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".)

223. Eyes of Darkness

Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this turbulent time… especially for the one whose appearance changes just slightly.

~保護者~

"Eyes of Darkness"

~保護者~

There was a long, long list of issues that Jet knew had to be taken care of, even if not by him. He had just left New Babylon. Right now he was on his way to retrieve Cadora's body, and the grief of that was weighing on him greatly. But that wasn't the last of his worries.

Han still had amnesia, though it was admittedly improving. At least a few of those ancient, evil Light users remained in hiding somewhere. Lia and Soren were still children for… some reason. It had apparently been a while since anyone had heard from Locke, and all he knew at this point was that the man was with some "Tessa" person. Numerous people had been killed by Nareish, not just members of his own family. There was currently no one to claim the throne on New Babylon, for Saraya had been his last living descendent (aside from Lucas, who was too young) and she was now… gone. Cadora was dead, too, a fact which Jet had yet to mentally or emotionally confront… much less tell anyone else. He hadn't even buried his student yet, due to the mental state he'd been in at the time.

And that still wasn't even the end of it. He continued to have no control over the Void's powers or how deeply it affected him. He'd tried more than once to hurt Wave with those powers and thus far hadn't even attempted to apologize for it. Wave was suffering in other ways, too, due to her father's aforementioned amnesia. Cyril was owed an apology, too, for the way that Jet had so callously sent him after the Widow. Then there was the fact that there were apparently vampire refugees here on Babylon due to an attack on the world Ghune had established their kind's biggest stronghold on.

Finally, there was the matter of the fledgling Immortals Steam had brought to his attention sometime ago: Shadow, Espio, Rose, Kath, and Wave. Counting his shifting role, that made six Immortals with ties to existential forces. The question became who the last one was. Sonic, Teyan, and Ythene were the only options. His money was on Sonic. But regardless of who it wound up being, Jet needed to train them and the others. He just had to figure out how, given the time constraints everyone was facing. It was partly his own fault for having delayed it for so long. It was doable probably, but the fact remained that this would be a challenge.

He needed time to work out how to tackle that problem. He couldn't do anything about Soren, and Lia's ages either. nor could he undo the deaths Nareish had caused. What he could do was send out a clone to look for Locke so as to check on him, so that was what he did. Once that was handled, his mind turned to the leadership of his people. The throne wasn't going to be taken by him again. He had too many other responsibilities. And, besides, said throne was meant to be handed down throughout the ages, not held onto by one person forever. That worked just fine for most Babylonians, since they were mortal. Eventually, they passed on. Immortals didn't. It was better that someone like him not rule again.

Laralei was certainly an option, but that would still leave work to be done. Assuming she even wanted to rule again, she would need the people's approval. It was possible that they would insist on her merely being a placeholder until Lucas was of age. The boy had never had an interest in being anything more than a prince, however, though he'd never grown old enough to truly make that choice. So many potential problems might wind up rearing their ugly heads… All he could really do was hope for the best, he supposed.

Then there were all the other issues that had crossed his mind. While he couldn't help Wave with her father with the amnesia issue, he certainly could give her and Cyril both a proper apology for everything he'd put them through lately. He had every intention of doing that, and soon. Working on handling the Void was an unquestionable necessity as well, if only he could figure out how. Steam insisted they needed to work together. Everyone else (so far as he knew) shared Jet's own opinion that that not only wasn't possible, but was a downright stupidly dangerous idea. Still… he knew Steam well enough by now to understand that the hedgehog didn't say things without good reason typically. Which left Jet unsure as to what to do and who to believe.

In the end, there were really only two other things he could handle. He decided to handle the easiest one first in order to buy himself a bit more time to think. Focusing his energies and his mind, he began quickly and systematically restoring the civilization that Ghune had so painstakingly crafted throughout the eons. Even from this distance, he could feel the devastation that Nareish had left behind. He worked to restore everything to its former glory as quickly as possible.

Once he was done, he teleported her poor people back to their world. He would have told Ghune straight away if not for his inability to stretch his mind out to contact others in most scenarios. As it stood, he was going to have to just let Finis know and allow him to handle it. In the meantime… he had a great deal of training to get started on for both him and the others. Their lives, alongside the rest of existence, were going to depend on it. But first…

He had a child who deserved to be laid to rest.

~保護者~

Ordinarily, Nareish could have done this easily. Locating, ensnaring, and transporting a demon more ancient than even she herself was… that was child's play. Still, though it was difficult due to the condition that Sein had left her in, Nareish had successfully dragged a demoness named Ki'aala into her ruined throne room. Once she was there, Nareish gave her a dark smile. "Welcome," she murmured. "Rumor has it that you have quite the little scheme going on… and that your plans are far from being truly 'little'. Consider me interested."

The demoness (her name was Ki'aala) looked around with caution, though not concern. She was a being that bore no resemblance to that of the modern races that existed now, one of the first demons. Ki'aala raised her gaze, magic fading from the tips of curled up horns as she stared at the infamous Nareish with a yellow and blue eye. "A scheme… no. I do not scheme. I plot, I manipulate, and I puppeteer. I do not like your insinuation, but I will consider your interest a show of… not respect, per se… but perhaps something adjacent."

Nareish chuckled in response. "Care to fill me in, regardless?" she invited. "I would like to know precisely what it is you're up to."

"With all of the respect I have for you, I would prefer my machinations err on the subtle side, unknown. Even the previous deities knew not what I schemed unless I desired them to know…" A knowing smile formed on her face and she stood up straighter. "Though, it will forge chaos anew for this forsaken timeline, that much I am aware of and willing to share."

"Be all that as it may," Nareish drawled, "I've heard tell of your plans to a very minor degree, and I'm aware that one of them involves a certain budding Immortal. Kath is not to be trifled with, and your efforts with him will be met with failure unless you allow me to assist you in… containing him briefly."

"So you see why I was silent and waiting," Ki'alla murmured, more to herself. "Very well. I cannot deny that I detest the idea of submitting even an infinitesimally small amount of truth regarding the actual details of my plan to you, but I would be a fool to deny the aid. I will allow such, but I must know what you will require from me before I accept."

"I require only what information you see fit to impart," Nareish said with a dismissive wave of her least injured hand. "I care about being 'in the loop', as they say. Beyond ensuring that you succeed in what you plan for Kath, I have no reason to involve myself in your goals."

"A well informed decision on your part, I'm sure, considering what you may well know of me. I would not have taken kindly to an unwanted visitor to my plan." Ki'aala offered a shrug, watching Nareish for a moment… taking some satisfaction in the injuries she bore. "You will enjoy the end result."

"We shall see, won't we?" was the amused reply.

After having taken a moment to decide what words she wished to use, Ki'aala divulged a piece of her plan. "I need the Immortal of Time corrupted in order to bring back an old ally of mine… someone who would put the images of Kaden and Amnikaribah to shame as the leader of the demons."

Slowly, Nareish smirked. "I must admit that Kath will make a fine demon. Perhaps even the god, if the role still existed. I once considered Espio to be the ideal candidate for the job. However… like all members of his kind, he is simply too volatile and emotional once his Darkness begins to have sway over him. It takes a certain degree of coldness to do what Kaden and others once did so effectively… and Kath certainly possesses that lack of heart. He displays it quite beautifully in battle, as well. It always makes for an entertaining show."

"Not to mention his… unique circumstances as the Immortal of Time," Ki'aala pointed out with a small smirk of her own. "That will add an interesting twist to his corruption."

Nareish let out a chuckle. "Indeed. I suppose I will have to make good on my earlier thought and assist you in restraining him when the time comes."

"I would appreciate the aid. What has slowed me as of late was the inability to leash an Immortal for even a short time… especially one as well guarded as Kath," Ki'aala acknowledged simply.

This earned a slow nod and a hum of acknowledgement. "Indeed. He is rather troublesome in that regard, isn't he? But no matter. I'll handle him. Or, more precisely, I'll grant you the ability to do so once you're ready. Precisely when do you intend to enact this plan of yours?"

"Tomorrow, once I've had time to cast my preparatory spells," Ki'aala replied. "I won't need terribly long, but the preparation is the hardest part."

"Understood," Nareish answered. Then she abruptly shifted the topic a bit. "Give this to him once he's turned." Nareish summoned a dark, bloodstained sword into her hand and tossed it over to her newfound ally. Malicious energies radiated from it as though the very blade itself were somehow evil. "That belonged to the very first God, or perhaps Goddess, of demons many hundreds upon hundreds of millions of years ago," she explained. "The very worst and most malevolent demon to have ever lived. The first of your kind, so I hear. And they wielded such a marvelously tainted sword… I'm sure you recognize it."

Brushing that matter aside, she continued. "Upon their eventual death, I stole this weapon for my own purposes. I long ago forged it into an Immortal quality blade, so it will serve him well without shattering as his previous sword did. The blade rejects all wielders who aren't that ancient deity, but his willpower is such that I suspect it will accept him. More importantly…" Another slow smirk overtook her face. "It will cement his corruption quite thoroughly. Without even the slightest spark of his old self left within him and with how much more quickly this is likely to set in for him due to his previous corruptions… I daresay that his condition will be far worse than even Kaden's ever was."

Ki'aala only heard a portion of what Nareish said, the white noise built up in her ears from how furious she was over that sword being stolen. It took everything she had to not bare her teeth at Nareish, staring up at her with a visible glare. "Yeah. Sure." If I could tear your goddamn throat apart and force the remains back inside of you right now, I would.

Nareish was endlessly entertained by the fury in the other woman's eyes. Ancient or not, you seem to be as easy to rile up as anyone else. She watched almost idly as the blade she'd tossed was caught, then again shifted the conversation a little. "Will you both be operating independently once he is corrupted, or are you seeking some form of cooperation from him?" she inquired. "I cannot say that it would be easy to accomplish, nor do I think such a thing would be particularly possible to achieve under normal circumstances, but it is your choice in the end. My only warning is that his time spent as a slave to the Therians during his youth left him quite prone to reacting… shall we say 'badly' to any real or perceived loss of his free will and independence."

The demoness didn't want to reply in the slightest, wielding the blade with a tight grip. She took in a sharp, steady breath, then replied through gritted teeth. "I will not bother with him unless necessary after this is done. Do whatever you want, I suppose."

For once, Nareish had no particular plans in place. She brushed the matter off with a wave of her hand. Then she lent what strength she could to Ki'aala, intent on ensuring that her corruption efforts were met with success. "There. Use however much of that power you deem necessary to get the corruption done. It will return to me as soon as you are finished with it."

Not wishing to interact with the madwoman any longer, Ki'aala simply nodded and teleported herself back to her home, irritable. While today couldn't have gone better, she still found herself absolutely seething. This would be taken out on those that lived on Babylon, she decided. A genocide, if she could get away with it. That would make her feel better.

~保護者~

Teyan felt groggy and sluggish when she woke up. Her memories felt… fuzzy. Bits and pieces of what had occurred were still clear to her, however. There was enough left for her to understand that an attack had taken place. While she couldn't specifically remember seeing who had done it, she could guess easily enough. Nareish… She tried to kill me. …Again. Almost without even realizing it, she pondered for a moment how many times the other woman had directly attempted to end her life. What was it now, like six separate times? She wasn't sure and was distracted from wondering about it when she noticed who was sitting near her. "...Cyril…?"

The bird… Well, he was visibly crying a little, tears of joy streaming from his eyes when he saw her awaken and look at him. "Yeah, it's me… You okay? I know you're hurting, but… can you at least think clearly right now?"

"I feel sort of… numb," Teyan mumbled drowsily. "And tired. I'm okay other than that… I think…"

"That's really good, then. That means the medicine is in effect and your body is recovering. I… I got really worried." Cyril moved a bit closer, gently wrapping his hands around one of Teyan's, offering a warm smile. "If you need more sleep, please, get more, but I'll be here with you, no matter what."

Had she not been an ever-curious sort, Teyan might have immediately heeded his advice. Instead she asked him, "Where are we?" She could certainly see Babylonians milling about and Babylonian architecture surrounding her, but she had no idea what had become of that race after their home planet had exploded. Were they intermingling with another race elsewhere, like so many races did on Mobius? Was it a new home of their own? She really had no idea.

"Oh, right, you don't know." Cyril squeezed her hand. "This is New Babylon, home of the Babylonian race, after the whole catastrophe they had so, so long ago. Once you've recovered, we should fly around and see the place. It's super cool."

She appreciated his offer, truly. But she soon found that she had a more immediate concern. It was a touch belated, but still. "How did I… get here? Was it you?"

The image of her body from when she'd been found flashed through his mind and he took in a sharp breath, glancing away. "Yeah. I got lucky and found you in short enough time to get you help. This was the first place I could think to get you to… Jet's family is here, and all."

With a slow nod, she did her best to give his hand a squeeze like he'd done with her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cyril said, turning his attention to her, that smile returning. "I stayed here the whole time, so it's… really relieving to see you awake. I'm not sure if there's anything I can do for you besides just be here… but if you can think of anything, I'll happily do it. Okay?"

"Alright." Teyan was quiet for a short time. She almost managed to start drifting back off to sleep before a distant thought twigged in her head. I need to contact Ythene. And Cere and the others. Those thoughts lingered, then trailed off. She was still feeling sluggish and whatnot, an experience she could only chalk up to whatever this "medicine" stuff was that she'd been given. She'd have to ask about that later. Instead, she asked an entirely unrelated question. "There was a clone here… when I first started waking up. Where did you send it, since your real self is now here?"

Cyril's gaze was downtrodden as the words left her mouth, the finch struggling now even more to keep his happy demeanor together. "I…" He couldn't bring himself to lie, letting out a sigh. "Nareish revived and mind-controlled my parents. A friend of mine is helping to undo the process, but it's… slow. Undoing something done by someone that powerful takes time, and it's just… hard to think about. I swapped places with the clone when I saw you waking up, figured that being here for you myself would be good."

