CHILDREN OF THE SKY
CHAPTER 5
The clouds that loomed over the earth darkened. The sun began its fall to slumber. The wind chaotically whirled about. The sound of the ocean shores can be heard in the distance. A lone flowering tree stood next to a grand ivory manor on a hill. A single pink-tipped petal detached itself from its firm roots and gracefully soared with the air currents.
The foyer that lied behind a mahogany door was impressive. Its smooth vanilla walls and sand-colored tiles glistened at the glow of the mystifying sunset. It was silent and serene, untouched by danger; a true sanctuary. Unfortunately, not all sanctuaries were kept safe forever. With a soft rush of wind, two pairs of feet touched the immaculate tiles. One was encased in scuffed leather, the other in simple canvas. A wolf boy battered and bloodied relaxed in the tall man's arms while a white haired boy was sleeping in the arms of a headstrong girl. Cigarette smoke slowly flowed throughout the room.
Faith broke the silence, "Lucian's house?"
Zane continued, "Why here?" He managed to climb down from the smoker's grasp, but stumbled. Shamefully, he held onto the man for support.
"Heh," Damien sneered. "Not what I had in mind, but it'll do. Come on, we don't have much time. We'll be able to rest here." He ventured into the house pondering, "Did this Lucian kid guide us?" He glanced back at the boy, "If so, he has some potential." Damien led the three up a couple of steps and through a rustic arch.
A welcoming living room complete with tan leather couches, a Venetian rug, a slender television screen, and a warm fireplace opened up in front of the visitors. This room seamlessly transitioned into a skillfully maintained kitchen in the adjacent area. A door that led to a study was on the opposite side. A staircase that led to the floors above stood at the corner nearby the entrance to the study. For a home for a meager teenage boy, it seemed rather regal and elegant. Zane gawked at the sights while Faith and Damien remained indifferent.
Two crystal thrones stood back to back in the void of the unconsciousness.
Lucian slouched in his gleaming chair, his emerald eyes fixed at the distance. His stark white suit was pristine and pure. The boy's eyelids batted and a grimace was formed, "Saku."
The other boy's jade eyes widened ever so slightly. His lips twitched. The Marauder's black suit clashed with the atmosphere. Soon, his diamond throne began to slowly diminish into carbon.
"J-Just," Lucian stammered. "Just what are you trying to tell me?"
"Hmph," the counterpart stood up from his black throne and began to swiftly stride away. "There's a storm coming, Lucian."
"Huh?" Lucian got up and turned to Saku. "What?"
"I suggest you begin to prepare for the future that lies ahead."
Noise from the outside world began to seep in. Lucian began to hear strange distorted voices, beckoning him, urging him. The void was collapsing. Lucian ran after the reverie figure, the ground falling apart behind him. "Hey! Wait!"
His doppelganger stopped in his tracks.
"Just what's going on? None of this is making any sense!" Lucian continued towards him. "Who are you and what do you want from me?!"
With a hint of a grin, Saku turned around and held his hand out to Lucian. The Marauder spoke one word, but he was drowned out when the voices from the abyss grew louder and hysterical. Lucian stumbled as he ran from the consuming darkness. Panting, he reached out his hand to Saku's. And with a flash, chains emerged from the abyss and wrapped around Lucian's limbs, ripping him away from the arcane Marauder and plunging him straight into the endless shadows.
Lucian woke up in the tan couch in his living room, petrified. He looked at his fingers twitching for something to hold on to in the empty air. He panted, realizing the line between fantasy and reality was blurring with each and every waking second. After a chilling moment, Lucian's pulse calmed. "I'm home?" He slowly but surely sat up on the couch to take in his familiar surroundings. In the background, he could hear the faint hum of the TV.
Zane was lying on his stomach on the opposite couch, "Ngh… Kyaaah," His hands squeezed into the seat cushion. This was quickly becoming an episode.
Faith was struggling to heal the wolf boy. She grunted, "Hold still!" After many attempts, she managed to hold down his whipping injured tail. "Heh," she blew a stray lock of her hair out of her face. "Now, Zane, this'll sting, but you have to—"
"Gyaaah! No!" Zane's body quivered and squirmed.
"I didn't even do anything yet!"
"Huh? Really?"
"Baby."
"What'd you call me?!"
Faith laughed. Zane frowned and rolled his eyes. In the kitchen nearby, Damien sneered a little and snatched a towel from a drawer. He strode to the two and knelt by Zane. "Here," he said. "Bite on this."
"Thanks."
"Just be careful with his tail," Damien whispered to Faith's ear. "I've been told it's naturally a rather… erogenous zone."
