Guardian

by yasha012

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

220. Rescue Mission

Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) during this unwanted reunion… especially for the one who is scheming once again.

~保護者~

"Rescue Mission"

~保護者~

Cyril hadn't moved from his seat, merely moved it closer to Teyan. The only time he moved aside was when someone came by to check on her health. She was doing better, that much was for sure, but he couldn't be convinced fully until he saw her wake up.

The finch didn't know what to do. He knew he couldn't do much as it was, but still felt as if he should be able to do something. The feeling was a painful one that left him often holding his head up with his hands. It was hard to handle, but a surprisingly familiar presence appearing helped in distracting him momentarily. Cyril raised his head up and looked in the direction of this person. Instantly, he noticed that they were not a normal person. The name came out of his mouth as if it were just something he knew. "Rusen?"

The being simply nodded, a smile breaking onto their calm expression. "Yes, Cyril. It has been quite some time since we actively spoke."

Cyril was given pause for several seconds before smiling warmly. "Well, it's good to see ya. How've you been?"

"I have been well. I and my kin lept for many, many eons and are currently partaking in this war where I can," Rusen replied simply, giving a soft sigh. "It has been a pain, really, but it is all for the sake of those living life in this existence."

The finch tilted his head, then shrugged. "Makes sense, honestly. Glad to hear you're okay, though. That's really good!"

Rusen inclined his head and chuckled a little, hiding a pained smile as he watched the bird. Cyril, you are so full of pain right now. I wish I could help you more, but directly intervening may make the next situation worse. "Teyan will be okay, this much I can assure you. However, I must ask you a question."

"Huh? Okay," Cyril replied, tilting his head and raising his eyebrows. "What is it?"

"Do you like Teyan?" The Faein asked, burying a tiny smirk. "You seem quite attached to her."

This question gave the God of Magic pause, putting a hand to his chin to think on it. Well, I mean… I am a bit more inclined to be around her than I am with most people. Maybe he's onto something? "Uh, I guess?"

"You should consider those feelings more deeply," Rusen explained. "I am sure you know well that you and Eila have drifted apart in this sense. Do not bind yourself to something that you already understand will not move forward."

Cyril raised a hand, then lowered it. Also… a really good point. Wait- "You know a lot."

"Yes."

The finch blinked once at the… very lacking answer, then sighed softly. "Well, you've got a good point. I'm not looking for a relationship for the moment, but…" Cyril glanced away. "I just worry about Eila a lot. I know she's not exactly recovered, especially with how violent she is, but maybe it's not my place to stay involved?"

"You are still her friend, but it may be in your best interest to watch more than worry. I think you will be surprised by how well she is doing for herself," Rusen hinted, a smile on his face.

This wasn't at all how Cyril expected today to go after everything that happened recently, but the clarity he felt was certainly helping him clear his thoughts. "I… yeah, that's uh… not a bad idea." The finch wasn't sure what to say or do for a few seconds before just asking, "So you… you know pretty much everything, right?"

"Yes," Rusen admitted calmly, blinking once slowly in Cyril's direction. "I know all that has, is, and can or will be."

"Then I have a question I want to ask," Cyril said quickly. "I'm no Immortal, but I want to keep trying to change the tide of this war. What can I do?"

There was a long pause from the Faein, deciding how best he should answer this. After a few moments, he smiled in a warm manner. "You will make your mark, and you will know when you must step in. Keep going forward and doing the very things you've been doing. That is how you will change things."

That is so surprisingly unhelpful and yet helpful… Cyril found himself chuckling, then laughing a little. "Yeah, I should've expected that. Thanks for the information, though. I appreciate it a lot."

Rusen chuckled in return, the sound almost melodious. "I am very pleased to see the man you have grown to be. When you were just a child, your eyes were so bright and full of life, and the light has never left." He tilted his head, eyes closing. "It was merely tempered with wisdom. In the coming days, you will face some of the greatest trials you have ever faced… but you will certainly come out victorious with a smile on your face. I look forward to how you will impress me next."

Cyril opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly Rusen was gone. He didn't know what to make of any of this, but the finch felt strangely at ease, like having a weight lifted from his chest. He turned his attention to Teyan and sighed softly. You'll be okay. I know it. I'll do everything I can to be here for you when you wake.

~保護者~

It was with trepidation that Espio approached Ryuji's crumbling home. He could feel, and deeply, the distress his grandfather was experiencing. It was hard for him to work out the tangle of emotions that were pressing into him from all sides once he stepped inside. Stress? Guilt? Regret? Other things entirely? He didn't even know. All he knew was that the emotions were trying their damnedest to take over and replace his own, to force him to feel the same things. Only by clinging to his anger at Armaris's situation did he retain any emotional control over himself. Still, one thing was abundantly clear to him. I can't stay long. This is too much.

Gritting his teeth, he steeled himself against the sensations and walked deeper into the home until he found himself kneeling beside Ryuji. He hesitated (both because he didn't like physical contact and because he wasn't sure how Ryuji would react) before setting a hand on his grandfather's shoulder. "...Are you alright?"

Ryuji was now made aware how long he had simply not moved, the telltale ache of muscle atrophy beginning to take hold. He wasn't quite that far into it, but it certainly had been some several hours. "I am not quite well, no," Ryuji answered honestly, pushing himself to sit up and carefully concealing his emotions for Espio's sake. "I made a mistake and I don't quite know how to rectify it. I suppose you have come to inform me of something, however. Speak so we can decide if we have time to discuss this at any length."

Espio was quick to retract his hand. "A demon corrupted Armaris," he said. "I came to inform you. Mother is already out looking for her, and I intend to join her when you and I are finished here. Whether you decide to search as well or not, it is better that you are aware of the situation."

The older man was on his feet as soon as Espio had finished speaking, a hand on his hip. "I presume we will likely end up facing her. I will help. She is family."

Standing as well, Espio nodded. He was grateful for Ryuji's decision. "Father is going to remain here and inform us if she comes back to the Highlands. I'm going to go out and search for her. Do what you will so long as you are careful." He was resolved to speak to his grandfather later about whatever was bothering the man. Now wasn't the time.

"I will search as well," Ryuji informed his grandson. "She is unlikely to evade detection for long. In such a state, it is likely she will act impulsively. We will find her soon."

"That is what I am worried about," Espio admitted as he turned to walk out the door. "That impulsivity, coupled with the corrupted desire she likely has to destroy things she once cared for, means she very well may come here."

"This is true, but we must count what advantages this situation holds for us as well," Ryuji explained.

"There are few, if any."

"Yet still, we can work them in our favor. Regardless, we should go. Finding her is the first step to fixing this."

"Warn your friend," Espio told him suddenly. "He was the one Nareish nearly killed, correct? He should remain here but be on his guard."

"Hm, you are right." Ryuji looked to Espio more fully. "Is there anything else before we part ways?"

"Not unless you have more to say," was the brief reply. Ryuji gently shook his head. Espio acknowledged this with nothing more than a nod and then he teleported away. Ryuji paused for a moment, then took this chance to also teleport, getting himself as close to Haru as he could manage. "Oi, we need to talk."

Haru startled awake, having unintentionally fallen asleep yet again due to how much energy his body had been using lately in order to heal. He grumbled under his breath and sat up. "What?"

"Our grandson's partner was corrupted and is loose elsewhere," Ryuji explained. "I plan to go search for her, but in the case she returns… I think you need to be very careful."

Haru frowned a little. "What's there to be careful of? I've never heard of a cat who could take down a chameleon unless they had Light or Light magic."

"She's half-demon," Ryuji stated casually, as if it were normal.

Hearing that, Haru's eyebrows raised. "...Interesting. Duly noted, I suppose."

Ryuji nodded slowly. "Yes. She is 'interesting'."

Letting out a slight sound that was reminiscent of a "hmph", Haru sat up further. "And let me guess, you want me to sit this out."

"I think you should attempt to," Ryuji explained. "If not for the concern that she could kill you, her energy may well cause more trouble than if you simply died."

The sound Haru made in that moment was an irritable groan. "Fine, whatever," he conceded, laying back down. "Guess I'll keep an eye out from here."

"It's better that way," Ryuji sighed. "We are at risk, too."

"Hardly. Half-demon or not, she has no corruptive powers since she isn't their damned deity, and she won't be able to kill either of us. If she could have, you would be at least a bit more worked up about me staying put than you are right now, judging by your previous behavior."

"But our Darkness could be riled as a result of exposure," Ryuji murmured. "I have observed a mist or… perhaps more a fog that hangs in the air when she exerts her Darkness. It interacts harshly with my own."

Haru really did "hmph" at him this time. "Fine. I'll keep that in mind."

"Thank you."

Admittedly, those two words managed to surprise Haru. Of all the things Ryuji might have said, he wasn't expecting that. Still, he kept his surprise to himself. All he did was glance at the other man and say, "...Sure."

Ryuji wasn't sure what else to say at this point, so he simply teleported away. Though he wasn't terribly close to Armaris, she had shown an immense amount of trust in him already. That… and he was certain she was soon to be a true part of the family. He wasn't going to let something happen to her. They needed to find her.

~保護者~

Steam had taken his chance to get in contact with a few of the deities, specifically Locke, Finis, and Althea. He'd informed them of the planned raid, and asked them to get in contact with others to spread the word quickly. He didn't have time to spread it all on his own.

The hedgehog caught sight of Dark Gaia the moment he teleported back to Mobius. His breath hitched, knowing he didn't have any longer to wait. A sigh escaped him as he once more teleported away, back to the Realms of Death, more specifically the part Kaden and Zareil were hidden within.

Kaden was quick, as per usual, to show up. He was wearing the same frown he always wore during dire situations. Considering that he was about to for the third time face a threat that had killed him once, put him in a coma another time, killed Analia once, orphaned their son, and split their world apart… Needless to say, that frown was warranted. "I assume it's time," he said, crossing his arms.

Steam nodded slowly. "Yeah, it's time. We've got allies, but as we all know, this is gonna take a bit of everything we have. Almost immediately after we take down Dark Gaia, I'm going to organize and conduct a raid on Nareish's realm. You both are free to take part," Steam glanced in Zareil's direction, the woman standing there with arms similarly crossed. "Or stay away. I already have a plan to help deal with Nareish, so she won't have a chance to target you if you go."

"I'm going," Kaden muttered, frown deepening to a degree. He said nothing more on the subject.

"Same here," Zareil assented. "To stand idly by would be cowardice. I wished to face Amnikaribah as well."

That caused Kaden to briefly grit his teeth. "...Is Amnikaribah still controlling my father?" he eventually asked Steam.

"I… I don't think so," Steam explained slowly. "The shift I sensed from when Amnikaribah possessed Satsuno has alleviated. I haven't heard from anyone that the situation has been handled, though."

Unhappy though he was at the lack of a definite answer to his query, Kaden kept it to himself. "Let's go," he sighed. "We're wasting time."

"I'll find an actual answer for you soon," Steam replied, watching as Zareil drew closer to the two hedgehogs. Steam wasted no more time and teleported the three of them onto Mobius, taking care to land outside of Tails's house. Kaden said nothing this time, growing tense and quiet the moment he set foot on Mobian soil… much less in a location that was as familiar to him as this one. Steam turned to Kaden with a wan smile. "Try to take it easy, okay?" All he got in response was an uncommunicative shrug, as was often the case when Kaden (usually during periods of stress) abruptly stopped talking to people.

Steam tried to not respond to this behavior, focusing on the situation at hand. He opened the door and stepped inside, while Zareil walked up to Kaden and set a hand on his shoulder. "I am by your side."

I know that. Kaden didn't deign to voice this thought, since he knew that she knew. He just nodded instead.

"Go," Zareil murmured. "They will cause you no harm while I am here, and I doubt they would anyway." She was trying her best to be gentle, but it remained in her harsher natural tone.

Although he had no desire to obey her right now, Kaden was in no doubt that she'd either contemplate drastic measures… or simply waltz in alone and not care about any potential conflicts or chaos that would ensue. In the interest of avoiding either of those scenarios, he reluctantly forced his stiff legs to move and carry him inside. I shouldn't be here, was the first of many negative thoughts that started flooding his mind (as per usual), and it was currently the loudest. This is wrong. Zareil could sense the turmoil he was experiencing and chose to stay close behind him, grabbing one of his hands so he couldn't attempt to isolate himself from her.

Peoples' reactions were immediate. Eyes swung to face the pair and a hush fell over the group gathered inside. However, those who had known him in the past were still very aware of his aversion to being the center of attention. Sonic especially remembered this, and he was quick to try and refocus everyone else. He threw a small smile in his father's direction before asking, "Silver, how far away is it now?"

Silver concentrated for a moment. "It's hard to judge since it's sort of taking a meandering path instead of going straight, but I think at most we have maybe ten minutes before it hits the outer layers of the atmosphere."

"I was distinctly pulled away from the chance to encounter this beast when I was younger, so I am woefully unaware of what we can do. I presume attempting to prevent its landfall is a task doomed to fail?" Eila questioned softly. She had made direct eye contact with Zareil for several seconds, only refocusing when Silver spoke.

This elicited a groan from Locke, who had decided to join the group despite his ongoing emotional agony. "We'll be lucky to even just kill the thing, much less stop it from going wherever it wants. I'll consider it a victory so long as it dies and the planet's surface doesn't get shattered again."

Steam nodded. "It's a powerful creature, and the war has worn everyone down. I think we can kill it, though. We have more help than I initially anticipated we could gather."

"We coulda had more if more people'd answered me," Locke sighed. "I couldn't even get ahold of Jet. Thought for sure he'd show for this. For that matter, I didn't get anything from Cere, Nier, or Therin, either."

"We'll have to check in with them. I haven't heard much from those three either, now that you mention it," Steam replied, wearing a sudden frown.

"We can't afford to sit around and wait for more people to maybe show up," Sonic said. "We need to get a move on now, before we run out of time."

"Sonic's right," Amy agreed. "Whatever last minute things you all need to do should be taken care of while you have the chance."

Eila cut in briefly, standing up. "Forgive me for changing subjects. Cere is in the medical ward of Babylon, injured recently. Therin appears to be comatose near Sona. He only just lapsed into that state recently. I cannot find Nier anywhere as of this moment, and I will not attempt to track Jet for obvious reasons."

"He's comatose?" Locke echoed, alarmed. "Tell me where Sona and Therin are. I can't help in this fight right now anyway and we all know it. I need to check on those two. As for Nier, getting ahold of Jet is usually the best way to contact that guy considering where he hangs around most days."

"I'll send a message to Jet," Steam said quickly. He was already typing at his communicator.

"The home of the Deity of the Stars," Eila replied, looking to Locke. "I presume you can make it there on your own?"

Locke nodded and strode out the door without another word… at first. He paused by Kaden long enough to murmur in a far kinder tone, "You and I will talk later, alright?" Then he walked out and soon disappeared in a flash of sunlight. Kaden, meanwhile, sort of winced but continued to say nothing.

Sonic felt his ears lower a bit at that interaction. However, he forced himself to refocus on the more important situation at hand. "Steam, anything from Jet?"

"Nothing just yet," Steam explained. "He very well may be preoccupied."

That wasn't anything out of character for his best friend, Sonic knew. Jet seldom, if ever, responded immediately to text messages. He was typically just too busy to check them. However, the telltale chime of Steam's notification tone told him that Jet had probably just gotten back to Steam. That oughta be him.

The message to Steam was indeed from Jet. It was concise and to the point. "I'm already searching for Nier. I can't find him, either. I have a clone with Shadow to help retrieve the baby and both he and my clone will keep an eye out for Nier in case Nareish did something."

"Good. Let me know if this turns up anything, or if we need to change gears."

"I will."

"Jet isn't sure where Nier is either, but he's actively looking," Steam explained simply.

"Okay, so we don't have any deity help," Silver commented. "Hopefully that's not… bad."

Eila sighed gently. "Seems not, but we should be able to suffice. Call it a hopeful guess if you wish, though."

"Eh, having Therin would've been nice, though. He could've helped keep an eye on Dark Gaia and its little monsters, based on what I've heard about him." Silver shrugged and stood up. "Guess we can do that, too, though. That way, everyone else can focus more on just the fighting part."

"I'll take on that role," Eila murmured. "Doing so is hardly taxing on me, and splitting my attention in such a way will be no detriment to my ability to fight."

"Listen lady," Silver said with a teasing lilt to his voice, "we're friends now and so you're one hundred percent required to accept me helping you. Just saying."

"I don't see a way that you can force me to do so," Eila returned dryly, smirking.

"Do not challenge him so blatantly," Blaze warned. "He will find a way. Believe me, I would know."

Silver grinned like the adult child he was, then got serious again. "Just a few more minutes. Also, we're so lucky that it's actually insane. It's looking like it'll hit Artika. Hardly anyone lives there in comparison to this continent. Much easier to evacuate on short notice."

Eila briefly turned to Sonic. "Would you require any sort of protection from the snow and water?"

With a shake of his head, Sonic teleported a very familiar and treasured red scarf into his hands. "Jet let me borrow this last time I was on A'latria and I sort of forgot to give it back. It's got some sort of a spell on it that keeps the wearer warm, I guess. So I'll be fine."

Zareil glanced at Kaden, an eyebrow raised. "And you?" she whispered.

Since he still didn't feel like talking, Kaden merely projected his thoughts to her for a second. "I'll be fine."

