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Hello, Bakuganman! I'm going to have to show this review to Blazing Winds. He wrote that part, so he might find it funny. XD Anyway, yeah, most of the readers who used to read this series dropped off during early to mid-EotS. I totally get it, people have lives, but it does indeed mean that there aren't many left anymore. Still nice to see a familiar reader like yourself, though! I'm glaf that you seem to be enjoying it still. :)

~保護者~

"Mother Dearest"

~保護者~

Eila sighed softly under her breath, forced to take note of her encroaching exhaustion. Despite her recent strenuous use of her magic, that wasn't what was really tiring her. She didn't remember how long it had been since she had gotten any sleep. If she was honest with herself, it was her own damn fault. Focusing on killing all of the revived enemies had kept her busy enough that neglecting her own body had been easier.

Of course, now was the time to banish those thoughts and feelings. Saran still needed to be saved, and it was very likely that something else was going to happen shortly after she finished up with this. "Kathros, are you ready?" she asked, turning to the recently revived Immortal.

Just like when she'd last asked this question right before they left Mobius, Kathros's only answer was a short, "No." But nevertheless, he was prepared to do what needed to be done. He wasn't going to flounder just because he wasn't (and could never be) emotionally prepared for this.

Eila blinked once, then nodded slowly. "Alright. Like I said before, if he fights… I'll handle keeping him busy so you don't have to fight him. Focus as much as you can solely on purifying him so we can get this done fast."

With a slow shake of his head, Kathros refuted her. "He will not fight. I will not let him. I am plenty capable of containing him."

I don't want you to have to do anything to him… Eila relented after a moment and simply nodded. "Then let's approach. I'll ask that you take the lead."

"That is my intention," Kathros sighed. "If he does not cooperate, and he likely will not, then I will merely restrain him and proceed."

Eila nodded again. "I understand."

Kathros teleported without bothering to take her along. In the time it took her to join him, several things had already happened. Saran had started to turn around and ready an attack, only for his father to bind him with energy and force him both to stop and to be still. Then Kathros gathered the necessary purifying energy into his hand and set it atop his son's head to allow the energy to flow through him. I'm sorry you were dragged into all of this. I never… never wanted her to ever get her hands on you. I'm so sorry.

Eila quietly approached and observed the situation, just taking everything in for a moment. She heard the words he said to himself, wincing in reply. "I'm honestly… impressed that you learned this much about purification. Where did you attain this knowledge?"

"...Experimentation," Kathros admitted after a long pause. Another pause followed before he hesitantly continued. "I sought… to be the opposite of what someone in my past wanted me to be. I was aware of the mechanisms behind how corruption works and that there was no known way to counter it. Trying to change the latter fact seemed like the ideal course of action."

"I know I am no Immortal, but… I would greatly appreciate a chance to learn from you," Eila murmured. "The knowledge lost with your death certainly should be known to more than just yourself."

"I will transcribe it in some form," Kathros sighed, "but I cannot teach you." It wasn't because she wasn't capable of learning, either. Perhaps she was, but he didn't have the time or desire to find out. After this was done, he needed to go back where he belonged. There was no other reason for him to be here other than to help his son. Once he was safe… Kathros's usefulness would have again ended.

Eila shifted a bit closer, taking a deep breath. "A-ah, wait… please. I want to learn from you," she explained. Think quicker. Talk more clearly. Don't stutter. "Your son… he said he would teach me some of the Immortal level magic you taught him. I don't… think he will have any desire to do so without his emotions." That's a shit reason. Think. You need a reason for him to stick around. "And I can't watch over him alone. I'm… all over the place. He may need you to recover from his lost emotions."

"I cannot teach you," Kathros said again. Then he took a moment to consider the rest of her words. "Surely there are others who can lend you aid." Others who aren't me.

"No. Even my own sister is struggling for time. Her boyfriend is having to make her seek help for her own troubles right now." Eila gulped. "And you're strong enough to protect him. The other Immortals either haven't grown into their strength or are busy trying to keep everyone else alive. We're struggling right now."

Kathros was utterly silent for a time. He turned her words over and over again within his mind while simultaneously focusing on his efforts at purification. Saran's corruption was extensive, but he was making headway at a decent pace. At least he didn't have to worry about that. Slowly, he spoke up again. "How… How much is M-" He cut himself off in and instant and just as immediately guarded his thoughts from her. Nareish, he privately reminded himself, despite how brutally it had been drilled into him to never refer to the woman as anything other than "Mother". Which, of course, was what she was to him. Not that he needed anyone else to know that, or to know how wrong it felt for him to use her real name even just in his own private thoughts. Her name is Nareish. Drawing in a breath, he started again. "How much is Nareish targeting him?" he asked quietly. He doubted the truth was going to be something he'd like, but it was clear he needed to know.

"I believe it will be more than she has so far," Eila murmured. "If I have to guess, she's going to try to target anyone I've put effort into helping. I have spent a great deal of time and effort to help Saran." Kathros nodded slowly, though he didn't comment this time. Eila soon found herself hesitating. She had to be honest, at least with herself. "I am unlikely to live to see the next week," she sighed, letting her body relax. "Malevolence has every reason to target me in some manner, and truthfully… I can't fight it. My Light is too weak. And even assuming I survive, Nareish will likely come for me as well. I've killed the majority of the enemies she has revived."

"Your allies," Kathros said slowly. "Surely they will defend you."

Eila glanced away. "Truthfully, I hope they do not. With my allies, we likely could kill Malevolence if it attacks. Maybe I die, maybe I survive," the cat posed. "Regardless, I can't get past Nareish. If she chooses to attack me, to kill me, I'm going to die." She fell quiet for several seconds. Admitting it… ultimately she didn't feel much. Death wasn't a concept she had any fear of. She'd seen the worst of existence and there was simply nothing she could even begin to imagine that would so much as spook her. It still didn't feel good to tell someone you were likely going to die.

Now it was Kathros's turn to take a deep breath and gradually let it out. He was nearly finished with his work by this time, but wasn't paying that as much mind anymore. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Saran is going to need someone." The answer came quickly. Eila rolled with it. "Someone who can help him potentially regain his emotions. He loves you deeply, like anyone would love their mother or father." The cat glanced up at Kathros. "If I am going to die, he needs you. Even if I live, he's going to need you. I won't be enough on my own to help him."

"And you believe I will be enough?" Kathros challenged her with unusual suddenness. "I cannot do the things you are asking of me. I have never been able to provide for his emotional needs. Physical protection is one thing, but it is not enough. I know that much, if nothing else." Looking back, he caught himself thinking afterward, I had many shortcomings and outright failures as a father... but this was by far the most glaring one.

She looked at him, almost incredulously. "You did everything you could with what you were given," Eila said softly. "You don't have to provide for his emotional needs here. Your presence is the help he will need."

"Untrue," was all he said in response. He removed his hand and restraints from his son, who was unconscious. In Kathros's experience, that was a normal result of purification. As such, he wasn't worried about it and just made sure to catch Saran before he could fall onto the ground.

"Why don't you believe me?" Eila questioned. "I may not know the depths of existence, but the mind is something I'm far too familiar with. He will need you present. You speaking to him, interacting with him, simply living in his vicinity… such things could be enough to reawaken his emotions, even if the process is slow."

Pursing his lips, Kathros turned to her and (very reluctantly) muttered an admission to her. "You are concerned that Nareish is after him. My being near him will ensure that immense violence and horror come his way. Things far worse than corruption will occur."

"It won't stop her if you die," Eila muttered. "I… I can't let you kill yourself. You don't deserve that." She couldn't help her eyes watering. In truth, Eila was crying, but she'd be damned if she was going to lose control of herself. "Your son doesn't deserve to live on with the knowledge that his father killed himself because he saw no point in living."

For the first time since his revival, Kathros showed a flash of anger. "This isn't about my life. Whether any of them are still alive or not, none of the people who were harmed by my hand deserve to have to endure the knowledge that the person who made them suffer is not only free from hell but is also being granted a second chance he never deserved or asked for."

"I know what you mean," Eila bit out, blinking away some of her tears. "I once begged for death. I wanted someone to kill me so badly that I couldn't stand it. I was rotting on the inside." She took a sharp gasp in. "Our strongest ally was tortured by me. I ingrained pain and fear into that man, and guess what? He saved my life, gave me a chance. If it weren't for me, who would have ventured into the Realms of Death and found someone who could save Saran?"

Her question was laced with her own anger, but she was rapidly biting it back as she continued. "I didn't ask to be saved, I didn't ask to be loved, but that's just how this shit works. I care about you, I care about your life and your well-being. I want Nareish dead so you never have to face that woman again, and I'm gonna do every goddamn thing I can to show you the same love and care I was shown in my darkest times."

Kathros's emotions died down again, leaving him with the same dullness he'd been displaying before. Whatever volatility had been displaying itself had simply failed to linger. "She will not die," he argued softly, "and she harms Saran purely because he is mine. Merely being in my presence will bring him more danger than it will bring him aid." He didn't address the rest of what she'd said, didn't even internally acknowledge it. That was all just… too much right now.

Eila took a deep breath to stay herself. "She will die," the cat murmured, almost as if to reassure them both. "She will die. And I'm gonna be honest with you. If you do die, if you kill yourself… I won't let you go back to that hell." Her eyes briefly locked onto his. "I know better. I would fight Zenith, the God of Death, and all of the reapers to make sure you go to a better, more peaceful place. Zenith, however, knows my stance. He allowed me to take your soul because we both realized there was something wrong. You are not evil, and you being here for your son… That's what he's going to need. We're all in danger, Kathros. If I stopped because of danger, Kethro would still be alive. All these enemies threatening my friends would be alive. We can't stop just because people are in danger."

The anger was back. "Nareish will kill him if I remain," Kathros argued. "I cannot defend him from her. No one can. And I do not want you to fight the God and others on my behalf. What part about my being there for a reason escapes your understanding?"

"I… don't care," Eila muttered. "I don't care if you think you belong there. I was taught to do what's right, and what's right is at least ensuring that you end up in the correct Realm of Death. I'm betting Nareish is the entire reason you were put there."

She was, just likely not just in the way Eila was thinking. But Kathros didn't let that thought linger for long when he recalled again that she was a telepath. "You are wrong." He didn't have the energy, mental or otherwise, to battle her any further. Instead, he just teleported back to Mobius so he could lay Saran down in the... unusual magically-constructed hut he'd found earlier in the day. Saran needed to have the opportunity to rest properly, which couldn't happen out where they'd just been.

Eila blinked, then teleported after him. She didn't press the argument, not while getting Saran and Kathros settled in the house she'd conjured up. Only once Saran was laid down did she continue. "Prove me wrong."

"I am under no obligation, nor do I have any desire to bother." And that was it. Rather than arguing with her further, he had opted to simply begin shutting her out.

"Humor me for just a few minutes," Eila murmured, moving closer to gain his attention. "Just five minutes. If you will allow me to see your memories, I could prove myself wrong. You want me to leave you alone, right? Just let me do this."

A very subtle hint of wariness entered his eyes. Since he didn't stamp down on it, he didn't appear to be aware of the reaction. "...I would… prefer you not," was the only response he could come up with in between his own racing thoughts.

"Kathros, I could help you be a father for your son again," Eila murmured. "Second chance doesn't matter. The universe doesn't matter. There's information in your mind that might be key to us ending this war, protecting people that were used by Nareish. People who didn't deserve to experience and be forced to do the things they did."

"That does not change my answer."

"Do you truly believe you do not deserve a second chance?"

Almost sighing, Kathros sank into a chair beside his son's bed. "Yes. I would not say so otherwise. That is illogical."

"A child at a young age is turned away from everything, hurt and abused emotionally by their family. Whether it was intentional or not doesn't matter. They became a monster, killing and stealing and torturing for sport, for fun. This person threatens all of existence, enough so that the deities, Light beings, and Immortals all know better than to let their guard down. Does that person deserve a second chance? They didn't want to be used, but they committed countless heinous acts against existence."

In the end, Kathros truly had no answer. All he could do was shrug and admit, "I don't know."

"Allow me to 'brag', then. I was one of the most evil beings to exist. I mind controlled an Immortal and attacked his parents with his body, yet he chose to save me. To give me a second chance, after I'd tortured and killed my parents, after I abused my sister, after the many souls I sent to the afterlife for no good reason and the pain and suffering I caused him, he gave me a second chance yet still, because he saw something good in me. He saw I could do better, be better. I see that in you. I know good and damn well that Nareish caused this and I'm almost fucking certain that you were used for this purpose as a kid."

I don't want to do this. A long silence stretched between them after Eila finished speaking. Then, for reasons even he didn't understand, he found himself giving in despite having had no intention of doing so. "Fine," he mumbled, shoulders sagging. In a way, he was resigned to this unexpected turn of events already. "Do what you will."

That wasn't the answer she'd wanted, but it was still consent. She didn't hesitate to walk over and set a hand on his arm while tapping into her psychic powers. Just the mind of an Immortal. You've traversed this sort of mental terrain like five times… You can do this. As it turned out, it didn't take her long to find something. Something whose importance probably couldn't be understated. It was Kathros's earliest memory... and it was chilling.