Faith's eyes widened and she broke out laughing.
Zane's ears twitched, "What?!"
"Thanks for the heads up!"
"Hey!" He yelped at Damien, "Who told you?!"
"So it is true," the healer assumed.
"Was it Kyrie?!" The smoker retorted with a cackle. Zane continued, "I swear once I see her again, she's going down! That was supposed to be kept a secr-aaaaaugh!" The pain was unbearable.
"Secret's out, wolf boy," Faith grinned.
"Grrrrrrr…" Zane's sharp teeth clenched into the fabric when Faith's healing magic continued, "Y-You guys are cruel…"
"By the way," Faith began to the tall man with her deep blue eyes imploring. "I didn't quite catch your name."
"Damien," he replied as he stood up. The girl began to memorize this name. The smoker continued, "Zane said your name's Faith. Is that right?"
The girl nodded and continued to heal. Damien eyed the white haired boy who had his interested piqued by the rivers of the emerald healing energy that escaped into the air. "So," Damien put out his cigarette. "Youmust be Lucian."
"Ngh," Zane winced. "Y-You're up!"
Lucian grimaced, refusing to make even the slightest eye contact to any of the Guardians.
Zane was relieved when the frustrated Faith finally finished healing his tail. When the healer was about to continue to the open gashes on the back of his calves, Zane's ears twitched. "Huh?" Something was odd about the low humming in the background. "The TV," he urged. "Turn it up!"
Lucian scrambled from the couch to the remote on the glass table and raised the volume. A business-clad man with overdone hair announced on the television, "Due to the slow rise of Rogues and the recent appearance of a trio of Marauders at a local school, a mandatory evacuation of Somnium has been issued by Prima Vajras."
Zane yelled, "What?!"
"Shit!" Damien snatched the remote from Lucian and flipped through channels.
"What do you think about—? "
"—it's been hours since local firefighters and police and arrived on scene," a woman's voice narrated, "But there's still no sign of any Ma—"
"This just in," the reporter from the next channel announced, "The station had just received a short, but haunting video of the Marauder invasion of Somnium Academy. This was sent by one of the police officers investigating the disaster. It was recorded from a phone so the quality is bad. Please take your children away from the—" Damien clenched his free fist and skipped the channel again.
"Do you think there are any survivors? These are kids we're talking abou—!"
"A troop of Saviors have been dispatched to Somnium by the Mystical Guardians."
"Oh no," Zane panicked. "It's all over the news! Alexander's gonna have our heads!"
Damien switched the channel to another news station that had two reporters analyzing every second of the Prima's previously aired speech. The Prima, the man who led Aeternitas, was roughly at the age of seventy years. His silver hair was slicked back and his wrinkles told of his time. He also had a well kept beard. Behind his gray eyes was absolute fire. Aside from the immaculate suit he had on, the leader donned the traditional silk robes of the Prima. The color of his robes was iridescent, luminous, and divine. It seemed to have shattered light into its colors. A circlet crown made entirely out of crystal shards rested upon his noble head. The name of the Prima was Vajras. Behind Prima Vajras was his Celestial Order. The man to his left was a respectable middle aged man with wavy brown hair and a goatee. To the Prima's right was a younger sinuous man with long ice blue hair that parted in the middle and was kept in a ponytail.
Damien turned off the television without a second thought. He didn't feel the need to listen to the Prima's carefully constructed speech, let alone overanalyze it. He turned to Lucian, tossing the remote back on the table. He gritted his teeth, "I don't know what the hell you did, but it caught the Marauders' attention."
Lucian was purely petrified, "W-What?!"
Zane's was grateful when his calves were finally healed. He suggested, "Maybe it was when Lucian revealed himself as a Mystical Guardian!"
"Shut it, Zane." The tall man summoned a pistol and aimed it at Lucian's head.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" In a blur, Zane rushed over in front of Lucian, guarding him. The speed caught the white haired boy off guard and he stumbled and fell.
Damien didn't lower his weapon, "What do you know about the Marauders?!"
"Nothing, I swear!"
"Liar!"
Zane tried to calm the gunman down, "Don't do it, Damien."
Lucian continued, "What do the Marauders want with me?! I didn't do anything wrong! For God's sake, I'm just a kid! Please, listen to me, I'm begging you! I'm scared!"
Silence.
Damien's gun faded away.
Lucian panted, "Just… Just what the hell is going on here?"
"Don't worry, Lucian." Zane lent out his hand and gave his cherished reassuring smile, "You're safe with us."
"You," Lucian studied Zane along with Damien in the background. "After all these years, how can I even come to trust you now, Zane? This is all your fault."