Eila glanced at Kaden and cast a spell subtly. "That should be enough, just in case," she told him mentally. Emerald eyes flashed her way in mute surprise, then quickly darted away the instant their owner paid enough attention to recognize her. His emotions immediately became contrite and guilty and the like all over again, but he was swift to hide it all from the senses of others this time. "May I speak to you in private for a moment, Kaden?"

He was reluctant. Very reluctant, in fact. But, eventually, Kaden gave in and answered her. "Why?"

"I do not blame you for anything in the past. I understand the life you were forced to live, and so do your allies. Take your time recovering, but understand that these people will welcome you back with open arms. They accepted me, after everything I did."

Logically, he knew she was right. It was just… difficult to get his emotions to agree, much less to get them to stop overwhelming his thoughts all the time. None of which he revealed to her, of course. Still, he didn't argue, either. "...I know that is what they will do," he eventually acknowledged. "I am fully aware of how they are."

"Then ask yourself this. If I was found to not deserve persecution by Jet, the very man I controlled, manipulated, tortured, and made to fight his own parents… do you? We did not live the exact same life, but we were painfully similar in the times of our corruption." She got a subtle and fairly noncommittal shrug in answer. Meanwhile, most of the rest of the group continued to ready themselves, paying no mind to the pair of them. "I will not burden you much longer with this presence in your mind, but I have one final piece of advice to impart. You will not recover alone, by keeping everything to yourself. It will spill out and cause pain to those you love if you contain it. Allow it out, even if only in small doses with the people who once loved you. It may help."

A new memory came to him entirely unexpectedly. It was something Saran had once said to him when he'd been young. Something about one's soul not being a coffin to bury pains and sorrows within or… something along those lines. He almost sighed. If she is speaking the same way he does… The thought trailed off, but he was left with the lingering sense that she did have a point.

"If you have anything you wish to say, you are welcome to speak. Otherwise, I will remove my presence and allow Zareil to speak to you. She appears to have noticed this conversation."

Kaden subtly shook his head and glanced at Zareil, deciding to just wait for her to speak if she so chose. "What was that about?" the Erukti questioned. "Was it Astra?" At this point, Eila's presence entirely left Kaden's mind.

"Eila," Kaden idly corrected, having learned the other woman's true name as a consequence of their prolonged mental contact. "And yes."

"Did she disturb you in any way? I can maim her if necessary," Zareil murmured.

Still much too used to the violent life of a demon, Kaden didn't even bat an eye at this offer. He did attempt redirect his partner, however. "Save your aggression for Dark Gaia. It is the only thing you need to maim."

"I feel as if this will be far less possible," the woman huffed at him.

Silver's voice interrupted this exchange. "Okay, we need to move, guys," he said, his voice urgent. "I've just about finished teleporting the people away from the danger zone, and Dark Gaia is real close to landing."

Eila hummed in reply. "I'm going." She didn't wait for anything else, teleporting herself away.

Looking grim, Blaze stood from the couch where she'd been sitting. "We should all get going."

Steam nodded at this, standing up straighter. "Let's get this shit done." He teleported after Eila, knowing that time was of the essence now more than ever. Kohaku, Silver, Blaze, Sonic, Kaden, and Zareil all followed him.

Sonic gazed up into the sky and drew Caliburn. "Now or never, I guess," he muttered, eyes watching intently as an all too familiar monstrous shape gradually descended upon them from above.

While Steam prepared himself by taking to the sky, Eila conjured up magic circles in the sky, spreading them up into the atmosphere in preparation for Dark Gaia to come closer. Silver likewise took flight, leaving everyone else on the ground. Light gathered in Kohaku's hands. Fire gathered in Blaze's. Kaden teleported Saika to himself, while Zareil summoned her spear into her own hand. Meanwhile, Sonic watched intently as their foe descended upon them, his ears reflexively going back when it bellowed a monstrous roar at them. He swallowed thickly. Any minute now…

As soon as the beast breached the atmosphere, Eila outstretched a hand and shouted, "Chains of Eminence!" From the magic circles, chains of her purple magic shot out at the massive creature and wrapped tightly around it, trying to drag it back away from the planet.

Dark Gaia let out a bellowing roar and writhed in its restraints. Only a moment later, they shattered and it loosed a beam of Darkness straight at her. Kohaku's Light flared into being between her and the attack to protect her, however, as Silver worked on trying to help recapture the creature. Eila twisted in reply to the attack, only stopping once she realized that Kohaku had protected her. Immediately, magical bonds snapped back to life alongside Silver's own attempts.

Again, Dark Gaia broke free. Its creatures began appearing on the ground, forcing those who were on crowd control duty to get a move on. Kaden released a wave of his magic just as Blaze did the same with her fire. Sonic got to work with his sword in the meantime, glancing skyward for a second when he saw Kohaku blast Dark Gaia again. His Light was soon joined by another, more powerful source of that energy. Smiling, Sonic turned his attention back to his own part of the fight. Mom's here.

Sighing, Analia flew up to where Eila and Silver were. "I apologize for being late." With that, she got straight to business. "Attempting to restrain it is futile, young ones. We must simply destroy it." Glancing downward and a ways to the east, she spied it when Kaden let out another attack. She knew a careful reunion was in order… but now was not the time. As such, she was careful to keep her energies from his senses.

Eila sighed a little. "If only I had known sooner," she muttered, raising a hand and loosing explosions of magic across Dark Gaia's massive body, eyes glowing. "I am far too tired to keep wasting my energy."

"Then do not," Analia answered. "Silver, I would like you to go help with the smaller creatures. That would be the best use of your skills here." Her grandson saluted semi-jokingly before teleporting further down. Analia turned her attention back to Eila. "If you believe you are too tired," she murmured while creating an explosion of Light under their foe to keep it from reaching the ground, "then I would ask that you assist him. So long as Kohaku and I work together, we can keep Dark Gaia at bay until a better plan is thought of."

"I said I am too tired to waste my energy," Eila huffed, flicking her hand to the side and launching several of Dark Gaia's creatures at its body, filling them to the brim with magic so they exploded on contact.

"I am aware," Analia replied with a small smile. From somewhere down below, Kohaku slammed a fresh attack into Dark Gaia's side. It roared and tried to trample him, but a flash of blue revealed that Sonic had whisked him away in time. So it has made landfall despite our efforts. This is not ideal. Flurries of snow were thrown up, obscuring her vision even as she gathered fresh Light into her hands. "We must end this quickly, before it has a chance to burrow to the core of our world once more."

Eila opened her mouth to speak, then frowned as she watched a golden flash appear near the head of the creature, followed by a pillar of flame. "Seems Steam has found a point of attack," she murmured, creating an array of magical weapons in the sky. "I will aid him in applying pressure to keep it back. I'll think of a plan in due time."

Analia let her dual attacks fly, her mind tiredly working all the while. "...Tell me something if you can, please," she soon requested. Her eyes watched Dark Gaia take flight again and start throwing massive balls of Darkness around in an uncoordinated and animalistic manner. It was just a creature, after all. "Does the deity known as Saethrim still live? I heard tales of him when I was a girl, though we never had the pleasure of meeting."

"He lives, but only as a matter of revival." Seeing the attacks of Dark Gaia fly dangerously close to her allies, careful waves of magic rippled over the battlefield and shifted the very ground they stood on, disconnecting it so the eventual shockwaves couldn't even threaten to topple them. "Why?"

"This is no ordinary being," Analia answered quietly. "Beings such as this are typically classified as mythical in nature. That means this one, if I am correct, falls under his domain in the event that he retains his role. Perhaps he can at the very least calm it."

Eila tilted her head briefly, then raised an eyebrow. "I presume you mean for me to reach out for him?"

"Please, if you are able." Analia again blasted Dark Gaia when it tried to get back to the ground. It roared very directly at her in particular, and she knew better than to not put up a barrier around herself in response. Sure enough, Darkness began gathering visibly within its maw.

Rather than teleport herself, Eila simply backed away several meters and reached out mentally to find Saethrim. Searching for someone like him was difficult, if only because he was not an average person. However, he could be contacted. He even seemed to expect a mental contact, as if he'd been waiting for news of disaster from someone. "What do you want? ...Wait, you're not one of those I rule over."

"No," Eila replied, watching Dark Gaia quietly. Its attack was building strength rapidly and would soon be released. "But I am fighting one. Your aid is necessary."

"How necessary?" Even as she began sharing the image of the sight before her, he sensed it. He had known about this creature for a long time, and not getting to ever stop it was one of the few things he regretted. Saethrim appeared in front of Eila and Analia, a frown on his face. "Never mind, I see what you're talking about."

At about the same time that he finished talking, Dark Gaia attacked. The massive beam of Darkness slammed into Analia's barrier, parting the beam just enough to keep Eila out of harm's way as well. Still, the fact that Analia wasn't yet at full strength meant she would have struggled to maintain her defenses had Kohaku and Silver both not used their own energies to help her. Thank you both, she silently told them, not that they could hear her. Eila summoned up her own barriers alongside the defenses of the others, just to make sure nothing could go wrong.

Saethrim, however, simply raised a hand while consumed by the beam and manipulated the space in front of them so that the energy came careening back down on the creature's head. "You didn't deserve this life, nor did you ask for it…" he muttered quietly, sighing. "You two, get everyone out of this area, or at least away from underneath it."

Peaceful green eyes glanced at him. Then Analia nodded. "Alright." She wasted no time in beginning to teleport people away from the area whether they liked it or not. It was a task she finished quickly - at least for the most part. I am not surprised that I could not teleport Zareil against her will. She does not exactly care for me or my activities.

Eila cast a glance at Analia, then snapped her fingers and forcibly sent Zareil flying in a direction away from Dark Gaia. "Sometimes people have too much tact," she complained, turning to watch Saethrim.

The da Asani watched the creature recover from his attempt at confusing it, staring deeply into the creature's eyes. Another sigh escaped him and he shook his head. Damn you, Nareish. Warping himself over to Dark Gaia, he reared back and punched it, driving a massive hole through its head and killing it on impact. I'm so sorry you had to suffer like this. You deserved a better life, something peaceful.

Analia blinked a couple of times, then casually teleported Steam back to the area. She used her magic to keep him aloft by her side. "It would seem that the fight has ended," she informed him.

Steam blinked as well, watching as Saethrim lifted the creature up after its limp body crashed to the ground. "Yeah. And I guess we've found one of our last Immortals."

She glanced at him, her head tilted slightly to one side. "Whatever do you mean?"

"He has a point," Eila murmured. "We are quite powerful semi-Immortals. While I do not compare to yourself and Kaden, to know that my own attacks did very little was disturbing. Even more so is how much his did do with brute strength alone."

"I am afraid that I do not understand," Analia was forced to confess. "There are already four Immortals."

"You're a bit out of the loop," Steam said with a small chuckle. "More Immortals are coming into existence to govern specific things. Void, Time, Space, Aether, Mythical Creatures... The normal four Immortals will remain, but there are simply more now."

"...I see." Analia took this information in for a moment before saying, "Perhaps you should also inform Saethrim of this. It would seem that he also does not know, at least not about your suspicions that he is becoming one of them."

Steam glanced to Saethrim, watching him disappear with the body of Dark Gaia. "I think he needs some time. To have to kill something like that… I doubt he's feeling very good."

"I understand," Analia agreed. On that note, she mentally reached out to the man before he could get too far out of her range. "I thank you for your help, Saethrim." After a second, she sought to explain who she was. "My name is Analia. I was the child deity of Life and Nature many, many moons ago, the one who passed the roles away before ever finishing her training. I apologize that we never met before, but if you ever need help like we just did… I would be happy to repay the favor."

"You're welcome." Rather than continuing to bother him, Analia gently pulled away and ended their connection. Saethrim gave himself some time to carry this body, as if giving the creature its last moments of peace before approaching the ever present pull of what he knew to be a black hole. Already, the tail end of this creature was teased upward and toward its center, and he soon released it. Here, nothing could bother its body ever again, and perhaps its soul could rest in the Realms of Death. He would need to see to that, if it had even been given a soul. Once more, I am so sorry, Dark Gaia. For you to have suffered through this hurts me as much as it did you. I will get revenge on Nareish in your name. One day.

He allowed himself to linger, even as this gravitational force tried to drag him in. Azanae had once explained the nature of these occurrences to him, these "black holes" as they were. He could only take solace in the fact that it didn't have to suffer more through actually being sucked into this. It was scarcely a few seconds, but it felt like minutes before he turned away and reappeared on that planet he'd been staying on with Black Doom as of late. He wouldn't bother someone with these emotions, not right now. Black Doom didn't deserve that.

Besides, he was the only one who could truly understand what had just happened.

~保護者~

For the first time in a long time, Seiko found herself out of breath. Or perhaps, losing track of how to breathe. The intense relief washing over her body made her somehow feel cold. Carefully, she laid her partner out on the bed to let him rest. He would need it dearly after everything he'd been through, assuming he didn't need more help in the future. That would have to be dealt with when it came around. For now, she was just glad the demon wasn't in him anymore.

She didn't have long with her silence (despite it never being broken). Myriu made herself known with her aura while walking into the room. Seiko turned to regard her, only to be ignored as the kid walked up to the bed. "Is he okay?"

"Yes, though he needs rest," Seiko replied softly, kneeling down by Myriu. The young chameleon was in visible turmoil. She had quickly become close to Satsuno, obviously looking up to him in some manner. "Are you okay, young one? If you would allow me, I would like to help."

Myriu frowned, never once looking away from Satsuno. "He was possessed by some demon… wasn't he?"

Seiko winced. The girl's observational skills were far better than she would have expected for someone her age - even for a chameleon, so far as Seiko knew. How she knew it was a demon was beyond Seiko. Though… perhaps she had heard it somewhere. "Yes, he was," Seiko admitted. "He was possessed by a powerful demon who wanted to do bad things."

"Don't talk like I'm some little kid," Myriu muttered, aura darkening. "That's why I like Satsuno. He didn't make me feel little."

"It was never my intention," Seiko replied, setting a hand on Myriu's back. "Please, forgive me. I'll talk more like a grown-up with you. You're very smart and have some strong senses." When Myriu didn't say much to this, Seiko decided to impart some information… even though she would never do so in full to a child so young. "The demon was the original God of Demons," Seiko whispered. "The worst of the worst. That's why everyone was so deeply concerned about it."

Though her mood didn't lighten, the child's aura didn't get any darker. If anything, it seemed to put her at ease somehow. "I see… Did… its energies affect him? I know beings of Darkness are susceptible… More so than others."

I wonder if you learned that by eavesdropping… "It may have… though if it did, it did so deep within him. For now, we must wait to see how he is when he wakes." Seiko took another chance and picked Myriu up off the ground, cradling an arm under her legs to hold her close. "You can sit with me, if you want. We can wait for him together."

"Okay." Myriu's assent was marked with her relaxing into Seiko's touch somewhat, though she remained tense from being held by what was still a stranger to her. "You managed to get that demon out without hurting him?"

"It took a lot of effort… and it still brought him some pain. He is not outwardly injured, however. I am quite pleased about that." Seiko smiled toward Myriu, the expression fading when she saw the intense look of worry she bore. "Young one, he will be fine. The Immortals… the gods and goddesses… they are all on our side. We will make sure he is well."

"That's good…" Myriu sat in thought for a moment, then asked an unusual question. "Are the Immortals like the lady I met a while ago? Utavi?"

Seiko's eyes widened with surprise. "Myriu, you met one of the Faein? To believe you have been granted such a gift as to be in contact with them… You truly are special."

"She was really nice… We talked about stuff and she hugged me. I fell asleep in her arms… I think," Myriu murmured.

"You were under the direct protection of one of the creators of existence," Seiko explained. "One of the beings who made everything that has been, is, or ever will be possible."

Seiko obviously held this being with reverence, so Myriu withheld her comment. She'd grown to like this woman, much like she did with Satsuno. She didn't want to upset the hedgehog lady. "She was very nice. I could tell she liked talking to me."

With a soft chuckle, Seiko walked around to the opposite side of the bed and climbed onto it, leaning against the headboard. "I am glad. I hope you learned a lot from her."

"I did," Myriu murmured, unintentionally leaning against Seiko.

Seiko could tell she was tired by the way she kept raising her head back up every few seconds. Rather than tease her, she let the child slowly drift off. Myriu had likely worried herself to the point of exhaustion over Satsuno, so she had no desire to make the girl wait any longer for rest. Sleep well, sweet child. He will wake at some point… and I will make sure you can witness that with me.

As it turned out, it didn't take Satsuno quite as long as it usually did for him to drift toward some semblance of consciousness. He let out a soft sound of pain and shifted his head onto its side before mumbling a disoriented, "...S… Seiko…?" That question was pretty typical of him when he was first waking up after such events. He always sought her presence in these moments. It went without saying that he trusted her with every fiber of his being, after all.

Gently, Seiko set Myriu down and moved closer to Satsuno, taking one of his hands in her own. "Yes, dear. I am here with you," she murmured gently. "A certain child has come to see you as well." Satsuno mumbled something back and tried to find the energy to squint open his eyes. Ultimately, he didn't succeed. "Don't push yourself." Seiko set a hand on his forehead, rubbing a thumb against his fur. "Try to relax… you need it."

He didn't reply for a long moment. After wracking his brain in an attempt to remember, as futile as that was, he asked. "What happened…?" It was a possession, that much he was aware of, but the details were utterly lacking for him. That was something he hated.