"So you are not alright, then," Teyan mused softly. "Please be honest with me about such things going forward. I know I can't help, but I would rather know so that I can at least lend support when I'm able."

"I just don't want you stressed about me when you're in this sort of shape," Cyril replied softly. "I know… it's not a good thing, but I care and want to make sure you recover." He let out a soft sigh again, squeezing on her hand once more. "I'm sorry for lying."

"You don't need to apologize," Teyan murmured. "I understand. Just… look after yourself as well. Please."

"I'm trying." The finch glanced down, not really sure what else to say. "Things have been really hard lately. It's just so much, and it feels like I'm just not doing enough. Like I'm not good enough, even though I've got all this magic."

"You are doing everything you can," was the soft yet firm reply, "and you are more than good enough. Please don't forget that."

"I know, I know, but I can't help but feel bad. As much as I want to feel like I'm doing good, it's like… like people are purposely undoing everything good I do."

"That is what Nareish does," Teyan sighed, "but you mustn't let yourself become clouded by grief and other negativity. It is alright to feel those things, but we cannot let them become driving forces in our minds and hearts."

"You're right." Cyril offered a warm, tired smile. Some other thoughts wormed their way into his head, but he focused elsewhere, not wanting to get too deep into any of that. Teyan needed time to recover. "Do you need me to get ahold of anyone for you? I don't want you pushing yourself."

"My sister," Teyan said immediately. "I can inform Cere and the others later, but Ythene… I don't want to leave her in the dark."

"I can get a message to them both, or try and get them here, if you'd like?" Cyril asked. "Whatever you want."

"I don't want to worry them," Teyan said slowly. "If you could just tell them that I am here… that will be enough for now."

Cyril nodded. "I'll do exactly that once you get back to sleep."

This finally teased a tired smile out of Teyan. "I see how it is," she quipped in a quiet voice even as she closed her eyes. "You become a deity and now all of a sudden you get all bossy…"

"Gotta do what I can for my friends." Cyril chuckled at her, squeezing her hand once more. "Besides, you know you need some sleep. I'll be here when you wake up again."

"Alright, alright… You win, Cyril."

Cyril smiled. "Sleep well, Teyan." He got little more than a faint nod in response, as she was already starting to fall back asleep at that point. The finch waited for several seconds, then another minute or so before allowing his hands to slip away from Teyan, taking a breath. I hate hiding things… but I'll tell you how I feel when you're feeling better. I definitely don't want you staying awake when you're like this.

He swapped places with his clone again now that Teyan was asleep. Cyril wanted to be with his parents with his real self as much as possible. The finch had some other things to get done, as well as being available to help Eila should she need anything from him. He needed to be ready for anything.

~保護者~

Another night of troubled sleep for Rosalline, Kial noted. It had been rough for him as well, with all of her tossing and turning. The woman was utterly exhausted in the face of everything that had happened lately, and her nerves were rapidly wearing thin. He'd been working to urge her toward Mobius, at least at a slow pace, considering her foggy mind.

Today, she was noticeably dragging. She kept drifting off as they traveled through space, and he was pretty sure that she wouldn't be able to teleport properly like this. The bobcat was… worried, especially after they'd gotten wrapped up in those fights with Nareish's army. Rose had been pretty badly injured at one point. At least now those wounds seemed to have started closing up.

"Rose… maybe we should try to get you somewhere to rest more," Kial murmured, taking hold of the woman's hand.

Rosalline startled and jerked her hand away, sword appearing in her hand. She didn't recognize Kial immediately, and when the fog raised enough that she could see him again, the cat let out a weak sob. "I can't, I fucking can't," Rose bit out, tensing as Kial wrapped her up in a hug. "I'm so fucked. I'm-"

"You'll be okay," Kial replied gently, tightening the hug insistently. "We need to get you back to Mobius. You can get help there."

"You don't get it!" Rose snapped, pushing Kial away. "I don't think I can be okay anymore! I'm angry, so, so angry, all the time! I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't think. All that's on my mind is waiting for the next enemy to cut down, to feel metal slice through bone! I can't live like this!"

Kial took in a breath and listened as she pulled at the hair on her head, frustration overwhelming her aura. "Rose, I can't understand what you're feeling, I know, but you don't have to face this alone. We can get help for you."

"Who the fuck can help me?" she screamed, baring her teeth even if he couldn't see it. "I have been alone for so long. I am breaking at the fucking seams, and I can't pull myself together. If I can't help myself, who can?" Rose demanded harshly, floating right up to Kial.

Though his temper had always been mild, well contained, he had to bite back the urge now to reply in kind. He hated shouting. "Rose, do not speak to me like this. I know you are hurting, but this isn't okay."

"I am not okay, Kial," Rose spat, tossing her sword into the unending darkness of space. "I'm so fucking done. This war, this… everything. It's too much, and I can't do it anymore!"

"I know!" Kial snapped back, teleporting her sword into his hand. "I know you can't do it anymore! I've been trying all this time to limp you along to a better place, to get you help, but you're so insistent that you'll be fine, that whatever it is you're doing will fix it. You can't fix yourself, Rose," the bobcat muttered, narrowing his eyes. "But I am not going to sit idly by and let you ruin your own life. I don't care what it takes, I will help you. However, I will not be treated like this. I am yours and you are mine, but you are so damn insistent on being by yourself, and you push everyone else around you away because you think you can do it alone."

He took a breath in and heard her starting to speak, so he started faster. "I don't mean to be rude, but how well did it go for you, trying to save your sister alone? You were always chasing her coattails, so to speak. You could never catch up to her, and when you did, you couldn't help her. Someone else had to help, and then you got Eila back. If you still think that you can do this all on your own, that you don't need anyone, you can go right along and live your life. I can't imagine that the Immortal role gifted to you would stay, considering what you've done to your own Light."

"How dare-"

"No, how dare you," Kial cut her off, stepping closer, almost enough so that their noses touched. "I've spilled out my fucking heart for you, bled myself dry all this time since I realized what state you were in, and you treat me like this? How do you think I feel? How do you think the people you're treating like this feel? Most of your friendships are from when you were younger, eons before you even realized this was a fucking war. Now, people are scared of you and no one is lining up to befriend you. You terrified a demon, Rose. You were going to take her life in cold blood. Does that not bother you, or are you so far gone with your anger that you can't even see the problem?"

Rose was taken aback, ears folding down as she slipped a few inches away, only for him to move right back into her space. "No. No. You are not going to keep running from this. If I have to, I will drag your ass right to Babylon and get Jet to send us to Mobius," Kial muttered, frowning. "It's either that, or we are done. I will not be treated by someone the way that you have been treating me. You've been raging at me, ignoring my advice and everything else I try to do lately, and it's not okay. I'll more than gladly give you a moment to make your choice, but I hope that it's not as difficult as I think it will be for you.

The white cat had tears streaming down her face, the exhaustion banished from her body as that dread sunk in. I… I can't lose you… You and Eila are all I have left, but… can I… really be helped? Am I still something that can be salvaged?

Or am I gone? Why is it so hard to agree?

Why can't I just say yes?

Kial was patient, and he could feel her aura shifting, but it was so muddled and messy that it was impossible to interpret. Did I go too far? He winced, though the expression was imperceptible.

She broke down into a sobbing fit, curling up on herself and staining her dress with the dropping tears. Out of respect, and wanting to help her ground herself, Kial gently moved her to the nearest moon, teleporting them both to the surface of it, and letting her cry. The many, many apologies that spewed from her were heart-breaking, as he knew so much agony was being let out at once. He didn't have the heart or mind to speak right now, not while she was like this. He knew that he should, that it would help, but inside he was still so angry, so wounded by her actions and words.

However… he reminded himself that this woman had always been alone in her head. Alone with her thoughts and feelings, sorrows… That would be enough to drown most anyone. A flicker of a thought made it through the mess and he decided he'd need to check on Jet at some point (he knew well that the two were kindred spirits in this regard, just from little bits and pieces he'd learned). His focus remained, however, on Rosalline.

The white cat stilled after several minutes, having run out of energy and tears to cry. Now she was left a sniffling mess, lifting her head tiredly. She wiped at her nose with the sleeve of her dress, grimacing at the disgusting stains it left, but not having the ability to care much more than that. "I'm sorry."

"You can be sorry, but it means nothing if you don't change. I tolerated your struggles in hopes that you would recover, but I know that you need the extra push. I'm sorry if I was too harsh. I wanted to help you, but… I fear that it may have come from too personal of a place and become insulting."

"If it did… I can't tell you where," Rosalline murmured gently, gaze downcast, staring at the rock below them. "I…"

"Please don't apologize again. Save your energy, stop dwelling on your thoughts," Kial advised softly. "We have a distance to go if you want to make it to Mobius."

"I don't think I can do it."

"Do what, exactly?"

"Make it… there."

Kial saw a chance, and pounced on it. "Do you want to ask for help?"

She hesitated, halted in her tracks by the proposition. Why was it so hard to say yes to that question? "I… I am… unsure."

"I can't get us there."

"I know…"

"You can't teleport that far right now."

"I- I know…" she mumbled, keeping her gaze as far as she could get it away from Kial.

"We'll be stranded out here if you don't ask." The silence was deafening, no ambience. Kial couldn't see the space around them, but judging by how everything felt… he figured that her view wasn't much better right now. The bobcat stood, taking a slow breath in, then letting it out even slower. "We're never going to make progress unless you do it. You have to. I won't do it for you."

Slowly, with much trepidation, she lifted her arm and went to her communicator. She tapped on the name of the first person that she could think of. Rose had wanted to just send a message, but she realized she'd called. In the end, she just out a sigh and didn't bother to stop it.

Despite how awful she was feeling, it seemed luck was at least somewhat on her side today. Locke didn't often have his communicator with him these days for several reasons. One, he (unintentionally) didn't keep in contact much with Tails, Espio, Shadow, Wave, and Jet anymore, and they'd been the only other people in this era who had also had communicators until more recent months. Two, his Sunfire could and absolutely would melt the device into useless slag with terrible ease. So, most of the time, he kept it at home instead. Today, however, was one of the rare days when he actually had the device with him. Or perhaps he was simply home with it for once. Either way, he answered quickly. "Hey, Rose," he answered in a tired, melancholy voice. It was clear he was trying to be his usual self though. "What's up?"

Rose felt a burst of self-hatred in her chest for bothering him upon hearing how he sounded. It elicited a sniffle, and a small choked sob, audible through the call even though she tried to hold it back. "I-... I need… I need your help…" she choked out, gritting her teeth with the strain her mind put on her as she spoke. "I-I'm s-sorry…"

"Whoa, hey, you don't need to apologize," was the immediate reply. His own emotions were temporarily put to the side so that he could focus on taking care of her. It wasn't for nothing that he'd been considered a sort of unofficial "dad" to many people in his old group of friends and companions, after all. "What's going on? Where are you?"

"I don't k-know where…" Rose murmured quietly. "I'm… with Kial… I… I need help…" She couldn't bring her mind to piece it all together anymore, burying her face against her dress and sobbing softly, despite the insistent pain in her chest and throat.

To help, Kial moved closer and spoke up, softly. "We're fairly near to a sun, luckily. Some distance off from Babylon, in the direction of Mobius. I've got her sitting on a moon near some uninhabited planet. If I had more information, I'd give it."

"No, that's plenty. I'll be there in a second. Thanks, Kial. Make sure you both shield your eyes." Locke hung up without another word.

With help on the way, Kial let his guard down, hugging Rose close to his chest. "You did good. That was a really important first step for you. I'm proud." She couldn't utter a word, choked on her own emotions that left a knot right where her heart was.

It took not even a moment after that for the nearby sun to start blazing with increased heat and light. Seconds passed of this painful intensity, then it died down leaving Locke and Tessa in its wake. Locke flew over to Kial and Rose without hesitation and knelt down in front of them. "Hey," he said quietly, "I'm here. What do you need from me, Rose? I'm gonna do everything I can to help you, I swear it."

Kial gently released Rose and took a step back, giving her a little bit of space as Tessa landed a few steps behind Locke. The white cat raised her head up, staring at the echidna she considered as a friend, and her entire body slumped. Words wouldn't formulate in her head, and she couldn't get sounds to leave her mouth except coughing sobs. She was a mess now, emotionally and physically. That was something that she weakly tried to remedy by wiping her face with her arm… not to much avail. Stepping in again, Kial spoke for her. "We were heading to Mobius to take Rose to Aniko, a chameleon, if you haven't heard of her. Rose has been having a lot of problems with anger, and we wanted to get help from someone who might understand the emotion well. Can you get us there?"

"Yeah. That's no problem, unless the heat and all that is gonna be too much for either of you. If it is, then she," he jerked a thumb at Tessa, "can probably teleport you both if we ask nicely. She has Light, so it's easy for her to do it."

Rose managed a shaky little smile amidst her struggle, ultimately letting her head rest on her arms when her head fell back down. "I think we will manage with the heat," Kial replied gently, slowly helping Rose up to her feet. "We should go, though. She needs somewhere comfortable to sit, somewhere she can relax a bit. Her nerves are frayed because we've been attacked somewhat recently."

"Yeah, I get it." Locke turned to Tessa and addressed her this time. "Just like before, if we're gonna do this, you'll need to levitate so you aren't burned by walking. Think you can make them float with you? Get the feeling Rose isn't feeling too up to doin' it herself right now."

Tessa nodded a little, walking a bit closer and exerting her Light, working to slowly lift them off the ground with herself. It took her several seconds to get it right, but soon she had the three of them off the ground to an acceptable degree. "Think I've got it."