Kathros was maybe two at the time and standing within Nareish's throne room, fighting to stifle both his tears and all the emotions causing them. When he failed, her hand connected sharply with his cheek. Due to his albinism, his eyesight was incredibly poor, so much so that he hadn't seen the slap coming. He'd heard it, for all the good that did… but flinching would have made things worse. He somehow managed to hold still. "Enough, Kathros," Nareish scolded him. "I gave you an order and I expect you to obey it. Do not cry like a child. You are a soldier, and soldiers do not have emotions."

He knew better than to respond to her with anything other than obedience and respect. Yet his voice still wavered dangerously when he spoke. "Yes, Mother," he murmured. His internal struggle continued to no avail. Several more tears slipped free.

Irritated, Nareish stood to her full height so that she was no longer crouching in front of him. She grabbed him by the wrist in a painfully tight grip and began all but dragging him out of the room. "Next time I will not choose such an emotionally in-tune race to create a child with," she muttered to herself. It was clear to any outside observers (in this case, Eila) that she was rendered uniquely irate and impatient with children. This was very unlike her normally unruffled and amused demeanor.

Kathros worked up the courage eventually to dare to ask, "Where are we going, Mother?"

She responded with her own twist on a rather infamous line that many not-so-great parents often used… though it was far more threatening coming from her of all people. "If you are going to insist on showing me such weakness, then I will give you something to cry about. I had considered being lenient and letting you rest before your next round of training, but no longer. You will train until you can no longer pick yourself up off the ground."

Before he could say anything else, maybe even try to find the courage to protest, he was thrown roughly to the ground in the arena where all the training took place. It was this very location where Sothan was later killed for sport (knowledge of which Kathros had gained in Hell many years later and which Eila was able to pick up on). The landing was so hard due to Nareish's strength that Kathros's elbow seemed to break to some degree upon impact with the ground. He whimpered and clutched at the injury, but he didn't dare interrupt her.

"My generals will not go easy on you," she continued. "They will show you no mercy. The more weakness you show, the harsher I will allow them to be with you. Behave properly or suffer the consequences. Is that clear?"

Shaking and still fighting to control himself like she demanded, he ducked his head and lowered his ears. This posture was entirely submissive, a subconscious effort on his part to use body language to appease her somewhat. Not that it would ever have worked. Only perfection could do such a thing. Obedience. Loyalty. Strength. If he wanted any reprieve from her ire, he knew what was expected of him. So he did the only thing any child in his position could do. He gave up without a struggle. "Yes, Mother."

Eila found herself… frowning. She wasn't sure how to feel about this, how to process it. This was a mess. Keep searching… You're missing a key detail still. The next memory was no less concerning, unfortunately, but it did reveal a bit more to her.

By now, Kathros was nearly three in his years. It was still an incredibly young and tender age, and yet already most emotions had been all but tortured out of him. While he retained the memory Eila had just seen and she had been able to view it with remarkable clarity, it was faint and vague to him even at the point of this memory's occurrence. He had virtually no idea what emotions were anymore. He no longer understood them, no longer truly recalled what it was like to have them. His first memory was becoming harder and harder all the time for him to recall.

In truth, he wasn't making any effort to hold on to any of those things. Actually, he was doing everything in his young power to be rid of them for good. That was what was demanded of him. No emotions. No weaknesses. No mistakes. No loyalties to any except for his mother. No disobedience. No childishness. No nothing that she didn't expressly approve of.

This, however, was something he'd found she did approve of. Asking questions related to his training and her goals was always rewarded with answers. There were no beatings, no scoldings, no days locked away with the Pyrzar beasts, no stabbings, nothing of the sort. Just answers. He'd found that learning satisfied him, though he wasn't sure if that constituted an emotion or not. If it did, she didn't seem to have an issue with it… for some reason. However, that sort of questioning would have drawn her ire. He wasn't stupid enough to deliberately anger her like that.

"Mother, General Ant'ak threatened to eviscerate me today," he said from where he sat beside her throne, busily sharpening some weapons like he'd been told. "What does that mean?"

His mother let out an amused chuckle. "It means to disembowel. Surely you remember that word's meaning."

"Yes, Mother," Kathros answered. He was always unfailingly polite and respectful toward her, as he'd been taught from the beginning. "I remember."

He heard more than saw her nod. Though he had figured out by now how to use his magic to repair his eyesight, it was taking time to properly execute the spell. He was still very young, after all "Good. I suggest you heed his warning, whelp. You know what will happen if you don't."

"Failures in training result in punishment," Kathros recited as if it was the most normal and okay thing in the world, "as does failure in anything else. I understand, Mother."

"Good."

This made her sick to her stomach. She quickly took several seconds to note down the general's name, a desire for violence already burning within her. If you are alive, any of you who would do this to a child, I'll teach you what evisceration truly is. This surge of anger didn't last long, though his use of the word "mother" distinctly bothered her. How long had he been kept there with her? Questions like that would have to wait to be answered. She had found another memory to view, one that was harder to see due to him subconsciously shying away from it quite strongly.

Kathros was just four when Nareish had him kill someone for the first time. Even chameleons simply did not send their children into combat that young, not that that mattered to his mother. Armed only with his magic and a knife, Nareish had dumped him on a battlefield, told him to kill anyone and everyone he could, and then departed. His emotions were so completely repressed by now that he didn't feel anything when he killed his first opponent ever, or his second, or his third.

The fact that he could see perfectly well now and could visually witness their deaths still didn't evoke any emotions within him. Even when a fourth person got ahold of him and nearly killed him before Nareish whisked him away, even when she praised him for his good work, even when she told him he had earned the right to rest for once… He felt nothing.

It occurred to him in some distant part of his mind that he probably never would again.

The cat found herself gritting her teeth. Even her parents, as terrible as they had been in some regards, had protected her and ensured she didn't get wrapped up in combat at any tender ages. Of course, this was Nareish. Still… she found herself still feeling as if she had missed a piece of the puzzle. With that thought in mind, she turned her focus to a different memory. Most of the context from the start of this memory was missing because he was so strongly pulling away from said memory, but the tail end of it was viewable at least.

Needless to say, this recollection caused him great turmoil and pain. It was hazy and difficult to make out because he had been only barely conscious. Whatever mistake he had made to earn this punishment, he couldn't recall clearly anymore. For his transgression, he was locked away and tortured. He was only five or six, yet he felt no fear or anger or anything else. He was no longer even capable of it. Still, the physical pain was overwhelming. It was more than he was capable of coping with, especially at that age. The memory ended quickly when he blacked out.

Eila quickly pulled back from these memories, but didn't retract entirely from his mind. Instead, she searched for one last thing. Who are your actual parents? She questioned herself, seeking the information. Even Jet had had something buried within him that had told her even the vaguest amount of information, and the man had never even known either of his parents past his infancy. However, all she found was traces of Nareish, of her stamp on all facets of Kathros's life.

Did she create you? The thought came as quickly as she pulled away from Kathros, eyes wide as she instead reached her mind out to Zenith in the Realms of Death. "I have a question."

"What is it?" he soon replied while Kathros visibly withdrew and disconnected from the world around him.

"Did any being ever come into the Realms of Death that were related to Kathros aside from his wife and son?"

Since there was a long delay, Zenith seemed to be searching for the answer. It eventually came in the form of a, "No." He was quiet, then added, "There is a man whose magic is similar to Kathros's, but otherwise there are only descendants."

"Oh fuck," Eila cursed. "Zenith, I think Kathros was created by Nareish. I want your help to corroborate this story to Jet's family, before the loss of influence of the Aether makes him panic from my presence."

"Hm. I will attempt to tell them soon. One of us may also need to speak with this spirit as well. I will allow you to if you wish, as part of your investigation, otherwise I will handle it on my own."

"I… do not have the energy to do so. However, this spells trouble for the Realms. There are other misplaced spirits, and it is likely the reapers are either involved… or have been manipulated by Nareish."

"That much I am already aware of. The Realms of Death have no filters for people who died while corrupted or under the control of others. I am working to change that, but my abilities are limited. I am no longer the deity of these realms." Zenith seemed to mentally frown. "If an opportunity arises, I will inform Ylden. As of now, he is not equipped to take on more bad news."

"In that case, I may ask him for some level of 'privilege' in the Realms so that I may conduct further investigations, but that will come later. Thank you for your aid."

"Understood. Reach out if and when you require further assistance." He broke off their connection after that.

I plan to. Eila turned to Kathros and winced visibly. Rather than leaving him like this… Eila summoned another bed beside Saran's and carefully teleported Kathros into it. She refrained from putting a blanket over him (given how overstimulated he'd gotten once before from merely being alive again), but at least his head would be supported on a pillow. He didn't react to any of it. Eila heaved a small sigh and teleported away to begin heading for Babylon… only for a message to come from Sonic. I suppose it would be my luck to be wrangled in another direction so soon…

~保護者~

As soon as he'd returned from training with Teyan, Sonic had known that time was running out. Grim faces met him at every turn in Tails's house. It was little wonder why. Dark Gaia was coming. Everyone knew exactly what that creature had done in the past, and what it might again do in the near future. People could die… and no one was ready to face that threat again so soon after Nareish's attacks.

But now wasn't the time to let himself become lost in fears, be they old or new. Preparations had to be completed, assuming they weren't already. With that thought in mind, he hurried over to Steam and asked without even so much as giving a proper hello, "What else needs to be done?"

"I already approached Tessa," Steam revealed. "She agreed before she even knew what was happening. She'll join us fairly soon, I'm sure. I messaged Cyril, but he hasn't answered… oddly enough."

"Anyone else on their way?" Sonic asked him. "I know Wave's planning on showing up."

"Kohaku has volunteered his help, but I want to keep him out of direct fighting, as well as Analia," Steam explained. "As much as possible, at least."

"Yeah, I knew they were getting involved," Sonic said, scratching at one of his ears. "I'd like to keep them as safe as possible, too."

"I'm unsure where Eila even is," Steam sighed. "I can't even get her communicator to ping. It's likely she's covered its signal with her magic. Silver and Blaze also offered to help, at least with fighting off its creatures."

"And Dad is probably going to help, once one of us sends him the go-ahead to leave the Realms of Death," Sonic added.

"I'll handle that, and I'll keep his presence covered up with my magic so he's not noticed," Steam answered.

"Okay, good. That sounds like a plan." Sonic lowered his hand and crossed his arms. "Is there anything in particular you need me to do before that thing gets here?"

"Try to get in contact with Eila. She's less likely to ignore you," Steam pointed out. "See if we can get her help."

"On it." Sonic turned his attention to his communicator and typed out a message. "If you're not busy, give me a call ASAP. It's important." The message lingered for several seconds before Eila called his communicator like he'd asked. As soon as she did, he spoke. "Hey, where are you? Everything okay?"

"...What do you need?"

"Dark Gaia is on its way," Sonic explained, his tone urgent. "It's nearly here, and we just don't have enough help. Are you able to come?"

The cat audibly sighed. "My magic is abundant, but my body is straining for energy. I can try to help, but any extensive aid on my part will likely put me in a hospital if I am not careful. I am having to tread carefully, as I am sensing another impending event. Please, forgive me. I can bring my sister." She suddenly paused. "Has anyone heard from Cyril lately?"

"If it's going to be too much, then I'd rather you sit this one out," Sonic told her immediately. "Same deal for Rose. I've heard that she's not been doing so hot recently. And no, I haven't heard anything about him. Chances are that Wave would have said something by now if anything had happened, though."

"I will check on him shortly. I believe I sensed his magic. If you have need of my aid to search for other allies, just say the word."

Emerald eyes glanced at Steam. "Do we need anyone located?" he asked. "Eila's offering."

"Heard her," Steam murmured. "See if she can get to Cere. I haven't been able to contact her, either."

Sonic nodded. "You hear that, Eila?"

"There's a loud buzzing when I try to contact her. This usually happens when someone is completely overwhelmed by an emotion they're experiencing. I believe she is angry."

"That… doesn't sound good." Sonic chewed his bottom lip for a second. "Do either of you think we need to get involved right now? Or can this wait until Dark Gaia is handled?"

"Don't." She didn't elaborate for several seconds, then spoke up again. "Whatever is going on with her is volatile. She's likely to lash out. I do not believe you would be in danger, but someone closer to her should say something."

"Yeah… Okay. I don't like it, but I get it." He glanced at Steam. "Anyone else you need found?"

Steam shook his head a little. "Everyone else is wrapped up in their own mess or just… can't help. I'll figure something else out to even this up."

"Got it." To Eila, Sonic said, "Listen, take care of yourself, alright? Things are amping up again and everyone needs to be on their guard."

"...Hey, Sonic. Can you step away from everyone for a second?"

In a flash, Sonic was miles away from the rest of the group. He found himself standing atop a boulder near the edge of a steep cliff. For once, he couldn't find it in himself to appreciate the view. Not this time. Not with everything that was going on. "Done. What's up?"

"I hate to do this, but I've recently made myself fully aware of the situation I have placed myself into. I… I'm sorry for saying this. If I die, I want you to tell Rose that I'm counting on her to do better than she has."

Sonic took a deep breath. "If it comes to that, and that's a big if… then okay. I promise to tell her."

"Thank you. I am very sorry to have placed this burden on you. It is… unfair."

"Maybe, but I get it. Just…" Sonic trailed off, thinking. "You know we're going to do everything we can to keep you alive, right? We won't just let you die."