"Do you want to know, or would you prefer more rest to comprehend it all?" Seiko gently asked.

Satsuno shook his head slowly. "Just tell me," he murmured. His voice had regained a fragment of its usual strength already. "...Please."

She gave a soft sigh. "Amnikaribah, the same demon that corrupted our son, took control of your body."

Hearing this, he immediately tensed. "Is... Kaden alright?"

"He is. You never came across him in that time, luckily," Seiko answered, petting his head comfortingly. "Relax." Satsuno let out a shaky breath, relieved beyond words to receive that news. "I know little of what happened while you were possessed, but to my knowledge, he did not accomplish a great deal of damage. Ylden's daughter was corrupted, though. That much I will say now."

Now Satsuno felt a pang of guilt, though he knew it wasn't technically he himself who had done these things. "...I see."

"It will be alright. Others have already been notified of the situation, including Ylden himself. He did not take the news quite well."

"Of course he did not," Satsuno answered softly. "That is his daughter."

"...He is having some other sort of trouble, Satsuno," Seiko explained. "I have never seen him so… hateful and angry. Truth be told, his entire being felt out of control."

The ancient king considered this for a time. His eyes finally drifted open in order to contemplate the far wall. "I have never seen him like that, either," he eventually said. "I do not know what the cause may be."

"There is likely external strain being placed on him." Seiko sighed softly, squeezing her partner's hand.

"I do not know by what," Satsuno reiterated, returning the squeeze with what little strength he had right now.

"For now, we must allow him to try and collect himself," Seiko replied gently.

Her gaze fell on Myriu as the girl (who had apparently woken up) crawled over and set her hands on Satsuno's side. "Are you okay?" The girl asked gently.

"I am alright," he assured her quietly. "I am merely tired. …And somewhat sore. Otherwise, I am fine."

The chameleon laid against his side quietly. "I'm glad." Satsuno placed a comforting hand on her head, hoping to help her feel better even though he didn't know how to do so with words here.

Seiko sat up against the headboard. "How about you both get some sleep? I'll keep an eye on things here."

"Alright," he agreed quietly. There was no strength in him to argue, so he just closed his eyes. Myriu didn't even bother replying, nestling herself in close to Satsuno and drifting off.

~保護者~

The moment Toru returned home, Shadow knew that someone must have tipped him off that something was about to go down. All that Toru was lacking, apparently, were details. Shadow got Lia off to bed (he wasn't sure, but she seemed to be regaining some of her energy finally) and made sure that Soren was busy in his room. Then he collected the baby off of his own bed before meeting Toru in the living room. "I need you to stay here and watch the children," he murmured. "Jet and Steam contacted me about an infant Nareish is holding within her realm. I still need to speak with Jet to know precisely what the plan is, and I am going regardless of what he says." I cannot ignore a child in peril… nor leave one in the custody of someone even worse than him.

Toru decidedly did not like that news. "First off, you're going right into the most dangerous place in existence. Second, you're actively putting yourself at risk just going to that realm. And you're going alone?" The chameleon questioned, narrowing his eyes. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm certain," Shadow muttered. "I'm aware of the risks, Toru, but this isn't something I can ignore."

"If you're sure, then I agree with you entirely." Toru walked closer and wrapped an arm around Shadow. "You'd better be damn careful."

Shadow returned the gesture a little before passing Elize over to him. She let out a tiny noise of complaint before settling down again. "I will contact you as soon as I'm done."

"You better," Toru huffed, holding Elize close. "And again, be careful."

"I will," Shadow assured him. He took one last moment to mentally prepare himself before teleporting away. He reappeared on New Babylon, where he suspected Jet was waiting for him, and instinctively followed his nose in place of his other senses in order to find the hawk. How he knew Jet's scent already, he wasn't sure. It didn't matter either way. The point was that he was able to track Jet down in the man's old room and get the details he needed from him.

Nareish had a baby in her realm, one that she'd possibly created herself using magic.

No one knew how old the baby was, what shape they were in, or where specifically they were located.

The baby was in some form of distress and was quite possibly in mortal danger.

All this together meant that he had to act fast. On the surface, the plan was simple. Sneak in, find the baby, and sneak back out without getting either of them killed. Jet would be on standby and paying very close attention, ready to whisk Shadow (and the baby, ideally) out of there at the first hint of real danger. Now all that was left to do was actually accomplishing any of this. With any luck, nothing would manage to go horribly wrong… for once in his life.

Jet teleported Shadow in. As soon as he appeared within the dark corridors of whatever structure he found himself within, Shadow crouched low and slipped into the deep darkness that had given him his name. Staying low to the ground and moving swiftly, he made his way down the corridor as silently as possible.

Already, he was overwhelmed by the smell of corruption and evil. There was blood, too. So much blood. Some was old, some was fresh. Some belonged to pyrzar beasts, the already corrupted demons that Nareish had stolen and further corrupted - well beyond the point of recognition. Some belonged to people of various races. He picked up on da Asani, Babylonian, various types of yokai, even echidna, and those were just the races that he could actually name. Even animals and creatures weren't safe, judging by the kelpie, dragon, snake, arachnid, sheep, and non-Babylonian (and thus purely animal) bird blood he was smelling.

The reason for the murders she was carrying out on creatures and animals escaped him. It was more important to focus on trying to sift through these scents to find that of a baby, anyway. Don't smell like blood, he silently willed the unknown child. Feeling uneasy and not to mention vulnerable, he kept moving while trying to pick up on any scent-related clues in the air. Don't you dare be injured.

A new thought occurred to him as he edged around a blind corner. If Nareish had created this child like Steam suspected and Jet agreed was a possibility, then it stood to reason she would keep that child somewhat close. Which meant he was probably going to make his way to her throne room… wherever that was. Fucking fantastic. He hadn't set foot in that place more than once, on the day she'd decided to play a twisted "game" with himself, Silver, Toru, and several others. The bitch had slit his throat at the end and left him for dead. It still pissed him off, even all this time later. However, he was careful to keep his emotions under wraps so as to not draw any attention toward himself.

As it was, he wasn't sure how he hadn't been detected yet- a thought which came into sharper focus when a soldier marched past him and out of sight without even batting an eye. Steam and Jet both seemed to think he had some sort of stealth powers now… but nothing seemed any different to him apart from the powerful instinct he'd felt that had led to him gravitating to the shadows as soon as he'd decided he wanted to be hidden. Otherwise, it didn't seem that anything had changed. If anything, wasn't he a bit more noticeable now that his eyes had that dull glow to them in unlit areas?

He was distracted from that thought when a new scent hit his nose. It was more blood. Because of course it was. And, just like always, he instinctively knew the source of much of the blood as soon as he became aware of it. Wolf and… something else. A race whose blood I've never encountered before. And the person is… Frowning, Shadow tried to concentrate even as a chorus of demonic screams rose up from somewhere nearby and threatened to entirely throw him off track. They're half-vampire? Is that what that smell is?

In the end, he supposed it didn't really matter. The point was that this appeared to be the baby he was looking for. The fact that the baby smelled like blood had his own blood boiling and sent him down the halls at a much faster pace than before. It was far easier to navigate this damn maze of a structure now that he had a scent to follow. He damn-near sprinted to where the source of the smell was located, despite how completely noticeable that would have made him. Only when he was on the other side of the damn steel cell door that appeared to be the final thing separating him from the baby did he slow to a stop.

Now he had a new problem to consider. How to get inside without being heard? There was no telling how screechy or otherwise loud that door might prove to be… which meant he needed to find another way. A teleportation would normally be the obvious choice, if not for the fact that that could tip off Nareish. Even if none of her lackeyes noticed, she would. It wasn't like he could phase through the door or anything, either. At least for this one moment, he sort of wished he'd kept that power rather than letting the Faein remove it from him along with all those other random abilities he'd gotten sometime ago. But the fact remained that the power was gone and he needed to get through here. So option one it was.

Carefully, oh so carefully, he took hold of the door's handle and tried to turn it. There was no noise so far, thankfully. Nareish hadn't locked it, either. Why would she have bothered? Her prisoner was a baby, and none who resided here would dare disobey her wishes by taking said baby out of this cell. They also didn't appear to be lingering in the area for the same reason. It worked to his advantage, since it bought him time to slowly pull the door open, slip inside, and then just as slowly pull it shut again.

Shadow released a small breath, willing the tension to leave him so that he didn't further disturb the sleeping baby he was now a mere foot away from. With gentle hands, he gathered the unclothed and unwrapped little boy up and held him close. The fact that this got little more than a weak whimper in response was bad enough. What was even worse was the fact that the boy's pitch black fur was matted with slowly drying blood. Based on the blood he was seeing elsewhere in this cell, it didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. That fucking bastard threw him against a wall. Motherfucker.

Using his mental link to his communicator, he opened a group chat between himself, Jet, Steam, and Toru. "Jet, get me out of here. I have the baby. Send us both to Tails's house now. Steam, the baby has serious head trauma at the very least and Amy needs to be told so she can heal him. He can't be more than a day old and a hit like the one he took should have killed him already at this fragile age. He doesn't have much time left. Toru, I'll be back as soon as the baby is stabilized."

Jet's response was immediate. "Hang tight for just a minute longer. I need to wait for Nareish to move away again before I teleport you anywhere. She came close enough that she'll sense it instantly if I do anything."

"Fine," Shadow answered with gritted teeth while he waited for an answer from the others… and, far more importantly, tried to keep the little boy he was cradling awake and alive. The life was slowly fading from this innocent victim of Nareish's violence… and Shadow couldn't stand not being able to do anything about it.

"I'm getting Amy now. I'll call for Rose as well to come help if I can get her. Nareish harming this baby may mean that Amy can't do much," Steam replied.

"Get whoever the hell you can," was all Shadow said in reply, holding the tiny baby closer. He tried his best to keep calm, but the ever-present scent of blood was admittedly freaking him the fuck out in this scenario.

Toru's reply came shortly after Steam's. "Take all the time you need, Shadow. Breathe, while you're at it."

"Shut up. I'm fine." With that reply sent, Shadow waited as patiently as he could for Jet to get him and the baby out of here… which happened to be done mere seconds later. He landed right next to Steam.

Rather than risk the protective instincts of a new parent and vampire at the same time, Steam stepped aside and motioned toward Amy. She rushed over and quickly took the infant from Shadow. While she got to work, Shadow tensely asked Steam, "Were you able to contact Rose?"

"Eila is doing so now," Steam replied quickly, watching Amy. "Rose has apparently been difficult to reach lately." Shadow muttered something under his breath, displeased to say the very least, but offered no further comment. Steam paused briefly, then frowned. "She and Kial have been stuck in a deadlock with some of Nareish's soldiers. I'm gonna go help Eila get them out of there and bring her back here." He teleported away immediately.

"Tch." Unable to do anything to help with that situation right now, Shadow connected to his communicator again and filled Toru in on this most recent development. He wasn't particularly expecting a reply, however.

Rather than risk the protective instincts of a new parent and vampire at the same time, Steam stepped aside and motioned toward Amy. She rushed over and quickly took the infant from Shadow. While she got to work, Shadow tensely asked Steam, "Were you able to contact Rose?"

"Eila is doing so now," Steam replied quickly, watching Amy. "Rose has apparently been difficult to reach lately." Shadow muttered something under his breath, displeased to say the very least, but offered no further comment. Steam paused briefly, then frowned. "She and Kial have been stuck in a deadlock with some of Nareish's soldiers. I'm gonna go help Eila get them out of there and bring her back here." He teleported away immediately.

"Tch." Unable to do anything to help with that situation right now, Shadow connected to his communicator again and filled Toru in on this most recent development. He wasn't particularly expecting a reply, however. That wound up being just as well, seeing as how he didn't get one.

Amy spoke up moments later. "Steam had better be fast," she muttered, voice raw with fear and yet firm with forced professional calmness. "This little guy doesn't have much strength left in him. I'm amazed he's held on for so long, but he's fading rapidly. Too rapidly."

That was the last thing Shadow wanted to hear. His mind too easily replaced the sight before him with a vision of one of his own children being in such a state. It took great effort to banish those thoughts, and by then the damage was already done. His emotions had darkened considerably, bubbling under the surface where he sought to keep them buried. Don't die, he told the child again. Even if this wasn't a baby he knew, it didn't matter. He couldn't bear the thought of the boy perishing. Especially not like this, not because of her. This child was fucking innocent and didn't deserve this, no matter what his so-called "mother" seemed to think. She is no mother, he reminded himself bitterly. A real mother would never have done such a thing. No true parent would have.

Luckily, help came in a flash of purple magic, Rose appearing just a few feet away from Amy and the baby. She quickly shifted over and lent her aid to Amy, looking over the child's condition. "My god…"

Amy's eyes betrayed a hint of desperation. "Can you help him?"

"...Yes," Rose answered slowly, gently placing a hand under the infant's head. "I can. It may merely stabilize him, but I will put in all of my effort." Amy nodded and immediately set about increasing her own efforts. If there was any chance that this boy could be saved, she was for damn sure going to try. At the same time, Rose's own concentration was absolute despite the fact that she was obviously exhausted.

Eila soon returned with Steam in tow, outstretching a hand toward the child and murmuring, "Genesis." Her magic quickly joined Amy and Rose's healing energies, while the woman looked to Shadow. "That baby is a vampire. What the hell happened?"

"Nareish," Shadow muttered. "She is responsible for his injuries and, Jet believes, for his very existence."

"I believe she is also responsible for holding Rose and Kial up for so long, hence why we couldn't reach them. Her soldiers were fighting them both, and neither is particularly well-suited for combatting multiple enemies at once," Eila explained, crossing her arms. Shadow glanced over and acknowledged her words with a nod. With all of this said, Eila glanced over to Kial and tilted her head. "I'll go check on Therin in the meantime. I can find whoever knows where he is and get to him faster than you both, then bring you both there."

Kial opened his mouth to reply, then sighed when she teleported away. "Will the child recover quickly, or will it have to endure an extended period of these injuries?" Shadow didn't know the answer to this question and, as such, waited for someone else to say something.

Amy wound up being the first to speak. There was obvious relief in her voice. "I think he's going to be okay soon," she said. "He's looking miles better already."

The bobcat nodded slowly and took a seat, hands resting on his knees. "I am glad to hear that much."

Soon, a truly welcome sound filled the room. A baby's wail. Shadow was unprepared for just how much relief this afforded him and he caught himself nearly sighing. He's conscious again. Thank fuck. Angling his ears a bit, he subconsciously tuned in more deeply to the sound and the information it gave him. The cry was strong, getting stronger. It was the sort of cry that an otherwise healthy baby would have, which was good. An incredibly large amount of fear was in the child's voice, however… which, while understandable, wasn't ideal. We need to try to calm him. The longer his fear is allowed to linger, the longer the memories of this day will do the same He will fare better the sooner he is able to forget. Shadow hesitated to be the one to do anything, however, on account of his anger. Chances were that the baby would pick up on that and only wind up more upset.

Rose froze at the child's crying, unsure of what to do about this situation. She didn't have to stumble over her thoughts for long, however, as Kial stood back up and approached. His hands softly wrapped around the baby and he took it into his arms. "It's okay… You're safe here."

The child continued to cry and cry for a while, but gradually Kial's efforts began to pay off. Over time, the cries grew less loud and constant until, eventually, they ceased entirely. Now the tiny wolf pup was just whimpering and squirming, as wolf pups often did. Amy heaved a great sigh of relief. "Thank goodness," she murmured. "I think everything healed properly. It doesn't seem like there's any lasting damage."

Kial gave a slow nod to this. "Yes, though we should search for a food source for him soon. He may well require blood or the energy of souls in order to feed, or simply… whatever it may be that this species of wolf eats." The bobcat turned his blind gaze to Shadow, as if asking for any potential aid.

"Wolves strictly consume meat," Shadow murmured. He paused, then shifted his own attention to Steam. "The boy is half-vampire. What do you know of such individuals? Are they required to strictly feed one way or the other?" He knew now that Elize didn't, but she was also a… unique case, considering the different species that made up her genetics. Black Arms were only a related species anyway, not the same thing. Any knowledge he'd thus far gleaned from his limited time caring for his youngest child was therefore equally limited in its usefulness here.

"It can go either way, from my knowledge," Steam replied, crossing his arms. Seeing as he did very little amongst the vampires of his own timeline… he likewise had very little understanding of how this sort of situation would go.

"Hn." Shadow considered this for a moment. Then he realized something else. "...We need to try to determine who the father is, if possible."

It was at this time that Tails happened to enter the building from the workshop. He took stock of the situation, paired that together with what he'd just heard Shadow say, then offered, "Maybe Wery and I can help. We could do a quick DNA test to see what his genetics tell us. Depending on what mixture of species there is, we might be able to narrow things down a lot."

"Hardly a terrible idea," Steam replied, turning to Kial. "Mind taking the kid with Tails?"

"...That's fine," Kial answered, moving in the direction of the fox.

Tails started to smile at Kial, then stopped when he saw that Kial couldn't see. "Here, let me get Wery," Tails said. He turned and hurried off, calling for her as he went.

Kial decided to simply follow for the moment, his ears twitching around as he listened to Tails hurry off. He must have noticed I am blind.

As soon as he found her down in his (their?) workshop, Tails called out again. "Hey, Wery! Mind coming to help me with some scans since it's your scanner and all?"

"Yeah! Be there in just a second!" Wery called back, the sound of her sorting through some things echoing up the stairs.