"Thanks." Locke had one more thing to address as he gathered up the necessary energy to open a portal through the sun. As he'd never taken Rose or Kial through such a portal, he felt the need to offer a warning. "This ain't gonna be pleasant for you two, by the way. I can't feel it, but I've been told the heat's more intense than most demonic fires. Just bear with it a few seconds and we'll be through, alright?"

Kial offered an easy nod, pulling Rose up tighter to him. "Got it. Thanks for the warning."

"Sure. Now everybody close your eyes and cover them with your arms." Only once that was accomplished did Locke open the portal. He took hold of Tessa's arm and tugged her through beside him, which in turn pulled Kial and Rose along. Like he said, this journey lasted only a few seconds and they were soon safely emerging onto Mobian soil. Only once the portal closed and the light died down did he say, "We're here. You can open your eyes again."

The bobcat hefted Rose onto his shoulder, sensing that… she'd fallen asleep while enveloped in that intense heat. He let out a soft sigh. "I'm very glad you answered. I don't think she would've reached out to anyone else if you hadn't."

"Hell, I'm glad," Locke admitted with a sigh. He idly flicked the rim of his hat with a finger to push it up a little. "I don't usually have my communicator with me, you know. It was a long-shot, what she did." Though tempted, he stifled the urge to immediately let out a second sigh. "That aside, do you want or need me to tag along further? I've got my own… stuff going on. But if I'm needed here, I'll stay."

Kial took in a breath and shrugged. "I'm not sure. She… might need a familiar face around? If nothing else, do you think you might be able to just kinda stay available?" The bobcat offered a pained smile. "We, uh… kinda had a fight right before she called. I'm worried she might not want to talk to me."

"I can stick around," Locke offered again. "But it's up to you."

"I just hate the idea of telling you to do one thing or another," Kial admitted. "If nothing else, I need to get her laid down for a bit, so feel free to follow and decide if she doesn't wake up fairly soon."

Locke nodded in understanding, only to belatedly recall that that was a useless gesture here. "I get it. Thanks for the consideration." He turned his head and looked over at the other echidna in their motley group. "You comin', Tessa? Won't fault you if you don't want to stick around."

"Can't imagine leavin' tha girl in this state. I'd love to see her get laid down for some rest before we go anywhere," Tessa chuckled, nudging Locke. "'Sides, you're stuck with me."

"C'mon, then," Locke said. Then he added, "Lead the way, Kial. We'll follow."

The bobcat nodded easily and began moving quickly, keeping Rose steady. Sensing her aura as she slept, he felt his heart drop a little. Is this the first real bit of peace you've felt in a long time, Rose? No wonder you've spiraled so far… Kial tried to not focus on this, instead heading for the Highlands. They arrived rather quickly, and the God of Nature sought the familiar sensation of Aniko's presence. He'd realized that she learned to hide it from those who didn't know her, and from there, locking onto that wasn't difficult. Maybe the senses from his time in Saethrim's role had morphed his own to some degree. Mentally shrugging away the thought, he lightly knocked at the outside of the home, listening. Locke and Tessa stopped a short distance behind him to wait.

Aniko approached and took stock of the situation, seeing the mess. She nodded and motioned them in, then did the same to Tessa and Locke, should they wish to enter. "Do not linger. Chameleons are wary of Light." Tessa looked to Locke, an eyebrow raised.

"Ah, right. Forgot about that." Locke nudged Tessa toward the doorway, then walked in behind her. "You're Aniko, right? Espio's mom? Sorry for dropping in on you out of the blue like this."

She waved it off. "It's fine. I am not so cruel as to turn away someone who clearly needs help, and ushering their allies away would be disrespectful." Aniko opened a panel on a nearby wall and pulled out a spare mat, laying it out for Kial to set Rose down on. "She is not injured. Explain what is happening."

Kial took in a sharp breath. "Her… Light is fading. She's had unchecked anger issues for so long that it's actively diminishing her mental state. We got into a bit of an argument and she broke down. Before that… we were attempting to get her here to request your help with controlling her anger."

"...I don't know if I should be insulted or feel complimented," Aniko huffed. She refrained from making too much of a joke out of it, if only for the severity of the situation. "I have questions I must ask, and they may well be best answered before she wakes. If any of you can provide information, speak."

Locke scratched the back of his head. "You'd probably be better off directing most of your questions toward Kial. I'm pretty lacking in details myself, and Tessa don't know anythin' about this."

Kial inclined his head to agree. "I will be your primary source of information.

Aniko understood well enough, though she'd really just been looking for them to agree. "First and foremost… where exactly did this likely start?"

"When she was a kid. Her sister, Eila, was corrupted with black magic and left home. Rose took off after her and chased her across existence. I believe the anger festered as a result of loss and pain unanswered, due to her being alone for so much of it."

The chameleon certainly understood that, though her situation had been undeniably different. "How does she respond to stress? With anger?"

"Often, yes."

"And what may have happened recently to make this worse?"

"We…" Kial let out a disappointed sigh, knowing how bad it had turned things. "We were attacked on our way to go heal another of the deities. I lost track of how long we were trapped in combat, but she suffered many injuries protecting me, as my powers are virtually useless in space."

Aniko nodded slowly, examining Rose's body now that she had a good chance to. The woman had a number of deep looking scars over her body. The issue with her Light has been ongoing, but with how powerful she was, it's likely it went largely unnoticed. Otherwise, these injuries likely would have healed. This is worrying. "Does she have any specific sensitivities that I need to be aware of? Touch, smells… anything?" Considering what she knew now about her own son, she was trying to do her best with regards to being more aware of situations like his. If for no other reason than that, she felt compelled to ask this question.

"I've known Rose for a decent chunk of time," Locke said, "but I've never noticed nothin'. Not personally, at any rate."

Kial frowned in thought. "The closest thing I've ever noticed to such would be things we may have witnessed in her fighting. I doubt it will come up with you, but threats towards others snap all of her control at once. If someone does that, it may take a lot to calm her."

She took a moment to take this in, understanding rather quickly how that would manifest. "I hate to admit it, but I may be uniquely capable of helping. It seems her situation may be similar to my own, but the hard part may be finding methods that work for her."

"Any effort you put in will be greatly appreciated," Kial said immediately, standing upright. "I will do everything within my power to help her, too."

Locke listened quietly to this back-and-forth while allowing his gaze to drift toward the small hallway that led into this structure's two bedrooms. Her husband's back there… unconscious? What happened? He took a moment to ensure that his senses were truly giving him an accurate picture of the situation before cautiously piping up again. "Hey, listen… If you're gonna be doin' all of this, do you want us to get someone to come help your partner? It doesn't feel like he's doin' so hot."

"Anyone who does is putting themselves in danger," Aniko replied rather simply. "Malevolence's energies rage within him, and they could react. If someone is willing to come, despite that, let them."

"If you'd be open to the help, I can poke around and see who we have available," Locke told her. "It's possible that someone can do something."

"I stated my opinion," Aniko said simply.

"Was just makin' sure," Locke shrugged. "I'll see who I can come up with. But, that aside, you and Kial can get back to it. I'm done interrupting now."

Aniko inclined her head. "I apologize for my shortness or for seeming rude. It takes me time to understand how to interact with outsiders." She moved and grabbed a blanket, gently draping it over Rose's body, then began softly cleaning her face with a cloth and a bit of water.

"Don't worry about it," Locke responded with a small, easy smile. "We see all sorts, travelin' around like we do. You're downright sweet compared to a lot of other people. …No offense."

"I suppose I should take offense," Aniko joked lightly. "I appreciate your concern." This earned a soft chuckle and a nod from Locke, but little else. After this, the chameleon fell silent, ensuring that Rose was comfortable and walking away, leaving Locke and the others to stay or leave as they wished.

Locke turned to Tessa and Kial again. "Guess we may as well settle in. We'll probably be hanging around a while."

Offering a small nod, Tessa settled herself up against a wall. She was content to relax there with her hands behind her head. "Works for me." Kial, meanwhile, didn't have much to say, just sitting beside Rose and stroking her hair. His worry was clear.

"Gonna be alright?" Locked asked Kial quietly. He took a seat near where Tessa was, albeit with some polite feet separating them.

Kial was quiet for several seconds. "I have never had many close to me. In all my time living, I can now only say that one person among those few has not turned words or emotions against me in the way that others have. It hurts that Rose is not that person."

The older of the two men thought that over. "Maybe you ought to get in touch with that other person, whoever they are. Leaning on friends and family during hard times can help a lot." It wasn't much in the way of advice, sure… but it was all Locke could think to offer.

The bobcat managed a small chuckle. "Not sure how much advice Espio could give, but… It's not a terrible idea. Giving Rose some space once she wakes up seems like a good idea, too."

"I'll hang around here in case she needs somebody," Locke told him. "If you want to go find Espio and spend a bit of time with him, I'm sure she won't begrudge you that."

"I want to be here when she wakes," Kial explained simply. "I want her to know I am here."

"I understand," was the soft, sincere reply.

Tessa chuckled, smiling warm. "You're a good man, Kial. Haven't known ya long, but I know she's got a helluva good thing going, if you're stickin' with her. She'll be alright." The echidna winked.

Locke was quick to notice her wink and wave a hand to catch her attention. He mouthed the word "blind" at her so that she'd understand. He can't see you do that.

She stared for several seconds even after he mouthed that, not… understanding. At least, not until she looked over at Kial and saw his blank eyes looking back at her. Oh.

Kial managed a bit of a smirk. He knew when people realized his condition, and it was always amusing. He found it less entertaining than usual this time, just from general exhaustion. "Yes… now, if you'll excuse me, I need to rest. Our night was a struggle with her having fits in her sleep."

"Go ahead and relax," Locke said. "We'll keep watch."

"We gotcha, bud," Tessa said with a grin.

The bobcat rested his head against a wall, gently folding his arms together and closing his eyes. Rather than sleep, he entered a borderline meditative state, blocking out most of his senses and allowing his mind time to recover. His thoughts briefly returned to Rose and his worry returned… But he banished it. I can't help her if I don't help myself. I need to rest…

~保護者~

Nier was just barely aware of letting out a groan of pain when he began to awaken. No longer was he bound or in that dark cell, he gradually came to realize. He was in a bed and in a brightly lit room. It certainly took a bit, but he was eventually able to figure out where this was. This was the medical ward of the palace on New Babylon, a place he had only been to a tiny handful of times in his long life. But that didn't hold his attention for too long.

Around him, he could sense… healing energies. They were similar to Jet's energies, but decidedly not his at the same time. One of his parents, then. He guessed it was Alana, since there was a sort of feminine quality to the aura he was detecting. He did also sense a clone of Jet's nearby as well, though. He had learned many years ago how to tell the difference between his friend's clones and his real self, and this was definitely a clone. Still, it was nice to know his friend was there in any form or fashion. And speaking of friends… Was that another familiar presence he was sensing?

Tired though he was, he gradually worked his eyes open. Sure enough, his gaze fell upon the woman in question straight away. "...Ryint?" he mumbled.

She offered a big grin. "Heya. Glad to see you waking up, honey. You feeling okay?"

A slow glance around proved that Alana and Jet's clone were giving the pair of them some space even while she kept working on healing him. Not that Nier would have minded if they were close by, of course. But that was unimportant and he refocused on Ryint. "Mostly just… tired," he murmured. "Think she numbed most of the pain… or something."

Ryint nodded. "Probably. You were in rough shape when I found you."

He nodded a little. "What happened?"

"Which part? The bit where I snuck in and bashed the guards to death?"

"...I didn't know you did that."

"Oh… well, I did." Ryint smiled. "What were you asking about?"

"Mostly… how I wound up here," Nier said. "I think you more or less explained that, though."

She chuckled gently and (carefully) nudged Nier's shoulder. "I'm just glad I was able to keep you stable long enough. They really hurt you. I wasn't sure what to do."

Nier did his best to smile a little despite his exhaustion. "Thanks for that," he murmured. "I appreciate it."

Ryint shrugged ultimately. "I'd like to think ya would've done it for me." He nodded in agreement. She leaned in softly and (while making sure to not agitate his injuries) laid an arm over him in a makeshift hug. "I'm really… really glad you're okay. I nearly lost it when I heard what happened. I didn't want to think that something worse could have happened."

In spite of his fatigue, Nier managed a small lopsided smile. "Don't worry about that," he murmured. "I'll still be alive and kicking for a long while yet. You'll see."

She chortled, shaking her head at him. "Good. I'd kill to keep you around." Nier likewise chuckled, though doing so quickly made him wince. Still, his smile remained in place. After a long moment of observing him, Ryint huffed a little. "You need to get some more fuckin' rest. Better not make me find a way to put you to sleep. Might keep you up longer than you'd want," she joked with a wink.

"Yeah, yeah, you win," was the tired but lighthearted reply. "I'll sleep some more. I doubt I can stay awake much longer, anyway."

"Glad to hear it. I'll hang around, like I said… er, I think I said." Ryint shrugged a little and leaned back in her chair, arms behind her head. Nier nodded and closed his eyes. He'd meant what he'd said about not being to stay awake too much longer. Sleep was already rushing to claim him again. "Sleep well, sweetheart," Ryint said easily, taking in a breath. "I'll nap with ya… could use a little break." A breath of relief washed through her mentally, more than glad to just have Nier wake up for that short time. Get better soon... alright?

~保護者~

After her emotions wound down in the wake of… everything, Eila appeared near Tails's home. She took in a sharp breath and stared at the destruction, simply glad to know that everyone here lived. Purple magic enveloped the debris (what was left, at least) and began piecing the building back together while also reforming whatever Malevolence had permanently removed. It didn't take terribly long, and soon she wore a small smile. Good. Now to make sure everyone is back.

Anyone who hadn't already made their way back was teleported instantly into the building, including Min'na and Quinn. She then freed Cyril from the demiplane she'd created to keep him from trying to help her fight that monster of a being. I knew you'd want to help. I hope you'll forgive me for that. After that, she returned inside herself, fixing the cloak Jet had given her in a rare open show of nerves. I still feel quite… sensitive. I need to banish that feeling.