He brushed Zane's hand away and got up on his own.
Zane flinched, his eye color flickering for a second.
"I suggest you guys start saying good-bye to Somnium," the tall smoker coughed. "Whenever the Marauders appear, their Rogues are bound to follow blindly and willingly. There's no way they can ignore ostentatious events such as the one that happened in your school. Zane, I'm anticipating an ambush – something bigger than the one in Central Square on that rainy night – so keep watch."
"R-Right," the wolf boy nodded and excused himself.
"Good thing that the Saviors have been dispatched, otherwise we'd be fucked. You two," he pointed at Lucian and Faith, "If you have any personal belongings here, pack them now."
"I don't even live here," Faith protested. "What about my home?"
"Don't worry about it."
"'Don't worry about it'? Are you crazy?"
"You will not leave this house and put yourself in danger yet again. Do you understand? You need to trust the Saviors." Faith ended her protest, flustered and annoyed. Damien's eyes stabbed into Lucian's, "And you. Things sure as hell aren't lining up, so don't you dare to think I've let you off the hook."
Outside in the cool night, Zane scaled the mansion with great balance and agility. His hands felt every groove between the painted bricks, the windowsills, and every nook and cranny that engraved the path. Zane climbed on top of the roof and settled on its edge where he can see the cloudy night sky and parts of the bustling ocean-side city beneath it. The evening wind tousled his hair. Somnium was in distress; the beginning of a new chapter.
"This kid has some dark secrets, I just know it. The Marauders must know something about him that we don't. What is it?" Damien thought to himself as he stepped outside in the backyard where the shores can be seen from a distance. His fingers anxiously ran through his hair. "Oh God, that kid's scared half to death. Whatever the case may be, linked to the Marauders or not, this white-haired boy is the Light Guardian." He sighed and produced a scuffed cell phone from his pocket. He slid the screen up to enter a number. "Come on, Kisura. Pick up."
A smooth and sultry voice answered on the other end, "Hey, Damien."
"Kisura."
"That's my name, don't wear it out."
"Hmph, you never change."
Kisura chuckled, "Yeah, yeah. What's up?"
Damien commanded, "I'll need you and the rest of the Guardians to rendezvous with Zane and me at the shores of Somnium."
"Oh yeah," she said. "That's been all over the news, ain't it? What'd you two do over there?"
"Long story short, we found the Light Guardian and the Marauders got in the way."
"Ah, crap. How'd that happen?"
"Hell if I know. Listen, it won't be long before the Rogues infiltrate the city."
"Bastards."
"Just get here as soon as possible."
"I'm on it."
"And Kisura?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't worry about Titenia." Complete silence followed. Awkward, Damien asked, "Uh, Kisura?"
"Yeah, whatever," scorn oozed through the call. "I'll get the airship to you in an hour, give or take, so be prepared. Bye."
"Kisura, I—" The woman on the other end hung up on him. Damien sighed and stepped on his cigarette, "Great."
Lucian anxiously paced on his bedroom floor. He glanced at his messenger bag with its strap clinging on to his shoulder. To his surprise, the thing miraculously survived the chaos with him. He cleared it of thick notebooks and crumpled up papers that were given from the Academy. Lucian made sure he kept his laptop and other electronics secure in the messenger bag, figuring he would never know when he'd need to use it. His house keys were safe and sound as well, in case he'd want to return to his mansion if it ended up in one piece after the Rogue's impending attack. At last, Lucian picked up the cracked picture frame that preserved his family picture that was taken when he was quite a young boy. He stared into the enigmatic man in the background of the photo and sighed, "Soon." He took the picture out of the dusty frame and slipped it into his pocket. He took one last look at his messy bedroom and walked away. Lucian was plucked raw from his typical everyday life.
And Lucian genuinely thought everything began to change when he first saw the mystifying wolf boy that destroyed whatever he knew of his best friend. With a mix of indignation and remorse, he made his way to the top of the house, "Zane."
The wolf child's ears twitched.
"Care to explain all this?"
Zane got up, "Lucian, I—"
"What do you want from me?"
"Huh?!"
"Just who exactly are you?"
"Shut up," Zane shouted. "I'm Zane, okay? I've always been Zane since the day we met!"
"Yeah, right. Why are you even here, anyway? What's your objective? Tell me now!"
"I-I've been sent to Somnium with Damien to protect the city—"
"And look at what a wonderful job you did! I'm proud, really. You two made this place into a—"
"I was also sent to personally look after the Light Guardian."
"You what?"
"Yeah."
"Wait… You knew? You knew all along?"
"Lucian, it's not that simple—"
"No. You're… You're a liar."