"Okay!"

It wasn't terribly long before Wery was up the stairs. Kial instantly realized the lingering aura of despair clinging to the woman, but he chose not to bring it up. Instead he simply knelt down and presented the baby. "We wished to have him scanned to discover who his parents may be."

Wery blinked once and nodded, smiling warmly as she carefully began scanning. After a moment, she paused. "A vampire?"

Tails looked over her shoulder. His eyes widened. "Half-vampire," he corrected, just as surprised as her. "The other half is wolf, and not the part of their population that wound up on Mobius. They've genetically diverged from the original population a decent bit. His DNA seems to suggest that he's a direct descendent of the original population. Which shouldn't be… possible, right? There are hardly any left, from what I've heard, and most of the ones that still live are very solitary according to what Jet's seen."

"That'd suggest some ancient relatives who are currently living," Steam pointed out calmly. "I've got an idea of who it may be."

"Who, though?" Tails asked. He was perplexed. "The only one I even know of is Li, but I'm pretty sure he and that Therian lady are together. And he doesn't strike me as the type to cheat." What makes it even weirder is the amount of magic the scanner is showing mixed up with his DNA. As if he has one parent and then just… magic… somehow?

"Shadow, do you know where the other vampires are?" Steam asked hedgehog frowned. "I am largely familiar with Ghune alone, not the others," he said, "and I have no idea where she is."

"Shit…"

"Why go to the other vampires?" Tails asked. "Don't you think they would have come here if they knew this little guy existed?"

"Do they know?" Steam questioned in lieu of an answer.

"That's my whole point," Tails explained to him patiently. "They clearly don't."

"Hold on for a goddamn second," Eila replied to them both mentally, apparently having listened in. "I'm getting Ghune's attention now." Steam visibly paused at the sudden mental intrusion, silencing himself.

Several seconds later, the vampire appeared in their midst, eyes narrowed. "What is happening?"

Tails swallowed his nervousness and gestured to the baby. "Um… I don't know a tactful way to say this, miss, but… well, Shadow found this kiddo and Wery and I just did a DNA test. It turns out he's half-vampire."

Ghune ignored that she was called "miss", letting out a low sigh and holding out her hands to Kial. "May I see him?" Kial merely obliged and set the baby in her hands, allowing her to cradle the child. Her nose twitched a few times and she frowned. "I do not like what I smell…"

"There's… also the issue that we have no idea who his parents are," Tails added, "and the scanner is showing that there's a ton of magic where half his DNA should be."

"Nareish and fucking Sothan," Ghune muttered. "The nature of this child's birth is a result of one creation magic colliding with another."

Shadow frowned a little. "Who is Sothan?" One of Nareish's people…? Finding out that answer and one other was more important to him than anything else at this moment. "Is this something he would have participated in willingly?"

"No," Ghune answered, shaking her head. "He was the original God of the Forge and is unequivocally good." The woman turned to Shadow. "He was recently turned into a vampire, which would explain the baby being created as a half-vampire."

With a slow nod, Shadow said, "Then the child must go to him. He has a right to know he is now a father, and the boy has a right to be cared for by his family."

Ghune thought this through briefly. There were complications with this plan, but his family would certainly take care of the child. "I will take him."

That sounded fine to Tails, since she seemed familiar with Sothan. "I think that would work."

The vampire nodded gently, then sniffed the air a few times. She frowned, holding the baby off to her side and moving to a different spot in the room. "This scent is familiar…"

Shadow was quick to catch on and said, "I do not think she is in the mood to chat at the moment, Ghune."

"I merely recognized it," Ghune huffed gently, frowning at him. "I can smell her exhaustion and depression. I would not suffer that myself. This is the same person who gave you those notes before, yes?" He nodded a little while crossing his arms. With this information now processed, Ghune nodded in return. "I will speak to her another time. I have questions." She teleported away with the baby, intent on returning to the forge immediately.

~保護者~

The vague hum of Armaris's growling echoed within her Darkness. By now, it had fully wreathed itself into a vaguely bipedal form with thick limbs, the writhing mass of energy coiled to protect her body. She felt nothing but aggression and hatred in this moment. She could practically see Cere's energy with her heightened senses.

The house exploded with a single mental push, consumed whole by Armaris's magic. Armaris watched with predatory eyes as Cere rolled out of the debris with a painful sounding cough. The demoness teleported onto the planet and snatched the Hexan off her feet as soon as she tried to jump out of the way, slamming the goddess onto the ground.

Cere coughed again as a result of the sudden attack, eyes widening. This didn't stop her from teleporting her halberd in hand and slashing down with the utterance of, "Judgement!". Crimson red energy arced from the sky into the demonic body of Darkness, spreading all through it and making Armaris kneel in pain.

Only a few seconds passed before Cere made a realization, her weapon already mid-swing. This creature was her daughter. Her weapon stopped short. "Armaris?"

Tendrils of Darkness wrapped around Cere's legs and throat, rapidly slamming her over and over into the ground. All Cere could choke out was a sob, her hands prying at the energy to try and free herself from this assault. Her vision was already fading when she choked it out again. "Judgement!"

That same energy from before cascaded out of her body and ripped the Darkness binding her body apart, allowing her to tumble to the ground and onto her feet, gasping for air. What the Hexan could only describe as spikes slammed down around her, forcing her to dodge out of the way and make her halberd fly into her hand.

She didn't expect for Armaris to lunge forward with her whole body, Darkness wrapping around the Hexan and trapping her inside of it. Careful expulsions of her energy were the only thing keeping that energy back, but it didn't stop the horrendous fog emitted by the demonic cat from choking her.

"Stop… please," Cere gasped out, trying to push back against the encroaching demonic energy as best she could. Her lungs were burning and no matter how hard she breathed, it felt like she couldn't get any air. "Armaris…"

In the end, what saved her from asphyxiation was not additional Darkness, but rather a force very similar to Darkness. Namely, it was her partner's shadows. They wrapped around her to form a protective cocoon at the same time that he faded into view by her side. There was an additional protective bubble surrounding him and her together. "Armaris, stop this," he commanded sternly. "Your efforts are now futile. I can no more defeat you than you can defeat my barriers. Waste your energy if you feel you must, but it would be better if you simply left."

Cere instinctively covered her ears in response to the bloodcurdling scream that came from Armaris, still trying to catch her breath. The cocoon was viciously attacked for several seconds before the presence simply left, Armaris retreating as a result of Finis's protection. The Hexan cried out in pain now that she finally had a moment to come down from her panic, curling up and hugging her body. "F-Finis!"

Finis was quick to unwrap her and kneel by her side. "Stop moving so much," he gently chastised her as his eyes roved over her body. "I can't tell the full extent of your injuries. It's too bright here for me to see well."

"Babylon," she gasped, doing her level best to uncurl her body. "Doctors."

He wasted no time. Once he heard her command, he followed through in an instant. They appeared in the medical ward which, while good, somewhat dismayed Finis a bit. The harsh (at least to him) artificial lights of this place robbed him of his vision entirely. He was forced to rely on other senses in order to safely transport her to a bed and get the attention of medics. Then, in an effort to spare his vision somewhat, he heavily darkened a nearby corner of the room and sank into the newfound shadows.

Cere fought to get to her feet, stumbling away from Finis's shadows. The pain she was in kept her from going much further than one of the beds, but that was more than enough for her presence to be noticed. Before she even had a chance to properly react to it (as unfocused as she was), a hand was on her back and she was carefully taken off her feet and carried away. "Woah, hey, are you okay?" an older owl asked her.

She coughed in pain and the soft jostling brought an intense pain in her abdomen. "No," she gasped out.

"It's okay, I'll help you," he murmured. "My name is Arkiri. Try and relax all of your muscles. I'm gonna lay you down on a bed and get some doctors here. I'll also work to heal you." She didn't respond, which Arkiri was immensely pleased by. He called for doctors and let his instinctive desire to help overtake him. Before he realized it, healing energies were pouring out of his hand in the midst of him settling her down on a bed.

As doctors hurried over to the bed, Arkiri gently stepped to the side while keeping a hand on Cere's head, having already seen a difference in the injuries she had. At about the same time, Alana abruptly appeared by Arkiri's side. "What happened?" she demanded quietly. She took a few seconds to assess Cere's injuries before lending her own aid. That alone greatly sped up the healing process.

"Armaris," Cere forced out, already capable of drawing breaths better than before. "She's corrupted and attacked me."

"Tch." Alana's brow furrowed in thought. "I'll track her down. I believe the doctors and Arkiri can finish healing you from here." She retracted her energies. "Armaris is the black cat who spends time with the chameleons, yes?"

Cere nodded. "She is. Check Mobius. She's most likely to return there if she's seeking things she normally cares about," the Hexan explained.

That is… an apt assessment, unfortunately. "Understood. Rest well, Cere. I will bring news as soon as I can." She vanished without another word.

There was silence for several minutes before Arkiri broke through it with a soft question. "Forgive my intrusion, but you seem to be at war with yourself mentally. Are you okay?"

"No, I am not," Cere revealed softly. "However, I do not wish to discuss the situation at length. My children are simply in danger, and I wish to see them safe."

Finis had been quiet all this time, but he felt compelled to speak up now. "Cere," he murmured, "Azanae has reached out to me with news about Therin's condition. She only just finished relaying the information to me."

"...What?" Cere questioned softly, rolling on the bed to look at Finis.

Her partner visibly hesitated to follow through on telling her, but in the end he continued. "She says he has gotten worse," he revealed. "He has slipped into a coma and cannot be awakened."

"Oh, fuck," Cere replied, rolling out of the bed and getting to her feet shakily. "Azanae's home? I'm going there."

Finis was quick to go to her side, despite how bright the room was. Though he was immediately blinded, he managed to find and take hold of her hand as much as his sem-physical self was able to. "You need to rest," he reminded her. "However… I understand that I cannot talk you out of this. I will accompany you. Once you have seen him, you must lay down."

"Not important right now," Cere dismissed, turning herself to face Arkiri. "It was a pleasure to meet you, and we have much to discuss in the future. However, I must go check on more of my children," the Hexan explained quietly, giving a courteous incline of her head. "I appreciate your efforts as well. Thank you greatly."

"My pleasure," Arkiri replied, managing a smile. "Take care of your kids. If you have need of my aid, simply come find me. I usually remain on Babylon."

Cere gave a small nod. "I will keep this in mind." With this said, the Hexan teleported away to Sona's home with Finis by her side. "Sona! Azanae!"

The latter came running into the room immediately. "Cere, thank goodness," she said. Her relief was apparent, as was her concern and fear.

Cere grabbed one of Azanae's hands, walking towards where she sensed Sona. "Fill me in."

"A woman named Rose came to heal him," Azanae explained quickly as Finis floated after them. "She used Light. All the surface damage was repaired, but there must have been something wrong under the surface. I just don't know how it was missed."

The Hexan's heart dropped at the news… for multiple reasons. "Her Light is waning. She did what she was supposed to, but it wasn't strong enough." Cere knew of the woman's plight. For years she had chased her corrupted sister across existence. The years of turmoil must have worn her down… "We need to find further help, and soon."

"Who are we meant to go to?" Azanae questioned. She was careful to keep her voice low so Sona couldn't overhear. "If even a budding Immortal could not help, there is little hope left."

"It's less of her status and more of her fledgling abilities growing weak," Cere corrected gently, lowering her own voice as well. "We should reach out to Sein, Alana, and Jet."

Azanae canted her head. "I am unfamiliar with those names. Who are they?"

"The current Immortals," Cere answered simply. "There will be time for a deeper explanation, but I would refrain from worrying over Therin's state."

"What do we do in the meantime?" Azanae asked her. "We cannot leave him like this."

"I will do what I can in the interim, hoping that my Judgement will be of help," Cere explained.

"I don't see how it could, but it's worth trying," Azanae sighed. "...Assuming Sona lets us anywhere near him."

Cere nodded. "I must assume she will allow me, but her protectiveness is a strong instinct." With this out of her mouth, she quietly approached the room. Finis and Azanae followed her.

Sona was face-down on the bed beside Therin, a hand protectively draped over his torso. The Hexan managed a bittersweet smile at the sight, glad to see a positive reaction from this. Cere set a hand on Therin's shoulder, allowing her crimson energy to flow. "Judgement," she murmured, enveloping his body. "May this ease you back to us."

Azanae watched for a very short time before asking, "How will we know if it is working?"

"It'll be hard to tell. None of us have any sort of psychic abilities to really examine his mental functions," Cere replied, turning her gaze to Azanae. "It is merely the best I can offer for now."

"There are others we can reach out to for aid," Finis murmured. "Analia, for instance."

"You make an excellent point," Cere replied, reaching out already toward Analia to get her attention.

While it took a moment to get a response, one indeed came in the form of a telepathic question. "Did you need something?"

"I wish to call upon your aid and intelligence, Analia. Therin was gravely injured and has since been healed… but the healing was incomplete and has not helped him recover from the trauma to his brain. Would you mind coming here? I can open a mirror for you to come through if you do not wish to teleport."

Analia answered this by merely appearing in the room. A gentle flash of light heralded her arrival. She strode over to Therin and brushed a gentle hand over his forehead. "What has happened here, Cere? What was done to him? His memories are… troubled. And vague."

Cere huffed at her simply appearing, but nothing more as she spoke. "We believe he was trapped in a combat… or rather, a slaughter, by Amnikaribah."

With a frown, Analia inquired, "Amnikaribah? How is that possible?" As she spoke, she called Light into her hand and began working to heal Therin further.

Cere sighed softly. "First and foremost, he has since been stopped. He managed to escape the Realms of Death and possessed Satsuno. From there… Well, he acted." The Hexan sat on the edge of the bed. "From what I know of, he has corrupted Armaris…" The woman stopped to think, then explained, "My current student, as well as this slaughter against Therin's spies."

Finis decided to add to this. "There is a very real possibility that the vile creature left corruption within Satsuno as well. However, he was only just saved from the possession. No one knows yet what state he is in."

Analia blinked slowly. "I must know where Armaris is… and whether or not Kaden is aware of what happened to his father."

"Alana is currently heading to Mobius to try and intercept her. I… just came from Babylon after she attacked me." Cere subconsciously rubbed a hand against her throat, feeling it seize from merely the thought. "I do not know if Kaden is aware."

"I will do all that I can to assist," Analia solemnly vowed. "However… Though my strength is returning, I do not know if I will be able to purify Armaris on my own."

Cere frowned. "If nothing else… incapacitating her will suffice." The Hexan didn't want to think about that, so she changed the topic. "I would ask that you check on Rose as well. Something is seriously wrong with her. She was the one who healed Therin, and her Light should have been more than capable of dealing with this. I know she is plagued with troubles, but they seem to be consuming her rapidly now."

"Indeed… That should be the case," Analia murmured. "I will find her as quickly as I can." Her Light receded and she sighed softly. "Cere… was it merely a demon who attacked young Therin? There is… Malevolence here, in his memories, albeit faintly. If it is on the move again…" She trailed off, her warning clear.

The Hexan's expression visibly darkened, gripping her halberd. The woman stood and took a breath, steadying her frayed nerves. "It may well have been involved. If so, I wish to witness its end. I am sick of my allies and children being harmed."

"It will come for my family," Analia answered her softly. "Shadow, Soren, and Lia… They will be targets, though I do not know why. I know only that it has happened before."

"You keep an eye on Armaris, I'll hunt for Malevolence," Cere replied firmly. "With Alana's help, we should be able to contain her if nothing else. I'll find Malevolence and we can concoct a plan. This bastard must die."

"You must retrieve Eona," Azanae said, "but even she cannot kill the beast. Much like how it cannot kill her."

"We'll find a way," Cere muttered. "Aid from those such as Jet and Wave may be enough. We will find a way to slay it."

"Speak with my grandfather as well," Analia told her. "He has accumulated great knowledge of many things. Things that even deities and Immortals of old have long forgotten or overlooked. It could prove useful."

Cere nodded. "I will do so once I have its location. Finis, locate the rest of the deities not actively in the middle of a situation and summon them to Babylon. There will already be defenses in place on Mobius, so protecting there will be paramount… especially with the vampires taking refuge."

Her shadowy counterpart nodded and vanished. Azanae, meanwhile, turned her attention back to other matters. "Analia, will he wake?"

"Not yet," Analia murmured. "The damage was extensive and not tended to in a timely manner. I hesitate to say that he will make a full recovery given enough time, but… it is possible. For now, he must continue to rest." Cere's expression only further worsened in nature, and she teleported away to prevent herself from having an outburst of emotion.

Sona, meanwhile, resisted the urge to sigh, to move. Over the many, many years she'd been alive, there was one thing she knew. People didn't want to hurt her. That had to be the thing that bothered her most in life… loved ones withholding information. They would have never told her all of this if she'd been "awake", so she'd learned to fake being asleep. Her act worked on nearly everyone except Therin.

As such, here she was… her own professed love of her life potentially being changed forever with nothing she could do to help. She felt her heart sink deeper into that black pit of agony, curling an open hand into a fist. I wish I could have helped… Maybe been there… Taken the hits instead of you... I'm sorry…

~保護者~

Ryint sat on the edge of an asteroid she'd commandeered to relax on while Novei floated in space. She was currently unconscious as a result of being turned into a vampire… but she would wake soon. Very soon. She could already smell the woman's brain becoming more active. That wasn't what was on her mind right now, though. In fact, she hardly cared about it. Novei would be fine in the long run. Zsasha wouldn't. Depression that serious would kill him within a week, certainly. She needed to go and check on him. She needed to do it now.