Right about then, her thoughts were interrupted. Tails hurried over to her with wide eyes but, rather than asking about his house, his first priority was her. "Eila, what in the world happened?" he asked. "Are you okay? How did you do that?"

Eila tilted her head curiously. "Do what, precisely? And of course I am okay. I stand here, do I not?"

"You fought off that thing," Tails reminded her. "That shouldn't have even been possible, but then you also survived doing it."

"I barely managed to live," Eila revealed quietly. "Much less fight. I drew its presence away long enough for Jet to arrive. He eliminated it."

Tails gaped at her. "That… explains the cloak, then," he eventually said. "Sonic and I recognized it right away, but he didn't want to bombard you with questions since I was already coming over here."

Eila shrugged. "Handling a lot at once is… sorta what I'm good at. Tell him to come here."

"He'll have heard you," Tails reminded her lightly. "Give him a sec, I'm sure he'll come."

Another shrug, followed by her setting a hand on her hip… almost impatiently. "I would certainly hope so."

Sure enough, Sonic showed up not too long afterward. "Wish granted," he joked tiredly.

She nodded simply to that, glancing back at the house. "I have an apology to make, to you… and the others. I made a distinct attempt to sacrifice myself to Malevolence in the face of its attack."

Tails and Sonic traded a sort of look. Sonic spoke first, though. "Okay… so before I jump into a lecture about that, do you want to explain why you did something so damn stupid?"

"I didn't think I had a chance to survive," Eila said simply. "Every assumption and conclusion in my head pointed to my death. The only reason I lived was because of my ability to reach out to people's minds."

"You still shouldn't have tried to sacrifice yourself to that thing," Sonic frowned, "and it was still a stupid thing to do. Someone else could have stepped in and fought it in your stead."

"And potentially throw someone else's life away?" she muttered, attention turned anywhere except Sonic. "I don't know if there's anyone alive besides Jet who could have fought it and not gotten their life ruined."

"You could have at least had backup with you, Eila," he replied.

"I know, but who the hell would I have brought with me? Anyone else there would've been at risk. I sent Cyril to a fucking demi-realm I conjured up just so he wouldn't try to come save me. Anyone else could have died, and I accepted that risk myself. I'm sorry for doing it, but I would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant the people important to me live." Eila didn't expect to feel so heated about the subject, but she found herself biting back her anger… not that she was mad at Sonic. Just… the idea of putting anyone else at risk. It bothered her. "I couldn't do that to any of you, not after everything you all have done for me." Besides… trying to take on multiple actions at the same time could have put multiple at risk. It was easier to send you all away at once to ensure everyone's safety.

Sonic looked ready to argue further. He really, really did. But inexplicably he just… sighed. Then he changed the subject. "That all aside… you fixed the house, yeah? Thanks for that. I know Tails appreciates it. But regardless I'm gonna have to ask that you not pull a stunt like this again."

Eila's gaze turned elsewhere. "I'll try." It was probably childish, but this felt like a scolding rather than like a friend caring. She couldn't shake that feeling in her heart, the fact that it made her want to cry. "Sorry."

Immediately, Sonic's entire demeanor softened. "Look… It's alright, Eila. I'm not mad at you or anything. I just don't want to see you get hurt or worse. None of us do. We care about you. So when you do stuff like that, it scares us. We just want you to be careful and take care of yourself."

She took a second to calm herself, needing that couple of seconds. "I… I'm not good at it," Eila admitted quietly. "I don't know how to prioritize myself."

"It'll just take some practice, then," Sonic shrugged. "So long as you're trying, making a genuine effort, that's all any of us can ask of you."

"Yeah." With little else to say, and not really wanting to continue the conversation, Eila teleported herself to Cyril and his parents. The god had transported them all back after being freed, and was briefly taken aback when Eila just went right back to work wordlessly.

"Eila, what happened?"

"I locked you in a demi-realm of sorts conjured with my magic. You lacked the skill and knowledge to break yourself free in a timely manner," Eila replied matter-of-factly. "Malevolence attacked, and I couldn't let you get involved."

"That's- Wait, are you okay?" Cyril demanded, moving over to her and inspecting her. "You fought that thing alone?"

"Yes, I did," Eila replied shortly, glancing over. "I could not allow the God of Magic to fight a being that is immune to magic."

"Then you shouldn't have fought it," Cyril pointed out quickly. He started to speak again, but Eila cut him off.

"I'm fully aware of what I did, and how fucking stupid it was. I've had the conversation with Sonic already," Her tone was a bit shorter than she wanted it to be, frayed nerves ruining her already limited conversational skills.

Cyril pursed his lips, just watching for several seconds. He could tell she was stressed, and didn't want to push her too far. "I… I understand, but… please be careful. I care about you. A lot."

"I care about you, too, Cyril," Eila admitted in a murmur. "I don't want to talk about it any more."

"That's fine," the finch agreed, settling against the bed.

Eila was quiet as she worked, psychic energies starting into undoing the control Nareish held over Min'na. Her case was easier, and breaking through all of it would give her insight into how to deal with the control on Quinn. The cat took in a sharp breath, then let it loose, finding herself in quite the troublesome spot for a moment. "You have something you want to say, Cyril."

Right… she can read minds. "I do," Cyril admitted hesitantly. "I… I wanted to talk to you, but I don't want to be a distraction."

"Speak. You're concealing the thought enough that I can't fully interpret it, but it appears to be important."

Cyril hesitated, unsure if he should say this, if he should tell Eila. Then, feeling rushed, he just blurted it out. "I think I'm falling for someone."

The cat was left with a pause, her attention turned to the finch. His heart shattered when he saw the look on her face, gaze cast elsewhere. Then, all at once, Eila looked away, back to Min'na. The room was absolutely silent for nearly a minute, and when Cyril opened his mouth to speak, Eila cut him off. "I knew."

Stopped in his tracks, Cyril blinked, then stared at her, utterly confused. Then, it clicked in his head again. She could see his thoughts, his memories. He wasn't sure how much he liked that she had obviously snooped, but knew that at the same time… Teyan had been on his mind a lot lately. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Eila took a breath, and Cyril caught the near imperceptible shift of what was so close to a small sob. He winced, worried he'd hurt her, but she cut him off again before he could apologize more. "I'm sorry that I'm such a fuckup… that I was so difficult. You're absolutely amazing, Cyril, and I want nothing more than the best for you." That's why you should've never been with me.

"I want the best for you, too," Cyril murmured, looking to Eila, hoping she'd look back and make eye contact, but she didn't. He understood, but it still hurt a bit more than he was ready for. "You're not a fuckup and you're not difficult," he said softly. "You have problems, you make mistakes. Everyone does, and that's part of life. If nothing else, I'm really glad it happened because we both got to learn about ourselves and what we need."

You shouldn't have needed to. You were phenomenal, treated me better than I could've asked for. "I… I just… I don't want you hurting," Eila said softly, her composure ripping apart at the seams. "I want you to be safe, okay, and happy. I can't bear the thought of you suffering more than you have already."

"I want the exact same for you, and we can want that even if we're not together-"

"I don't want to be together," Eila corrected, a bit sharper than intended. "I want you as a friend. You deserve someone like Teyan, someone that suits you better, that can treat you better."

Cyril's lips pursed and he narrowed his eyes for a moment, the situation clicking in his head now. "Eila, you're not a bad person. You're becoming better every day, every second. I've watched you, and it makes me so happy to know that you're doing better for yourself, but it's obvious that you don't love yourself at all."

How can I love myself and what I am? I've committed such horrendous atrocities, and I still do. I committed a full blown genocide… twice. And that was after my purification. I-

"Eila, are you really going to do this to yourself again?" Cyril questioned, slipping off the bed and sitting by her on the floor. "Every time you hesitate, it's because you're berating yourself, isn't it?"

Eila visibly hesitated, then she just turned her attention away. "No."

He knew a lie when he heard it, but Cyril managed a smile, wrapping his arms softly around her in a hug. "I'll always be here for you, Eila, through whatever comes our way. You're my friend."

If she didn't have such an important task, she might've cried. Instead, she just leaned into his embrace, letting out a shaky sigh. "I'm not a good person."

"You're better than you think you are."

Silence filled the room again, and when it was obvious neither of them had much more to say, Eila just returned to her work, glad to have a distraction from her wandering thoughts. She didn't want to get too deep into the subject, especially since she wasn't… sure how she felt about Haru, not fully. Sure, they'd done a thing or two, but… that was fundamentally different. She took in a breath and settled back into the exact place she'd left off, working her way through the massive mess that was Nareish's control on Cyril's mother.

After several more minutes of effort, Eila suddenly was able to peel it back. She was quick to tear away the control and breaking out of the hug to grab the woman as she wavered in place after being released from the restraints Eila had placed on her and Quinn. The cat waited quietly, watching, eyes wide. This had better work…

Min'na was slow to move at first, her eyes shifting and slowly making their way around the room. Then, all of a sudden, she tackled Cyril, wrapping her arms around him tighter than he ever thought possible with her. "I'm so sorry… I'm so, so sorry…" she whispered. "I wasn't in control. I couldn't stop it. I didn't want you hurt…"

Cyril was shocked, but… his arms were soon embracing his mother and he shed a few silent tears, holding her close. "It's okay, mom. You're okay. It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself."

Allowing them their time, Eila moved on, taking the knowledge she'd gained and putting it to work on Quinn, working as rapidly as she could manage to tear up the first threads of the control used on him. The harder part would be what was rooted deeper within, and that was where she needed to be careful, too, so she just focused on clearing her way to the roots. However… she was never given the chance to do anything more for him. In the span of no more than a couple of seconds, Nareish's energy flared around Quinn. Eila was wrenched out of his mind in such a way that had the potential to do damage to them both, then the mad tyrant whisked him away via teleportation. He was gone before anyone could have reacted.

Eila collapsed back, the spontaneity of it all combined with the force shocking her. She'd been so deeply focused that her mind couldn't comprehend the sudden change, leaving her stuck for a few seconds. Cyril was at her side in an instant, helping her sit up as the shock faded from her system while his mother frantically searched for Quinn. "Where did he go?" Min'na asked quickly, eyes widened with fear.

Eila tried to speak, but found herself… incapable. Cyril took over, grabbing his mom's hand tight. "Nareish took him. I'll find him, but first we need to get Eila some help. Whatever that woman did has messed with her mind." Min'na forced herself to take a deep and shaky breath, nodding. She opened the door to the bedroom as Cyril carried her out, immediately heading to Silver. The man softly explained to Silver what happened so that he could possibly aid her before pulling his mom aside, hugging her again. "I'm so sorry, but I have to try and go find him. Please, stay here, help out whatever you can. It's always helped you relax when you help people. Okay?"

She knew Cyril had grown up, having lived into her later years in life. She'd seen her little boy grow into a fine man, but seeing him now, it made her cry a little. There was so much pain in his eyes, such a tiredness to his body that she could just feel it. I don't know what happened, but I'm gonna do everything I can for you, honey. "I'll try- But… can you even find him?"

"I have to try," Cyril said, pulling his mom into another hug when it looked like she might cry. "I love you. Please try to keep yourself calm. We'll get out of this together."

His mother nodded softly, accepting the tight embrace and returning it equally, holding him tight. She sensed the trepidation in his voice, how scared he was to leave her. Could see in his stance how anxious he was. "You too, baby. I love you so, so much."

"I love you, too, mom. You're the best." Another exchange of tight hugs, and Cyril was gone. For now, Min'na was alone in a strange home, but at the very least… It felt welcoming. She strolled up to the nearest person, immediately striking up conversation and asking questions to them. In the back of her mine, though, she was afraid for her son and husband. She couldn't bear the thought of them hurting. You'd better be safe. So, so safe…

~保護者~

Cyca blinked several times. Finding herself waking up on the floor in Nareish's ruined throne room was… not what she'd anticipated. She didn't specifically remember passing out to begin with (though she certainly remembered taunting Sothan with that giant hammer of his), and that made her frown. Damn. He hits hard. Far harder than I expected… and I certainly expected a lot from him. It's rather unlike me to miscalculate.

Pushing that matter aside for now, she sat up and looked over at Lior. He was apparently being healed as well, but not by Nareish. It was one of her generals, whose armor hid their face from view. As such, Cyca couldn't tell for sure if she'd ever seen this person before. Still… she was nothing if not bold. "I assume you're here on Nareish's orders. I don't suppose you have the free will to insult her to her face. Seeing that might make my day a little more enjoyable."

The general chose not to acknowledge her, instead grabbing Lior by the shoulder and roughly hauling him to his feet. "Up," they ordered in a harsh tone. Due to whatever magic was on their helmet, it was impossible to tell if this person was male or female due to their voice being altered. The rest of their armor certainly didn't hint at anything either way. That was almost annoying, in a way.

Once he was standing, the person promptly grabbed Cyca and forced her to stand as well, being distinctly more forceful this time. Cyca was immediately left with a dark bruise on her arm. Such injuries were rare for her and it startled her into keeping quiet momentarily. "I despise your kind. Go to Nareish before I find an excuse to wound you further."

Realizing that both of those two sentences had been mostly directed at her, Cyca scowled a little. Her heritage had always been a bit of a… touchy subject for her. The prejudice and scorn she'd faced since her birth for only being mostly a vampire was part of what had initially driven her onto this path in life to begin with, back when she'd still been very young. "My kind?" she echoed, uncharacteristically furious. "My kind? At least us sirens have more sense than you do, bastard. You're fool enough to willingly work for Nareish, and you have the gall to insult me?"