"I know," Eila answered. "But I'm about to royally piss off Nareish. She's going to come for me."

Heart sinking, Sonic dared to ask, "What are you going to do?"

"Kathros was created by Nareish. I'm going to air this out to everyone and do everything I can to make sure he heals from her torture. She's not going to let this slide, but I can't either."

Sonic stiffened. Froze, really. "What did you just say?" he breathed. "Something like that is possible?"

Eila sighed, then appeared in front of him, rubbing at one of her eyes. "Yes. It is theoretically possible for a new being to come into existence as a result of magics colliding in the right way, and Nareish has also stolen many Immortal powers. For her to have the power to create life by using magic... It would be child's play."

He squashed the urge to swear as he hung up the now pointless call, but only just. "How certain are you that you're right?" he asked her. "I believe you, but… some others may not."

"Zenith couldn't find any ancestors of his besides someone whose magic was similar to his. He doesn't have family," Eila explained. "I've already asked Zenith to help me get this information to Jet's family."

Crap. Crapcrapcrap. "Okay. I'm gonna tell Steam, too." Sonic pinched the bridge of his nose. "What a mess…"

"Don't tell him just yet," Eila murmured. "I won't keep this secret long, but I'm not ready for it to get out. I need rest."

"He needs to know," Sonic reminded her, "because the Kathros in his timeline also needs help. He's the only one who can get the word out to everyone in that reality."

"...Shit," Eila sighed, putting her face in her hands. "Fine, tell him he has to keep this a complete secret from anyone else. I plan to reveal this once I know Jet and the others believe me and I've had a chance to sleep for more than a few minutes."

"Why wait until they know?" Sonic asked her. "I'll respect your wishes, but I don't understand that part."

"I want them to be willing to stand by me on this. Though the deities have been kind, I doubt they will immediately trust my words, and there's no telling when Zenith can back up what I have to say. On top of that, once this information gets out, I have a limited time to do something about it. I know time is already limited, but it'll make her come after me faster once word is spread."

"Yeah… okay. That makes sense." Sonic sighed again. "I get it. Like I said, I'll respect your wishes."

Eila sighed a little. "Sorry for dumping this on you. I just… I don't want my work to have been for nothing. Kathros deserves a better life than he was given."

"You don't need to apologize," Sonic said. "I agree with you, anyway. He deserves to have the chance to really live." And no one deserves to have someone like Nareish for a mother, he added bitterly in his head.

She relaxed somewhat, seeing that Sonic truly did understand. Granted, she'd believed he would. "Thank you. In the meantime, I'm going to keep watch over the planet. If nothing happens before Gaia arrives, I will be present for the fight."

"It's gonna be here really soon," Sonic told her. "If you don't feel up to it that quickly, then I stand by what I said earlier. Don't push yourself."

"Don't worry about it. Be grateful I'm even willing to try to rest." It was intended to be a joke, but she cringed at how painfully matter-of-fact that statement came out. "That is a joke, in case my tone did not convey such well."

Thankfully, Sonic had already caught on to that and cracked a small smile. "You're fine," he said. "I know what you were going for."

"Good." Eila didn't feel like wasting more time, teleporting away once more to return to what she'd been doing.

With her gone, Sonic went ahead and teleported back to Steam. He strode over to the other hedgehog without delay and said, "Eila found proof. Kathros really isn't evil. She searched his memories."

The green hedgehog paused, then looked more fully at Sonic. "Hold on, what?"

Sonic nodded grimly. "She said Nareish created him."

It took Steam a few seconds to process this information, then he groaned. "Oh, fucking hell." As he said this, he began typing out a message to the Jet of his timeline.

"No kidding," Sonic mumbled, leaning back against a wall and crossing his arms. "This whole thing is insane."

Steam sent the message, then looked to Sonic. "That's a lot to take in. I assume she's already working on that situation, but he's gonna need some serious help."

"No kidding," Sonic found himself repeating. "But who can even do enough to help him?"

"Not sure," Steam admitted. "Eila herself is a good start, but she won't be enough on her own."

Sonic's foot tapped rapidly on the floor. "We're going to have to think on this, clearly. But first, we've got to deal with Dark Gaia. What's the current ETA?"

"We've probably got about a day and a half," Steam answered grimly. "Maybe two. Aside from getting ready to meet it and calling on a few others for help, we've done as much prep as we really can do for something like this."

"Great," Sonic sighed.

Steam could only nod in reply to that. "Yeah. Eila doing okay?"

"She mentioned being tired," Sonic said, "but otherwise she seemed alright."

"Hopefully she gets some rest." Steam was quiet for several moments as he thought to himself. Silver had been on his mind lately, and he was worried for the man. "How's Silver doing? Still got it rough with everything that happened?"

"Yeah, 'course he does," Sonic murmured. "But… he, Blaze, and Kohaku are doing the best they can. It's just not easy or anything, you know?"

"I'm aware," Steam replied softly. "I'm glad he's got people to support him."

"Me too," was the quiet reply.

Steam didn't know how to continue the conversation, so he chose to shift the subject. "I'm gonna go talk to the deities I can round up, see who can help. I'll come back with any information I have."

"I guess I'll hold the fort here, then," Sonic replied. "Not much else for me to do, really."

"I feel you on that," Steam sighed. "Talk to you later."

Sonic nodded. "Keep in touch, alright?"

"'Course," Steam replied, passing along a smile. Sonic returned the expression just a little. After seeing this, Steam teleported away to do as he said he would.

~保護者~

There had been two of them. Siblings. A brother and a sister, each possessing Light and a disdain for Darkness in equal measure. The brother had been more vocal and firm in his beliefs. The sister had been starting to waver. Together, they had been searching for Analia. Perhaps they sought her aid in drawing the other Light users out of hiding. Perhaps they wanted her to lend her strength to their cause. Perhaps their intention had been to ask for training.

It didn't matter now.

Nareish had been watching them for a short while, ever since they had left their quaint little home. They had approached the nearly feral fire-cat (Marthal, was it?) and his chameleon friend for help in finding Analia. An odd choice, to be sure. But, then, Marthal had been allied with the Tokarian woman for quite some time. His nose knew her scent well. Perhaps the choice had actually been wise.

Regardless, in the end, they hadn't found her. After the siblings had parted ways with their guides, they had continued their search on their own. Nareish had amused herself for a short time longer by monitoring their sluggish progress, but in the end there was only so much entertainment she could get out of watching such aimless wanderings. Now they were dead. It was better this way, even if one ignored their apparent incompetence at even tracking down one of the strongest individuals of their own kind.

Light was something Nareish scorned. A being of Darkness she was not, but her hatred remained ever-present regardless. An energy such as that had no place in the existence she wanted to bring about. An existence where people like her - like her forsaken, virtually extinct race - could live freely and thrive… Anything inherently "good" did not belong. Much like how she and her people didn't belong here. Energies like this one needed to be wiped out. She supposed an exception could be made for the group of Light soldiers who had turned to the dark side, as it were, but they were the only ones she would make any allowances for, ever.

As for the other cowardly, hiding Light users? Well, their time would come soon enough. Had the siblings been able to confirm that Analia was back, not to mention secured from her whatever it was they had been specifically seeking, that information would likely have drawn their allies out of hiding. Sure, that would have made them easier to track down and kill, but it also would have bolstered the ranks of Jet's little army of friends and allies. And she couldn't have that, now could she?

By killing those two messengers, such as they likely were, she kept the fear of death in the forefront of their hidden allies' minds. Therefore, she kept them in hiding for now. That was good. It was as it should be. Individuals like those were wise to fear her. Not only was it natural to feel such a thing, but it would keep them alive… for now. Especially since she couldn't be bothered to hunt the lot of them down just yet.

She had a more immediately annoying problem to deal with, she reflected as she rose from her throne. Striding out of the room, she made her way to the chamber she had earlier locked her newborn child in. As soon as you are old enough to truly comprehend such emotions, you will learn to fear me as well, she decided. You should fear your mother. It is only right that you do. Fear breeds loyalty and obedience. Kathros wasn't burdened with anywhere near enough of it before I set about removing his emotions entirely. I won't make the same mistake twice.

Entering the room, she stooped and picked the crying pup up off of the floor by the scruff of his neck. He reflexively went limp, but his wailing never ceased. Irritated again already, she used her energies to clamp his mouth shut again until he dissolved into quieter, less vexing whimpers and whines. Then she reluctantly shifted her grip to hold him in a bit more proper manner and teleported a bottle into her free hand. As much as it grated on her nerves, she had a mutt to feed.

After all… he was of no use to her dead.

~保護者~

Learning that he could now fly for the first time was an experience, one that Arkiri took great pleasure in. He soared over the palace of New Babylon and up into the highest portion of the atmosphere he could… which soon led him up out of the planet's orbit. A jovial laugh escaped him, staring down at the sight of his "home". This wasn't the planet he'd been born on, no, but it was where his people were, his family.

The brief thoughts of family did burden his heart, however. Tarin and his daughter Semari were dead. He'd loved the two dearly. He never got to see his daughter after she passed, perhaps sent to another Realm of Death than Tarin and Arkiri had. And of course… Tarin had died recently. He sighed softly. "I'll see you both again someday, but… sadly, I must hope it is not soon. I do not wish to leave Kath and the others too quickly."

He was briefly torn out of his tormented thoughts when his senses caught on to something… unusual. Arkiri didn't sense every child that was born (that would have been an overload of information), but he sensed this one. He instinctively understood that it was a child, but he didn't quite understand how it had come into being. It was in distress, too.

Arkiri decided time was of the essence and teleported back into the palace. He didn't quite appear in the medical ward, but getting there was a matter of some couple dozen steps. "Jet?" he called out, already approaching the hawk.

The younger Babylonian, even if he was surprised to be addressed by this man he'd only met once before, showed little outward reaction beyond sitting up in his bed and looking over. "...What?" he asked after a second or two.

"I have a question, and I understand how unusual it sounds." He took a second to gather his words before speaking. "I sensed a child come into existence. Ordinarily, I would believe that such a sense for any and all children being born would be overwhelming, but that has proved to be incorrect as I have so far only detected the birth of one. So is it correct to assume that my sensing the birth of this child, who is currently in distress, is noteworthy?'

Jet tensed up. "What kind of distress?" he pressed, already getting out of the bed. "Can you tell where they are?"

"I cannot tell where, but I am certain that they are not being fed enough or treated with the love and care a child needs," Arkiri replied softly, voice full of concern. "What do you think this means?"

After a moment of hesitation, Jet replied. "Will you share your sense with me for a moment? I may be able to pinpoint where they are. If you're sensing them this strongly, then their situation must truly be dangerous for them."

Arkiri nodded, then gently admitted. "I do not know how."

That made sense. Jet didn't detect many, if any, powers from this man that weren't related to his being a new deity. "Focus on your desire to share a specific power, more specifically this sense of yours. That should be enough." The older man took a moment and listened to Jet's advice, then slowly began sharing the sense he had with Jet.

With that accomplished, Jet focused on the new sense and began trying to suss out where exactly this child was located. Arkiri was right - they were in distress. That alone motivated Jet to search hard and fast for an answer. This is serious. Whatever is happening… I can't ignore it. He kept looking, at first fruitlessly, until he finally hit upon something that made him tense. There… Why there? "I found the baby. In the future, practice following the strongest trail your sense is giving you. It's a thread that will lead you to answers with practice. In the meantime…" Jet frowned to himself and returned the power. "I have to go. People need to hear about this."

Arkiri gave a gentle nod, then spoke up again. "For future reference, my name is Arkiri. I briefly forgot you had not been introduced to me."

Jet blinked. "And… how do you know me?" he decided to ask.

"Your family introduced you to me briefly while you were asleep," Arkiri chuckled. "We can meet more properly another time. Go to those you need to speak to."

Another blink. Then a nod. Leaving him and the palace behind, Jet appeared by Steam. "We have a problem," he said in lieu of a greeting.

Steam only paused for a moment, turning to properly face Jet. "What is it?"

"Cosmo is dead," Jet began. "A man named Arkiri has her role now and sensed the birth of a baby who's in distress and not being cared for. He asked for help locating them. They're in Nareish's realm."

Steam tried to not respond in any way to the first statement, his eyes avoiding Jet's gaze. He instead focused on the rest of it. "Ah, fuck. She created a child, huh?"

Jet frowned. "I don't know," he answered carefully. "Why is that, of all things, your assumption?"

"Creation magic," Steam explained. "It's capable of bringing new life into existence, provided the magic is strong enough. That, and I just heard from a trustworthy source that Kathros was created by Nareish."

After letting out a small "tch" sound, Jet said, "We need to get that child to safety. Handling any situation with Kathros will have to wait. A baby's life is far more fragile and easy to lose."

"I agree," Steam replied. "I've been meaning to conduct a raid on her realm again, and I guess this is all the reason we need. Before we can do that, we have to stop Dark Gaia. It's almost arrived at Mobius."

Stretching his senses out, Jet confirmed Steam's assessment of that threat. Still, he didn't like the thought of delaying this. That baby could die in the time it takes for us to get to them.

Steam watched Jet for a moment, then murmured, "I hate to say it like this, but if she created that child… it's very unlikely to die." He sighed. "She's going to try to make it into a soldier or something, probably as a last resort in case she loses. That's the only reason I can think Arkiri would be able to sense it. This child is likely very powerful."