It occurred to her that she could send a clone, but she instead chose to swap places with one and go herself. Tracking him would take a bit of time, so she could worry more when the time came. Now she needed to think about her best friend.

Ghune was a stubborn old hag, for certain, but they'd been friends for as long as she could remember. On that fateful day where she'd gotten wrapped up in a terrible battle, Ghune came along and saved her. Sure, it had turned her into a vampire, but the woman had saved her. That didn't mean she got a free pass. What she had done was still awful. Lies and pain caused to someone who didn't deserve it. Ryint wouldn't forgive that without good reason. Ghune needed to do something about it.

Her nose twitched suddenly and she sat up, digging her fingers into the asteroid. Novei was beginning to wake up… As soon as the woman started to rouse, Ryint posed a question. "Oi. You alive?"

"Shut up," the words were drawn out into a bit of a hiss, the Therian groaning as she slowly stood. "Hungry…"

"That's normal, dear," Ryint admitted. "If you just take a second and-" The vampire couldn't finish her sentence before having to twist around to dodge a majorly oversized blade swinging at her, gripping the hunk of space rock and slamming it into Novei's head. "Alright, mother fucker. I was trying to be nice. Sit your ass down or I'll put you right the hell back to sleep!" Ryint didn't fully realize it, but her body was trembling with barely kept rage, fists balled up tightly as the rock crumbled from her attack.

Luckily enough for Ryint, Xin and Sein had already been on their way to the area. When Novei started to lash out, Xin used his magic to pin her where she stood just as he flew into view. "I was afraid she'd be like this," he mumbled.

Ryint rubbed at her face a little. "I think I'm acting worse than her. This whole thing with Ghune still has me fucking pissed," the woman admitted, dragging a nail over her arm and using the blood to reinforce Xin's bindings. "Kinda hit her in the head with a big rock when she swung at me."

Sein winced at the thought, having followed Xin closely. That… well, that didn't sound quite pleasant. "For now, it seems like you guys have her secured. Need anything from me?"

Xin's nose twitched. He could smell the hunger radiating off of Novei. "Stay with them for a moment. Novei needs a meal. I can quickly secure one. The first feed cannot be skipped without potentially grave consequences for her health."

The hawk nodded in reply, then raised a hand and added his own energies to the mix when Novei began tapping into her magic. "Maybe be a little more than quick. She's rapidly remembering what she can do, it seems."

"Aye." Xin vanished. True to his word, he returned within mere moments. As he'd done with Sothan, he'd acquired a bottle containing blood and carefully held it out for Novei to take. "Claw at me and I will take this away. If you can restrain the urge for violence, you can drink freely."

Novei had been actively tearing at her bonds with magic, but the distinct smell of blood hitting her nose made her pause briefly. She made eye contact with Xin and muttered, "Asshole. Give."

Testy, aren't we? Xin continued to hold it out for her. "Take it, then. If I simply let it go before you grab it, it will float away due to the lack of gravity."

"Li." Novei snatched the bottle and immediately began sating her desires, refusing to break eye contact with Xin.

"He is fine now," Xin assured her. "He's asleep in his room. A being calling itself the 'Aether' somehow healed his addiction not long ago."

As soon as the bottle was empty, Novei chucked it at Ryint, watching the glass explode against the woman's unmoving face. "Fuck you. Rock, bitch."

"Sorry. Was an instinct reaction to you swinging on me. Didn't think it would bother you so much," Ryint said, shrugging. "You've kept most of your faculties amidst turning, though. Seems to have fucked with your head a little."

Sein watched Novei carefully when she grew silent. He observed the subtle shift of her body before he called out, "Hey, don't go to Li just yet. You're basically salivating…"

"Aye," Xin was quick to agree. "He cannae tolerate much more emotional turmoil today. When ye calm down, ye can go back inside."

Novei snarled at Xin, but ultimately didn't disagree. That made enough sense in her addled brain right now. But… with a twitch of her nose and a sniff, she was seeking more blood, her eyes falling on Sein. She twisted against renewed bonds holding her from moving. "I'm so fucking hungry!"

Xin clicked his tongue and vanished again. He soon returned with another bottle and held it out for her. "Until you calm yourself, we cannot free you," he told her.

The sound that emanated from Novei was something more akin to a roar than anything else as she struggled, but ultimately she was held firm and forced to relax again, simmering in her rage. "Fine."

Seeing that his power combined with Ryint's was absolutely going to keep the newly turned vampire still, Sein relaxed himself. "Thank you, Novei. Now, please, feed from the bottle Xin has brought you."

"Okay, Food," Novei replied as if that was his name. She snatched the bottle and greedily emptied its contents before tossing the now empty container off into space.

"A bit dramatic, aye?" Xin asked with a raised eyebrow. "Regardless, if you are feeling calmer, we can go see Li now."

"No," Novei replied, narrowing her gaze.

"Do you need more?" Xin asked her in reply.

"Yes," the newly turned vampire muttered. Xin responded by simply leaving, returning with another bottle, and again handing it off to her. This time, she accepted it with no fuss and fed from it, her muscles visibly relaxing in the process.

Seeing and feeling that her aura was also calming down (alongside some other energy from her that he didn't recognize), Sein let his energy recede from keeping Novei in place, and Xin soon did the same. "Glad to see you're calm now. You feeling better?"

Novei burped, then walked off the moment that Ryint let go of her own magical bonds. "Checking on Li. Don't bother me." The Therian vanished in a blur of speed, reappearing inside of Li's room next to his bed. She immediately wrapped her arms around the wolf, startling him from his sleep.

"N-Novei!" Li called out, returning the hug. "Don't do that! You scared me half to death!"

She didn't speak for several seconds, squeezing him tight. "I was worried…"

"You're a vampire now, yeah?" Li asked quietly, embracing Novei.

"Yeah… I got turned when I was killing Cyca," Novei explained in a hushed tone. "Does… does that bother you?"

Li shook his head, moving so he could look her in the eyes. "No, Novei. I love you all the same…"

The corners of Novei's lips quirked up into a smile, and she nuzzled her face into his neck. "I'm glad."

The wolf held her close for a moment before pushing her back gently, looking into her eyes. He could see the difference, but it hardly mattered. "I'm so happy to see you again… Thank you for defending me."

"She had to die," Novei murmured, pursing her lips. "I did what had to be done."

She was guarding her feelings again, Li realized. He managed a soft smile and chuckle, pressing his forehead to hers. "You're the best." When she said nothing, but returned his gesture, he changed the topic. "Did… you hear about Sothan?"

"My memory is very fuzzy. I'm remembering bits and pieces slowly," the Therian explained. "What is the matter?"

"Cyca turned him, too… He was apparently starved and lost his memories- Hey, calm down!" He had to interrupt his explanation to hold her tight, feeling the way her aura shifted violently. "Look, I'm not happy, but he's recovering. He'll be okay."

Novei's muscles relaxed again, and so did her aura. Moments later, she tilted her head. "Is there anything else? You smell… guilty." She wasn't quite sure why smell was what fully alerted her to his mood, but the woman was pleased to find out that it was correct.

"I… she… forced me to… help keep him down," Li murmured quietly, averting his gaze. "I… I still feel bad about it."

"He will not blame you," Novei huffed, turning his face to look in his eyes. "This was something well outside of your ability to control. You are not to blame."

"But I-

Novei cut him off with a slight growl. "No. You are not to blame. Everything that has happened is because of Cyca. That is why she is dead."

Li didn't at all appreciate the growl, but he did wholeheartedly respect and love that she was so persistent. He let out a sigh and nodded. "Yeah… you've… you've got a point."

She suddenly stopped talking, raising her head and looking around. "Baby?" she said, getting up from the bed. Li was shortly on his feet beside her, but taken by surprise when she teleported them into a different room of the forge. She rarely teleported, but now wasn't quite the time to focus on that detail. The wolf's eyes focused on a woman he'd only met a few times now, Ghune, standing near to Xin and Ryint, holding a… baby wolf in her arms. He jumped when Novei spoke up, boldly approaching them all. "Where'd the baby come from?" she demanded.

"Novei, please," Xin cut in somewhat gently but somewhat firmly. "She was just about to explain." He turned his attention to Ghune and the infant she was holding. "However… I can already guess. The lad's scent alone is…" Too much in shock to continue, he trailed off.

The Therian sniffed the air near the child, but otherwise didn't choose to say anything for the moment. Ghune watched her, smelling that the Therian had recently turned. She chose to ignore the woman after a few seconds, turning her attention back to Xin and Ryint. "We are under the impression that the child was born of two magics coming together. One being creation magic, and the other being… something from Nareish."

Ryint grimaced, hands on her hips. "Ah, shit. Do we know anything else? Creation magic isn't a great pointing detail, even if we know some of the only powerful wolves in existence."

"That magic is the best indicator," Xin refuted, shaking his head. "You've no idea how rare it is, Ryint. Even Immortals seldom possess it. And again, the boy's scent… The relation is obvious."

Rubbing at her nose, Ryint huffed. "Maybe I've got blood clogging my sinuses again. I can't fucking smell it. Or maybe it's glass." Her gaze pointedly shifted to Novei, who was openly ignoring her.

"Is he Sothan's, then?" Novei asked aloud, looking at Ghune.

"He must be," Xin murmured. Just then, as if solely to confirm their suspicions, the baby blinked open his sleepy eyes. The fact that they were same fiery orange as Sothan's stunned Xin all over again. Then the baby yawned and closed his eyes again, fidgeting a bit in Ghune's hold all the while.

Li blinked and raised an eyebrow, watching this baby for a moment as opposed to saying anything. Then, boldly, he walked over to Ghune and scooped the child out of her arms, holding him close. "In any case, if this is true, we're taking care of him. No way am I letting Nareish get her hands on this kid again."

"Aye. He stays with us." Xin considered the situation for a moment, then abruptly turned on his heel and walked down the hall to check on Sothan. If he was awake and showed any signs of remembering who he was yet, he needed to be informed of this situation.

Ghune nodded slowly in response to both of the wolves, crossing her arms now that she no longer was cradling a child. "I will offer whatever aid I can provide for you all."

"Aye, same here," Ryint replied, offering Li a warm smile. "If nothin' else, I can watch the boy if you lot are busy."

Li blinked once at her sudden accent, since it was somewhat mirroring his father's. Odd… It wasn't worth commenting on, however. "Thank you, both of you. I'll talk to you both if something comes up."

The Therian leaned in close to the baby boy, sniffing him quietly. That insistent stench of Nareish (or, what she assumed was Nareish) certainly set off all of the wrong alarms in her mind. It was soothed, however, when Li's gaze fell back on her. "He is small." Her sniffing apparently woke the infant up. He whimpered and began to squirm again, then gave in to another yawn. His tiny fangs were revealed by this, but just barely.

Li let out a small chuckle and set about soothing the child, idly nudging Novei to get her to back away a little so she didn't disturb him. His expression darkened a little when he looked up to Ghune. "He wasn't in good shape, was he…?"

Though Ghune was vaguely surprised that Li had either guessed this detail or smelled it for himself, she also wasn't. He was a wolf, after all, and they had strong noses. In answer to his question, she simply nodded. "I was not on Mobius for long. A man named Shadow had retrieved the child from her realm. He brought the child to others to be healed."

"The amount of healing energy and magic emanating from him is potent, so they obviously had to do a lot," Li pointed out softly. "Poor little guy. Didn't deserve anything that happened…"

Ryint offered another smile. "But, hey, bright side. He's here with people that care. He'll be loved and cared for."

It wasn't long after she'd finished speaking that Xin contacted the group telepathically and said, "It's going to be a minute longer. He's apparently been getting memories back off and on all night. I'm trying to give him a moment to recover before telling him anything."

"Good call," Ryint replied before Ghune could do so. "Think he'll be alright to bring in here? Being around a familiar face or two could do him some good."

"I intend to," Xin confirmed. "He definitely seems to remember who he is now, but he still doesn't completely recognize me. I imagine that will be the case for the rest of you as well, at least initially."

"Seeing Li could be a good thing," Ghune privately communicated, opening a link between herself and Xin alone. "But I see your point. I will try to dissuade the idea if you are concerned."

"I agree that it would be good for him and Li to try to interact. I just worry for Li's emotions if Sothan does not wind up remembering him yet." Xin mentally sighed. "I fear he only recognizes me as much as he does because we have had contact recently."

"You cannot protect your child forever," Ghune lightly chided. "If this may help Sothan, Li would want that. We both can see the kind of man he has become. I will respect whatever choice you make with this, but know that Li will have to talk to him eventually. His memories may not all return on their own, either."

"I never said I would not do it," Xin pointed out. "I only meant to express my concerns. Such fears never leave a parent no matter how old, powerful, and godly their child becomes."

"I may not understand in blood, but I know your feelings… Xin. Do what you believe is correct, regardless. Now, the others are growing suspicious of the ongoing silence, and I feel a magical presence close by."

"Aye, aye. Give me just a moment, as I said before. We'll be out once his head stops pounding so much." Xin went ahead and disconnected from everyone.

Li looked between Ghune and Ryint, watching as their gaze shifted past the walls of the building. "Er, so… is everything okay?" Novei was soon looking that way as well, but she walked off in the direction of the door unlike the other two vampires.

"Someone is nearby. Not a threat, but they are still lurking close by," Ryint explained gently. "Seems to be a being of Light, though a hellishly fucking weak one."

Novei made it pretty much all the way to the door before the being suddenly appeared inside of the forge, a white cat with her hands on her hips. She regarded everyone in the room with vague disinterest, focusing on the child briefly. "Good, he seems to be fairly relaxed. I was worried the change in environment happening twice in succession would upset him."

"Who are you?" Ghune demanded to know, taking a single step forward. "You showed up unannounc-"

Eila cut in, waving a hand. "I helped save the fucking kid. Name's Eila," she huffed, walking closer. "I'm gonna help with this whole situation from afar, but I wanted to confirm how the child was made."

"Eh, we already know that," Ryint answered, frowning. "Creation magic mixed with something else."

"Does Sothan know?" Eila pressed lightly, crossing her arms. She paused for a moment, then glanced down the hallway. "Ah, he's having trouble with his memories from recently turning into a vampire."

Ghune stopped for several seconds, watching this new person. Previously, it had been masked by the undeniable scent of Eila's exhaustion but, once examining past that, she knew that this was the magic and Light she'd smelled on the child and those notes Shadow had. "You're the Light being that was observing vampires. How?"

Eila blinked and looked up at Ghune, sidestepping Novei as she attempted to walk through the mage. "Black magic and a hell of a lot of preparation. Helps that you get distracted easily." Ryint snickered a little, while Ghune frowned.

Rather than allowing this to potentially turn hostile, Li spoke up. "Well, I appreciate the offer for help, really. Thank you." The cat paused for a few moments before simply nodding, looking back down the hall to wait for Xin and Sothan.

Perhaps two more minutes passed before the two wolves in question finally emerged from Sothan's bedroom. They were already conversing quietly, no doubt because Xin was filling him in on what happened. When Xin finally got to the part about the baby, Sothan's reaction was immediate. He stared for a second, his expression incredulous, then unexpectedly responded with a question (one that was far ruder than he'd intended, no doubt) which seemed to have been blurted out before his brain could fully comprehend what he'd just been told. His shock and confusion couldn't have been any more apparent than it already was. "Nǐ fēngle ma?" This was quickly followed up with, "Zhè bù kěnéng." ("Are you crazy? That's impossible.")

Eila piped up as Li opened his mouth to speak. "Shì zhēn de." ("It is true.")

Xin and Sothan both looked over in surprise, but only Xin spoke. "Wǒ méi xiǎngdào nǐ néng lǐjiě," he commented after a moment. There was a tinge of amusement in his voice. ("I did not realize you could understand.")

The cat shrugged and replied nonchalantly. "Wǒ yǒu nénglì. Bù liúlì." ("I am capable. Not fluent.")

"For the sake of everyone else, could we use the Universal Language? I think we're frying Novei's brain." Li motioned his head to Novei, who was trying her damndest to comprehend what she was hearing.

"Apologies," Xin chuckled. "T'was not my intention."

Eila waved a hand. "Partially my own fault. Sothan, you are capable of doing so, yes?"

"Yes," Sothan confirmed simply. He still wasn't trying to be rude, though. He was just being his usual self, in that he was rarely comfortable speaking to strangers.

Examining him, he definitely appeared to have recently turned (much like Novei, whose eyes were currently locked on the cat). Eila noticed one key detail, however, when looking at his ear. An earring… or some other form of jewelry is missing. Rather than bring it up and potentially startle him should he remember what it was, Eila chose to ask another question. "Can you smell your relation to the child in Li's arms?"

Xin decided to have mercy on his brother-in-law and explained for him, "People cannot really detect their own scents. Much like how those with ordinary senses of smell don't smell themselves unless they truly stink."

"Ah, a misconception on my own part…" Eila murmured before changing the question. "Perhaps instead he could merely sense that this child is his?"

Sothan took a breath as a means of swallowing his discomfort and, this time, answered for himself. "I sense my magic," he confirmed. "This is just… difficult to process." Speaking of that, he abruptly recalled what was missing from his ear. Frowning just a little, he made a small motion with his hand. The drained, blackened piece of jewelry appeared in his palm in an instant.

