, standing now only 3 feet away from the Director, and rearranging the position of everything in her arms so that she could skim over the papers in her hands one last time, "We had some minor difficulty when tracing it, considering it was deleted, but we managed to discover the device it was last brought up on."

"And?" Hideyoshi questioned with a raised eyebrow, a clear gesture of what he wanted. Turning the papers upside down, Naomi offered them to the older man, to which he gratefully took and immediately looked over.
His eyes read over the several sheets, and his suspicions were confirmed. The last known device the deleted file had been brought up to was the Senji Model 1.5.
The computer system that they had given Ayano and Sichiro to their work and profiling on when they had been there.
Of course, how could he have expected anything else?

"Was there any video footage of when this happened?" He asked out of sheer curiosity rather than an actual need for it.
"No." Naomi replied bluntly, "We recovered what we could, but everything from the time stamps of 9:04 and 9:26 is slightly corrupted and shows nothing by the same screen cap for a good 20 minutes before it goes back to regular video." Hideyoshi raised an eyebrow, still looking over the papers in his hands for a moment before moving his eyes up to his most trusted assistant.
"Is that so?" He questioned curiously, "Well then, perhaps we have a problem with our camera system then..."

(eyes narrowed)

Naomi said nothing to this, because she knew him well enough to know that he didn't honestly believe those words. Their security system was in top notch condition, the last she had checked - they assured that it was put under maintenance regularly to assure that there would be no malfunctioning with it.
The only thing that could disrupt their video and audio feeds, even if unintentionally, was...

"Well, then." Hideyoshi said with some vigor, "This could definitely be an interesting turn of events, don't you agree?" Naomi stood straight, looking up at the older man through her own square-rimmed glasses.
"What will you have us do, Director?" She asked, her expression stoic and hard as it had always been.
"Hmmm..." The Director hummed softly, seeming to think over his decision for a moment, "... I would like you dispatch a group to Metal Bey City as soon as possible. And I want to only consist of some of our most trusted and observant personnel, for I don't want any mistakes. I'll give further instructions once you've brought them together."
Naomi simply nodded in a stiff manner. "Of course, Director." She said obediently.
"Alright, then, I'll leave you to it." The blue-eyed man said almost dismissively, giving the okay that she was free to go. Naomi simply nodded and walked off at a brisk pace to follow her given instructions.

Meanwhile, Hideyoshi remained where he was, still holding the papers Naomi had given him in his hands even with no further need to look at them.
As he stood there, he couldn't help but smile slyly to himself.
Of course, he had hardly needed the results to determine who had done the deed of deleting a file that they had barely paid attention too in the last few years, for it would be plainly obvious to anyone who knew that man's past and the dark secrets that inhabited it.
After all, he himself was a very observant man, and it came as no surprise that he would have done something such as this. And unfortunately for him - for whatever reason he had deleted the file for - things would not go the way that he had seemingly hoped.
Still smiling, Hideyoshi turned and continued on his way down the hallway at his original pace, though now on a much different course from the information that he now had.
It would be wise to conduct their search as soon as they could manage, and execute it with drawing as little attention to themselves as well.
But that wouldn't be too difficult - after all, they had done it for as long as he could remember. However, perhaps this would prove much more helpful to them than most things in the last 14 years.

(eyes closed)