"Nareish's whims are also fickle, subject to change at a moment's notice and without sane reason," Jet pointed out. "No matter her original intention, all it may take is a single second of annoyance for her to decide to rid herself of the 'burden' she's created."

"I understand," Steam answered. "We have to do both. I'll arrange for the raid to happen. If we do that right after Dark Gaia dies, we can do this within the next day. Otherwise, we risk getting anyone who goes in to save that child killed."

"That is a risk that will be faced regardless," Jet said. "Either way, that child's life has a higher chance of being rendered forfeit the longer we wait."

"But if we walk in unprepared, we die," Steam insisted. "We both know these things. Help me get together people who can fight in this raid and we'll push for it immediately. I'll figure out a solution to handle Nareish while someone goes in and retrieves the baby."

Jet shook his head. "Even ignoring everything else, someone needs to infiltrate her realm and retrieve the child before any sort of raid takes place. During an active combat situation, she will be far more on her guard than normal."

"But we still need her distracted. The baby is likely in the depths of her realm, near her throne room," Steam said in reply. "Unless you think the fight with Dark Gaia will be enough for her to be distracted."

"She will likely be observing that," Jet admitted, "but I can't say how much she'll be doing so. But a distraction isn't needed if we send someone in with a high degree of stealth."

Steam clicked his tongue. "We have the option of Espio, obviously, but I think she'll notice him. Not for a lack of stealth, but she's shown clear interest in him." Jet nodded wordlessly in agreement. Steam frowned, thinking through this further before coming up with an idea. "Two options I can think of. Shadow or Saethrim. Shadow is a vampire now and has stealth in abundance, and she's clearly ignored him for some time now. She may have plans for later, but her attention isn't on him. Saethrim is skilled with his warping power and could potentially get in and out without her so much as noticing, but if he's noticed, that's it."

"Saethrim may be far too willing to cause a scene if the desire strikes him," Jet sighed. Then, as much as he didn't like the thought, he agreed, "Shadow is a viable option, provided he and Toru agree to it."

"I think they will. Shadow wouldn't allow a child to suffer, and Toru will agree as long as Shadow is willing and understands the risk."

"They also have their own children to think about."

"We have to ask. We're rapidly running out of options," Steam pointed out.

"I know." With that in mind, Jet teleported his communicator into his hand and called Shadow. It rang a few times before Soren's voice answered.

"Hello?" the teen asked.

"Soren, put Shadow on," Jet sighed. "Please. It's important."

"Um… Dad's resting, though." It sounded like Soren fidgeted for a moment. "He's really tired and all that, since he just had the baby. …Erm, you knew about that, right?"

"Yes, I did," Jet confirmed, trying to think of a way to gently convey to Soren how important it was to wake Shadow up - preferably without including any details that no child needed to hear.

Steam spoke up gently. "Hey, Soren. We really need to talk to Shadow. I promise we'll let him rest after, but right now we need to ask him a question. His answer will tell us what we need to do to help other people."

"Okay," Soren soon agreed. "Just, um, hang on a minute." All was quiet on his end for a very short time. Then there was a shuffling sound as the communicator was passed along.

A few seconds after that, Shadow's drowsy voice answered. "What do want?"

"I won't mince words or sugarcoat it. I think Nareish created a baby. The kid is in distress and danger, and Jet and myself think that you could manage to sneak in and get the baby out. I'm not going to demand in any way that you help. It's your choice if you want to be involved," Steam explained quickly, keeping himself as clear as possible.

Few other problems Steam could have presented Shadow with would have woke him up this quickly. He was certainly wide awake now. "Are you certain she's done this?" he demanded.

"Absolutely," Steam replied. "And even if she didn't, a baby was sensed in serious distress in her realm."

Soft cursing could be heard, which was a reasonable reaction, but they needed a proper answer. "Will you do it?" Jet asked. Still, he continued to have his reservations. I should be the one going, he told himself, even though he knew Nareish would kill him if he set foot anywhere near her realm. Not that she wouldn't kill anyone else, but… still.

"Yes," Shadow answered without hesitation. "I will."

"Talk to Toru," Steam suddenly pressed. "You two are close, and it wouldn't be fair for you to not hear his opinion."

"I don't care what his opinion is," Shadow bit out. "Not in this situation. I'm doing this whether he likes it or not."

Jet understood his stance. Truly, he did. After all the suffering he went through as a child… This isn't something he can ignore. Still, Toru needs to know.

"At least tell him," Steam pressed. "Do him that favor."

"I never said I wouldn't."

"That's all I can ask for."

"Is there anything else?" Shadow asked in that abrupt manner that he was sometimes infamous for. "I need to handle the children before I can go anywhere."

"That should be all. If you need any help with the children, let me know."

"Fine." Shadow hung up on him without saying anything else. It went without saying that he was quite upset right now.

Steam bristled unexpectedly before sighing. "I guess shit is ramping up really fast again."

"Unfortunately," Jet had to agree. He was far from pleased, either, but there wasn't anything he could think of to say that would in any way help the situation. So he didn't bother trying. "If it would make matters simpler for you, I can and will handle assisting Shadow with the retrieval so you can focus on other things."

"I suppose letting you handle that is reasonable," Steam replied in kind. "I need to round up the deities and get them mobilized."

Jet nodded a little. "Let me know if anything else comes up."

"Absolutely." Steam paused for a moment, then looked to Jet. "Are you doing okay? I know a lot happened recently, and I just want you to know that people are here for you no matter what."

Jet shrugged and looked away. He didn't want to talk about the reasons why he wasn't okay, so he just defaulted to his usual answer of, "I'm fine."

"Talk to your parents or Wave," Steam pressed softly, glancing in a different direction. "Pain consumes like the Void."

That comparison caused Jet to let out a soft, "Tch." He was silent for a moment afterward before actually speaking. "I have no desire to. Not with regards to this. My pain is my own, and others need not know of it."

Steam paused briefly. He… remembered seeing that quote somewhere, and it occurred to him subconsciously that it was something Jet had been recorded to say in some long-dead scribe's writings. "I won't argue it much more, but you should let others in. Your parents and Wave love you, deeply. Sonic would talk to you, too. You two are basically family."

"I have no desire to speak of this to anyone," Jet stressed, looking away.

"Just keep what I said in mind," Steam said, dropping the topic. "I'm gonna go handle getting people ready."

Jet nodded a little. Glad to be done with that conversation, he said, "I will go find Toru… and Seiko. They need help, and he needs to go see Shadow." He'd heard about what was going on with Satsuno. The situation had him beyond worried.

Steam blinked once, then returned the nod. "Go. I'll handle my part and keep you updated." He was answered with a blink, then Jet vanished. A little sigh escaped Steam and he rubbed his hands over his face softly. Alright. Just gotta organize the raid. This will probably be our last good chance at this. With that stressful thought in his head, he teleported away to chase down the rest of the deities.

~保護者~

Everything had been calm and quiet in the forge for a few hours. Novei and Li were both fast asleep still, and so were Tempest and Calypso. Xin hadn't yet told the latter two about anything that had happened… because, frankly, he didn't want to be the one to inform them of what Cyca had done to Novei. So he was procrastinating. He had to keep watch over Sothan, anyway. The man had been getting noticeably drowsier as time wore on, but he'd yet to succumb to the need for rest. That meant Xin was still on duty, as it were.

As of now, Sothan was in his room looking at things. It was only after spending most of his time in the forge (some things never changed) that he'd come in here. Xin stood in the doorway watching him pick through his own forgotten belongings, unable to tell if anything was coming back to his brother-in-law yet or not. He desperately hoped that something was. With asking being the only way to get confirmation, he did just that. "Anything seem familiar?"

Still looking around at everything, Sothan took his time to reply. "I don't know. It feels familiar, but…" He trailed off with a shrug.

While that was a perfectly reasonable answer, especially this soon, Xin found himself feeling disappointed. "That's okay," he murmured. "Don't worry about it. Everything will come back in due time, Sothan. I'm sure of it."

In response, Sothan blinked and glanced at him. "Why do you keep calling me that?" he suddenly asked.

The abrupt change of subject sort of threw Xin for a loop. He recovered quickly, however. "Well… it's your name." That that last word held no current meaning to Sothan was made clear by his nonplussed reaction to it. "It's what people call you. You know, like how I told you my name is Xin."

Sothan didn't appear to have much of a reply to that other than a vague but thoughtful, "Hm."

Xin mulled the situation over in his mind before speaking again. "If you'd like, I can answer any questions you have about yourself, the other people here, this place, or really anything. Just… not right now. You've been looking a bit fatigued for a while now. Feeling tired?" Sothan shrugged again. "It's okay to sleep. No one here is going to hurt you, and almost everyone else is already lost in their own dreams anyway. And besides, it's daytime. It doesn't seem like it here, given our location in the middle of space, but it is. Vampires are nocturnal by nature. Frankly, I'm surprised you didn't pass out against your will as soon as night ended. Most new-bloods do."

Now it was Sothan's turn to think things over. He turned to face Xin fully, an old wooden box of trinkets clasped lightly in his hands. "Why aren't you tired, then?" he asked.

Xin felt the corners of his mouth quirk up into a smile. "Astute as always." Crossing his arms, he explained, "The answer is fairly simple and boring, I'm afraid. The longer someone is a vampire, the stronger they tend to get. Strong vampires can usually overcome their need for regular sleep, like most semi-Immortals can. However, some remain slaves to the sun their whole lives, entering an almost comatose state whenever it rises and only being capable of consciousness once it's fully set. The pervasive myths and legends hold that that's how it is for all of us, whereas in reality the opposite holds true. But you're not quite in either category. You're starting to overcome it already, hence your being awake right now. I have to admit, it's pretty remarkable to witness."

Rather predictably, Sothan didn't have a comment to make about any of that, either. He simply absorbed the information and glanced around the room again. "...You said this space was mine?"

"Is," Xin corrected. "Present tense. It's still yours and always will be, no matter where you go or what happens. This is your private refuge. You can sleep here, be alone with your thoughts, interact with your belongings, or really anything you desire. And if you want total privacy, all you have to do is close the door. That tells people that they need to knock and wait for permission before entering. Which we do anyway, but this makes it extra clear."

Sothan nodded slowly. "I think I will try to sleep," he said eventually, setting the box back on the shelf where he'd found it. "This is all… a bit much."

"I thought you'd say that," Xin admitted. "I'll leave you to it, then. Take as much time as you need, okay? Whenever you're ready to come out again, just come and find me. You should know my scent well enough by now to find me easily, even with all the other scents around." Sothan nodded a little for the second time. "Rest well," Xin told him, already turning to leave the room. "And try not to worry too much. Just focus on sleep for now." He shut the door behind him.

With that handled, it seemed prudent to go check on Novei and Ryint. That was something he did from a distance, mostly because his nerves were a little too frayed for him to handle much in the way of his friend's teasing at the moment. He didn't normally mind her verbal jabs, snarky remarks, and the like, but right now… Right now, he wasn't sure that he could trust himself not to be rude. Which wasn't fair to her, of course, so he opted to just observe them for a second from a distance and then teleport back inside. For the time being, they were both fine and Novei remained unconscious. That was… probably for the best. Li still needed to be informed about all of this, after all. The boy needed a head's up. He didn't deserve to be blindsided.

Those thoughts led him down the hall to his son's room. Like he had the last time, he knocked very quietly. If Sein was awake but Li wasn't, then he would be the only one to hear. If they were both asleep, then neither of them would. Either way, anyone who wasn't awake wouldn't be disturbed. But that was the very least of his concerns, anyway. The effects of Cyca's bite will be wearing off soon, as will the effects of my spells. Li's symptoms are going to intensify again. I'll redo the spells as many times as it takes, but… will it be enough? Especially with just me attempting to handle it for him? Lightly pinching his lower lip between his fangs, he let his fears linger briefly before releasing both them and his lip. Now is not the time, he chided himself. Focus on the here and now. Sighing under his breath, he waited for a reply to his knock, or at least to see if there would be a reply.

Sein soon was at the door, opening it quietly and managing a small smile at Xin. "Hey. I think he's gonna wake up soon. Actually a good time for you to show up."

"Alright," Xin murmured. "I'm not looking forward to this, but that's good to know all the same." He peered past Sein to glance over his son's sleeping form. I'm sorry for all the turmoil you'll go through once you wake. To Sein, he added, "I convinced Sothan to get some rest. He was hesitant, but decided to lay down all the same. Seems he's relaxing a bit in this place. I expected as much, though it's good to see it regardless."

"I can't even begin to imagine how rough it is to go through such a change. I heard Novei also got turned, right?" Sein questioned gently, wordlessly phasing past the door to talk to Xin (at least, until Li woke up). "I assume we need to try and keep an eye on that."

Xin sighed heavily. "Yes, that's unfortunately correct. My concern is that she's going to be… problematic to deal with when she wakes."

"Considering what I know of her personality… probably," Sein sighed in kind. "But, she's with Ryint, right? She seems pretty trustworthy."

"Ryint is with her and plenty trustworthy," Xin confirmed. "The issue is that Novei may be difficult to get under control regardless. And I may not be able to assist Ryint if I am having to guard and watch over Sothan."

