A fleeting sensation, the cosmic feeling of duality came over his mind like blizzard. A pain deep and sharp cut at his psyche. "..." A muffled grunt came out of Ho's mouth.
"They are here." Ho leapt from bed and found Qingchi asleep next to him again. She had taken every opportunity to stay by his side, his confidence was her confidence. "My Brothers. They have arrived, the Zao Clan comes." His hand flexed and a dagger appeared. It emitted a dark aura, black flames pulled in the light.
'They will not mistake this aura, I am sure of it.' Zao Ho flew out of the building at top speed and searched overhead, the Tower would be easily spotted if it was expanded. Everything that was happening was now part of the plan, his mistake could be righted.
"Thunder." Ho charged the atmosphere and brought a storm cloud the kept striking him. It looked a lot like tribulation lightning from light novels, drawing the awe of those below. None of the charge made it to the ground, instead it all collected, nurtured and liquified. There had long since been a solution for storing energy on Earth, though charging methods were mostly useless in comparison to the natural thing. Still, it was easy enough to direct to a grounding station if necessary. The blinding and dazzling show of lights stretched out over the Rainforest and its canopy.
A giant stone came from his ring, landed on the ground and sank into a resting position. Ho directed the lightning to the large piece of stone in front of him, strikes of lightning began carving from its mass. He several hovered meters off the ground and held one arm in the air at all times, receiving the Earth's blessing in his work, giving signal to the Zao Clan.
At the same time, in the outskirts of the disaster zone, Xui Ying was still pushing herself to help clear debris and search for survivors. The occasional photograph of her flying across the skys showed the continued involvement of the Priesthood. It was at the Amazon River Inlet, a small bi-coastal town called Belem was the closest port that had traffic moving appropriately into Brazil directly. While the world had been instructed not to interfere, many countries were reluctant to open the borders, especially after the attack in Picos.
Scanning the treetops as usual, a man in a fisherman hat was standing by his boat waiting for Xui Ying to arrive. She would check on him from each time she returned to the area after the bombing. He was one of the few she could save from the blast zone, his boat was all that remained of his little old life.
"XUI!" His voice sounded across the waters, carried in the winds. She was headed back in his direction, there was a large storm brewing in the south over Jungle City.
Stopping in midair, she saw a familiar black dot. Spots of electricity warped and twisted around a glowing core of black fire that stole the light in great swallows. She hovered, confused. Having left Ho only hours before, he would be back in Jungle City. 'It must be an emergency, I should wait.'
The Black dot grew in size and intensity, like a blur a figure emerged and came into focus.
"Hello Spider." A familiar voice came across the air.
He couldn't help himself with the upstaging and entrance, he opened his arms pulling the Tower from storage. "It begins." The Tower dropped directly over the Barra de Tapana, taking root in the wetlands and groves of trees. A scurry of birds and rushing wildlife came when the tower began to shift the earth beneath its foundation.
Like a massive shining lighthouse, the Bent Tower Pagoda soared into the skyline. Its shadow covered the airport and changed the wind patterns, airplanes in the air could feel the displacement.
"Sister!" Wu Hai ran up to his wayward sister and hugged her tightly. "You did it! you ate the crystal.. and look at you, you look great!" He was not short on praise, she was the reason he had come. "Where is this? It doesn't look like China. Anyways, come inside, take a load off. We have to go over the plans once again anyway. I'd like to introduce my family from the other side."
Wu Hai looked for the Quartet. Tiancho, Wang, and Han were standing idely inside the tower lobby waiting for orders and directions to be given out. "Where's Ho?" Wu Hai asked gently, he didn't want to assume anything. Ho had a habit of reading in the library and losing track of time. The answer came from somewhere unexpected.
"He's probably back in Jungle City with the others and the Priesthood, with your arrival, i'm sure things have gotten a bit alarming." Xui Ying put her hand on her head and scratched it a bit. Then she remembered the story. "You don't know yet do you?"
"Know what? and How?" Zao Wu Hai looked at the quartet and then called for Qu. "Where is Ho?"
Qu didn't have an answer, he threw his hands up in abject uncertainty.
"I just saw him a few hours ago, he's likely back at Jungle City. we should really get going. We've already caused a scene, I'm sure its already online. We have to make a statement." Xui Ying grabbed Wu Hai's hands and dragged him out of the Tower.
Before he left the doors, he told everyone to wait just a bit longer. "Lets go, lets go." Xui Ying had him shrink the tower and follow him to the south. It didn't take but an hour in flight, her pace wasn't bad for being a human.
'Surely the crystal wasn't that potent' Wu Hai started to think about her abilities and why they were so pronounced... but it left his mind quickly. They made the journey toward Apui, the closest settlement to the Jungle City. Sitting in the cradle of a the river basin, it had seemingly endless trails of people flooding to its walls.
The City was fairly large and drones flowed like birds across the canopy searching for problems. Private security firms had levied all their property and joined the exodus. There was an enormous amount of manpower moving about in the city, it was like nothing he had seen since Hong Kong. Stalls lined the roadside, people traded the soon to be unobtainable as currency. Food was important, but it was given freely by the priesthood if you were fortunate enough to be in line.
"This is a lot of people, why are they all here?" Wu Hai had a lot of questions as he flew, Xui Ying remained quiet. There were some complications that she couldn't explain, the questions would have to wait.