Zane's eyes were as wide as they could possibly be, "W-What?"
"Good God, you've been lying to me since the day we met."
"L-Lucian—"
"You lied to me. You lied to me about using magic. You lied to me about being a Guardian that's supposed to make the world a better place. You even lied to me about those ears and that stupid tail! You even said to me, 'Life, as we know it, is just deception.'" Lucian began to chuckle, "Our friendship is nothing but lies."
"Now, you just wait a minute." Zane's eyes had been neither azure nor gold, but absolutely black. However in a blink of an eye, they turned back to gold. Lucian's chuckling stopped at an instant. Zane slowly panted, regaining composure, with his voice deep and straining. "Don't… you… even dare… think that our friendship wasn't genuine."
"Holy shit," Lucian thought.
Zane continued, "We've… been friends… since as long as I could remember. Everything I did… was to protect you. Maybe I was loyal, maybe I was selfish, I really don't know. At first, I didn't even know you were the Light Guardian. There was a lot of talk between the other Guardians. I know you as the best friend I could ever ask for. Please, forgive me. I tried to hide everything away from you, because I didn't want you to worry. Everything is going to change, because you revealed yourself as the Light Guardian. Things will be okay in the end, I promise you that."
"How do you know for sure?"
"I don't," the wolf boy confessed to the white haired boy. "You just got to believe."
"'Believe', huh?" Lucian sat down on the edge of the roof. "Guess I'm going to have to accept that."
Zane's eyes changed from golden to bright blue as he sat next to Lucian, looking up at the cloudy night skies. While searching for the hidden moon, he felt a pair of green eyes curiously scan him. He glanced at Lucian, "Uh…?"
Lucian flicked his finger at one of Zane's lupine ears. It immediately folded against his head. They broke into laughter.
"So," Lucian said. "What's this Guardian thing?"
"The Mystical Guardians? Hmm… well, we're a band of people who excel in specializing in certain types of magic. Yeah, there are other spell casters, but we're the best of the best—the top dogs—under the Celestial Order, that is. We practically control all the Saviors. Pretty cool, huh?"
"Yeah, but why me?"
"Huh?"
"Why am I a Mystical Guardian?"
"Beats me," Zane said. "I've been told that people aren't chosen to be a Guardian. They're just revealed and that's what your little freak out that happened yesterday was."
"Hmph," Lucian changed the subject. "How long were you a Guardian?"
"Three years, before I enrolled at Somnium Academy and met Faith and you. Compared to the others, I'm a total newbie."
"Really?"
"Yeah," he admitted. "There are others with ten, maybe twenty years of experience!"
"So," Lucian asked. "Which Guardian are you?"
Zane watched the moonlight shimmer between the dark rolling clouds, "I'm the Lunar Guardian. My powers are strictly tied to the moon. Its intensity waxes and wanes along with the lunar cycle—my powers are at its greatest during the full moon and at its weakest during the new moon. Get it? And from the looks of it…" He sighed, "But as long as that moon stays in the skies and orbits around the world, I should be fine."
"What about eclipses?"
"Lunar eclipses help me a lot, but I've never seen a solar eclipse. I've always wanted to see one of those! It'd be so cool, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Now I have a question for you," Zane grinned.
Lucian began to panic a little, "About what?" He thought, "Does he too think I'm part of those bastards who butchered all those students?"
"I'm curious…"
Lucian's eyes widened.
"Like, how did you end up with this fancy house all to yourself?!"
"W-What…?"
"Yeah," Zane chuckled. "It's an awesome mansion right near the beach! Your parents must be rich!"
"R-Right," Lucian sighed and pulled out the picture from his pocket and began gazing into eyes made of faded ink.
"What's that, a family picture or something?"
"It's nothing."
"Doesn't look like nothing." Zane reached over to snatch the photo, "Let me see!"
"No," Lucian turned away.
"What's so important about that picture?"
"It's none of your business!"
"What are you hiding?" The wolf boy stood up, "Tell me what it is… now."
Lucian hastily got up, "I don't know who my real parents are, okay?"
Zane was taken aback, "Lucian, its okay. Not everyone knows who their real parents are."
"But I have to know, Zane!" Lucian gave him the photo, "I need to know."
The wolf boy studied the photo, slightly grinning at the young Lucian. The white haired boy sulked when he began to make comparisons. Zane laughed and stared at the two adults in the picture, "So, if these two aren't your real parents, then who are they?"
"Probably close friends," Lucian speculated. "They were nice people. They gave me everything I ever needed. I understood we weren't related, but the love was genuine."
"What happened to them?"