"I can split my attention as long as your magic is keeping Li calm," Sein replied. "Vampire or not, Novei is a mortal. I can help keep her busy until Ryint can get her under control."

Xin accepted the plan readily. "Alright. That sounds plenty doable."

Sein managed a wan smile to Xin, then lightly crossed his arms. "Unrelated to that, it's nice to see that you guys have sorta… 'reassembled', so to speak. Li is obviously happier to have you and Sothan back in his life."

Like Sein, Xin cracked a smile. "It's good to be back together," he murmured. "I only wish that it hadn't taken so long. I never wanted him to wind up alone like he did." I always thought that, between the two of us, his mother would at least forever be by his side.

"He's recovering from that pretty quickly," Sein replied. "It obviously did a number on him, but just having you two back has obviously done him a lot of good."

"Yes, you're right," Xin murmured with a glance at his son. "All in due time, I suppose."

Sein glanced over at Li, his expression not faltering until he saw the wolf shifting in bed. "Looks like he might be waking up here shortly."

"Aye," Xin agreed. He watched the younger wolf closely, searching for any signs of distress. "Looks that way."

Sein shifted a little closer to the door and opened it slowly, trying to not rouse his friend too quickly. "I'll let you go first, since you've got that magic that can help."

"He seems to be alright for now," Xin murmured. "He was bitten again recently enough that the withdrawals have not yet returned with much strength. The moment it is needed, however, I will redo my earlier spells."

"Good to hear," Sein replied. "I guess, on the withdrawals that is." The hawk soon appeared beside Li's bed, waiting to see his friend's eyes open.

Xin was quick to join him, going so far as to gingerly take a seat on the edge of said bed while he waited. That conjured up old memories of when he used to do this when Li was small, on those nights when it was his turn to reach a bedtime story or to handle a nightmare, or just because Li was small enough that he had nights where he didn't like falling asleep all by himself. But, reluctantly, he brushed those happier thoughts aside for now. This isn't the time.

The younger wolf opened his eyes and rolled over in the bed a few moments after Xin sat down, dragging the blanket over his head and groaning. "'m so cold…"

Xin watched him sympathetically and cast a very minor spell to warm Li up. "Is that better, lad?"

"A little," Li mumbled, still curling the blanket around himself. "Where's Novei…? She fought Cyca… right?"

"She's outside," Xin answered. Then he sighed. "We discovered shortly after she returned here that Cyca bit her. Novei isn't hurt, but… she is turning."

"Oh," Li replied quietly. "That's… I hope it doesn't cause her problems… She was doing so well recently."

"Only time will tell," Xin told him, "but Ryint is actively keeping an eye on her. She and I will do everything we can to help Novei through this. I promise you that."

Li seemed to consider this for several seconds before mumbling, "Where's Sothan…?"

"We had taken him to New Babylon after the attack here," Xin explained. "He received healing and was merely resting in their medical facility. However…" Xin paused and had to refrain from sighing again. "Cyca got to him. He disappeared for a short time, only for me to later find him on a planet I don't believe he's ever heard of before. Like Novei, he isn't hurt. Cyca chose to bite him as well, though, with the same end result. The only difference is that he's fully turned already." Xin knew he needed to tell Li about the issue of his uncle's memories as well, but he wanted to give Li a chance to digest this news first.

His son was quiet as he took this all in, frowning softly with his head still under the cover. "Oh."

Xin looked away. He felt awful for Li right now, needless to say. "There's a bit more," he admitted, "if you feel up to hearing it. I don't want to keep piling news onto you if you're getting overwhelmed."

"It's okay," Li replied. "It's better to know and feel than to not know and worry."

That quote hit Xin hard. The reason why was simple. His… His mother used to say that. Gathering himself, Xin calmed his emotions again for Li's sake. "You're right," he murmured. After a small pause, he continued. "Cyca turned your uncle as well, as I said, and he's already transitioned. I don't know what she did, exactly, but he disappeared for a short while from Babylon and was already fully turned when I located him less than a day later. She starved him, but he's doing alright now." Xin hesitated for a second before finishing. "And… his memories are gone, like mine were. The difference is that things are already trying to come back to him. All he needs is a bit more time to recover, and he'll be himself again."

Li didn't say anything for several seconds before ultimately just nodding under the blanket. "Okay… that's good." It was obvious that he was concerned, but his exhaustion kept him quiet.

"For now, that's everything," Xin told him. "If anything else comes up, you'll be kept in the loop. But all of that aside, do you need anything? A glass of water, to talk to Sein, anything?"

"Mmn…" Li mumbled something under his breath. "Just sleep…"

"Rest well, then," Xin murmured, rising to his feet. "We'll be close by if you need anyone." The younger wolf nodded and wrapped the blanket more fully around himself. Sein winced a little and turned to Xin. With a motion of his hand, Xin led the way out of the room and back into the hall. He shut the door quietly behind them.

Sein followed closely behind, but the moment the door closed, he paused. "Hey, hold on a second, Xin…"

Xin turned to face him. "Yes?"

"I think someone's coming to the forge," Sein explained slowly, turning his head to his right. Only a few seconds later, the Aether appeared directly in his line of sight.

Golden eyes blinked. "Hm," he murmured. "I was not expecting to meet a being such as this, much less today."

The Aether looked between them, then tilted its head and smiled. "Hey, Sein. It's nice to meet you, Xin. I came by because I think I can help with Li."

"How can you help?" Xin questioned, his arms crossing. Like most vampires, he displayed a certain degree of suspiciousness when faced with an unfamiliar person or being.

"I'm pretty good at healing," the Aether replied confidently. "And he's having an issue 'cause of a vampire bite, yeah? I think I can at least help with his symptoms."

How the hell did it know that? Sein wondered idly to himself. I haven't even spoken to it since I left…

Blinking again, more slowly this time, Xin considered what he'd just been told. But he didn't waste time doing so for long, however. If this individual could help his son, that was all that mattered to him. Still… wolves, like so many other species, were nothing if not protective. "And you swear that you will not harm him in any manner?"

"I wouldn't dream of it!" The Aether replied firmly, smiling. "If I can't help even though I think I can, I can at least return his energy to him so he isn't as exhausted."

Xin let out a sigh and waved a hand languidly at the door. "Then please… do what you are able to. I would not deny him this chance at a speedy recovery."

The creature disappeared all at once, and Sein merely blinked. "Well that's, uh… not how I expected today to go. The Aether is pretty good at healing, though. Maybe this will go as well as we hope?"

"Mm, perhaps," Xin agreed quietly. "I certainly would like to see you proven right.

Sein nodded. "Let's give it some time. If nothing else, we should try to focus on Novei when she wakes up if the Aether is around. She's… probably gonna need to be restrained."

"Unfortunately, yes," Xin sighed. "I am doubtful that she will have much in the way of impulse control." He paused before adding, "I must also keep an eye on Sothan's response to this 'Aether'. He has been… wary and on edge ever since I found him. It has improved, though it has not yet gone away. He won't lash out, in my opinion, but Novei just might."

"I… Yeah. That sounds about right," Sein said, shrugging. "I'll follow your lead. Vampires are well out of my realm of expertise."

"You're doing just fine so far, lad," Xin said with a small smile. "Just keep being yourself, and things will be alright."

"That's what I'm best at," Sein chuckled, returning the smile.

"Precisely," Xin answered. He managed to chuckle. "I am counting on that, in a way."

Sein shrugged. "I'll do my best, then. Now, should we go find Ryint? I've got a feeling that Novei is gonna get up soon."

"Aye," Xin said in agreement with both statements. "Come along. I can smell where they are." He turned away and started walking without further ado. He had… a bad feeling about this.

~保護者~

After his and Seiko's painfully brief reunion with their even more greatly pained son, Satsuno remembered nothing. Some dim part of him was aware of the fact that he'd been invaded at the point where his memories ended. However, there was nothing he could do about it. Possessions rendered his soul largely dormant, unable to do much else but sleep and think. Both were problematic.

In his current state, it was hard to differentiate his own thoughts and memories from the invader's. Everything had blurred together so much that he nearly couldn't tell where his existence ended and their's began. When was… the last time he'd been possessed so deeply? He didn't know. Exhaustion made it impossible to figure out, though at first he did try.

Then his captor decided that they had had enough and willed him to be silent. Unable to disobey (such was the nature of these kinds of predicaments), he drowsily complied… even as the faces of his family, the very reason why he should have been trying to fight this, drifted through his mind. A second command soon followed the first, however, demanding his full attention. "No more thoughts, damn you. Even the ones without words. Your turmoil is vexing." Pleased with the silence that answered them, they internally smiled. "You have no reason to awaken ever again. This body belongs to me now. Go back to sleep, and do not wake up."

Helpless to resist, Satsuno succumbed to the vast nothingness of unconsciousness yet again.

With him silenced, Amnikaribah turned its attention elsewhere. There was a threat coming, one that it recognized instantly. The Goddess of Judgement… and I suppose she will be furious. Amused, Amnikaribah smirked. It was itching for a good fight. This was shaping up to be an exciting day despite the fact that it couldn't reach Kaden, wherever the bastard was hiding. Killing a deity would be plenty fun for now.

Cere landed on the planet, briefly shrouded in the energy gifted to her by her role. That she was, as he'd guessed, furious was plain to see in her eyes. "Amnikaribah. Give up his body now."

Amnikaribah laughed derisively. "This vessel belongs to me now. I will not give it up. And since you will not kill it… you cannot stop me."

The Hexan narrowed her gaze. "You think I would come without a plan? A way to remove you from his body?"

"You will fail," the demon grinned. "This body is mine now."

Cere glared now, launching herself at him and swinging in a vicious arc with her halberd. He dodged, gathering a ball of Hellfire into his hand in order to launch it at her. As soon as he did so, he followed it up with a vicious kick.

The Hexan's body twisted and she brought her weapon around again, slicing through the Hellfire and using her momentum to rise over the kick and bring the pole of her halberd down at his head. He dodged a second time before leaping backward out of range and creating more Hellfire to throw at her.

Without hesitation, Cere leaped the moment she touched the ground. Her Judgement almost rose up instinctively, but she quelled it quickly. That'll kill him. Instead, she cast a hex that launched several projectiles in a hellish rain of magic at Amnikaribah. The demon couldn't do much against magic and, as such, was forced to simply dodge out of the way once more. He was rapidly learning that combat in an unfamiliar, non-demonic body wasn't as easy as he'd first believed it would be.

"Give up," Cere demanded, floating in the air with a hex prepared. "The more you resist, the worse the outcome will be for you and you alone."

"The worst that can happen is being returned to Hell," Amnikaribah chuckled. "I will feel none of the pain or damage you cause to this form. So by all means… go wild. I will enjoy seeing him bleed."

Cere paused. The hex remained at the ready, but she didn't release it. "You realize what is about to happen, yes?"

"Either you will die, or this body will," Amnikaribah answered. "In either scenario, I walk away pleased."

The Hexan stayed in her spot in the air. She was trying to discern what his plan was, but she came up blank. She couldn't think clearly, not with the whirlwind of emotions in her mind. Where are you, Ylden?

Amnikaribah grinned toothily at her in a malicious expression that the real Satsuno would never have worn. "What's the matter? Are you fearful about the prospect of harming your ally? You will never save him if you succumb to such weak emotions."

Cere hesitated again. She could feel her hand shaking and tears welling up in her eyes at the thought. Not-… No- I can't let another person I care about suffer and perish… She made a split-second decision, her hex releasing and violently destroying the ground at Amnikaribah's feet.

Shards of the ground splintered upward and were thrown around by her attack. Some cut into Satsuno's body, though not severely. Still, Amnikaribah watched with dark pleasure as rivulets of blood flowed down his vessel's arm. He couldn't feel this body's pain… but his victim could, even if the man wasn't awake to experience it.

Fuck. The Hexan's breath deepened as anxiety steamrolled her fury, the outstretched hand flinching back at the sight. I can't- Not another ally… Not again… She felt sick to her stomach. The sight she made with all of her emotions running rampant within her eyes made the demon laugh at her again, still making no move to attack or to defend the vessel he'd claimed.

Flashes of blue and pitch black appeared on either side of Amnikaribah, magic and Darkness equally lashing out at their possessed ally to try and capture or simply hold him still. Cere could only watch as Seiko and Toru (who was in his Dark form) challenged the beast, her eyes unfocused and body slowly backing away.

Amnikaribah leapt backward several times and again repelled his attackers with controlled bursts of hellish flames. "Give it up, wench," he told Seiko coolly. "He is your partner only in blood now. I have put him to sleep, and he will not awaken again."

"Never," she bit out, her magic-cloaked blade slicing a path through the flames as she charged forward. "I'll put you to sleep and make sure you never make it back out of Hell!" Toru, meanwhile, didn't speak, teleporting past the flames and continuing his attempts to capture Amnikaribah.

"Akh nihag vi sifth.," Amnikaribah chuckled, slipping into some demonic tongue. "Ghoron tagakh te anakh rel. Kharo vhat de ungekth vhalakt ahn." He slammed his foot into Toru to knock him back, then aimed a concussive beam of Darkness at Seiko and let it loose. Rather than Satsuno's neutral Darkness, it was the deeply corrupted Darkness this creature had wielded in life now being channeled through Satsuno.