The general's response was immediate. Faster than she could react, their metal-clad hand was wrapped around her throat and she was being held high in the air. Their grip was such that she could neither free herself nor breathe. Still, she grabbed at their hand and tried to pry their fingers loose. "I warned you," the general muttered as she struggled. "Speak again, if you can. I will make you regret it." She wasn't able to reply, and the general's grip tightened. "Where are your biting remarks now, wench?" they challenged her, voice full of contempt. Unable to pry their grip loose, Cyca resorted to striking their arm with one of her fists in an effort to break free that way.

Lior had been utterly silent up until this point, not bothering to get involved even when Cyca spoke up. Now, however, was a different story. Magic, almost forgotten to him, wrapped seamlessly around the general's hand and ripped their fingers off of Cyca's throat while he simply stared at them. She dropped to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath. "Her biting remarks will be voiced by me even if she cannot. Take such a foolish action by attacking her once more and I'll tear your goddamn life apart by the seams."

The general scoffed and kicked Cyca aside while she was still wheezing, then simply said, "Go see Nareish. Now. Your presence has been demanded."

Lior immediately walked closer and growled, blades in his hands. "Touch her again. See what happens," he threatened, tone sharpening.

In response, the general backhanded him so hard as to send him spinning away. "Go. To. Nareish," they repeated. "This is your last chance to go quietly." Cyca, meanwhile, worked herself up to her feet and glared at her armor-clad assailant.

The man resisted the urge to resort to violence, instead grabbing Cyca up and off her feet and disappearing into the throne room directly before the general could have a chance to retaliate. After letting out another couple of coughs, Cyca mumbled, "You didn't need to defend me, Lior. They were pissed at me, not you." You could have gotten your unpredictable ass killed. If only because she was all too aware of how furious he uncharacteristically was, she didn't mention how unusual another piece of his behavior was. Namely, picking her up and carrying her. That was most certainly not something he'd ever done before, but it somehow felt risky to call his attention to it right now.

"I'd have died before letting them be bastards," Lior spat, setting her on her feet with his fangs bared. "Fucking piece of shit. I'll tear each of their fingers off and force feed them down the bastard's throat."

"Well… Thanks. You didn't have to, but I appreciate it or whatever." Cyca massaged her sore throat with a hand once her feet were firmly on the ground again. "I'll keep my mouth shut next time."

Lior fixed her with a glare, but the expression died away as his anger abated. "Not a bad idea, but it would've been less of a problem if we weren't stuck here."

"No kidding." Cyca took a very quick look around with all of her senses to make absolutely certain that they were alone right this second before adding, "At least Zsasha isn't. He still has a chance to make it out of this war in one piece."

"With how things are going, I don't think so," Lior murmured. "We haven't had a chance to get back to him. Ghune might still be hunting him."

Cyca sighed. "You are, unfortunately, likely to be correct. Which, damn you for that, by the way."

He didn't have much to say to that, not wanting to talk more now. His mood had been ruined by all of this - not that it had been stellar before. "Yeah."

The pair fell silent. Multiple long minutes passed before Nareish finally limped into the room from… wherever she'd been before. She sat down in her seat and raised an eyebrow at Cyca. "You thought it wise to challenge one of my generals, girl? Truly?"

Piss off. Rather than saying that, Cyca just irritably held her tongue. She'd learned one painful lesson for the day and that was enough for her, for now.

"I certainly would have as well, had they grown any bolder," Lior muttered. "I don't take kindly to my allies to being treated in such a way."

"Be that as it may, I recommend against trying that a second time. But, ultimately, it's your own lives you're toying with. If you deem yourselves strong enough to stand up to my generals, be my guest." With that said, Nareish changed the subject. "Now, with that out of the way… Tell me now if either of you are hungry. One of your little meals is regrettably gone now, but I have reacquired the other one."

Since this was a direct order they had no choice but to answer, Cyca reluctantly said, "I am."

"I am not beyond eating now," Lior replied simply enough.

Nareish immediately teleported Quinn over to them and waved a dismissive hand at the pair of vampires. "Feed, then. And do it quickly. We have other things to discuss."

After grumbling under her breath about not wanting to feed off of a guy again, Cyca marched forward and yanked Quinn over to her by grabbing one of his shoulders. She promptly sank her fangs into his throat and began to drink. At least this guy is a powerhouse. Makes it enjoyable enough.

Lior, however, was a bit more ecstatic, though he buried the emotion to reduce any amusement Nareish may gain as he buried his fangs into the opposite side of Quinn's neck. However, the taste Quinn's powers made him chomp down harder, breaking skin with all of his teeth as he greedily drank more down. Even the taste of blood didn't do anything to deter him. He's stronger than before, he realized with unfettered glee. His powers are stronger. Fuck, control yourself.

Cyca released Quinn shortly and pulled back, all the while connecting her mind to Lior and cautioning him, "Don't lose it, Lior. Vampires are most vulnerable while feeding. You don't need more vulnerability in the presence of her."

"I'm going to fucking kill him," he replied mentally, his jaw wavering as he tried to command some control over himself. "I can't stop. It's addictive."

This made her tut softly under her breath. "You're lucky I've had to do this with you once before. I'd probably hurt you if I didn't have practice." Knowing how possessive her ally was over his prey, Cyca was required to use a great deal of magical strength in order to forcefully pry Lior off and drag him to her side. She then held him there with that same amount of strength and said, "Take a second and collect yourself, will you?"

Meanwhile, Nareish's eyes glittered with silent amusement as Quinn wobbled on his feet and subsequently staggered despite her silent command for him to keep standing still. I see that even this control cannot force one to do things their body is incapable of. Oh, well.

Lior clamped a hand over his mouth to steady his trembling jaw. The intoxicating taste of that magic lingered tantalizingly on his tongue. He savored it, refusing to swallow, eyes distant. What is that? I have… never encountered it. It was strong before, but the swell of power within him has intensified it so greatly...

Cyca frowned a little and gave Lior a nudge on his shoulder. "Hey, you alive in that creepy head of yours? What's gotten into you?"

He stared at her, taking a few deep breaths as the static noise in his ears died down, thus allowing him to hear her and comprehend what she was saying. "He has a ridiculously powerful magic. I have never felt such an immediate borderline addiction to something I have fed from."

Since he had opted to speak to her mentally, she decided to do the same. "Addiction? You? That's serious, Lior."

"You don't understand how bad it is," Lior replied immediately, wiping blood from his mouth. "He is the only source I know of with the power. I do not remember tasting it before."

She gave that some thought. "I sensed a unique arcane magic within him," she mused. "Mentifery, I think it's called. The ability to magically turn anything you can imagine into something that is real. …So long as it doesn't threaten existence, that is. Maybe that's what you were tasting." As she was saying this, Nareish (who was no doubt well aware of the fact that they were communicating) stopped the bleeding on Quinn's neck and sent him out of the room via a short-range teleport.

"That's not good. If it tastes that exotic, I'll never find another source."

"Do you really want to risk actually winding up addicted to it by seeking more?"

Lior stopped when he realized what he'd said. "Did you need anything else from us, Nareish? Or can I go back to wandering aimlessly and avoiding pissing you off?"

Nareish regarded him with a tilted head. "Mm… I suppose that for now I can uphold my little 'promise' from before and let you go see your precious friend for a time. Begone with you, if you wish. …In a moment, that is." She shifted in her seat before asking, "Have you ever turned anyone before, Lior?"

He narrowed his gaze, understanding fully that such a pointed question could only lead to him being forced to leave a bleeding wound on someone again in the near future. "No," he replied truthfully like he was forced to.

"That will change soon," was all Nareish said. She waved a hand at him. "Now go. Shoo. You have an hour."

Knowing what was coming, Lior winced before vanishing immediately. He sped across space in search of the other vampire. It was easy enough to tell the general location of the man, but he needed to take a moment to actually locate him. It didn't take terribly long, which worried Lior, but he put that out of his mind. Instead, he simply teleported himself to his ally, moving closer.

Zsasha was deeply asleep (so lost was he in his nightmares, in fact, that he didn't even notice Lior) where he lay curled up on the ground with one arm under his head as a meager cushion. His position wasn't one of comfort, however. It was one of agony as he slowly starved himself to death. Suffering from vivid nightmares was nothing new for him, and his two allies were well aware of it. Likewise, him going much too long without eating wasn't anything new to Cyca or Lior (Cyca had certainly called attention to it often enough), but Zsasha had never before gone this far. Not in their presence, at least. Lord only knew how many times he'd done this prior to meeting his companions, however…

An hour isn't enough time. Lior vanished in an instant to the nearest inhabited planet. The first person he saw, he stabbed a blade through the back of their head before hauling the body back to Zsasha and dropping it in favor of trying to (carefully) wake the other man up. "Zsasha!" he called out softly.

As was typical, being woken from a nightmare tended to startle Zsasha. He jolted awake and was instantly sitting up. It took a second for his confusion to abate somewhat as he took in his surroundings. Realizing there was no danger present and that it was Lior who had woken him up, he managed to relax a little for the first time in days. Perhaps longer. He didn't even know anymore. "Don't do that," he sighed, shifting his hands to rub at his face and eyes.

"I'm sorry," Lior said, voice still soft, while shoving over the meal he'd collected from that random planet.

Apologies from Lior were… rare. And strange, in Zsasha's opinion. Ignoring the corpse, he gave Lior an odd look. "Are you alright?" Due to his exhaustion, he didn't think to pretend to speak in a colder, more formal manner like he usually did. He just couldn't maintain his typical facade. "You don't apologize for things… almost ever."

"I'm not." Lior urgently pushed the body closer. "No more questions, no more answers. Not until you eat. We don't have a long time, and I need to talk to you." He was insistent, demanding. This was an unusual position to be in with Zsasha.

Zsasha absolutely did not want to eat. He was still determined to kill himself and end his life. This was going to set his plans back, that much was clear. But… he couldn't ignore Lior's demeanor. Something was wrong, and he needed to be told what it was. If this was the only way to get it out of him, then fine. Begrudgingly and with immense reluctance, he drew the soul out of the body before him with no more than a crook of a finger. Ethereal energy flowed from the being and into his mouth for him to swallow.

Starting to feed awakened his oft-ignored instincts and he wasn't able to stop until he'd eaten all that he could in one sitting. Once he'd taken his fill, he banished the soul to the Realms of Death to be sorted and returned his attention to Lior. "There. Now tell me what's going on."

Lior took in a breath and… hesitated. "Cyca and I were killed. We were then revived by Nareish, and are currently under her control. I… can't find a way out of it. I had an idea, but, well…" He glanced away, sighing.

"Under her- What?" Zsasha had to take a moment to really process what he'd just been told, though he'd have to try to come to grips with the knowledge of the pair's deaths in his absence later. He let out a heavy breath that contained a hint of a hiss within it. "I once heard tell of some dark forms of mind control that she and her ilk have spent several ages or longer perfecting. I'm guessing that's what this is?" He didn't wait for an answer to that before continuing. "What was your idea? Trying to carry it out might be your only chance of escape from her." This hesitation isn't like him. Coldness and surety are. He seems deeply disturbed… What the hell has happened to them since this first started?

"Seems to be." Lior inhaled, then let it out slowly. "I am resilient against poisons… not immune. I could, in theory, craft something strong enough to end my life. With the aid of another spell, I might be able to forcefully revive myself after. It might be enough to break it."

Zsasha didn't particularly like this plan. That went without saying. However, it wasn't as though he had something better to suggest. He pursed his lips together in thought, then quietly demanded, "And what of Cyca? Something like this would never work for her."

"That's why I haven't done it," Lior admitted quietly. Not with how they treat her. "I haven't figured out what to do for her. And… if I do my plan, it'll ensure she stays locked away. Nareish would do that for less things than spite."

"There's something else you aren't saying," was the immediate accusation. "Something directly related to this. What is it?"

It was then that a scent hit Lior's nose from the abandoned teacup nearby… but he refused to acknowledge it. He needed time to process that information. "Cyca… it seems that she is heavily disliked among Nareish's followers. I grabbed her from a general that was attacking her."

Now Zsasha was even more tense than before. "What reason have they to despise her so specifically? She has never once gotten in the way of them or Nareish before. She always went out of her way to specifically avoid pissing her legions off or otherwise involving herself with them."

"I have to assume it's related to her being part siren, based on what was said." Lior paused for a second, then shrugged. "If it's not that, I don't know."

This had some… potentially disturbing implications. How would they even know that about her? It's one of the only things she hides about herself. She never even intentionally allowed us to know. Zsasha frowned to himself in thought. But more importantly… why attack her over something as simple as that? It makes no sense. "Has she been attacked since? And have you been attacked?"

Lior sighed. "I've been mostly ignored, but I certainly earned some ire in protecting her. I don't know where she is right now. As soon as I'm done here, I'm looking for her."

"This is… a fucking mess," Zsasha mumbled when he lacked anything better to say. He followed that up with, "I can probably do jack-all to help, but I'm going to look into things as best I can."

"Focus on living. There seems to be a bet on you dying, and…" Lior's tense demeanor shifted, another sigh escaping him. "Don't die. Okay?"

Zsasha immediately looked away. "I'm going to die, Lior. That's the way things are, and it's not changing. But I'll do whatever I can for you and Cyca before then. I refuse to leave you in her clutches."

Lior bared fangs in irritation, but forced himself to lose the expression as he walked over and grabbed the cup of tea off of the ground. "I don't think I believe you. Something must have happened if Ryint was here and neither of you are harmed."

This caused Zsasha to let out a rare groan. The sound was beyond tired and aggravated. "Ghune found me and was intent on us having another deathmatch. Ryint decided to get in the middle of it and chased me here. She refused to fucking leave until she made that damn tea and spouted a bunch of nonsense I don't feel like recounting."

"D- She what?" Lior practically demanded to know. "She brutally beat me to death. What the hell changed?"