"Let me see that," Eila immediately said, a deep frown of her own setting itself on her face.

If only because of the personal and sentimental value attached to the earring (and not to mention how generally dangerous it was to let unknown people handle it, as the situation with the baby proved), Sothan hesitated. However, he didn't do so for long. In the end, he silently held it out for her to see. Eila didn't touch it at all, making a motion with both hands to suspend it in the air while she walked off to the side, simply to be out of the way for others.

Ryint could see that Eila was busy with… whatever it was that she was doing, so she posed a different question to Sothan. "You feeling okay? I know you're having trouble with your memories, but other than that… do you need anything?"

Sothan shook his head. "I'm alright," he murmured. Having given himself a bit of time by now to take in the situation, he finally shifted his gaze to look at the infant. Said baby was dozing peacefully again, not at all bothered by anything that was going on in the room.

"Glad to hear it," Ghune said gently. "Until we figure out a more permanent solution, simply tell one of us if you feel the desire to feed. We will do our best to ensure you do so in a timely manner."

"And do not dally when the need arises," Xin added. "It's rarely a good idea for new-bloods to delay feeding anyway, but you especially can't be doing that. You're unhealthy enough as it is."

Thankfully, Sothan usually wasn't the type to argue with people. He particularly didn't do so when receiving sound advice, as he was now. "Alright," he agreed readily enough.

Novei approached Sothan and tilted her head, blinking in vague confusion. "Hello." Her sudden arrival right in front of him caused him to also blink. That there was no recognition in his eyes was clear. Still, he nonetheless offered a polite nod. She narrowed her gaze, then stood upright fully, looking at Xin. "He has not recovered much of his memories, has he?"

"He has," Xin told her, "just not of every person he once knew. But it's as I've been saying from the beginning. All he needs is a bit of time. It's barely been a day, and he already fully remembers his own identity. Most in his position would need several weeks at least. It will get better. At this rate, it will do so soon."

"Is that what you and Ghune were talking about, then?" Li questioned, taking a guess based on his earlier observation. His eyes were noticeably sadder, but luckily his mood stayed rather stable.

"Aye," Xin admitted. "I was voicing my worries, and she offered her advice as she often does. That was all."

Li nodded. "Well, if it's going well, maybe it'll be okay very soon, then."

"I believe it will be," Xin promised him. "I would not say so otherwise."

Novei returned to Li's side, comforting him with an arm around his side. "Good."

"Well, glad to hear it," Ryint said, offering a smile. She suddenly straightened a little and frowned, then walked off. "Hold on, someone's reaching out to me."

Ghune watched her walk away, then looked to Xin. "In the meantime, is there anything we must do?"

"Not that I'm currently aware of," Xin told her. "But… that doesn't mean the answer is 'no'." He sighed and walked over to Li, then placed a hand under the baby. "May I?" he asked quietly.

Li willingly loosened his hold on the baby for his father. "Of course."

Xin took the baby over to Sothan and gently passed the little one over. "Here." he murmured. "You should hold him a while. It is important for bonding." Sothan didn't argue with that, since he knew it to be true already. He just accepted the (his, he had to remind himself) child into his own arms.

After some time of silence, Eila walked back over to Sothan and presented the earring back to him, letting it hover. "I found what I needed. I have something I must do. Please take this back now." Sothan did as she asked readily and slipped the earring back on with a practiced motion of one hand. As soon as it was back on his person, a spark of life was renewed from within the dark orb. With time, the magic contained within would renew. That much was clear. Eila ignored this detail (she'd guessed as much would happen) and instead waved a hand, walking away as several things appeared in the room, such as a crib. "Use this and take care of the kid. Should be just about anything you need. I'm leaving."

Ghune watched as the woman vanished, frowning in thought before looking back to the pile of things suddenly created. It wasn't creation magic, but it was mimicking such. "Hm."

Xin's eyes roved over the newly created collection, mentally checking off a sort of list within his mind. "Well she certainly does seem to have thought of everything, just about."

"Considering she smells almost as ancient as some of our current allies, I venture to guess that she has a wealth of knowledge. She knows plenty about vampires due to studying from afar," Ghune explained.

"Aye," Xin agreed. His attention was drawn to the baby once more when the child randomly coughed and sneezed. The brief, confused look on the lad's face made him smile. "It would seem that someone is more properly awake now," he commented.

Li let out a little chuckle at the sight, watching with a smile. "Looks like it."

"Ghune," Xin suddenly asked, "how is it that half-vampires feed? The last one was born well before I was turned, so I know little about them overall."

The woman frowned in thought and put a hand to her chin, working to recall the information. It had truly been a long time since such a thing was important to know. "It is likely that he will be capable of feeding like either species interchangeably without any consequences," she explained. "I presume we would know if he takes interest in multiple forms of food."

"Understood. We ought to give milk a try, then." Xin turned to Sothan. "Do you remember how to prepare a bottle from when you used to babysit Li?" It definitely took a minute or so, but Sothan did wind up nodding. He collected a bottle and formula from Eila's conjured pile of supplies and wandered into the kitchen to get it ready, taking the baby with him. Xin managed another slight smile, this one being one of relief. For just a second, he remembered Li. That's a very good sign.

This didn't escape Ghune's notice, but it seemed to get past Li and Novei. The two were quietly discussing something amongst themselves at the moment. "Seeing that this situation has settled somewhat eases my concerns."

"Mine as well," Xin agreed. He glanced at Li and, upon seeing that he was engrossed in a conversation already, decided to relay the good news in a moment. "I wasn't expecting progress to be made so soon, but I am glad for it."

She nodded with a slight smile, then glanced to where Ryint had been moments ago. Her expression fell and she sighed softly. "Perhaps progress can be made on all fronts in due time…"

"That is my hope." Xin watched Ryint for a moment as well while simultaneously listening to the soft sounds emanating from the kitchen. Soon, he heard the unmistakable sound of a baby suckling on a bottle. Ah, so he can and will drink like an ordinary lad. Good to know.

At some point during the semi-private conversation between Li and Novei, the Therian looked in the direction of the kitchen and blinked. "Look at that. Kid can eat."

Xin huffed in mild amusement. "Of course he can. I don't recall that ever being in question. We were only ever concerned with the method."

"Hm," Novei huffed, setting her hands on her hips. "Asshole."

"Only as much as is required," Xin smiled. He shifted his gaze to Li. "You didn't notice, did you? What happened a moment ago, I mean."

"What do you mean?" Li asked softly, raising an eyebrow and turning to face his father.

Xin's smile grew to a degree. "He remembered you for a moment, entirely on his own. All I did was ask him a question, and you came back to him. It didn't last this time… but it will in the very near future."

His son blinked, then managed a small smile. "That's good to hear. I'm glad you noticed."

"We can't all be distracted, now can we?" Xin teased. Then he said, "Ghune and I discussed this briefly, and we're in agreement. We think you two spending time together again would be good for the both of you. It may help this situation as well."

Li briefly glanced to Ghune, and when she didn't say anything, he turned back to Xin. "That's probably not a bad idea, provided his hunger doesn't catch him by surprise with him not recognizing me."

"It shouldn't," Xin said. "He had no such response to you, or our unexpected visitor, earlier after all. And besides that, he has displayed a uniquely remarkable degree of self-control, the likes of which Ghune herself only ever witnessed in one person before. Namely, Ryint when she was first turned all those eons ago." He paused, then added, "All that said, even supposing something did happen, Novei, Sein, and myself will remain close by. I cannot speak for Ghune though, of course." She has had a lot on her plate lately.

Ghune gave a small nod in reply. "I will do what I can to give aid. However, my attention will soon be spread elsewhere. I must see Black Doom."

Xin nodded solemnly. "I understand. In that case, I will mind things here. Go see him, please. It would do you both plenty of good."

"Hm…" Ghune blinked once, then nodded. "I will return." She teleported away shortly after saying this.

Once she was gone, Xin turned to Novei. "If you'd like, I can help you work on some of the basics regarding your newfound abilities while Li goes to see his uncle."

"That would be good for you, Novei!" Li said with a bright smile. "He's obviously good with magic, too, so maybe you could learn more than just the vampire abilities as well."

Novei took a moment to debate this in her head before simply shrugging. "I am not averse."

"Then let us go outside," Xin said with a small smile of his own. "That way, we don't damage the building if something unintentionally happens."

The Therian nodded. "Yes." Xin turned and led the outside to find a suitable place for them to do this.

Novei walked out with him, glancing around. "What do you intend to teach me?"

"For now, it's only basic things," Xin told her. "But first I must ask a few questions. How sensitive do your eyes and nose seem to be now?"

"My nose is incredibly sensitive. My eyes feel quite normal, but sharper."

"Understood. Tracking scent trails is something we should work on, then." Xin thought for a moment. "You smell as though you have new magics in your possession. Do you feel them?"

"Yes, though I do not quite know their names yet."

"That's fine. Try to activate one so that I may see it. Ah, but do aim for the void of space and not the forge, if you please."

Novei took a step forward and twisted her wrist, a chain snapping to existence and flying up from the ground to strike at the air as if to grab something. She blinked once. "Huh. Neat."

"Chain Magic," Xin identified it for her. "Quite useful for restraining enemies and prey alike."

"Neat." Novei set a hand on her hip. "Want me to try another?"

Xin nodded. "Yes, please. Go for it."

The Therian made a similar movement with her hand, frowning when nothing happened. She tried again, and again, then frowned a little. "I need blood."

"Hungry again?" Xin asked with an eyebrow raised. He debated for a moment before making a decision. "As important as it is for you to experience a hunt so as to acquire your own blood, for food and magic… right now it's best if you don't. Wait here." He vanished, only to return moments later with yet another wine bottle filled with the substance. "Here, you can have this one. It's enchanted in such a way that it will refill itself twice before fully becoming empty. It will last a short while."

Novei grabbed the bottle and opened it, then her eyes glowed and the ground erupted in flames around her. "That is why I needed the blood." Some of the blood vanished as she cast this spell.

"I assumed as much. As I said, at some point you will need to learn how to hunt so as to acquire it for yourself." He observed her spell and blinked. "I'm afraid that this one doesn't have a fancy name or the like. It is merely Blood Magic."

The Therian frowned vaguely and her eyes glowed again, rapidly consuming all of the blood as several explosions rippled through the air high above them. "This Blood Magic has many uses."

"It does indeed," Xin confirmed with a slight smile. "But do not go wild with it right now. You will exhaust yourself, since you are not used to it."

Novei somewhat ignored his words, deciding to experiment with her new powers. From one of her fingers sprouted a claw, and she used it to give herself a small cut on the other arm, flicking the blood away for it to vanish as soon as it touched the stone. "This appears to have somewhat merged with my other magic, or perhaps it merely has enough variety that I can mimic the properties of the runes I have made in the past."

"It does appear that way, yes," Xin agreed.

"They appear capable of operating with any magic I have. It feels as if I can change them at will." Novei tilted her head and knelt down by where one of the droplets had gone. "This would have been useful." Xin let out a soft hum of agreement, though he had no real comment to make on the matter right that second.

Novei decided to try something else, materializing a large hammer into her hand. After a few seconds of focusing, the object was invisible in her hand. Xin could still sense it, just due to the magical traces her inexperience with Concealment Magic left behind. "You will certainly need practice with that," Xin murmured. "The art of concealment is quickly tricky to master, at times. Still, you show immediate promise. I did not expect you to be able to make things invisible already."

"I see," Novei murmured in reply. "I feel as if I have another, but nothing to use it on. It… how do I explain…" Her face contorted as she grew puzzled.

"Can you tell me anything about it?" Xin asked her.

"I know not how to explain. I have nothing here to use it on. Maybe if… I killed something?" She sounded truly confused, scratching at her head.

"Ah, Necromancy," Xin realized aloud. He sort of chuckled. "Let's not give that one a whirl today. That is better suited to places where Li is not. I do not think he would enjoy seeing dead things wandering around. And, frankly, I'm not a huge fan of it either."

Novei blinked, then shrugged gently. Something else seemed to draw at her mind, and she willingly called on the magic. Before Xin suddenly stood three Noveis. Each had their own invisible weapon in hand, but two were clearly illusory as Novei once more couldn't hide the traces of magic. "What of this?"

"Illusions," Xin told her. "So you're aware, other vampires can smell the reality that such magics try to conceal. Other beings, however, will be susceptible to this. It is the same magic Cyca used on you and the rest of us when she attacked the forge. Illusions of pain, unfortunately, do work on other vampires, as I learned."

"So, against a vampire, I should simply tear their head off?" Novei calmly asked.

"Only if it is truly warranted," Xin said, a warning in his tone. "Do not simply go killing any vampire who annoys you. Ghune will not allow it, and neither will Ryint or I."

"I'll tear off Ghune's head," Novei grumbled. "Stupid ass lady."

"You will not," Xin told her simply yet firmly, "and that is all there is to it."

A growl emanated from Novei, but she didn't argue. Instead, she stopped herself and thought for a moment. Her chest rippled as her bones moved. "That is quite an unusual ability…"

"Bone manipulation?" Xin asked, his eyebrows upraised. "That is… odd. I have never met a vampire who gained such an ability after being turned. Nor have I heard of one."

Novei raised an arm and watched as bone tore through her skin and emerged as a razor sharp blade before receding. "That will be useful, especially when I grab an enemy."

"I suppose so, yes," Xin had to agree, his mind still stuck on how unexpected this turn of events was.

The Therian sniffed, then turned to him fully. "You are distracted."

"Observant," Xin remarked, a hint of a smile on his face. "Yes, I suppose I am. As I stated, this is not a typical situation. I was merely pondering it."

"What about it is atypical?" she questioned. Idly, the woman worked through her various magics again, testing them and getting a better feel for how to use them. "I presume it is not the powers."

"It is," Xin reiterated. "More specifically the bone manipulation. That is not a vampiric ability to my knowledge."

Novei frowned in thought. "I see." With that said, the pair returned their focus to other pieces of minor training. She had much to learn, after all.

Meanwhile, inside, there wasn't any conversation taking place. Sothan was in the kitchen alone aside from the infant in his arms. Due to his fatigue stemming from his recent starvation, he was sitting on the floor with his back against one of the counters. He didn't have the energy to be standing when it wasn't necessary. With quiet eyes that didn't hint at any of the shock he was still feeling (shock that had, honestly, left him fairly numb for the moment), he watched as the baby finished drinking his bottle. Then the baby began to whimper and whine in displeasure when Sothan pulled the bottle away and set it aside. "Shh," he murmured. "Méiguānxì. Nǐ méishì ba." ("It's okay. You're alright.")

Slipping into Chinese wasn't exactly intentional, but it came to him easier in this time of stress than the Universal Language did. The former was his native tongue, after all. He and Yuma (wasn't she his… sister?) hadn't even learned how to speak the Universal Language until her child had been somewhere around thirteen to fifteen, though the two of them understood it well enough when listening to it.

As for his supposed niece or nephew… He couldn't picture their face. He couldn't recall their name. In truth, he wasn't even sure that they had indeed ever existed at all. The memory was too faint. But then the baby let out a louder cry, and he found himself distracted from wondering about it any further for now. The poor thing smelled… fearful. "Méiguānxì," he said again, his voice soft and gentle. "Nǐ zài zhèlǐ hěn ānquán. Nǐ bù xūyào zài hàipàle." ("It's okay. You're safe here. You don't need to be afraid anymore.")

Li had stayed nearby, just in case. He could tell the baby was stressed, so he walked over and gently sat down by the baby's father. "Méiguānxì, xiǎo jiāhuo. Méiyǒu rén huì zài shānghài nǐ." ("It's alright, little guy. Nobody will hurt you again.")

Sothan glanced at him, mildly surprised, but quickly refocused on the baby. Thankfully, the child appeared to be soothed by their soft tones of voice and calmed down before too long. Still, he couldn't help but wonder one thing once it was clear that the baby was alright. Who is he? He knew that he'd seen this person a short while earlier when the baby had first been brought here, but that didn't tell him much of anything. Well, except for one thing he'd been aware of from the start. He looks like Xin… and Xin mentioned that there was someone named "Li" living here who is our family. Was he talking about this man?

"I'm glad to see you again, Sothan," Li murmured. "I was worried. This whole thing has been… a nightmare. Just seeing you around is kinda soothing."

"Why were you worried?" Sothan asked quietly after a moment's pause. Hopefully a question like this would answer his other questions about their potential relation.

Li gave a sigh. He'd… had a feeling that Sothan still didn't remember him. It hurt. "Well, you may not know this, but you're my uncle. One of the greatest blacksmiths to have ever existed, outclassed only by Immortals. You taught me everything I needed to know to become the God of the Forge."

Blacksmith? That sounded somewhat familiar. Actually, really familiar the more he thought about it. But Sothan didn't focus on that long. "You're Li," he confirmed to himself in a quiet voice. The baby squirmed in his arms, cooing softly as they talked. "Xin mentioned you."

"Yeah, that's me," Li replied gently. "Xin is my father. The Therian woman with me earlier is Novei. She's my girlfriend."

While Sothan didn't know what the word "Therian" meant, he had seen the woman standing with Li a short while ago. She was the same one who had briefly gotten into his face as well, but he mentally shrugged that off. "...I see," he responded after a moment. His head was starting to hurt a bit like it had been doing all night long, and that left him a touch distracted from replying.