Seiko's eyes widened visibly, the woman spinning her blade around and pressing it against the beam with her magic still coating it. The magic meeting Darkness caused a series of violent explosions that she maneuvered with to launch herself out of the way of the attack. "Try harder!" she snapped, unleashing her own beam of magic.

Leaning out of the way, Amnikaribah channeled more Darkness through his stolen body and unleashed it as a chaotic maelstrom at both her and her two allies. Toru teleported entirely off of the planet in reply to this attack, but Seiko responded with a quiet chant and a flourish of her blade. Her magic cascaded into the storm to intercept it, then crashed through the energy entirely. She resumed running after her possessed partner, opening her mouth to speak. "I won't let you take him from me!"

Cere watched every bit of this, motionless - almost breathless. This scene had played out too many times in her life for her to feel okay with it, allies forced to fight one another. She hadn't even reacted to the attack, and she could barely do so when she felt herself being teleported away from the fight. Jet appeared beside her long enough to murmur, "Go rest, Cere. Please." Then he was gone, appearing on the planet close to Toru and Seiko. He addressed the former first while gathering up the necessary energy to restrain the demon before them. "Toru, return to Shadow. Something's come up and he needs to be the one to tell you about it. We can handle this."

Toru blinked and let his dark form fade away, dropping to his feet. "Alright." He didn't hesitate, teleporting back to Shadow's home.

Shifting his attention to Seiko, Jet said, "Focus on the exorcism. I can restrain him on my own. Splitting your focus will not do Satsuno any good here." As he spoke, he began to do as he'd said he would despite Amnikaribah's suddenly stronger struggles once the creature understood it was now facing an Immortal.

"I'll help," Ylden said, appearing beside his possessed friend.

Seiko blinked once and glanced at both of them, but didn't react further and instead focused her magic. She'd performed exorcisms quite a few times over the years, and this time would not be an exception to her always saving her partner. "Amnikaribah, you took my son once and you're damn lucky I wasn't alive to handle you then. Surrender my partner's body."

Though Amnikaribah could already no longer move, his tongue remained intact. "I already told you," he muttered with a hint of a growl in his voice, "that he belongs to me now. Try your purification if you must, but he will never return to you. I have ensured it."

The woman pressed a hand to his head, eyes flared angrily. Like she'd done several times, she focused entirely on removing the foreign spirit from Satsuno's body. This was a pain Satsuno and Amnikaribah could both feel, and it was therefore impossible to say whose expression of said pain was being worn on Satsuno's face right now. But despite Seiko's efforts, the demonic spirit refused to be dislodged. It stubbornly clung on, remaining deeply rooted within her partner.

Ylden watched for scarcely a couple seconds before whipping his scythe around, the blade coated in a magic unique to himself and the reapers. He wrapped the blade around what would have been Satsuno's throat and pulled back, allowing the blade to seamlessly pass through his body until it latched onto Amnikaribah. "This is one of the only people in existence I would refrain from scorning," he muttered hatefully, working with Seiko's efforts to extract the spirit.

Amnikaribah responded with a beastial growl for just a few seconds before their combined efforts finally dislodged just a bit of his spirit from Satsuno's. That promptly shut him up, as a sliver of his control vanished in that instant.

Seiko shifted her hands down onto his shoulders, not wanting to concentrate her magic too heavily in such a sensitive area. "Leave my husband's body, bastard!"

More of the invading spirit was wrenched free, roots and all so to speak. A small sound of pain escaped Satsuno. More importantly, it happened in his voice. It was brief, sure, but it was an encouraging sign that progress was being made. The fact that Seiko had help instead of being forced to try to do everything on her own like usual appeared to be allowing things to work faster than they had in the past during other severe possessions.

Ylden frowned visibly and twisted his scythe, burying the blade into Amnikaribah's spirit and wrenching back harder. Seeing the progress had encouraged him to make a final push, black wisps of magic flowing off of his body. Finally, a significant portion of the demon's soul started to come loose. Satsuno's eyes flickered back to their true grey momentarily and he began to exhibit seizure-like spasms in his body as the possession began to be undone. It took time and significant effort on the parts of Seiko and Ylden, but finally the rest of Amnikaribah's spirit tore free in full. Satsuno's eyes rolled back just as they fluttered shut and he went entirely limp apart from the now full-blown seizure he was having. If not for Jet's hold of him with his aura, Satsuno would have collapsed.

Jet was quick to lay Satsuno down on his side and release him. He knew from personal experience that this medical episode was a bad one. But… that didn't mean he knew what to do about it. It wasn't like he was ever conscious during his own seizures, after all. I should… get someone else. Amy or Analia.

Ylden trapped the spirit on his blade for a moment to regard Jet and Seiko. "I must return him to where he belongs. I will find Satsuno wherever you take him." With that last word uttered, he vanished.

Jet watched him go, then addressed Seiko. "Will you allow me to bring additional aid?" he questioned. He didn't want to stress her needlessly by just assuming, especially since she no doubt knew how to take care of her partner on her own by now. Still, he was going to do it even if she said no. He was too concerned not to act.

Seiko nodded softly and knelt down by Satsuno. Seeing the way he was moving, she instinctively moved one of her arms under his head. "Do what you must."

Glad that she was prepared to be practical, Jet vanished. He swiftly returned with Amy, who made a noise of concern at the sight she was met with as she rushed over. Jet filled her in on everything briefly and she pursed her lips together. Gathering her healing energies into her hands, she laid them upon her newfound patient and set to work. She'd learned years ago that her particular healing powers were capable of stopping seizures if applied in a particular way. In doing so, she'd helped Kaden and Jet quite a few times over the years. Seeing that it was rapidly ending Satsuno's seizure as well was a great and immediate relief.

"He's going to be okay," she murmured. "Just give me a moment to finish and he'll be fine." Still… she was worried. His pulse is all over the place. His energies don't feel normal, either. The seizure doesn't seem to be the only cause. What the in the world happened here?

Seiko didn't miss this detail, glancing between Amy and Satsuno for several seconds, before a thought crossed her mind. "Amnikaribah possessed him. The demonic energy may well have corrupted his body, or more."

Amy pursed her lips together and began more closely examining her patient. However, she had no experience trying to find or sense corruption. That was when Jet decided to step in again. "There is some degree of taint buried deep within him," he murmured. "It isn't actively corrupting him at this time, but it needs to be dealt with. Amy and I aren't equipped to handle it." There was no good news he could offer, but… at least the seizure was ending. He knew it was a start. It just wasn't enough.

"I'll find someone," Seiko answered calmly, crossing her arms tightly. "Are you able to bring Ylden back here? I need to warn him of something."

Jet blinked and opened a portal leading directly to the cat's location. "Seiko needs to speak with you," he called through it in lieu of any proper greeting.

"The hell do you want?" Ylden groaned, walking through the portal. "I'm busy putting Amn-"

"Your daughter was corrupted," Seiko cut in quickly, stopping Ylden in his tracks. "I'm not sure where she is right now."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ylden groaned, putting a hand over his face. "Fuck." Jet and Amy traded glances, both of them opting to stay quiet on the matter since they didn't personally know this man and also couldn't help him. "Seiko, stay the hell away from her. Your magic very well could be too effective. I'll track her down and get someone to help her."

The woman in question simply blinked, then sighed. "You're not equipped to handle this situation either. If you get too close, or if she notices your magic, you may get attacked." Ylden muttered something under his breath, then teleported away again. He didn't have the energy to try and hold this conversation.

Jet went ahead and closed his portal. That could have gone better, he reflected briefly before returning his attention to the other, more pressing situation at hand. "Is it safe to move him now?" he asked Amy while eyeing Satsuno.

With a sigh, Amy nodded and stood up. "Yes," she said to both him and Seiko. "The seizure is completely done and I don't think it'll start up again. He just desperately needs sleep. I can't say for certain when he'll wake up, but I do know that it won't be happening right now. He's too exhausted."

"I'll get him back to Mobius where he can rest," Seiko replied, staying in a kneeling position by Satsuno. "Thank you for the help."

"You're welcome," Amy murmured, standing from her kneeling position.

Seiko gave a small smile before gently lifting Satsuno in her arms. He didn't respond to the movement. One of his own arms dangled limply at his side. "If you have need of me, I am staying in Shadow's home." Once she'd given them a moment to process this information, she teleported away with her husband.

Jet and Amy traded a silent look. Soon, Amy smiled. "We'll have a proper reunion later," she decreed in a gentle voice. "I can tell you're busy. Just come visit later, 'kay?"

A visit with Sonic and Amy. He was pretty sure he could promise that much. Spending a bit of time with two of his oldest friends sounded good. It really, really did. "Alright," he agreed quietly. "I'll make time when I can." When she accepted his words, he sent her back to Tails's home and teleported himself to Shadow's. He still had a rescue mission to prepare.

~保護者~

Ghune's attack came out of nowhere.

Or maybe he just hadn't been paying enough attention to his surroundings… again. Either way, Zsasha just barely managed to dodge and get to his feet. He didn't bother turning to face her or even expending the slightest bit of energy to ready his own attack. Instead, he just sighed. Even to his own ears, he sounded exhausted and defeated as opposed to hostile or even just annoyed. "Look… if you're going to kill me again, just get it over with," he mumbled. Almost as an afterthought, he added, "I never asked to be revived in the first place. I have no desire to be here."

Whether she knew it or not, whether she would ever believe it or not, his words were entirely true. Life wasn't worth living. It wasn't something he wanted to participate in anymore. Hell, he didn't even want to exist. But at least if he was dead, he could go back to sleeping forever. The empty blackness that afforded him was the closest thing he could get to his true wish, and as such it was all he wanted. It was for that reason that he'd tried many a time to end his own life in the past… only to fail at even that.

The trouble was that vampires, as he'd learned through his… "experimentation", were hard to kill, even by other vampires or their own personal hands. With his extraordinarily limited knowledge of vampires in general added on, that had proved to be an insurmountable roadblock every time he'd given up and tried to take himself out. And every instance where he'd failed had just added another brick to the layers upon layers of reasons why he hated himself and hated the fact that he existed.

But it didn't matter anymore, in the end. Ghune had found him. That meant his unwanted time awake and alive was finally about to come to an end. He'd never been able to trust anyone but Cyca and Lior, and even with them the only trust he was fool enough to feel for the most part was trust that they wouldn't harm him. But, as it turned out, he could trust Ghune as well. He could trust her to successfully kill him. And that was enough. Just get it over with, he silently urged her. I don't want to be here anymore than you want me to. Hurry up and kill me so we can both get what we want.

Ghune only paused momentarily at his words. When he'd dodged her first attack and didn't attempt to turn one back at her, that had been enough to briefly ensure that she didn't act. Another distraction came when Ryint appeared in the midst of her hesitation. With all three of them simply… there, Ryint took a moment to assess the situation. Her nose was strong (as she was a vampire), and it took no time for her to understand that something was wrong here. "Ghune, put your weapon down," she ordered in a rush.

Ryint watched the glint in Ghune's eyes, the bloodlust and desire to protect rising up. It was coming from a good place, but it was wrong. Zsasha wasn't evil. His scent alone was proof enough. Ghune swung her sword after rushing up behind Zsasha, but Ryint reached up and grabbed the blade before it could strike him. Ghune turned on her and harshly asked, "What the fuck are you doing?"

She didn't answer Ghune, instead turning her attention to Zsasha. "Run, now," she instructed him firmly.

His easiest chance to die was gone already. Zsasha couldn't believe it. He couldn't understand what this woman was doing. Why is she stopping her? Nothing was making sense… so he fell back on the only tactic left to him. Dismayed, he did as she'd commanded and fled.

Ryint turned her attention back to Ghune in time to feel her beak crack under the force of the elder vampire's punch. Annoying though that was, Ryint could only smirk. "Of all the things you could do…" she laughed.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Ghune demanded sharply, pushing her blade harder against Ryint's hand. The metal was slowly cutting into and through the ancient Babylonian vampire, but that wasn't her intention. She needed Ryint to back off. Little did she know she would soon be backing off instead. Ryint's obviously empowered Blood Magic sent her down into the ground with a painful gravitational force. The two traded blows for a few seconds, but Ghune could only succeed in drawing more blood.

Ghune already knew this was a losing fight. She didn't have the power to outright kill Ryint even if she'd wanted to. Ryint's Blood magic was one of the most well honed magical powers she had ever come across, which meant the longer this fight went… the stronger she would get. Not to mention, she could regenerate - not that other vampires couldn't, but even so. A few unseen hits from behind followed by a splittingly painful crack of the magic-infused bat Ryint loved so much put Ghune on the ground, heaving up blood as she vomited. When she had taken so many hits to the stomach, she didn't know. All that mattered now was that Ryint had her held up by the neck, carefully obstructing her airways so she couldn't breathe.

"You're going to listen to me, Ghune," Ryint bit out. "Zsasha isn't evil. I'm not about to let you kill someone who doesn't deserve it." Ryint's attention-demanding tone ensured that Ghune heard every word, forced to process it when she was dropped down onto the ground so she could catch her breath. "If I find you trying to attack him again, I'll knock you the fuck out and put you with some healers. Got it?"

"Fine," Ghune muttered. "But I want to know when you started being able to clone yourself."

"We'll talk about that later," Ryint huffed. "Get your ass up and clean yourself. You look like shit."