"The war," Lucian sighed. "I haven't heard from them since. That's why I have this mansion all to myself now."
"Hmm," Zane looked at the photograph again to find the man with the wild, platinum blonde hair in the background. "Hey," He pointed it out. "What about this guy?"
"That man is possibly my only clue."
"A clue? For what?"
"That man, I'm guessing, is my real father."
"Hmm, he looks a little bit like you."
"Don't you get it, Zane? I never knew my real parents and this is my chance!"
"Yeah, but what if—" Zane froze in place. His nose, ears and tail twitched. His eyes switched from blue to gold at an instant.
"Zane," Lucian pressed, "What if… what?"
"Get inside."
He repeated, "What if what?!"
Zane barked, "I said get inside!" With a flash of golden light, he summoned his scythe and leapt off the roof.
Lucian called over the edge, "Zane!"
"Don't worry about me! Get Damien now! Go!" The wolf boy watched as Somnium was lit up in the night with the luster of armor and ominous gunfire and cast spells. Men clad in navy and black heroically clashed against the rogues incased in futuristic Maximilian armor. To the Saviors, Somnium was a warzone; the Rogues, a playground. The rustling of gauntlets, pauldrons and greaves echoed in the cold air as hundreds marched. The Rogues were closing in.
A Savior with slicked back cobalt blue hair and a truly garish scar that took up a third of his face ran up to the far end of a wall. His gray eyes peered over to find a quartet of Rogues gathering around a slew of Savior casualties. With a deep breath, the short and stocky Savior drew out a dagger and dashed into the open. With a flick of a wrist, one of the Rogues fell clutching on to his neck.
"Another Savior!? Fire!" Bullets soared through the air.
The Savior took to the ground, snatching an assault rifle and a corpse to use as a shield. Triggers were pulled and the ends of barrels exploded with fire. Another Rogue fell to his knees at the end of his life. The Savior's gun emptied, "Crap." He heaved the corpse shield at one of the Rogues and pulled out two more daggers. He dashed to the villains and brutally carved into their flesh and armor. The remaining Rogues in his path fell. "Hmph," he cracked his neck. "Hayato, get out here. The coast is clear."
"A-Are you sure…?" A timid younger man, with long golden hair and a duo of colorful feathers tied in its roots, peeked from around the corner. He bit his lower lip as his brown eyes anxiously darted about.
"Yeah," the cobalt-haired man scanned the bodies of his allies and enemies.
"Oh good," the younger Savior stepped out. Hayato was a tall and lanky lad with broad shoulders who wore a tattered cloak over his uniform. He slowly and carefully stepped over and around the corpses.
"Hey, catch." The older Savior tossed a machine gun.
"Ah!" Hayato fumbled with it, "How the heck do you work this thing?"
The man with the cobalt blue hair found a radio device on one of the dead Saviors. "Alpha Squad," he called into it. "This is Jay of Delta Squad. Our captain along with two other men is down." He paused, waiting for a reply, "Captain of Alpha Squad, do you hear me? Our captain is dead. Hayato and I are the only men in Delta Squad. " No response. "Shit."
"So, um, Jay? What do we do now?"
Jay put down the radio, "Stick together and try to survive." Frantic gunfire shredded through the air. Jay immediately took cover in the bodies. "Hey! Watch it!"
"Ah! Sorry!"
"Geez, Hayato," Jay got up. "You can be such a klutz sometimes."
Hayato retorted, "At least I know how to work this stupid thing!"
Jay muttered, "Nearly killed me in the process."
"So," the klutz ignored him. "Got any ideas?"
"Yeah," the older Savior brushed himself off. "We've been told that Mystical Guardians reside here in Somnium, right?"
"Right!"
"So the plan is," he said. "We go incognito until we find them. They're our ticket to surviving this hell hole. They can't be far."
Hayato questioned, "Incognito?"
"Yeah, you can fly while I can be invisible. We'll be out of contact with the Rogues. They won't know what hit 'em."
"Alright but how are we going to contact each other?"
Jay showed his unsightly scar in its entirety which was sure to unnerve the young Savior to no end. His lips bent into a rambunctious grin, "Just follow the carnage."
Hayato gulped and anxiously undid the tie on his cloak. The frayed veil slid to the ground, revealing Hayato's remarkable wings and tail feathers made of a vibrant yellow, a bold azure, and a soft scarlet, like an exotic bird. He stretched and flapped his wings in relief and relaxation, "Alright."
Jay nodded and his body vanished in an instant, but…
"Um, Jay…"
"What?"
"You're not invisible yet."
"What are you talking about?"
"I can still see your uniform."
"W-What!?"