"She's weird, just a little," Li chuckled. "We, uh… We actually met because she got wrapped up in a fight while I was on the run from a bad guy. She helped me get rid of the enemies, then decided to protect me." A soft smile broke onto his face and he smiled. "She's really good to me. I'm sure you'll remember more of it soon, but I don't wanna overload you with a ton of details."

Shortly after Li finished talking, Sothan was hit with several flashes of memories in rapid succession. The pain of it made him wince and he reflexively pressed his fingers into his eyes to try to alleviate said pain. He was quiet for a long time before saying anything. "...I remember talking to both of you before, but… barely," he mumbled between gritted teeth.

"You okay?" Li asked, setting a hand on Sothan's shoulder. "Do you need anything?"

"'M fine," Sothan told him after a pause. "It's just a headache." More flashes occurred, too many to keep track of, and eons worth of memories began working on settling into place. Intense pain accompanied this, likely on par with what Xin experienced when his memories had returned and he'd collapsed onto his knees as a result. And just like in his situation, Sothan's pain started to ease just as suddenly as it began.

When he regained awareness of his surroundings, he found that he had shifted to put his head into his hands. Feeling the baby laying safely in his lap alleviated his most immediate concern. Now he just had to worry about… everything else. Like handling how hurt and all around upset Li was, something he now knew he was the partial (and unintentional) cause of. Damn it all… he thought in frustration. He'd never wanted this to happen, much less to his nephew of all people.

The younger wolf watched him with concerned eyes, shifting his hand to his uncle's back. "You sure? That looked like it really hurt…"

"It did," Sothan admitted with a heavy sigh. "It's over now, though, so I'm alright."

"I'm glad," Li said softly.

Sothan rubbed his eyes in an effort to massage away the last vestiges of that headache. "I'm sorry for worrying you so much recently, Li."

The younger wolf paused, then he smiled and wrapped an arm around his uncle. "As long as you're okay, it'll be fine. It's not your fault at all." Sothan shifted to keep a hand on the baby and used his other arm to return Li's hug.

In the midst of their silence, Li was suddenly startled by the appearance of his best friend sitting on the ground a few feet in front of them. The hawk blinked once, looking over, and waved. "Oh, hey. I'm back now." Any response that Sothan may have given to that was cut off by the baby resuming his earlier wailing. Sothan turned his full attention to that problem instead, murmuring reassurances in Chinese as he'd been doing earlier.

Sein immediately stood and moved closer, blinking once. His aura senses showed a lot of things. Li was rapidly settling from immense emotional turmoil and he seemed a lot better off. Sothan was a vampire, which Sein had already knew beforehand, but he appeared to be feeling okay as well… if a little troubled. "Sorry for disappearing. The Faein spoke to me briefly." It then occurred to him that there was a baby, and he moved closer, eyes wide. "Sothan, when did you have a kid?"

Sothan shook his head slowly, somewhat dismayed. "I… didn't. Not technically." He grew quiet for a moment, feeling at a loss to try to explain this. "My earring was stolen and my magic was used. We only just found out about this."

Sein's vague smile dropped and he settled a hand on Sothan's shoulder. "Hey, if nothing else, kid is cute. And there's like… nobody better than you to raise 'im. A big 'ol lovable man like you are… You should do great. We all see how Li turned out."

This managed to tease a soft chuckle out of Sothan. "You seem to forget the fact that his parents were the ones who raised him, not me." And they're both amazing people. I see so much of them in him.

"Bah, don't lie to yourself," Sein replied. "You're an important part of the man, too. I mean, look at this fancy job he took up. You think Yuma and Xin taught him all this?" The hawk smiled warmly. "You'll do fine."

"Hǎo ba, hǎo ba," Sothan said with another chuckle. He could feel himself finally relaxing a bit, and he welcomed the sensation. He had never enjoyed being tense and upset. "Wǒ míngbái." ("Okay, okay. I understand.")

As was often the case, Sothan felt compelled to check on his nephew, especially since the other wolf was being unusually silent. It was barely a glance, but when Sothan looked at Li he was startled by something. Rather than seeing his nephew, all he saw was a black shadow in the shape of a wolf. Contained within that shadow and glowing a bright red were his heart and all of his veins. But the instant Sothan blinked, it was gone and everything was back to normal. What in the…? There had been no temptation to feed just then, not off of Li, but that didn't make what he'd seen any less disturbing.

Li looked into Sothan's eyes, his previous warm gaze morphing to one of vague concern. "You okay? You seem a little spooked…"

Sothan looked away with a thoughtful frown. He had no idea what to make of that experience, nor did he want to create any concern in these two by trying to explain it. "I'm alright," he said after a moment. He left it at that.

With a frown of his own, Sein crossed his arms. "So when do I get to hold the little one?"

Just a little, Sothan felt himself smile again. "Go ahead," he offered. He lifted the child with gentle hands and passed him over. "Just… keep your emotions calm. He has been distressed."

Sein took a few seconds to fully steady his emotions before wrapping his hands softly around the baby, cradling him against his chest. "Been a while since I got to hold a kid, honestly," he chuckled. The baby squirmed a little and let out a canine whine, then blinked open his sleepy orange eyes. He looked blearily up at Sein for a moment before just yawning and closing his eyes again.

"It has been far longer for me, I can assure you," Sothan answered lightly. After all, he hadn't even been around a baby since Li, Sein, and Alana had themselves been part of that age group.

Waving a hand dismissively, Sein chuckled. "Don't sweat it. Kids are easy."

"I seem to recall that you weren't," Sothan gently teased. "You were quite fond of giving Kath trouble, zhízi." ("Nephew", specifically "brother's son".)

"Psh." Sein snickered. "I was a legend. Had to live up to it."

Li rolled his eyes. "Is that why you got grounded once for smearing ink over some general's letter?"

"Yes," Sein replied proudly.

"I believe I heard of that one," Sothan said in amusement. "Queen Laralei was far from pleased with you at the time." He grew quiet for a moment. Then he asked, "Are she and Kath still alive?" This was something he wanted to know for multiple reasons. One was that those two had been like siblings to himself, Yuma, and Xin. They had been part of the family. He hated to think that they might be dead like he had been up until so recently.

"There's a lot you should know about that," Sein replied gently, rocking the baby in his arms softly. "For now… let's not get into it all. It's a dark, painful subject that… I think I should have Alana around for. Not sure I could tell it all on my own, if I'm truthful." Sein wore a bitter smile, masking the pain in his eyes. "Kath and Laralei are alive right now, but they were both revived."

It… seemed prudent not to press the matter. Not when Sein had reacted like this. As such, Sothan looked away and nodded with a simple, "Alright." He let it go right after that.

After a few seconds, Sein handed the child back. "I gotta go here soon. I, uh… I was given a fairly important task. I asked to be sent here so I could check on you." Sein smiled to Li, nudging him with an elbow. "You take care of Sothan and that kid, or I'll hide your hammers again."

Li laughed a little, deciding to not press for information. Sein's stress had just broken through his aura… so bothering the man seemed like a bad idea. "You better come back safe. If you break any of my stuff again and ask me to fix it, I'll make sure your next weapon is extra hard to wield." The wolf returned the nudge.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, bud," Sein chuckled, standing upright. "It's good to see you, Sothan. Take it easy."

"Zàijiàn," Sothan answered quietly. "Be safe, Sein." ("Goodbye.")

Sein took this as his cue to leave, teleporting to Mobius. Things again grew quiet in the forge. They were relatively relaxed, too… until they weren't.

Suddenly, Sothan tensed up for a whole other reason than he had earlier. The memory of what he'd done after escaping Cyca's trap (or perhaps being set loose by her, he wasn't sure which it was) hit him like a freight train - and very abruptly as well. I killed someone… Damn. He hadn't cared about it at the time. Hell, even after coming here he hadn't felt any particular remorse for what he'd done. It had been all too easy to see that person as nothing more than prey. A meal. Mere food. Now he was sick to his stomach at the thought. How could he have ever viewed another person in such a way?

He had long known that being turned into were-creatures, vampires, demons, or other such things resulted in personality changes in the one who was afflicted. Simply looking at Xin as he was today versus how he had once been was proof enough. The man had once been just like Li. These days, he didn't bat an eye at violence, was unfazed by all manners of dark experiences, didn't hesitate to hunt for food when he needed or wanted it… He was still an undeniably good man in Sothan's eyes, that hadn't changed and never would, but that didn't mean he wasn't different now than he had been in the past.

Like him, Sothan wasn't quite the same as he once was. He didn't feel different, per se, but he knew based on his own memories that he was. While he felt sickened by having thought of a person as anything but a person earlier, he couldn't bring himself to feel much remorse for having killed them. It was too easy to rationalize the feeling away. He'd been hungry. He'd needed blood to live. That had been reason enough. It was reason enough. But he never would have thought that way before, and he didn't… particularly like doing so now.

Even now, he found himself desiring blood. It was a craving of sorts, one that may well have been born out of his experiences at the hands of Cyca. He remembered now how she'd trapped him, fed on him, turned him, starved him, set him loose when he'd been close to death knowing full well what would happen as a result… Part of him hated her for it. For turning him into this, something he'd never wanted to become. He'd only ever hated one person before, and that person had been Nareish. Now there were two people. With the way that he knew most vampires were, it would be entirely too easy for that list to grow.

In an effort to steer his mind away from such matters, Sothan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Almost as soon as all of the previous thoughts began, he put an end to them. He refused to let himself get worked up. Not with both Li and the baby sitting right here. Still… one last thought was determined to make itself heard on the matter before being silenced. I'm going to kill her.

Li knew Sothan well and, even though he'd been transformed into a vampire, he was sure that the man had a lot on his mind at the moment. Sothan was troubled about something… but the younger wolf couldn't figure out what. It was obvious he didn't want to talk about it, though. "Hey, how about we go do something here in a bit? Like, messing around in the forge. I found some metals that I've kept stashed away which you might like to test ideas with."

Although it took a moment, a smile soon tugged at the corners of Sothan's lips. "That sounds good," he agreed readily enough. "It just needs to wait until this one fully falls back asleep. I believe he has merely been dozing." The baby chose to squirm again right then, almost as if he knew he was being talked about.

"'Course. I can go and set everything out for us, get the furnace lit," Li offered, already moving to stand. "Unless, of course, you wanna go through the whole process together like the old days."

"However you would prefer to do it is fine," Sothan answered. He somehow found the energy to get to his own feet and was mildly surprised to find that he was less shaky than he had been earlier. Even just the few small meals he'd had since returning here were clearly helping a lot.

Li offered a warm smile. "Then, I'll just get our stuff out and ready. I'd like to do it all with you again." He walked up to Sothan and wrapped his arms around the man. "Glad you're back with us."

Sothan was quick to return the hug, though unlike Li he could only use one arm. "It's good to be back," he agreed quietly. He gave his nephew a comforting squeeze, hoping that some of Li's worries would start to ease soon. It went without saying that he had never enjoyed his family being upset in any way.

The younger of the two had already begun relaxing just from the conversation, luckily. He broke away from the hug to go do what he'd said he would. "Once he's asleep, come find me. I'll have everything ready for you." Li went ahead and left the room, figuring he'd let the silence take over for the baby's sake.

Alone with his newfound child once more, Sothan looked down into the boy's peaceful face. A new thought, one completely unlike his various earlier ones, wandered into his mind. What do I name you…?

~保護者~

As generally foolish as some of Astra's past actions had been (chief of all her plan to try and mind control an Immortal), Nareish had to admit that one of the other woman's ideas had a fair bit of merit. That is, within the context of Nareish's own plans to make Cyril suffer. She would kill him eventually (and, in fact, she was looking forward to it), but just now… Just now, she wanted to ensure he was in as much agony as possible before that point. He was going to beg for death by the time she was finished with him.

Brutalizing Teyan and leaving her for him to find had just been the first step. The second step, she had decided, was going to be something far worse from his perspective. Much like Astra had revived Shei and Aniko through necromancy and forced Espio to fight them while they were mind controlled, Nareish intended to do the same to Cyril with his parents. The difference was that she was far more adept at such things than Astra had proven herself to be. Perhaps Eila would have managed better, but Astra had failed to maintain her hold over either of her victims. Nareish wasn't going to make the same mistake.

It took no time at all for Quinn and Min'na, Cyril's mother and father, to be revived and restrained before her. However, she severed the necromantic mind control, as that could be severed anyway by a strong enough psychic. That much had been proven by Aniko's eventual saving in the past. And besides, she had plenty of time available to her right now. Making these two also suffer by making entirely certain that they were fully aware of what they were about to be used for sounded grand.

"Hello, loves," she greeted in a light tone. While she spoke, she worked on boosting their strength and other abilities to roughly Cyril's level. Doing so was perfectly possible. It was very rare, but as Kath, Wave, Han, and others had proven throughout history, mortals could occasionally wind up with semi-Immortal levels of strength. These two certainly had that potential. All she had to do was unlock it for them and then boost them to that level. Granted, as a deity, their son was still stronger than them. However, fighting both of them at once would still be tricky for him if nothing else - even when not taking into account how his emotions might impact his fighting ability.

Quinn, Cyril's father, was a white finch with small patches of yellow-tipped (almost golden yellow, in fact) feathers on parts of his right arm and hand, both thighs, his "hair", on his back, and his abdomen. The dual colors were visual proof that his parents had been different colors from one another, though it was rare for one's secondary color to show up in so many spots. It already seemed that, like Cyril, he was quite the unique individual. He was unusually bold, too, seeing as how he entirely ignored Nareish in favor of quickly asking his partner, "Are you alright?"

The female, a yellow finch with green streaks in her feathers groaned a little. All over were these little stripes of color, much like how Quinn had- though he didn't have stripes like she did. The woman was just sitting on the ground, looking up at Quinn with wide eyes. "Oh, dear. Why are we here? I thought we were going for our daily 'float' in the park?" A little smile came onto her face, then she tried to stand and huffed. "Oh."

"I must say, you too are proving to be just as interesting as your son," Nareish observed with a small smirk. Quinn's eyes darted to her, then narrowed in suspicion. "Oh, calm yourself. He is fine." For now.

"You don't look very nice, miss," Min'na replied, looking at Nareish with eyes as wide as those she'd regarded Quinn with. "I presume you have less than pleasant intentions."

"Mm, you could say that," Nareish chuckled. "Tell me something first, however. Are you aware of what your son has become recently? I presume you would be, if you remained on this world as spirits."

"May I raise my hand to ask a question of my own, miss?" Min'na asked calmly, shrugging her shoulder as minimally as she could.

Feeling amused, Nareish decided to play along for now. "Ask," she invited.

"Why do you presume that I know? We have been dead for quite some time." Min'na blinked once.

"As I said, you would know had you not migrated into the Realms of Death when your short little lives ended," Nareish answered. She shifted forward on her throne to lean her arms on her knees. "Your son, rather recently, surpassed the expectations of virtually all in existence by becoming the first ever God of Magic. Quite intriguing, is it not?"

"Oh, Quinn!" Min'na exclaimed. "Cyril has lived for so long and still has grown in his magic! That is wonderful!" The finch turned her eyes to Quinn, smiling as she blinked her eyes a few times in his direction. She carefully blinked out 'S.O.S.' in morse code.

Though Quinn knew full well what she was communicating to him, there wasn't anything he could do to help her or even himself. All he could do was force a smile (a perfectly convincing one, in fact) and nod. "He certainly has. A deity for magic… Who would have ever suspected such a thing?" Although he was genuinely happy that they're son had grown so much and had achieved such a role, he couldn't shake the feeling of dread that was steadily seeping into him. What's this woman's game? What does she want?

Nareish watched them for a moment, then spoke again. "Tell me something. Do you have even the slightest inkling as to why you are here?"

"I presume you intend to cause us or our son harm," Min'na explained, frowning. She was masking her emotions well. Nareish's presence alone was… terrifying. If she wasn't restrained, she still wouldn't have been able to move.

"Your son," Nareish revealed slowly, "has done much to earn my ire. He was a fool for doing so, as well. You see… I am the Immortal Slayer. I know your people know of me, and have known of me for many ages."

Quinn felt himself go rigid. "...You're lying," he muttered. "I don't doubt your wickedness, for I would have to be blind, deaf, and stupid not to sense it, but to claim that you are that person? We have no reason to take you at your word."

"Hold on a moment, what acts could our son have done to draw the ire of someone quite as terrible as you?" Min'na dared to ask, narrowing her eyes in a mild display of confusion. "He is a sweet boy who has always followed his passions. He may have awakened as some sort of deity, but in what existence has he become a bother to you?"

"You should not let yourself be blinded from facts by your love," Nareish warned. "He is a 'sweet boy', certainly… but one who is deeply embroiled in this war, just as much so as the Immortals themselves. He even killed my beloved Widow… and for that, I intend to ensure his suffering as punishment."

"Wait, if… if they were your widow…" The female finch was confused. "How did she even become a widow? I assume we are speaking of a 'she', of course-" She refused to so much as entertain the idea of Cyril having killed someone, so she didn't even respond to that. "Did you die? Is that how she - they - became a widow?"

Quinn managed to move enough to nudge her with his shoe. "She means the Widow, Min'na," he explained in undertone. Now it was his turn to be sporting wide eyes. "The one from the old stories, the one who helped to slaughter the first two generations of Immortals."