Ghune rolled her eyes visibly, but it was certainly hard to stay upright when the motion made her dizziness so much worse. Just how hard had Ryint hit her on the head? "Fine." She was soon back on her feet and steady, with Ryint coming up beside her to make sure she didn't fall. "Let's go. You're going to sit down and explain this all to me."

Immediately, Ghune realized the mistake she'd made. The woman groaned when Ryint's tone shifted to become sassy. "I'll do whatever the fuck I want."

"Fuck you."

"No, fuck you," Ryint huffed, teleporting them both back to the forge.

Once they were both inside the building, Ghune took a seat on the couch. Ryint walked elsewhere for the time being. There is no chance that this is true. I would not think he was evil unless he was. Why does she not believe me? She debated this for a long time, eventually having her train of thought interrupted by Ryint walking back into the room with… tea. "I see you will not give up your addiction."

"The fact that I'm missing a key ingredient has me a bit on edge as of late," Ryint huffed, setting the kettle and cups on the nearby table. "Getting left to die after your home is destroyed is a bit stressful." Ghune gave a sort of hum to acknowledge this, but not much else. She already felt guilty enough for not being there for Ryint. This fact wasn't missed by the Babylonian vampire. She raised an eyebrow. "Hey, you couldn't have known when he would show up. Don't worry about it."

"I should have-"

Ryint cut in, a visible glare on her face. "Cut it out, Ghune. Do not blame yourself. He never would have come back if it wasn't for Nareish, but I'm still a bit pissy because you lied to me. You never told me why Lior died. Did you think I couldn't handle the truth, or was it something else?"

Ghune's shoulders slumped and she sighed. "I didn't want you to suffer the pain of someone you considered a friend being a vile and repulsive piece of shit."

There was a moment's hesitation from Ryint, her mouth opening to say something. Whatever it was, the words died before they ever reached her throat. "I get it, but don't try to protect me like that. You may be the 'Queen of Vampires', but I am also your friend. You should have told me."

No words were given in reply to this. Ghune understood the point well enough. "Why did you stop me from killing Zsasha?"

Ryint sighed in what sounded like disbelief to Ghune's acute ears. "You didn't pay any attention, did you?"

Ghune blinked once, then narrowed her gaze in confusion. "What do you mean?"

The younger vampire rolled her eyes. "He wasn't fighting back. He practically begged you to kill him, Ghune. Are you that fucking blind?"

The sharper, angrier tone of voice briefly reminded Ghune of when they'd first met… the many bodies surrounding Ryint before she'd reared back and punched Ghune, even in the midst of Ghune's out of control fear aura. It was enough to (almost) startle her. "I- What?"

"He was giving up on life," Ryint groaned. "That man wanted nothing to do with living and it's probably your fault! Everyone listened to you, everyone trusted you. I trusted that you would have good judgement, that you were doing the right thing, but now I have to worry that you've ostracized other people and vampires because you were on some crusade against imaginary evil!"

Ghune glared and stood up, staring at Ryint with visible irritation. "I did what I thought was right. I killed many threats to our people, to other people. I may have not changed the mold for what people believed our kind to be, but I brought us peace and safety."

"I'm not arguing against what you did right," Ryint bit out, shoving Ghune back against the couch. "I'm pointing out your flaws and mistakes, what you need to do better. You're a good person, but you've fucked up. Remember that slaughter against a group of Erukti that I caused because I saw them hurt one of my race? The carnage I caused and the bloodIspilled? All of the violence I enacted which in turn caused more? I fucked that up and got people hurt. I had to learn from my mistake to grow as a person, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you stunt your own growth."

Ghune's face was twisted in a snarl, but there was no anger left in her body. "I don't believe that Zsasha is good."

"I don't care," Ryint murmured, crossing her arms. "I care that you see that he isn't evil. If you can't see that and you refuse to listen, then we're done as friends."

"You can't just end a relationship like that," Ghune muttered, hands tightening into balled fists.

"You just did," Ryint replied, teleporting away.

Ghune reached in the direction of Ryint as she vanished, her hand retracting when she realized her friend was simply gone somewhere else. This was a very unusual pain, and it settled its thorns inside of her heart. I… I don't understand. I should not be wrong about something this… simple.

The woman sighed and set her face in her hands, allowing herself the time to think back. Lior and Cyca had undoubtedly been evil, as well as Krash, Yuul, Gaeyn, and a multitude of others. All of them had shared many of the characteristics that showed a vampire had forsaken the idea of rationality.

Zsasha had always been a bit different from them. For instance, from Finis's own telling, the vampire had been born from a nightmare. That had immediately set her suspicions in place. She knew what creatures of nightmares were like, and how they viewed life. Perhaps this was where her concern had been born? That didn't make sense, though. Her senses should have picked up on whether or not he was actually evil. Vampires had notoriously good strong senses of smell, so why did Ryint notice when she didn't?

The woman sighed and stood, walking in Ak- Xin's direction. She wanted further advice, and he had always been a reliable source of logic. It wasn't as though he was far away, either. He was just in a different room... and he'd no doubt heard everything. Ghune walked into the aforementioned room quietly and took a single look at the man. "You heard the conversation, I presume?"

Xin looked up from his cup of tea and blinked at her. "I did," he soon confirmed. "What are you intending to do?"

"I… I do not know," Ghune quietly admitted. She took a seat, several thoughts running through her mind before she banished them all. "It is so rare that I feel so lost for an answer."

"And what are you seeking from me?" Xin asked her carefully. With a subject so touchy, she may not want advice from anyone.

"Guidance. Perhaps… another point of view. Ryint made her own abundantly clear, but I am struggling to comprehend the way she sees this situation," Ghune explained gently.

"Let me ask you this, then," Xin stated in a calm tone, setting his tea down on a nearby table. "If the emotions are too difficult, you should focus on logical matters. She made a point about Zsasha's scent. Focus on your own nose. What information did it give you before Ryint presumably ended your attempted fight with Zsasha?"

Ghune found it hard to think about scents with the lingering stench of her own… depression? She wasn't sure what to call it. It was rare that she felt such sorrow. "He had a lingering scent of… sadness?" The woman said, a touch unsure. "He seemed tired, too…"

Xin nodded slowly. "What else?"

"His scents were drowned out heavily by my own… bloodlust," Ghune quietly admitted. "I did not recognize much more than this."

This caused her friend to tut at her. "Your nose is better than that and we both know it. There's something else, even if it's small. What else did it tell you?"

"I don't know, Akol!" Ghune groaned, leaning forward and holding her face in her hands. "Fuck, Xin. Sorry. I don't know. I'm missing something that Ryint obviously picked up on."

"And that's precisely what I'm getting at," Xin answered. He wasn't at all fazed by her outburst. "If Ryint was able to intervene quickly enough to prevent you from killing him, or even to prevent the fight entirely, the most likely reason behind it would be her nose. She must have smelled something that told her the truth about the situation."

"I just don't know what I'm missing," Ghune huffed. "And Ryint's emotions are all over the place. I haven't seen her this aggressive since the week following me turning her into a vampire, and a scarce few fights she's gotten wrapped up in since."

With a thoughtful hum, Xin changed tactics a bit. "You, by now, are quite adept at smelling evil. Ignoring everything else, did you sense any traces of evil in Zsasha's presence? With how twisted and wicked we've all assumed him to be, such a scent would have been incredibly difficult to miss, even with other strong smells in the vicinity."

"No." That simple revelation had Ghune reeling, and her eyes widened as she stared into her palms. "No, I did not."

Although he was mutually stunned, Xin opted to keep quiet about it. He was far more focused on his friend's well-being. She needs time to process this… away from prying eyes. "Perhaps you should go rest," he murmured. "This is… a lot to take in. Some downtime might do you some good."

"If this is all true and I made a grave error in my judgement, something must be done to correct the damage caused," Ghune replied in kind.

"Yes, but you cannot correct this while overwhelmed," Xin pointed out. "Not well, anyway."

"You're right." Ghune hated to admit such things, but he had flawless logic. "I'll see if Ryint-" The woman winced, then sighed. "Can you ask Ryint to check and make sure he's okay?"

"I will," Xin was quick to promise. This was an important matter, after all. "I'll ask her to keep in touch with me, and anything she tells me I'll report back to you."

Ghune nodded slowly and stood. "I'll try to rest and talk to her once I have had time to process all of this information. I fear that I may have made other lapses in judgement."

"Take your time," Xin insisted. "It will do you no good to rush this. Do what you feel you must, just pace yourself."

"But I cannot process information forever. There is still a level of urgency," Ghune pressed lightly. "I will take what time I am allowed."

"That's all I ask," Xin replied. "I'm not arguing your point at all, merely trying to remind you to take care of yourself as well."

"Thank you," Ghune replied. She turned away, then set a hand on her hip. "You do the same. I may be drenched in sorrow, but the stench of your stress is burning my nose. Let me know if I can be of any help. Don't try to do all of this on your own."

Xin averted his gaze. "Thank you," was all he wound up saying, voice soft. He knew she was right and therefore didn't argue with her. A slight nod served as an answer before Ghune stepped away, leaving to go rest as she'd said she would.

~保護者~

For a while now, Nareish had been stewing over the death of the Widow. It went without saying that the other woman had been her very favorite servant in this war, as well as the longest-lasting. Her Widow had played a very direct role in most of the deaths of the first, second, third, and fourth generations of Immortals, among other things. Nareish had loved having her as an ally. With everything else sufficiently handled for the time being, it was finally time to get back at the one who had taken the Widow away.

Through observation, Nareish had learned that Cyril appeared to have some form of Immortal-level luck power. One that wasn't easily bested, if it could be bested at all. It was possible that attacking him mentally would get past that defense of his, but it wasn't a guarantee. No, the best course of action would be torturing him mentally and emotionally… by unleashing her wrath on those he cared about the most.

Eila, Wave, Silver, and Teyan were all viable candidates. Among them, Silver was the least interesting to her. Apart from his psychokinetic abilities and his largely dormant Light, he is weak. "Weak" equates to "boring". Boredom will not do. That meant he was out. There was no point in doing this if she couldn't get some satisfaction out of it, after all. As for Wave, she knew already that she needed to deal with the woman sometime but that she needed to be cautious because of Jet. She didn't bother going over the matter a second time.

Then there was Eila, the little feline bitch. Nareish was growing increasingly irate with her as of late. First you decide to interfere with the final person I was able to corrupt, and now you dare to presume that you can free my son from the punishment his own mother saw fit to bestow upon him… I gave him his life. I gave him existence. He belongs to me, and I will take great pleasure in reminding you both of that fact. Just not now… not yet. Slowly, she smirked. Malevolence has its eye on you, Eila. It, too, wants revenge. You killed its loyal soldier. Now it is out for your blood. Will you survive its inevitable assault, I wonder? If you do, you most certainly won't survive me.

In the end, Teyan was the only real option. Unless she was mistaken, Cyril was starting to subconsciously take some sort of a fancy toward her on top of viewing her as a good friend already. She was a good target. And besides, Nareish had been meaning to teach her and her sister a lesson for leaving the little "time-out" she'd given them in their realm all those years ago. Her mind was made. Standing from her throne, she teleported directly to where the woman was headed and waited.

Teyan, meanwhile, was wandering around a planet that she remembered viewing from afar in the early days of existence. It had been populated once. Prosperous, even. The whole world had looked lush and inviting, even from a great distance. She wished she'd made the decision to set foot on the surface back then, because now… now it was nothing but ancient ruin. War tore through this place, destroying everything. Whether it was Nareish or some other force… Does it even matter anymore? Everyone here died. There's no evidence that they were a spacefaring people, and this world can't sustain life anymore due to how broken it is. What an awful way for their lives to end…

Gripped with sadness, it was almost easy to forget how she'd wound up here. She'd been on her way to Mobius under Cere's orders, only for something to interrupt her teleport and send her veering off course. Now she was… here. And her thoughts on that latter detail nearly caused her to fail to notice the strong sense of malice being aimed at her. At least, on the surface. In reality, she was far more careful and observant than the playful and exuberant aspects of her personality typically led others to believe. Now she was tense, her eyes darting around everywhere as she walked. It's close. Close, but… where? And what is it?

Walking around the corner of a semi-erect wall proved to be a grave error in judgement. An attack struck her faster than she could react and carried her off her feet. The impact caused her to cough up a thick glob of blood once, then a second time when she struck the ground. Though she was a bit dazed, she was perfectly aware of it when Nareish strode into view. Immediately, she just knew that her life was forfeit.

Except… Nareish didn't immediately kill her. The Immortal slayer instead drew a sword and ruthlessly stabbed it through Teyan's stomach, pinning her to the ground. Her cry of pain was silenced by a vicious kick to her chest that robbed her of her breath and made vocalizations impossible. Nareish leaned down treacherously close, a dark grin on her face, and all but whispered, "Know this. By the time I'm done with you, even if you remain alive… you will wish you were dead."

Her words were all Teyan remembered before she woke up, still pinned to the ground and struggling to breathe. She had many more injuries now than she'd had before. A gore-covered axe was embedded in her nearly-severed right leg. Several hammers had been dropped carelessly within her line of sight, each soaked in blood. Her body had plenty of blunt-force injuries from them.