"I don't have the slightest clue in hell," Zsasha admitted, plainly upset. The fresh knowledge of how Lior had died disturbed him deeply, though he did his best not to dwell on it right this second. "It didn't make any sense then, and it sure doesn't now."

Lior frowned, but didn't press it further. "Well, maybe she's wisened up and stopped listening to that bitch, Ghune. If she's actually trying to help somehow, though…" He was more confused than anything.

"Look, I don't understand her motivations anymore than you do. But I doubt she and Ghune are completely at odds with one another. Just seemed pissy at one another. It isn't like we haven't caught wind of them duking it out a bit before." Zsasha moved his hands to massage his temples. He was suddenly developing a headache and he wasn't sure why. "It doesn't matter, anyway. No matter what Ryint is doing, Ghune's goals won't change. They never have, and they never will. She's going to continue her stupid crusade until the end of time no matter what anyone else thinks about it. There's no point in us wasting time pondering about it or about Ryint."

"It may be worth keeping an eye on, if nothing else. Seems unusual Ryint would go so far against what Ghune would want, even if I don't like it." Lior sighed, tossing the cup a short distance away from them. Cold tea splattered the dirt. "I'll keep looking into what to do for Cyca. I think Nareish's attention is going to be split away from me for a bit in favor of dealing with the group she's at war with. From what I can tell, they really fucked her up this time. She's gonna be pissed."

Zsasha crossed his arms, lips pursed together tightly in thought. "One more thing," he eventually said. "Something else about your demeanor is off. You got excited or something recently, which isn't like you. What else happened?"

Lior gritted his teeth in irritation, hating that it had been so noticeable. "Someone with powerful magic. Fed off of them. That's all," he muttered, scowling.

"Bullshit," was the instant response. "Tell me the full truth, Lior."

Lior felt accused, and he whirled around to begin walking the moment his anger rose. "I might be addicted!" he snapped, throwing his hands in the air. "It's mentifery, a laughably rare magic, and this guy is a powerful semi-Immortal! It was incredible!"

"Take a breath," Zsasha muttered. "Calm down if you can and explain it better."

"What is there to explain?" Lior asked, turning to face Zsasha. "I don't think I can resist it, and it's so fucking rare that if I am addicted, the cravings will become more and more intense the longer I go without."

"You aren't saying why you even think you are addicted," Zsasha told him sternly. "You don't just get addicted to things, Lior. You and I both know that."

"That's the problem. This feels so fucking different. I couldn't pull myself away from it." Lior groaned, looking away again. "Cyca had to drag me off of the guy."

Zsasha finally made an effort to stand for the first time since arriving here. He felt a little wobbly and unsteady, but the meal he'd been forced to take in was helping a bit. "By now, we're well familiar with the symptoms of addiction thanks to Cyca and her… unique brand of chaos. Are you experiencing any of those symptoms? Really think about it before you jump in and answer me."

The fact that the taste has stuck to my mind alone is enough to concern me. Lior did as he was bade to, but only for a moment longer than it took for that thought to run its course. "Yes, I certainly am. The desire for more and the tension of not having it are setting in already, despite how potent it was."

Shit. That's… bad. "You can't let Nareish get even a faint whiff of this," Zsasha cautioned Lior. "She'll exploit it, and you. She'll delight in making this worse."

"There's a chance she knows already," Lior said.

"I know," Zsasha muttered. "I know that, I just… Fucking hell, I don't know." He was silent for a short time before speaking up again. "Just be careful Lior. I know you aren't one to avoid taking risks most of the time, but don't let yourself act careless no matter how bad this addiction gets."

Lior buried his face in his hands, claws manifesting from his nails that dug into his skin. "Fuck, this is bad…"

"Just-" Zsasha was forcefully cut off when a flare of Nareish's energy slammed into him and bowled him over. It knocked the wind out of him and left him coughing but, by some miracle, didn't truly wound him. Then Nareish's disembodied voice told Lior, "It's time you return. I was generous enough to consider giving you an hour, but my mind has been changed. You've been there long enough."

A purely animalistic snarl escaped Lior, a wave of his hand summoning up magic and inscribing something into the stone before he suddenly teleported away. Zsasha groaned under his breath, the sound mixing with a soft growl as he sat up. He quickly noticed the stone and moved over to look at it.

"I'll return as soon as I can. I'm sorry she's a bitch."

Zsasha immediately rolled his eyes. "I could have told you that much," he muttered. Faced now with the reality that his friends truly were forced to be entirely loyal and subservient to that woman, his mind raced for answers on what to do. He had no one else to turn to. No friends. No allies. Not even mere acquaintances. Lior and Cyca were more or less in the same boat. He was the only one who would even be willing to help them, but was he capable of it? Not even close. I can't even beat Ghune, much less anyone stronger than her. All I'm good for in a fight is keeping myself from dying and eventually running away.

What the hell do I do?

~保護者~

For the time being, things were a bit calmer on New Babylon. Jet had recently departed, saying only that he needed to take care of some things on A'latria and elsewhere but that he'd be back soon. He'd left his clone in the medical ward to help Alana heal Nier, but the clone had since been dissipated. That left Arkiri, T'alo, Laralei, Kath, Azerel, Sein, Alana, and even Yareis (who had only just arrived minutes before) to try to entertain themselves without him.

They'd been relaxing in a large sitting room with multiple couches, armchairs, bookshelves, and even a desk to read or write at. Alana had been dozing on the couch with Azerel while Sein meditated nearby, using an ancient technique he'd discovered to refocus his senses. Arkiri was killing time by playing board games against himself while Yareis relaxed in a shadow, shaping ice into various shapes and merging them together to stimulate her mind. Meanwhile, T'alo was sitting in one of the chairs with a book while Kath read at the desk. Laralei had had a book of her own for a short bit, but now she saw fit to go bug her best friend like she always did. "Say, Kath?" she called over softly.

"Hm?" was the distracted response.

"Don't you think you ought to get some sleep or something?" Laralei asked teasingly. "Even you need rest once in a while, and I don't think you've slept even once since I returned to life. Well, excluding when you were turned back into a baby for a short time."

"Sleep is boring," Kath dismissed with a wave of his hand, not missing a beat. He chose not to acknowledge the rest of what she'd said. "I hate it."

Laralei turned her head to look at Yareis, her eyes glittering with amusement. "Good luck with him. Boredom is his one true archnemesis, just so you know."

Yareis glanced up, shards of ice melting then reforming into the shape of a crystal in her hands. "I think I will manage."

"Still, I think the warning was somewhat necessary," Laralei chuckled. "Especially since he occasionally goes to great lengths to alleviate his boredom… such as by allowing Sein to run amok like he did as a child." She quickly resumed pestering Kath for another moment or two, only to be met with continued resistance and refusal. It wound up reminding her of something Xin had once said several years before he'd mysteriously disappeared.

"Sothan's not usually bad about being responsible and all that, but sometimes he gets so lost in his work that he forgets to take care of himself - more specifically by eating and sleeping. He and Kath are kindred spirits in that regard. They both too easily get caught up in their pursuits, lose track of time, and forget the world around them. I suppose that plays into their brilliance a bit, but it does mean that other people need to keep an eye on them to a certain extent." He chuckled to himself. "I'm just glad that Li doesn't seem to have picked up on that particular habit. His uncle has always been a huge role model for him."

Amused anew, Laralei shook her head. "You're impossible, Kath. Just so you know."

"I'm aware," was the flippant reply.

Sein cracked an eye open and smirked. "If you're so aware, why's it so much trouble?"

"Don't make me freeze you again," Kath threatened him immediately. However, this threat was delivered in what was, for him, a very casual tone. He didn't even look up from his book. At about the same time, Yareis glanced at Sein. She was about to join in on the jokes, when she saw his troubled face. As bad as she was with emotion, she decided that she shouldn't be the one who said something. This resulted in her gently nudging Kath to get his attention which, in turn, prompted Kath to immediately glance at her. Upon seeing where her eyes were focused, he followed her gaze. What he saw made him frown. "Sein," he called over quietly, so as not to disturb his daughter. "You are troubled. Enough so that even I can see it. What about?"

Concerned, Laralei also looked over. He's right… there's emotion written all over our boy's face. How did I not notice that before? T'alo silently closed his book and looked on, though he didn't add anything to the discussion.

Sein was silent for several seconds, seeming quite distracted. Finally, though, he opened his mouth. "Nareish told me that Sothan was corrupted," he revealed quietly. "I just… I've been trying to process that and keep an eye on the forge, but things have been silent and some sort of ward was put up to prevent looking closely at it or the people in it."

Immediately, Kath and Laralei traded alarmed looks. "We…" Laralei trailed off, gathered herself, then started again. "We need to verify whether or not that was just another lie. This isn't something that can be ignored."

Kath's eyes instantly took on the appearance of being full of stars, a clear and unmistakable sign that he was using his Vision power. While this power allowed him to easily view things within space, it took some effort for him to view the surface of planets. It strained his eyes greatly to see inside of caves, buildings, and other such things. He nonetheless did just that in order to peer inside the forge and quickly look over all the inhabitants. "Sothan and Novei's auras are both full of vile energies," he soon reported in a grim tone. "It isn't as a result Nareish's corruption power, nor that of any demon."

"Meaning it may well be something we don't know how to approach," Sein murmured, rubbing a hand over his face. "That's… bad."

Attempting to see the auras more clearly made Kath's eyes start to ache and blur. He was forced to cut off his Vision and was left rubbing his eyes. "Unfortunately," he agreed, tone wholly upset.

Laralei watched him with concern, knowing full well that his power tended to damage his eyesight quite significantly at times. But she didn't mention it right now. "What do we do?" she asked no one in particular. "We can't just ignore this. He's our family. Everyone in that forge is."

Sein was about to speak, but then he straightened, then stood. For a moment, he did nothing, then he appeared at the nearest window with his shield raised in time to beat back a pillar of flame that crashed through. Glass shards melted, then evaporated under the intense heat, and Sein's feet began slipping as the fire pushed him back. "Move!" He barked to everyone in the room.

Alana jolted awake in that same moment and reacted without thinking. She teleported everyone into a room without windows and then started teleporting civilians (most of whom were employees within the building) far away. "Grandfather, take Azerel and find shelter," she told T'alo quickly. "Neither of you can do much against a demon with this much power." T'alo looked ready to argue… but in the end he held his tongue. He just gave Azerel a hard nudge toward the door and, together, they both fled.

As they fled, Yareis leapt to her feet, conjuring ice that threatened to leave Sein with frostbite just from being in proximity, shooting it forward to flash freeze the flames in place, blocking the window and stopping the attack… on them. Anyone could tell that these flames were assaulting the palace from all angles, blasting the building itself or taking advantage of any openings to burn the inside.

Laralei attempted to use her ability to control temperatures, as well as to conjure up rain, to further douse the flames, but to no avail. "Tch," she muttered. "This demon's too strong. Mortals like me apparently can't do anything."

"Then focus on getting people out of the palace. They're attacking all over, and there's several injured," Arkiri called to her, already heading for a door. Laralei had no choice but to concede his point. She ran out of the room, intent on helping her people as best as she could.

Sein clenched his fist shakily, the heat of the initial attacks having left their mark. "I thought most of the demons died. Who is this?" He called out to nobody in particular, drawing his sword.

"They did die," Kath muttered irritably. The heat was massively getting to him due to how sensitive he'd been to it all his life. It had nothing to do with his ice powers, however, and everything to do with the sensory issues he'd been born with. But needless to say, it was the attack itself that was upsetting him the most. "This individual must have been laying in wait for one reason or another." Like Yareis, he was quick to use his powers to freeze as many flames as he could, thus buying people a bit of extra time to escape the building.

"We have to stop the attack on the palace-" Sein let out a furious noise suddenly, stopping his sentence. "There's two demons. One on the ground assaulting the general populace, and one on the palace."

"Great," Alana muttered. "What's our plan, then?"

Sein gripped his sword tight. "Divide and conquer, drive them elsewhere. We don't have time to figure out much more."

"Splitting up is likely a poor choice," Alana argued with a frown. "We need to be in both places at once, so let us do that instead." She created a clone, something she and Sein didn't tend to do very often, and sent it away to face the other demon so that her real self could help confront the one that was here.

The idea had slipped his mind, and he cursed his stress for causing it. He followed suit in making a clone, then turned to Yareis and Kath. "You two should get away from the heat if you can, protect the people. I don't know anyone else who can stop the flames," he explained quickly.

Kath frowned and quickly asked Yareis, "Can you withstand these conditions much longer?"

She wanted to lie, but ultimately she shook her head. "Not if the heat continues to grow. It is not unlike Pyrun's flames."

"Then you need to leave," he directed her without hesitation. "I will not have you become another casualty of this." As he spoke, time flowed and started to carefully reverse as many of the fires as he could manage at once until they were essentially rewound into nonexistence. Yareis clenched some of her fingers together as she looked away from him, vanishing.

Almost the instant she was gone, a demon appeared next to Kath, a pulse of Darkness utterly destroying the room and focusing on the new Immortal. Their glowing red demonic eyes gazed around all the while. Kath didn't hesitate to use his aura to blast the demon away from him while Alana was forced to use her own aura to heave debris off of herself, Sein, and Arkiri.

That wasn't all that happened, however. Energy that couldn't be mistaken for anyone else's other than Nareish's corralled the aforementioned trio and trapped them together within a sort of barrier while also destroying Sein and Alana's clones. This left just the demon and Kath free to move about. "This is the only aid I will offer you," Nareish's disembodied voice said to the woman. "I gave you the power you will need for everything else. Best of luck to you." With that, all traces of her presence beyond her little trap vanished. Kath was left to fend for himself now.

Not one to waste time, Ki'aala grinned wildly. Her blade glowed with building magic as flames spread around the room, aiming to consume. Let's play a game, Kath.