"Oh." Min'na blinked, then turned her attention back to Nareish. "There is no way in which he could have possessed that kind of strength. Even if those powers just awakened… I highly doubt the chances of him contending with an Immortal at any stage of his life." This wasn't quite making sense in her head, but the image of him having done such a thing painted itself in her mind and it scared her even more. He must be in so much pain…

"Privilege," Nareish revealed, "granted from the single most powerful Immortal to ever exist… That is how he managed such a thing. But that additional power exists within him no longer. It was temporary, meaning he is once again quite vulnerable."

"Oh," Min'na blinked. "W-well, I won't be all that useful to you, in that case," she said nervously. "I, uh… I don't really know how to fight, and you, er… make it sound like he's… really powerful."

"You know some things," Nareish dismissed. "And besides, I do not need all of you, in truth. Just your memories… your voices… your bodies." She smiled slowly. It was a dark, predatory smile. "Your minds are mine to control, and from there it does not matter what you know. All it matters is how well you can obey."

"That's really creepy," Min'na squeaked, the careful mask she'd held together cracking in the face of her fear.

"That's hardly a strong enough word," Quinn mumbled, struggling against his restraints with renewed vigor. He wanted desperately to both escape and to comfort his wife but, in the end, he was incapable of doing either.

Nareish rose to her feet in one fluid motion and strode over, her high heeled shoes clacking on the floor with each step she took toward the pair. The sound echoed around the dark space. Upon reaching them, she leaned down to whisper in Min'na's ear. "You're afraid… Good. I will enjoy seeing how much this distresses you going forward."

Min'na's eyes widened and she turned her head. "No, don't you dare. Leave me and my family alone!" she shouted, fighting to get herself free from her bonds.

"Watch carefully," Nareish grinned, straightening again. "You're next." She turned slightly and placed a firm hand atop Quinn's head. The physical connection made it even easier than it already would have been for her to work her way into his mind and start causing him pain. He grunted, eyes squeezing shut and expression tightening, but those involuntary reactions rapidly began to ebb once she started taking control and forcing him to stop.

Min'na wasn't a violent woman, and that was true even now. All she wanted to do was make her magic surge to life to whisk herself and her husband away. That wasn't working, so she screamed. "No, please! Leave him alone! This isn't even a good idea!" There was no reasoning with this woman, that much she was sure of, but she still had to try something. "There's no way my boy harmed a single soul! You've got to be blaming the wrong person!"

"You're mistaken, my dear," Nareish smiled while working her way deeper and deeper into Quinn's mind. He was already fully under her control, as his vacant expression and dull, lifeless eyes showed. Now it was just a matter of digging in her roots as much as possible without destroying his brain. "He very much did kill the Widow, and he is fighting in this war. Do you remember his childhood friend, Wave? Even she is aware of what he has been up to, despite her little life and petty troubles stealing so much of her attention."

"I don't believe you, not for a second," Min'na bit out, tears welling up in her eyes. "Cyril is far too sweet and kind to kill people!" She didn't want to believe anything Nareish said, but doubts were making their way into her mind as she watched what was happening to Quinn. "Please, please stop this!"

"You believe he would not act, even when he is of the belief that ending a life is the 'right' thing to do?" Nareish questioned her. "And know this. Between you and your partner, you are the least valuable. Whether I am able to keep you or not, I am keeping him. You will simply have to learn to live with this knowledge should you ever manage to be saved."

Finished for now with Quinn, Nareish created a screen of magic in her hand that allowed her to see Cyril while simultaneously covering Min'na's mouth to keep her quiet. "Hello, Cyril," she greeted in a falsely sweet tone. She made sure to prevent him from seeing his parents yet, though he could certainly see her. "I hear your little friend is still alive. A pity. I had been rather sure of her impending demise, I must admit."

Cyril's face contorted in a mixture of irritation and concern. "Be quiet. You've done more than enough, and I don't wanna deal with you right now."

"You will want to deal with it," Nareish smiled, "considering who all is involved in this." She turned her screen to face Min'na. "Say hello to mother dearest, would you?"

Before the words could spill out of Cyril's mouth, he was already out of his chair. "What is your problem? What did my mother do to you? Come and point your aggression at me yourself!" Min'na watched him quietly, trying her best to shake her head. Whatever was about to happen, she didn't want him involved. The thought of him being hurt broke her heart.

"I would rather make you suffer first," Nareish drawled. "And if accomplishing such a goal means harming those you care about most, then I will gladly do so." She turned the screen again, this time to show Quinn. His expression was still just as vacant as before, his eyes blank, and it made her chuckle. "This one already belongs to me. He is quite the loyal pet. Your mother will soon join him."

"They're not yours," Cyril bit out. "I won't let you keep them in your filthy hands." The sight of what she'd done to his father made him feel… irrational and unfocused. His magic began to glow around him. "Give me back my parents," he demanded.

"I will not. And even assuming you manage to save your mother, I am keeping him whether you like it or not." Nareish again turned her screen so that it was facing Min'na. She left it floating there and walked over to the other woman. Placing a hand atop her head, Nareish began working her way into the bird's mind.

"I won't give you a choice, just like I did with the Widow," Cyril muttered, balling his fists up. "Ma, don't worry. I'll save you and Dad. You can count on it."

If Min'na could, she would have sobbed. Don't… please. Don't put yourself in danger… She repeated this to herself, as if willing it into existence.

Nareish tightened her hold on her captive's mind in order to silence her thoughts. "You will fail, little godling. Try what you feel you must, but you will fail." To further her own amusement, she decided to let Min'na speak… briefly. What words would mother and son trade? Finding out the answer to that question would be interesting.

"Don't talk, ma," Cyril murmured. "This woman… she won't stop me. I'll find a way to save you and Dad, I promise it." Tears streamed down the female finch's face, soaking into her feathers.

"How dreadfully boring," Nareish murmured. "I was hoping for a bit more of a show… but oh, well. That will have to do." She resumed taking control of her captive's mind, not stopping this time until she was finished entirely.

"Mark my words, Nareish, I will keep taking things from you if you threaten my loved ones," Cyril muttered. "People like you… you've got nothing left but hate and I know you're beyond saving. So, just watch."

Nareish openly laughed at his declaration. "I will enjoy watching you regret your words as your parents end your life," she answered darkly. "You will do nothing worthy of my concern… But please, feel free to try to save your mother if you wish. She is far less useful to me, and I will likewise enjoy seeing her suffering if she ever regains her senses."

Cyril knew there was no point in replying, eyes glowing with his rising magic. I'll save them. You can't stop me. The yellow finch left a clone at Teyan's bedside and teleported away, but not before taking one last look at his parents. I'm sorry you were dragged into this. I wish you never saw the tragedy that is this war.

~保護者~

In just the short time since he'd left Babylon, Cyril had started shaking. He always hated being this angry (and really, it was a painful cycle that made him more angry), but he felt fully justified. Still, that cold fear gripping his heart was the most painful part of all of this. Fighting truly vile people to protect others was one thing. Tianak and the Widow were nothing like his parents. They loved, cared, and showed nothing but kindness as far as he'd ever seen in his life. Now he was likely going to have to fight them.

He'd had the manners to not appear inside Tails's home, but he didn't have the thought to knock, his magic swinging the door open as he walked in. His attention centered on Wave and he called out a sentence that almost made him wince. "Nareish revived my parents and is mind controlling them."

Wave felt her eyes widen as she turned to face him. Everyone gathered here had been preparing for the newest raid Steam was organizing, including her. But she abandoned her own preparations immediately in favor of hurrying to Cyril's side. "Are you sure?" she asked in a voice full of alarm. "Are you sure this isn't just another lie she's telling?"

"I watched her do it," Cyril replied. "She'd already gotten to my dad by the time she showed me, but I watched her do it to my ma." The finch took a deep breath, looking around the room. "There's a raid happening, right?"

"Yes," Wave confirmed. Then, thinking back to her childhood memories of his family, she asked, "I'm sorry to press you like this, it's just… He never talked much about it, but your dad was a soldier once, right? In Laralei's army?"

Cyril has an inkling of this information, but he'd never been told much by his father. "I… I guess, yeah."

Dread filled the room at that moment. Tails broke the silence first, though he hated to be the one to bring Cyril more bad news. "She's going to try everything to keep him, then. Highly trained soldiers like the kind from Babylon are valuable to her."

Cyril didn't like that information, and he didn't know what to say about it. Luckily, there was no need as Eila entered the room via teleportation. "If she truly has his mind controlled, then I will offer whatever aid I can to combat it. It would not be my first time contending with something equal to an Immortal's power."

Silver piped up next. "We've gotta figure out what type of mind control she used on them," he frowned. "There are at least a couple that I've heard of."

"We won't know until we have one of them in our hands," Eila returned. "I do doubt that she will go the route of pure control. It's… well, it is inefficient, to say the least."

"Sometimes there are visible clues that give you an idea of which one you're dealing with, " Silver answered. "I hate to ask, Cyril, but what symptoms did you see?"

This made Cyril uncomfortable, but he understood the need. "I- er-" He stuttered for a moment trying to figure out how to explain it. "I… know she was able to stop my ma from speaking, at least somewhat. My dad was… very quiet. Seemed distant and like he wasn't really comprehending anything around him, maybe?"

"Was… your mom still able to do anything, even while Nareish was controlling her voice?" Silver then asked.

"She was crying, I know that," Cyril replied. "Other than that, she didn't do much aside from speak a little…"

Now Silver was even more concerned. He didn't know much about darker usages of mental powers, but what he did know made his heart sink. "Eila, you… you know what this sounds like, right?"

Eila growled a little under her breath, rubbing a hand against one of her eyes. "I studied this somewhat. It's rare to have the skill or power to do so, but it sounds like she is attempting to perform a type of mind control that simply makes it so the controlled person is entirely loyal and still… themselves, to some degree. It's not unlike her corruption in some regards. They won't be able to combat the control in any way, so we can't count on the kind of shit you pulled," Eila explained, looking at Cyril. "They may well lose touch with their emotions, and this is a far from pleasant hypothesis."

The cat could sense the fury in Cyril's voice, followed by the various thoughts and words he wanted to say. Rightfully, he was angry. "I'm still gonna try to save them," Cyril murmured. "I don't care what it takes, I will find a way to." Eila was impressed with the level of control he showed in this moment.

"And we're all going to help you however we can," Wave said softly. "I promise, we will do everything in our power to get them away from her and back to being their true selves."

Steam nodded slowly, deciding to finally speak up. "I'll check with the Eila of my timeline and see if she has any tips on the matter, too. If nothing else, she could probably look into dealing with this sort of thing." Cyril gave a quick nod, but didn't say much more.

"What else are we trying to accomplish with this raid?" Sonic suddenly asked. "I know we were trying to wait for Jet and Alana to show up, but we're probably running out of time to discuss this."

"Steam has a plan to try and keep Nareish off our backs for a time after the raid, but has kept it quiet," Eila revealed. "I will make the demand that you don't keep this sort of thing a secret going forward." Her gaze fell on the green hedgehog.

Steam gave a bit of a sigh. "Yeah, I do. I've fought her once before, so I wanted to speak to the Faein to have enough privilege granted so I could briefly be equal with her. Just for a few minutes. Fighting someone of her own caliber for once, she's unlikely to be ready for that. If I can even force her to need to take time to rest, that gives Jet a chance to breathe and work with the new Immortals to train them. That, and we can address issues that she's presented."

"You're a goddamn moron, Steam," Eila muttered.

"It's risky," Tails had to agree, "but… if we suppose hypothetically that it could be done… it might be our best shot."

Eila heaved a small sigh. "Here is my issue with the matter. You're proposing yourself as the option with no thought of the repercussions. You may injure her, you may even somehow manage to incapacitate her, but this fight will likely kill you in the aftermath. Privilege is strong, but once it leaves your body, you return to being a semi-Immortal. Those wounds will kill you."

"Hate to say it, but Eila has a really good point. When I used Privilege to fight the Widow, I was exhausted. The stress on my body was way more than I expected. You'd be fighting someone way stronger. The strain alone could probably put you down," Cyril replied, frowning sympathetically.

It seemed that Alana had at some point teleported into the room without anyone noticing. Her presence was only revealed when she suddenly spoke. "Then allow someone who is not a semi-Immortal to handle it," she murmured. "My husband or I will be willing to do so, though I will not easily agree to my son being in that situation again."

"I won't put Jet in that position," Steam agreed immediately. "I want him to have more time to recuperate, and to be available in case something requires his attention."

"Which of you would be more capable in a fight against Nareish, from what little we know?" Eila questioned, turning her attention to Alana.

"We are rather equal in most regards, though there are areas where one of us surpasses the other," Alana said. "It is difficult to accurately judge in this scenario, but my assumption is that he is at least somewhat better suited to handle a battle such as this."

Steam frowned a little, then asked, "Where is Sein? I haven't seen him much lately."

Alana's expression tightened, though her voice remained calm. "A man we knew as children, Li's father Xin, appeared suddenly in the medical ward on New Babylon recently. He brought with him Sothan and word of a vampire attack. More things happened than just this, but the one that most spurred Sein into action was when we learned that Li was suffering addiction from a bite he, too, suffered. Sein has been with him ever since."

A wince tore through Cyril's somewhat composed face, sighing. "I bet it was that vampire that I forced to leave the forge…"

She blinked and looked at him. "You met this woman?"

"Yeah," Cyril said with a solemn nod. "Xin asked me to just make her leave, but I probably shouldn't have listened. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, though…"

"Don't blame yourself," Eila replied. Her gaze returned to Alana, curious. "Has the vampire been dealt with?"

"Not to my knowledge," Alana said, "but Sein may know more."

"I will investigate further, soon," Eila replied. "For now, someone should reach out to Sein and ask if he is okay with taking this on. He may not be feeling well enough emotionally."

"Let me be the one to talk to him," Alana answered firmly. She walked away without waiting for a reply, already turning her communicator screen on.

Eila then moved her gaze to Steam. "You should go speak to the Faein now if this is your plan. They will know who is taking on this task." Sonic and the others didn't say anything to this. There wasn't anything to say. Steam merely left, agreeing fully with Eila. With this all done, Eila walked to a nearby couch and curled up on it. "Don't wake me up unless Mobius is threatened or the raid is happening," she threatened, encasing herself in magic.

Silver cautiously piped up. "Uh… I was gonna make some quick snacks for everyone before we leave. For energy and all. Can I wake you for that or do you not wanna eat?"

"I'll eat while killing," Eila replied calmly.

The poor hedgehog wasn't sure how to respond to that. Is she… joking?

He didn't get an answer, considering that the cat was soon dozing off and/or refused to answer. In the meantime, however, Steam was standing amongst the Faein. The foremost was Utavi.

"You plan to have Sein face Nareish so that you and the others can ravage her forces and potentially buy Jet time to train the new Immortals?" Utavi asked, raising her eyebrow. "Very ambitious request…"

"No plan is without its risks," Aethra said. "This one may be bold, incredibly so, but that does not mean it is not a worthwhile path to pursue."

"It's certainly better than Steam offering himself," Rusen murmured softly. "I believe this is the correct way to go. He has much to say and do, and it could allow his heart to relieve itself." Sul only nodded. As ever, he was content to just listen.

Utavi took her physical form and tapped a foot on the ground. "I would agree. Sein will need aid to focus, however. His love for his family will be exploited."

"Yes, it likely will." Aethra turned her attention to Steam directly. "You must be aware that in spite of this plan, Jet's life remains in grave danger. As much as Nareish wants his power to grow, she will kill him early and steal what he has if she feels she must… or believes she merely has the chance. Do not give her that chance. For his sake, his parents', and all of those who are relying on him."

"I plan to do everything in my power to remove as much risk as possible from him," Steam replied. "I know how much this matters."

Utavi tapped her foot more and looked to Aethra. "May I reside within Sein to monitor the battle directly, presuming he agrees? I can help him ensure the safety of Jet and others by expanding his senses only when necessary."

Aethra blinked. "I could be agreeable to that. And you, Rusen?"

"I suppose such a thing is all right and well. Keep cautious and manage your emotions. He will respond to them," Rusen advised gently. "Sul, what say you?"

"I have no arguments to make, nor issues to raise," the quietest among them agreed. "My vote is in line with yours."

"It is settled then. I will speak to Sein on the matter and explain it to him." Utavi turned to Steam, dropping the frown burned into her face. "I suggest you return to your allies. Plan your raid with the knowledge that your pieces are in place."

"And we will watch over you and yours," Sul added. "Always."

Steam nodded to this. "Thank you." He didn't waste more time, teleporting himself back to Mobius. The hedgehog took a moment as he landed some distance from Tails's home, wanting to have a chance to think. We're rapidly approaching the end of this war… and Jet needs serious help. I'm hoping this will give him the chance he needs to start training the others, even if that means Nareish comes after me for planning all of this shit out.

He sighed a little and rubbed at his face softly. I wish I could have let you stay, Tara…

~保護者~

31,029 words this time. I'm so sorry about the delay, guys! But life happens, so I hope this extra long chapter Blazing Winds and I put together makes up for it.

Also, I'm fully aware that this site's font messed up a lot of the formatting for various Mandarin words that were used here (or at least it did in the docs), but I can't do anything to fix that. My apologies for that, and if I messed up any of the translations in general. I tried to find the most accurate translator online that people who really speak the language recommend, but it's possible that some of the grammar and things are off regardless. I really am sorry, if that's the case!

Anyway, thank you to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support, as always, and I hope you enjoyed. Posted (at about 7:30 p.m.) 11-10-23.