There was also a small fire burning on her side, relentlessly eating away at more than just the fabric of her shirt. From what she could feel, it had covered much more of her at some point earlier. But that wasn't all. She couldn't be sure why, but her head was pounding and she was aware of a thick pool of liquid underneath it. Actually, there was liquid under all of her. Blood, she reminded herself distantly. It's my blood.

Certainly, there was more to her condition than this. She had no strength to move, however, and so she couldn't take full stock of what shape she was in. In actual fact, she could barely even keep her eyes open for a few seconds at a time, much less make sense of what had happened to her. All she could think anymore was, I'm going to… die… alone… I'm… going to die. Struggling to find the strength to draw in even the tiniest breaths of air, she let her eyelids drift shut once again. This time she wasn't able to reopen them. She no longer had the ability to make much of an attempt to try. I'm going… to…

"Teyan!" Cyril crashed into the realm with a flash of his magic, barreling over in her direction. He didn't even take time to look at her injuries or wonder how he'd gotten here. He focused on enveloping her in his magic and teleporting them both to Babylon. It was the first place he could think of to get help. He didn't realize what he was doing either, displacing a bed in the medical ward to place Teyan on it followed by several doctors.

Alana was there in an instant, closely followed by her son. They both began working to try and heal Teyan when it became painfully clear that these were Immortal-level wounds. Which meant Nareish was involved. Jet was scowling at nothing in particular as he demanded through gritted teeth, "What happened to her?"

"I don't know!" Cyril said, louder than he'd anticipated. He couldn't breathe, and was only dimly aware of what Jet had just said. As soon as he realized that they weren't healing her as fast as he felt comfortable with, he waved a hand. Rose appeared with a look of confusion, but soon she was at Teyan's side and using her own energies to try and help Jet and Alana.

Glancing at Cyril was all it took to convince Alana to speak up. She typically grew quieter when focusing, much like her father, but this situation warranted an adjustment to her behavior for now. "Akarei," she murmured. "You will not do her any good by losing yourself to your emotions." ("Breathe.")

The finch seemed to take her advice, heaving in a deep breath before completely vanishing, only to appear seconds later with the Aether in his hands. The being hopped away from him, immediately joining the efforts to heal Teyan. "Akarei," he breathed out in what was almost a sigh. He was speaking to himself, trying to keep himself calm, and not doing a great job of it.

All of one minute passed before Wave showed up, no doubt seeking the Aether. However, she then laid eyes upon the scene unfolding in the room and jogged over to Cyril. She dragged her friend close in a comforting hug (which she wouldn't have done if she thought it would interrupt his magic, not that it could) for a moment before pulling back enough to ask, "Are you okay? What happened?"

He only caught part of what she'd said, instinctively wrapping his arms around her tightly. "Teyan was attacked. It was so bad. She was burnt and hurt and bleeding," he gasped out. "I- I don't know what to do."

"You've done exactly the right thing, getting these people for help," Wave reassured him. She resumed holding him close, since he clearly needed it. "You did the same thing I would have done. Just keep trying to breathe and let them do what they can."

Cyril's hug tightened further, the man burying his face against her shoulder. "I can't believe this…! Why Teyan? Why?"

"I don't know," Wave murmured. "Nareish has been warring with the deities and existential beings since day one… so maybe that has something to do with it. But I really don't know."

Several seconds passed with silence from Cyril, then his hug slackened. His voice shook as he spoke, a torrent of emotions flooding through him. "Do you think it's because of me?"

"What do you mean?" Wave asked. "Why would you think something like that?"

"Teyan hasn't done anything," Cyril murmured. "Even when she corrupted me, she did it to get at people. She used me against you," the finch explained quietly. "But I killed the Widow. It was stupid of me to have thought nothing bad would come of that."

Wave gave him a squeeze, trying to ground him again. "It's… possible that that played a role," she had to agree, however reluctantly, "but you can't blame yourself for doing what had to be done, even when bad things sometimes happen as a result." Jet and I have done that to ourselves far too many times.

"I cant blame myself, but I can sure as fuck blame Nareish," he bit out, his breath getting deeper. "To target one of my friends for something I did?" Cyril couldn't stop himself from briefly teleporting away to let out a loud cry of anger. "I can't stand people like that!" he exclaimed once he returned.

"Cyril, buddy, you've gotta breathe," Wave said. keeping her tone as gentle as possible despite her shock at hearing him swear for once. Or, technically, for the second time. Ever. "I know your emotions are everywhere right now, and that's okay, but you have to try not to let them overwhelm you."

"How can I not?" Cyril cried out, doing his best to keep himself calm so he didn't disturb others. Jet still jumped slightly and glanced over, but he rapidly refocused on his work. "All of my friends are in danger because of me. She's going to target you, Eila, and maybe even Silver, just because I tried to protect everyone!" Tears streamed down his face and he paced around as he tried to compose himself.

"Cyril, this is Nareish we're talking about," Wave tried to reason with him. "It's horrific and I hate to talk or think about it, but she already wants everyone dead. The only variable factor is when she chooses to try and accomplish that goal with each individual person."

Cyril groaned aloud. "That doesn't make it better. She's obviously content to ignore some people provided they don't upset her." The finch sighed a little and a chair appeared behind him, leading to him sitting down in it and just… crying his eyes out. I'm so sorry, Teyan. I'm so, so sorry."

"I know it doesn't make it better," Wave murmured while walking over, "but it does prove my point that it isn't your fault. And Teyan… You're right that she hasn't done anything to Nareish recently, at least that we know of, but she and Nareish already have a big beef with one another. You know about how Teyan and her sister were trapped within their realm, right?"

Cyril nodded slowly. He'd heard about that, absolutely, but something told him he'd be learning more in just a moment. "Yeah."

"Nareish is the one who did that," Wave explained to him. "Teyan is a giant goofball like you are, but she's also a warrior. She and Ythene, her sister, have been helping in the war since day one. Nareish eventually decided she was sick of them and locked them away. Her targeting Teyan, as terrible as it is, isn't anything new. It isn't your fault that Nareish has a grudge against her and decided to possibly use Teyan's friendship with you as an excuse to act on it."

"Doesn't make me feel much better…" Cyril admitted quietly. "This is the first time in… a long time I've felt such… rage? I want to throw something, but the thought of that is making me sick to my stomach."

"I know. And I'm sorry you're going through this. I really am." Wave took a seat beside him and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "But she's going to be okay. Teyan is a warrior, remember? She won't give up this easily."

Cyril put his hands on his knees and frowned. Several thoughts were rushing through his mind right now. "I… Yeah. She'll make it through."

"She really will," Wave insisted softly. "I promise she will."

"I can't just… sit idly by, though," Cyril replied. "People are in danger. There has to be something I can do."

"I don't think there is. Not right now so least." Wave let out a slow breath. "It's a crappy situation, but that's just how things go sometimes."

Cyril ultimately sighed. He didn't like that answer, but the truth remained the truth, no matter how much he hated it. "Yeah… just gotta focus on what I can do."

"For what it's worth," Wave murmured, "I know exactly what it's like being in your position. Wanting to do things but not being able to, I mean. I can't make it better… but I'll be here with you through it all. That's a promise."

"Thank you," Cyril replied in a hushed tone. He refused to look up at Teyan right now. Seeing her state would have no end of negative consequences for his mental state, and he knew he needed a moment to calm down. His heart still felt… shaky.

Wave continued to try and comfort him as Jet and the others worked on healing Teyan. It wasn't long before Jet turned enough to catch her eye, then gestured to the existential being in question. Once Wave noticed how much more easily she was breathing and the fact that most of her injuries appeared to be gone, she sighed softly in relief. Thank god… She's looking better already. I don't doubt she'll need to rest for a while, but this is a marked improvement.

Cyril glanced up to Wave, but yet still refused to look up at Teyan. "I suppose that little shimmer in your eyes means I might be okay to look now, yeah?"

Wave cracked a wan smile. "Yeah, it should be okay now."

The finch visibly hesitated, then glanced over in Teyan's direction. She looked significantly better, sure, but that didn't help him get those images out of his head. I'm so sorry you had to go through that…

"Do you want to stay here with her until she wakes up?" Wave asked him softly. "I'll keep sitting with you if you do."

"Yeah," Cyril replied, sighing and leaning forward as he began typing a message on his communicator. "I'm gonna go ahead and warn Eila and Silver that they may be in danger. They've got their own things going on, but it wouldn't be fair for me to let them go without this knowledge."

"That's a good idea," Wave had to agree. "If Eila doesn't see your message, I'll try and use my psychic abilities to reach her. Silver is usually good about checking his texts, though."

Cyril nodded a little to this. Eila was more likely to ignore or not see something, from what little he admittedly knew of them both. "Yeah, good point." He sent the message to Silver and Eila, letting out a tense breath. Wave decided to stay quiet and let him do his thing for the moment.

Luckily, Eila replied in short order. "Figures. You stay safe and try not to freak out. You are stronger than you realize."

"I'll try. Stay safe." Cyril was met with no reply to that, and he found it reasonable enough. That she'd stopped and answered him was victory enough in this moment.

It wasn't long after that that Silver texted him. "I'll be careful. Got lots of people around to help watch my back. What about you, though? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Wave's here with me."

"Okay, good. Just shoot me another message if you need anything. Or, you know, just pop in whenever. Tails doesn't mind."

"Alright. And same to you, alright? I'll always do my best to pop up for my friends."

"'Course." There was a small pause, then Silver sent another message. "Listen, I've gotta go for now, but you really should come by when you're feeling up to it. I can properly introduce you to my family and we can do fun things to keep your mind off of other stuff for a little while."

"I'll do my best to. Things might get crazy soon and a step away from it all could be nice."

"Sounds good. Take care until then."

"You too." Cyril looked up from his communicator to Wave, smiling. "Alright, they both know."

"Okay, good," Wave answered. She returned his smile a little.

Cyril soon fell quiet, trying to think of something to say or do to focus on… but he ultimately came up empty. The man leaned forward, elbows propped on his knees and holding his upper body up. "I don't regret what I did, no matter how much it hurt to do it. I just… it sucks that other people are suffering because I did the right thing. Really makes all of this harder to process."

"I understand," she murmured. "It's really… difficult to handle situations like these." I only wish that I knew better words to comfort you with.

"This whole… 'being a hero' thing would hurt a lot less if people like Nareish didn't come into existence," he observed quietly. "But hey, that's why people like us are even around, yeah?" Cyril quirked his lips into a smile at Wave, chuckling.

"Not exactly," Wave answered, returning his smile again. "That's not why we're around, but it is why we do what we do. To protect others from people like her. And to stop people like her, obviously. We're going to do it, too, I'm sure of it. I just wish I could make it happen now rather than later, is all."

Cyril chuckled again, then wrapped his arms around Wave firmly. "I never imagined I'd be fighting people, but I'm glad we're getting to do it together. It makes things a little easier."

"Absolutely," Wave had to agree. She hugged him tightly, then pulled back. A much more genuine smile was on her face now. "You really are one of my best friends, you know that? You mean the world to me, and I'm grateful to have you in my life. My weird, over the top, constantly dramatic life."

A little laugh escaped him, and he clung just a bit tighter to his friend. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

"Me either." Wave gave him another little squeeze and decided to change the subject. "Hey… It's not related to any of this, but I do have some good news. Dad's gotten a few of his memories back. He hasn't said what all he remembers, and he still doesn't remember me, Alec, or seemingly any other people he used to know… but it's a start, right?"

Cyril broke away from the hug, a bright smile on his face. "A step in the right direction is always worth celebrating. That's amazing."

"It's all thanks to Eila," Wave further revealed. "Well, her, you, and Jet. I sensed magic from all three of you in whatever that little… sphere-thing was that Eila handed over. I'm guessing she made it, too. I guess it triggers memories to return to people somehow, even when they're gone and not just buried."

"The fact that it can pull them back when they're gone is probably thanks to Jet, but yeah. Eila made the thing and I helped enforce the enchantment and make it stronger… something like that." He chuckled a little and rubbed the back of his head. "She's really good at this sort of stuff."

"She is, yeah." Wave shifted positions so that she could settle back in her seat. "But regardless of the particulars… I'm grateful. More than I think I can ever express. I'll tell them, too, of course, just… figured I may as well start with you since we're already here and all." She tossed him a warm smile. "So, thank you, Cyril, from the bottom of my heart. And before you go on about not needing thanks or whatever, just know that I'm saying it because I want to. So no arguing is allowed."

Cyril had the gall to huff at her, as if she'd done something to slight him, but then he laughed a little. "It's appreciated. I just… do the same thing as always, helping people within my means."

"I know you do," Wave murmured, "but it's worth saying aloud all the same."

"I understand, I suppose." Cyril nudged her with an elbow. "Thanks for sitting here with me. Helped get me out of my funky mood, even if only a little."

"'Course," Wave replied, nudging him right back. Though he didn't have much else to say, Cyril felt comfortable letting the conversation rest where it was, sinking back into his chair to try and relax. It was hard to not think about Teyan's situation, but sitting here with someone he trusted helped… a lot.

All they could do now was wait and hope nothing else happened.

~保護者~

24,116 words this time. Sorry for the long delay, everyone. I've been having an extended visit with family and haven't had much time to write. But anyway, many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support and I hope you all enjoyed! Posted (at about 8:20 p.m.) 09-27-23.