"You disappeared, but your clothes haven't."
Jay cursed, "Oh, God damn it!" Hayato curiously watched as the Savior uniform hastily undid and whipped itself to the ground. "Hey!" The pants abruptly paused midway, exposing underwear, "Don't watch!"
"But you're—Ugh, never mind!" Hayato took to the skies.
"Stupid bird guy," Jay murmured as the last remainder of clothing had discarded itself. "Let's get down to business then." He scavenged around for a dagger hidden in his fallen clothing. Once he firmly grasped the handle, the weapon vanished completely. Stern, the invisible Jay ventured through the desolate alley and into the oncoming massacres.
"Show no mercy," an adorned Rogue yelled amidst the burning metropolis. Gunfire and screams echoed in the night. "Such blasphemous martyrs are not fit to inhabit this world!" Screams of terror ran through the streets like shrieking mice. Bodies of Saviors and Rogues alike fell to the gritty ground beneath their feet. Explosions were set off in the distance. Somnium, the peaceful and dreamy city by the seas, was reduced to a mere nightmare.
Another armored Rogue came to the commanding Rogue's side, panting. The commander inquired, "Any sign of the Light Guardian?"
"N-No, sir," the subordinate panted. "Not yet."
"What about the Marauder, Saku?"
"Not a trace, sir."
"Damn it."
"If I may ask, sir," the underling inquired. "Would you happen to know why the Marauders are interested in the Light Guardian?"
"In all honesty, I know nothing of the sort." The commander gulped, "But their orders are absolute. Continue searching."
"Yes, sir."
The Rogue commander looked into the blazing abyss, "What are you thinking right now, Saku?"
Hayato soared through the dark skies, barreling around a blitzkrieg of rapid bullets. "Crap! Do they ever run out of ammo?!" He landed on a rooftop with a roll and took aim with his assault rifle. With a wince, he squeezed the trigger and took out a couple of Rogues. "Ugh!" Bullets grazed his skin. Hayato ran to the corner of the building to take cover behind a gargoyle. "Jay, where are you?"
Spine-chilling cries carved into the night air. Hayato trembled at the sound and peeked from behind the statue to witness blood spewing out of the armored enemies. A single Rogue stood mortified at his fallen allies, baffled by their untimely ends.
The lone Rogue yelped, "Where are you!?"
One could hear the muffled sounds of a dog barking in distress, which in turn nearly gave Hayato a heart attack.
"Show yourself," the Rogue took his aim. But in the blink of an eye, he dropped to his knees for a blade was lodged in between his ribs.
The invisible assassin picked up a machine gun and inched closer, slowly revealing his exposed skin.
The Rogue was choking, "W-What the fuck…?"
"The Guardians," Jay said. "Where are they?"
"Put some fucking clothes on."
Jay scowled and shot the Rogue in one of his legs. "The Mystical Guardians; you know they're around here."
"Oh, really, what the fuck makes you think I know?"
Another bullet. "Where are they?"
"Alright, alright, I'll tell you," the Rogue surrendered easily. "There have been reports of your Guardians downtown near the waterfront. That's all I know. Please don't kill me."
With a glare, Jay knocked out the pathetic man with the end of his machine gun. "Hayato!" Nothing but the distant sound of the barking dog could be heard. "God damn it," he thought. All of a sudden, Jay's body shivered from the night breeze flowing from the seas to in between his knees. He looked around at the shining armor of the fallen Rogues and groaned, "Great."
Meanwhile, Hayato anxiously followed the sounds of yelping and whimpering. It grew louder amidst the roaring fires as he turned around the corner of an abandoned street, eventually guiding him to a house. He peeked inside, "Uh… H-Hello?" Inside, the hybrid saw the source of the cries—a Labrador retriever huddled in the corner of a dark room, terrified with nowhere to go. Hayato flinched at first, although upon further inspection, it did not seem to be hostile. He hesitated, "I'm gonna have to save this thing, now am I?" After a couple of minutes of failure, he busted down the front door with a thud. Hayato scooped up the hefty canine, noticing the tag around its neck that read, "MAX".
"Stay right beside me," Damien commanded as bullets flew through the air, "And be careful."
"Right," Zane nodded and gripped his scythe. For a moment, he looked back at the distant beach and gulped, reluctant of yet another battle. With a slow deep breath, he followed the Dark Guardian further into hell.
Carnage. Bullets and blades alike carved through flesh and bone. With every hack and slash, the wolf boy winced more and more. However, with every perfect shot, the smoker felt nothing – no remorse, no empathy. The devices of war were writing blood-stained poetry.