Cursing internally, Kath rewound time on the fires in order to spare his trapped family, then blasted Ki'aala square in the torso with a fierce blast of aura. She largely ignored it, however. The wound his aura created wound itself back together. Darkness crashed down directly where Kath was standing as she cast a spell. Chains manifested from sigils all around the room and launched for the hawk. I don't care about them. It's you we want.

Aura surged forth again. Her chains shattered and blue eyes regarded her with a look of cold boredom. "Any fool with half a working brain cell can fight better than this. Cease playing around like a child." A sword of energy formed in his right hand, as he currently lacked a physical sword to use yet still. All the while, Alana began to try and free herself and the others to no avail.

Ki'aala cackled, casting a glance over at Sein. The man was visibly fighting his restraints, and the sight filled her with no endless amount of joy. "It's such a shame, the wasted potential here. So much pent-up anger…" Her blade flashed crimson as flames wreathed its length and she charged for Kath. From her investigations… this wouldn't be a wild match of power. Cold, calm calculations would be the only way to break through.

However, she wasn't given any further time to consider her next move. It wasn't entirely clear what happened next, as Kath's latent time-related abilities appeared to have unintentionally sped things up for everyone's perception other than his own - albeit just for a moment. At the end of that brief confusion, Ki'aala was left skidding across the blazing gardens outside after having been slammed into the ground hard enough to create a crater of sorts.

Even with the lack of perception of it all, she was on her feet before the end of it. Her blade slammed into the ground and she flashed a grin to Kath, summoning a storm of meteors as the ground under the palace split and spread apart rapidly. "I dare you to wield your time in my face!" she cackled.

Alana watched on in silent fear as her father summoned a powerful barrier to block the meteors from striking the ravaged building. Father has been transitioning steadily from mortal to Immortal, but unless something drastic happens to force him to transition much more rapidly… this is a fight he cannot win, and he knows it. He is too mortal still. She tried in vain to extend her own powers beyond the barrier, but not even that was allowed to escape.

All Arkiri could do was look on, eyes keenly watching Kath. He didn't like a thing about this, but he knew well that struggling would be a waste of his energy. Sein, however, strained every muscle he had against Nareish's energy, knowing he needed to be by his adoptive father's side. She'll try to corrupt him, I know it. The thought of it all infuriated him.

In response to Ki'aala's taunt, Kath went ahead and did use his time powers again. However, he did so in a carefully controlled way to reverse much of the damage around them. The people in the area needed the chance to flee further away from here. It wasn't like he could do too much else against such a powerful semi-Immortal, anyway. It also wasn't very often that he was left scrambling to come up with an adequate plan of action, but here he was…

This all proved a fact to Ki'aala. I could do it without her. The demon was back at the palace while he focused on everything else, weapon left behind on the ground. Bloodthirsty hunger had overtaken her in the excitement of it all, and she set it all on Kath to bear and survive as flames roiled from her claws. I can't kill you that easily, but if I do… At least you'll revive. The thought filled her with glee. While he was forced to dodge or freeze the fire as much as possible, his retaliation against her physical blows was swift and brutal. Everything was countered or parried despite the stark difference in strength, clearly showing off his expertise in battle. This just wasn't difficult for him to do.

She kept up her onslaught despite how well he performed against it, waiting. Even in a borderline delirious state of mind, she knew to keep her wits about her. The instant another one of her blows was parried, a vicious explosion rocked the room behind him while a wave of her Darkness swept from behind the demon. How well can you split focus?

This, too, proved to not be a challenge for him to handle. He allowed the shockwave of the explosion to move him while using a thin barrier of aura around himself to protect against any sort of damage. This movement propelled him most of the way out of the way of her Darkness, the rest of which he blasted away from himself Eona's Light. The only problem was that he didn't have enough of that precious resource in him right now to properly fight this demon. Not here, not now. She went for more, but a particular nuisance made itself known. While Kath was busy (even if only briefly) protecting himself, Cyril appeared in the space between them.

Ki'aala's intense gaze turned to a glare as she turned to him, raising a single hand to catch the kick he threw before slamming him into the ground and kicking him out of the nearest ruined window. Unconscious. I can't try to kill him, or I'll risk the might of the universe intervening due to that 'gift' of his I've heard about.

Naturally, this again forced Kath to split his focus in defense of another person other than himself. It was dangerous to take even a fraction of his attention off of this sort of a threat, but he needed to get Cyril out of there. So, not wasting a second, he was quick to grab the finch in his aura and teleport him as close to Mobius as possible.

The brief distraction was welcomed. Ki'aala raised a single hand and encased Kath in the power she'd been given by Nareish. She closed the distance with Darkness radiating from her body and then pouring into the hawk immediately. She stared at him with the vaguest disgust over his constant shows of compassion. The expression was barely concealed with a neutral face. "You won't have to worry about them long."

"Let him go!" Alana snapped from within the other trap. Her aura thundered uselessly against the barrier they were contained within. Kath, meanwhile, tried to reverse time in order to undo the restraints Ki'aala had just created, but it had no substantial effect… if any at all.

"I won't-" She was interrupted as a hunk of metal smashed into her face and sent her sprawling into a wall, a spray of blood staining it. In that instance of focusing on Kath, she hadn't noticed Sein disappear completely, and that was a problem. Ki'aala twisted and rolled against the wall to avoid the following swing, working her Darkness further into Kath to begin the corruption.

Kath barely restrained himself from making a sound of pain as Eona's Light blazed around him in response to the influx of Darkness. Everything ached and burned, as if there was an inferno raging within him and he could do nothing to put it out. This type of corruption, he'd long suspected, was not a pleasant experience. But this? This bordered on white-hot agony. Maybe it was the fact that this corruption was coming from a damned demon, specifically. He also knew that his gifted Light was playing a role. Specifically by smoldering away into nothingness, leaving him with no protection and causing him an endless torrent of pain all the while. If he couldn't get out of this trap right now, he was doomed. And, regrettably… so, too, might be the people he loved the most.

Meanwhile, the demon twisted around a flurry of blows, and she almost found interest in the rage behind each swing. Getting hit by any of them could spell trouble for Ki'aala, so she focused on not letting Sein stay close… though that was proving difficult with the troublesome aura shield on one of his gauntlets. Her few returning blows had been effectively blocked by the thing, and she cursed the fact that he realized there was no point trying to undo the restraints. Killing her was the only surefire way to stop this.

Sein took advantage of the fact that she was purely focused on defense, not using his speed at all until he saw an opening. A clean kick threw her against the nearest wall, and he intended to turn this into a fight for her life. Every punch drew blood and crunched bone, and Sein refused to let up until she dropped to the ground. He didn't understand what happened, then the body vanished. Only his precognition allowed him to twist around and block the blade aimed for his heart, but it still pierced the arm that wielded his shield.

While the two of them fought, Kath continued to struggle against the effects of the corruption. His pain had done nothing except intensify as the last vestiges of Light burned away deep within him. For just a second, a demonic glow entered his eyes. Rather than the typical red or orange, however, the glow was an altogether rarer color - one that only the strongest and most malevolent of demons ever displayed. That glow was distinctly golden… just like the first God of Demon's once were.

This gave Ki'aala a brief bout of satisfaction as she continued her little duel with Sein, pressing the newfound advantage with his left arm torn up by her weapon. Said weapon flashed across his gauntlets, heating them. He did the smart thing of protecting his upper body and paying attention when she went for vital blows below, but he couldn't have known. Her magic coursed through his body from his wound and severed the muscles in his left leg, toppling the Immortal long enough for her to blast him aside. No protection from magic yet, hm? The only wild card left was Jet, now, in her opinion. A fight with Alana, though difficult for certain, would likely just drag on, and Arkiri wasn't a threat to her.

She supposed she needed to thank one of her least favorite leaders, Kaden… and Nareish, to an extent. Their corruptions (Kaden's failed and both of Nareish's successful) of Kath had given her the perfect opportunity to do this quickly by leaving her victim much more susceptible to it than he'd once been. Ki'aala briefly debated the possibility of having not accepted Nareish's help and what that might have looked like, but she wouldn't have had nearly as much fun. Her gaze turned to Kath and she waited, wanting to see how he struggled against it.

The fight he was having within himself was fierce, but it was one he was no doubt losing. It wasn't a fight he could win, despite all the effort he put forth to try and change that. His time was running out rapidly and he knew it. In one last desperate bid to protect those he loved, the final act he knew he'd be able to commit before the corruption fully set in, Kath gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut in pain against the energies coursing through him… then forcibly teleported Sein, Alana, and Arkiri (trap and all) away from him. There was no telling if it would be enough to keep them safe from this demon or, more importantly, from him. But he couldn't do anything further for them.

No more than a second after he'd made them vanish, the corruption dug its roots in the rest of the way. And, just like that, any and all care he'd been clinging to regarding them utterly died. Not a single trace of it, or of anything else that was truly him, remained. The real him was gone… and there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it.

Ki'aala grinned and walked close, only enough so to speak to him effectively. "The old world that Kaden used as his home when he was the leader of demons... I recommend you go there if you do not wish to face off against your grandson. As it stands, you could not win against him, nor could I."

It turned out that the urge to openly cuss was strong when one was a demon. Ill-prepared for that though he was, Kath managed to refrain and just bit out a harsh, "Release me now." He didn't outwardly acknowledge anything she said, refusing with every fiber of his being to do what she wanted him to. As Nareish had warned, he was simply not one to take orders… even ones that were implied and not direct. He wasn't one to be controlled.

She released him without a second thought, smiling at his lack of subservience or other such weaknesses. Good.

Finally free to stand again, Kath irritably brushed himself off. Then, with a swift sideways motion of his hand, he slashed her deeply across the torso in petty retaliation for everything she had just done. It was the same slicing ability he had utilized during the first raid, shortly after his sword had first been broken. He nearly always relied on it when without an actual weapon. "If you ever touch me again, I will dismember you and feed the parts to Pyrzar beasts," he muttered darkly.

Had she any less control, she might have lashed out as well, especially since his attack had been strong enough to make her unexpectedly stumble backward a couple steps or so. However, she kept herself composed and shook her head in dismay. "I wish you luck if you try. You'll need it." She vanished shortly after, leaving him to his devices. He won't stay there. Sure enough, as soon as she was gone he scoffed and teleported as well, though where he went was unknown since he very much didn't go where she'd suggested before.

It was only then that Nareish's trap was finally undone by her and Alana and Arkiri were freed. The former teleported both of them and Sein straight back to the palace. She could feel the overwhelming amount of corruption seeping out of even the mere lingering traces of her father's aura despite him no longer being there. That left a sinking feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. We're too late… Nearly shaking, she forced herself to focus instead on healing Sein as quickly as possible.

Arkiri stared at where Kath had been for a long moment, then focused himself on helping Alana. He'd forgotten what utter fury felt like, what it meant to want someone dead… but he let that thought go, attempting to fill his mind with a modicum of peace and calm. He had to pull himself from the space where he stood, dropping to his knees beside Alana. "I… I'm so sorry," he whispered, wanting to offer what comfort he could to the two. Arkiri winced at the dark mood Sein's aura seemed to turn toward, feeling the way the other man's anger radiated off of him. "What do we do?"

"I do not… I do not know," Alana murmured. She was managing to keep her cool, but only just. In reality, she very much wanted to panic. Or cry. Perhaps both. "I do not even know why Father was targeted like this in the first place, nor why Nareish saw fit to involve herself in it." Finished now with repairing her husband's wounds, she teleported Cyril to herself and started healing him too. Arkiri aided with this as well, noting quickly the severity of his wounds despite how little was done to him.

Sein sat up and pushed himself to his feet slowly, looking at his gauntlets and weapon to ensure there was no damage. Luckily, they were Immortal level, but that hadn't stopped the scorch marks from appearing. He had to try and clean them later but, for now, the immaculate metals would just have to remain marred with demonic soot. "Both demons have left. I'm going to go down and help with any rescues while contacting everyone to have them on the lookout for Kath or this demon. I don't trust that this was all she had planned."

"Nor do I, but…" Alana frowned and trailed off, then continued. "We need to tell our family first. They will be the most endangered. And Mother… Mother deserves to know."

Sein wasn't sure he believed there was an immediate danger posed to their family… but he agreed Laralei needed to know. A breath in, followed by a nod. "I'll tell her, then, unless you want to. One of us needs to be out there helping the victims of the attack."

Alana started to agree, then frowned some more. "Clones, Sein. We should send out clones for now. I do not know why, but I have a feeling that we must remain here for the moment."

I'd intended to split up with the clones out there, but… Okay. I understand. Sein created a new clone and sent it out, walking closer to his wife and banishing his anger. He took her hand in his and pulled her close, hugging her.

Though Alana returned the hug without hesitation, the majority of her attention remained on Cyril and her efforts to heal him. "Why is he not waking up?" she worried aloud. "How hard was he struck?"

Sein worked to recall what had happened and grimaced. "She slammed him into the ground head first. He was unconscious from that alone. Then she kicked him out of a window," he murmured softly.

Head wounds could easily prove disastrous, and that alone had Alana reaching out for further aid straight away. She didn't care which of the people she called out to arrived first, so long as someone did. "Wave, Eila, I need one or both of you on New Babylon now. There was an attack. Cyril and many others are wounded."

Eila was there in an instant, followed by the casting of an utterly massive spell over the palace and the area around it to begin healing people while her focus went to Cyril. She didn't ask a single question at first, hunting through the finch's memories to understand what happened… only to discover that he barely even saw what hurt him. "What the fuck happened to him?"

Alana let out a truly heavy sigh and, for once in her life, found herself relaxing the many protective barriers she kept around her mind at all times. "You may view for yourself, if that is what you wish. It will be quicker than any of us trying to verbally explain it to you." Concern over Wave's lack of response to her call wormed its way into her thoughts, but she did her best to banish that momentarily. It wasn't helpful here.