Lucian gazed out the window and into the abyss…
"Do you remember me as well as I remember you, Lucian?"
Zane panted, "They just keep coming, don't they?" He hacked at another set of Rogues.
"Don't stop now." Damien aimed and fired. On his periphery, he saw a duo of Saviors: a scarred man wearing nothing but Rogue armor from the waist down and a younger man with colorful wings struggling with a troublesome dog. Damien thought, "What the hell…?" With a grunt, he yelled at them, "You two!"
"Finally," the bird-like boy said in exasperation when he and his comrade ran across the battlefield, "Mystical Guardians!"
Zane asked as he slashed at more Rogues, "You guys are Saviors?"
"Yeah," the scarred man said under his breath as he stabbed an enemy.
Damien commanded, "State your names."
"Hayato!"
"Jay."
"Hey." Zane curiously asked, "Why are you wearing parts of a Rogue uniform?"
Jay cut down another Rogue and uncomfortably replied, "Long story."
Hayato answered for him, "He can turn invisible, but whatever clothes he's wearing won't."
The smoker chuckled at the irony.
All of the sudden, a giant shadow shrouded the warzone.
"Huh?!" Zane looked up to see a futuristic exotic airship hovering near the buildings. A crimson-haired man holding a broadsword stood in one of the docking bays. "Alexander?!" With a spin of his sword, Alexander dived from the aircraft. The flames that were scorching the city theatrically reached up and engulfed the man. The inferno twisted and warped as he barreled into the ground, creating pillars of fire, wiping out the Rogues nearby.
Alexander slowly rose. He pressed a button on a wireless headset, "Kisura, head towards the shores as directed." His low voice was calm and soft, "We'll rendezvous with the Light Guardian."
"Roger that," the voice from the headset responded. And with that, the airship above majestically soared away.
Some of the Rogues cautiously approached, nervously muttering to each other…
"Is that…?"
"Oh shit…"
"It's the Master Guardian."
"No way…"
"Him? But he was only controlling fire."
"Rumor has it; he had to take over the position."
"Oh, so he's not the real deal, huh?"
The crimson-haired man held a fatally stern expression at the snickering Rogues. His glistening blue eyes were complete daggers, studying each and every one of his enemies. "Damien," he commanded with slightly more venom. "Depart for the Light Guardian."
"Right," Damien responded. "Come on, Zane." The tall smoker began to lead the wolf boy along with the Savior duo out of the hell zone.
"Don't let them get away!" Rogues scampered after the withdrawing Guardians, but in a flash, they met their fiery ends.
Damien looked back through the burning bodies, "What about you?"
"Don't worry about me," Alexander replied. "I'll arrive momentarily." Damien nodded and retreated. The calm, cool, and collected Fire Guardian—the Master Guardian—made sure the group made it safely out of his sight. With a sigh, he turned around to face the Rogues once more.
"'Arrive momentarily'," one of them mocked. "Pretty big words coming from scum like you."
Alexander sighed, "Please." He lifted his broadsword to rest on his shoulder. "No Rogue—or Marauder for that matter—will be able to even lay a finger on the Light Guardian."
"Don't be so cocky!"
The Fire Guardian smiled. "Why, I'm a man of my word!" The Rogues were silent and utterly unsettled. Alexander continued, "It doesn't matter if I'm the true Master Guardian or a mere, fiery substitute. It doesn't change a thing! It doesn't change that you demons deserve to be eradicated beyond all history. But enough of this chatting—I have a plane to catch." He extended his hand towards the Rogues and unleashed a spectacular firestorm. He brandished his sword and went forth into the inferno to take out any straggling survivors. His cobalt blue eyes glistened, "A world where brothers and sisters are forced to eat each other…" The fires withdrew into orderly pillars and extinguished themselves. He stared at the charred remains of his enemies, "Is not a world where I imagined our sons and daughters to live happily in." Alexander sighed and looked at the oncoming slew of persistent Rogues. "Justice is tragic, but absolute. The Celestial Order… The Prima… What's on their minds right now?" With a grimace, the Master Guardian retreated. The Rogues madly and fervently chased after him like wild animals. "Shit!" Alexander's hands ignited and he whipped balls of fire at breakneck speeds as he ran.
With a swift wave of darkness, Damien knocked the front door of Lucian's mansion off its hinges. "Come on!"
Lucian stood in a trance at the rustic arch at the end of the foyer. His wide eyes watched as Damien and Zane entered and climbed the steps, followed by two Saviors—an immensely scarred one and a winged one desperately clutching on to a dog. "What's," he said in a daze. "What's going on?"
Zane replied, "We're leaving Somnium, Lucian."
Lucian briskly followed, "What's going to happen now?"
"I'm not sure."
"We must get the Light Guardian to safety and protect him at all costs," Damien recited his objective. "Hopefully, he'll be able to go through the induction trials."
"Induction trials?"
"Every Mystical Guardian must go through them," Zane quickly explained.
"Wait a minute," the colorful winged Savior with his hands full interrupted, "The Light Guardian?!"
"Why would the Light Guardian gather so much attention from the Marauders?" The scarred Savior inquired, "Other Mystical Guardians revealed themselves in the past, but you didn't see them getting all wound up over it. What makes this one so special?"
"I don't know," Damien muttered.
The dog barked and leapt out of Hayato's arms. "Hey," Hayato called after him. "Max!" The golden retriever scurried to the living room to find Faith sitting in one of the couches.
"Max!" Faith's hands caressed the golden retriever's flaxen fur, "I was getting worried about you, boy." Max replied with a euphoric bark.
"Uh…" Hayato spoke with hesitation, "Is… Is he your dog?"
"Yeah," Faith stood up and extended her hand. "Thank you so much for finding him out there."
Hayato withdrew with his wings wrapping around him. He whispered with such anxiety, "Uh… y-you're… welcome…" After an awkward silence, Hayato slowly extended his hand to Faith's and faintly shook it. Faith beamed. Hayato hid his blush well underneath his colorful wings.
"Hi!" The sound of Zane's vivacious voice made Hayato jump.
"Zane," Faith hugged him. "I'm glad you're okay!"
He chuckled, "Aw, it's nothing."
Hayato's eyes slightly narrowed. He scanned the happy-go-lucky wolf boy.
"Hey!" Damien brutally interrupted in desperation, "We have to go now!" He quickly led the group from the mansion to the nearby shores. Boots and sneakers trampled over the fine, white sand. The airship the Master Guardian came from soared overhead and landed on the shoreline, disturbing the serene water and sand.
In the docking bay, a girl with lavender hair called out, "Come on!"
The Savior whose face was scarred beyond relief dashed into the airship without a second thought. The bird-like young Savior flew in without a moment of hesitation. The headstrong auburn-haired girl calmly stepped on to the airship with her dog. The wolf boy exchanged glances with the lavender-haired girl and smirked. The tall spiky-haired man simply walked on the ship and withdrew a cigarette.
But it was the white-haired boy who looked back at his hometown, "Somnium is in hell… and it's all… because of me."
"Hey, kid!"
"Huh?" Lucian turned around and looked closely at the girl with her lavender hair. Her striking golden eyes pierced through the shadows. Her hair was tied up into a side ponytail with some trinkets. She casually wore a simple ensemble of yoga pants and a sports bra. However, she, like Zane, wasn't completely human – she naturally has cat ears and a tail.
"What's wrong?" The purple-haired cat girl asked him, "Is everything okay?"
"It's…" Lucian sighed and got in the airship, "It's nothing."
"Hey," the cat girl playfully punched him on the arm. "Don't worry. Things will be okay in the end. Just you wait."
"Thanks…" Lucian followed Faith and the duo of Saviors, while Damien and Zane stayed with the cat girl in the docking bay as the airship slowly took flight into the dark skies.
The girl asked, "What about Alex?"
Damien smiled, "He'll make it."
The Master Guardian watched as the airship soared through the skies above and couldn't help but chuckle. "My work here is finished." With a snap of his fingers, fire encircled around him in a spectacular fashion and sent him catapulting up into the air. Fire magnificently spiraled beneath him. The Rogues stopped in their tracks, awe-struck. Alexander spread his arms out, creating dozens of fireballs in which he hurled at the Rogues below. The flames below him skewed and turned towards the airship and with a great leap, the Master Guardian entered the airship.
"You have a penchant for theatrics, don't you?"
"Well of course, Damien." Alexander grinned and snapped his fingers, instantly extinguishing all the fires he created. He stood up and brushed himself off, "Now come, there are many things I wish to talk to you about!"
Damien followed Alexander, leaving Zane and the purple-haired cat girl alone in the moonlight.
"So, um… hehe…" Zane awkwardly spoke. "I, uh… I missed you."
The cat girl's alluring golden eyes bore into the wolf boy's innocent azure ones. She smiled and leaned in closer and closer to him, "Zane…"
He gravitated towards her, eyes widened and face blushed, "Y-Yes?"
The girl impishly pulled away and walked off in a split second, leaving Zane in the dust. "Shouldn't you be howling at the moon?"
The wolf boy stood at the docking bay for a few moments, stunned. He smiled and chuckled to himself, "You never change… Kyrie."