Eila noticed those worries without fail, but it wasn't important right now. She watched the scene play out and noted the exact places he'd been hit, grimacing at the damage he took. "You have to be kidding me," she grumbled, already working her powers into Cyril's mind to figure out how to help him recover while working backwards within Alana's memories to look over everything that happened. Her aura betrayed her fear as she was forced to mentally note how skilled this demon was in… everything she did. Bad. Very bad. A name… I need to find a name…

Then came Sein's ingenuity to escape the trap by transporting himself to his private mini-realm and returning to Babylon from there, but she didn't have much to think about regarding that. Creativity and pressure often bred brilliance, and Sein was plenty creative. However, she soon paused, watching as Kath was corrupted. She heard her heart in her ears, clenching her hands into fists. "Oh, fuck."

Only once Eila had finished viewing everything that had transpired did Alana gently nudge the younger woman out of her mind and restore her mental barriers. "Eila… what happened to my father was not random. It was deliberate. Until we understand why, we must carefully observe the situation and avoid acting rashly. However, in the meantime… there is one detail that bothers me, though I do not know why. My father's eyes turned gold. I have never before witnessed a demon with such eyes."

It took a few seconds for her to recover from the shock, then more for her to bury the boiling anger in her chest. "It's fucking bad, is what it is." Eila rose up, turning to face Sein, Arkiri, and Alana. "Only the strongest demons have gold eyes. I believe the demon you faced may have been shrouding her own, but… it's undeniable that Kath is powerful. An Immortal, too, now corrupted as a demon."

"I do not understand how that could be," Alana confessed with a glance at Sein and Arkiri both. "My father is strong, yes… but his growth as an Immortal has been abnormally slow. Perhaps even stunted altogether. He is more mortal than anything else yet still, hence him being unable to fend that woman off. How could that be, and yet him simultaneously be such a powerful demon somehow?"

Eila shrugged, even though the motion didn't bring the comfort it usually did. Normally, she'd be okay with not fully understanding something… Not this time, however. "I don't know. There's something we're missing."

Alana might have said more. In fact, she'd had every intention of doing just that, had several things not happened in that very moment. First was the sensation of energy flowing which hit her senses, clear evidence of a portal opening somewhere a multitude of floors beneath them. Then there was some sort of an explosion or something similar, followed by someone or something crashing through a variety of walls, furniture, and other things. She recognized that something immediately as her son and teleported straight down to where he was. Everyone else quickly followed suit.

Jet was already picking himself up by the time she did this, cursing colorfully under his breath as he did so. He was wearing his cloak and had his unsheathed sword in his hand. On top of that, he was injured and covered in a great deal of blood. It was nothing short of relieving that most of it appeared to not be his own. Still, she grabbed him by his shoulders immediately and began to check him over. "Are you alright?" she demanded. "What happened?"

Her son blinked at her a few times, appearing a little dazed, before slowly shaking his head. "...Generals," he eventually said. "Nareish's. A lot of them. They went after Wave and her family. We fought them off for now."

Despite her agonizing anxiety, Eila enveloped Jet in the spell she had cast during her arrival, working at his wounds while actively whisking the blood on him away - though he didn't really seem to notice. She, however, couldn't make herself open her mouth to speak, just keeping the rest of her attention on Cyril. Arkiri took this opportunity to take stock of the situation with the palace itself, hovering out of a nearby window while staying close enough to listen.

Sein was immediately beside Alana, letting her check Jet over while trying to avoid overwhelming him with people suddenly being close by. "Are they retreating?"

"No. Not… Not really." Only now did Jet and Alana both realize that he was shaking a little. He started to do his best to stop that. "They scattered, but they don't retreat. Not ever. This is the first time they've personally left her realm in almost four hundred years. They're planning to do something."

Sein drew his blade without another thought. "Where are Wave and her family? Where you came from?"

Alana instantly felt her heart break when Jet suddenly shifted an arm to wipe tears out of his eyes. "Wave isn't… okay," he bit out. "They nearly killed her before I got there. She's with Han and Thane in the Lost Hex, and the Aether is healing her. She'll be fine, but…" He trailed off, either unable or unwilling to finish his sentence.

Eila's eyes widened. Whatever she'd been doing seemed finished as Cyril woke suddenly, and she vanished before he (or anyone, really) had a chance to stop her. Sein twisted, but by the time he'd reacted, Cyril had bolted as well while shouting something about Teyan. Alana watched this all happen, then returned her attention to Jet. "How did you wind up here? Was it an attack?"

"A cheap parting shot," Jet mumbled. He lowered his arm, but his eyes weren't totally dry yet. "I couldn't have stayed longer, regardless. The magic in that realm tears non-Hexans apart."

Sein silently looked to Alana, asking who should tell him the bad news. At this, she could only shrug. Deciding there was no point hiding it, Sein spoke up himself. "We were just attacked, too, by a powerful demon. Two arrived and assaulted the palace and the surrounding area… and the one that confronted us corrupted Kath," he said softly. "Nareish was helping her."

In the short silence that followed, Jet stood there motionless with his fists tightened into balls by his sides and his heart in his throat. His eyes filled with further tears that he stubbornly blinked back, refusing to grant them the freedom to flow. "How long ago?" he asked stiffly.

"Not even five minutes," Alana practically whispered. "They both took off afterward, though I do not think they followed one another."

"I'm sorry," Sein said, his tone softening even further as a few tears threatened to overtake his own vision. "I tried to stop it, but… she honestly could have killed me, with how that fight went. I don't even… know what really happened."

Jet took in a deep breath and let it out slowly in an effort to calm himself down. Tentatively, he reached his mind out to the place where the Faein slept and asked, "Are any of you awake?"

It took a minute or two for a response to be given. The other "male" Faein, whom Jet had never personally encountered before but whose name he could just sense was Sul, appeared before them seamlessly as though he had merely stepped into view from another room. "Have you need of me?" His head then canted and he immediately spoke again. "I can see already what transpired. I know the question you hold in your hearts, my young kin… but you will not like my answer."

Sein took in a sharp breath, steadying himself. "We still need to know." Even if it hurts.

Hearing this made Sul sigh. "I cannot save Kath," he murmured. "Nor can the others. Intervention was possible when Nareish previously corrupted him, for her controlling him constituted an existential threat. This does not, in part because he is not being controlled. It goes deeper than that, however. He and Sothan both are a type of Immortal that can, in a manner of speaking, be considered 'neutral'. One does not have to be good to manage the flow of time, nor to govern space. So long as neither of them do anything drastic such as attempting to kill other Immortals, we cannot intervene."

The news about Sothan being an Immortal was certainly a shock to Alana. However, her mind focused almost exclusively on her father. Even the Faein… cannot save him…?

After a lengthy pause, Jet asked, "You can't do anything for him at all?"

"There is nothing we can do," Sul confirmed with a tone of regret coloring his words. "I can tell you where he went, but that is all. I would recommend against going there, however."

"Please tell us," Alana requested. "Even if we cannot go, I… I wish to know where he is."

Sul murmured his understanding. A bright flare of aura filled the room then, though it soon dimmed. Illuminating the space between all of them was an ethereal image of a solar system and the massive red sun at its center. There were nine planets, each fiery and dark. He gestured to one in particular, near the middle of the group. "Jet, this is a world you know well. I trust you recognize it."

The younger Immortal's face was grim. "That was the world Kaden took up residence on when he became the God of Demons," he explained to his parents. "He created that one."

Sein frowned deeply, another thought on his mind. "Is that where this other demon came from? The one that corrupted him?"

"Not quite." Sul pointed to the second and then third planets from that dim sun. "She and her god are native to these worlds - her the third and him the second. Kath is currently on the furthest planet from that star, avoiding the heat of these worlds as much as possible. But she fully intends to interact with him further soon."

"We can't let her," Sein responded quickly. "To pointedly go after Kath like that… she's got some sort of plan. Whatever it is, we all know it's bad."

"There is nothing you can do as of now to prevent their meeting," Sul said. "If you go there, you will be grievously injured or worse." Your family has endured enough torture without you personally experiencing such a trauma as well. Demonic or not, Kath has no interest in such activities. However... Ki'aala will not hesitate, given the opportunity.

Arkiri piped in softly, walking closer to the group. He'd stayed back prior to now, his thoughts whirring through his mind like the many things he'd once tinkered with in his youth. "Are others in immediate danger before they meet?"

Sul let out a sound that may have been a sigh, though it also may not have been. "Not at the moment, no," he murmured. "However… many lives will be endangered afterward."

"Jet and Sein, we should begin contacting your allies to let them know a powerful demon has made themselves known… and perhaps contact this Kaden person and see what he may know? I dare to guess that, based on my knowledge of things that live, he may have knowledge of demons."

This immediately made Jet tense and uneasy. "I don't… want to bring any of this up to him if I can avoid it," he murmured. "He was corrupted against his will just like Kaicha was. He's been… suffering ever since we saved him. His emotions and mental state have not truly begun to recover. He merely bottles everything up whenever possible."

"We should still ask him," Alana responded, though not without sympathy. "I do not wish to burden him further either, but any knowledge he might have could prove invaluable."

Arkiri felt terrible for bringing it up, having not known the situation, so he stayed quiet. Sein offered a steady hand to Jet's back, hoping to help comfort him. "If it would potentially be of any use, I can speak to him with you."

When Jet hesitated, Alana decided to ask him a question. "He's important to you, is he not?"

Jet nodded slowly. "He's family," he mumbled. "Aside from Ross, he was the only dad I ever had. I don't want to be responsible for hurting him."

"Do you think it's possible this woman would try to hurt him?" Sein asked, hoping to press the point a bit more. "He's been through a lot, yes, but since this demon is on the loose… he should know. Demons are vindictive and aggressive. If she has any sort of grudge…"

Jet took in a shaky breath and let it out. "I know." He didn't argue any further, as he'd always done his best to be as logical as possible. It was like he couldn't see Sein's point.

Glad to see the situation at least partially resolve itself, Arkiri spoke again. "If there's anything I can do aside from tending the wounded here, tell me. Otherwise, I will head for the streets and infirmary to begin helping where I can."

"Please do," Alana said. "Mine and Sein's clones are spread rather thin at the moment trying to handle it all." He offered a quick nod before hurrying out of the room.

Sein took in a breath and went to use his communicator, only to find that the thing had been completely ruined by the flames. Even past the shields I made, that heat damaged this. Who the hell is she?

As these thoughts were running through Sein's head, Jet created clones of his own and sent them out to aid in the recovery effort. "I'll go look for Kaden," he conceded. "I'll tell you when I find him, Dad."

"Got it. Let us know if you find anything else noteworthy about this whole… situation," Sein murmured, opening his arms to offer a hug to his son. Despite all of the negative emotions Jet had been grappling with today, he went ahead and took the offered hug - albeit just for a few seconds or so. Then he abruptly teleported away. In spite of herself, Alana managed to smile.

Sein allowed himself to smile for a moment too before turning fully to Alana, concerned. "Well, I suppose we should also help get the word out if we can. You able to get ahold of Steam or Eila?"

"I will do what I can," Alana promised. She turned to Sul. "Thank you for providing us with the information you did."

"There is one more thing I can tell you," Sul said thoughtfully in reply. "It is information, but also… a warning of sorts. The reversal of time can revive a person from the dead without the need for Light, Chaos, or magic. I implore you to keep that in mind."

"...What?" Sein demanded after a moment's hesitation. "Kath can do what?"

"Father can revive people through the reversal of time?" Alana asked in a similar tone in an effort to seek some form of clarification. She was… utterly shocked, to say the least.

Sul inclined his head gravely. "Yes, he can. Obviously he cannot do so to revive truly deceased Immortals, but semi-Immortals and mortals can easily be returned to life. To say it would be mere child's play for him is an understatement."

"Surely she wouldn't want to bring Amnikaribah back…" Sein murmured, drumming his fingers against his side. Who the hell would she have him bring back? Is that even her plan?

"If she does want Father to revive someone, she may be disappointed," Alana frowned. "He is not likely to cooperate with her, corrupted or not."

Sein nodded slowly. "We have to hope, then, that he won't."

Sul gave the pair a sad smile, one that revealed nothing further. "I'm afraid that I must go now. If any of you have need of me or my kin again, simply reach out to us. We will always heed your calls."

A sigh, then Sein replied. "Thank you. If we need to, we'll reach out." Sul inclined his head and faded away as though he'd never been there to begin with.

There was a pause. Alana swallowed thickly before speaking. "What do we do now, Sein?" she asked in a near-whisper. "I do not… know how to move forward."

He ultimately had to give a shrug. "I don't know, but we can't act now. Doing so invites a fight with him and that demon."

"I know," Alana murmured. It was the only response she could offer, utterly lacking though it was. In the end, the only other thing she could think to say was, "We should… check on the others. I will find Mother, Grandfather, and the others. If you wish to join Arkiri and your clones, now would be an ideal time."

Sein snuck a hand behind her head and gently kissed her, pulling her in long enough that he hoped it could offer a brief distraction before pulling away. "Go. I'll handle the rest." Alana leaned in long enough to give him a hug, then pulled away and teleported outside to do what she'd said she would.

Internally, the man cursed himself. He brought his hands to his face and fought back the painful urge to cry, burying the tightness in his chest now that he was alone. I wasn't strong enough. Sein let loose a shaky breath and stared at the marks left behind on his gauntlet, briefly losing himself in his thoughts… in the past. I can't let anything else like this happen again. Not ever again. Almost shaking, he departed to assist the wounded.

~保護者~

25,336 words this time. So, uh... This was finished like a couple weeks ago and I should have posted it then. My bad, guys. But that aside, many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help, and I hope you all enjoyed. Posted (at about 10:50 p.m.) 09-25-24.