Kairas' eyes fluttered open, the scorching egypt sun shining down heavily over him. His throat and lips were dry, and his body ached with such a strong pain that he found it difficult to move at first.
How long had he been there?
When had he fallen unconscious?
Simple questions with such complicated answers.
Even as he picked up his head from the sandy floor, his mind still felt hollow, empty as if the memories in his mind had been forcefully sucked out of him and scattered to the wind.
He was in a town, or large village from what he could tell. Somewhere hidden in the desert, amongst the sand dunes, away from any other civilization. No people. He could tell from the scent of his own dried blood and traces of other scents in the dry air.
Kairas glanced around, red land all around him, bits and pieces of grey muscled flesh sitting in the sand with an aroma so foul he gagged when he caught the first whiff of it and sat up. Covering his mouth, Kairas jumped to his feet and rushed away towards a turned over garbage can, picking it up and releasing all the contents of his stomach. His body spasmed as layer after layer of vomit and snot left his body. Once finished, he wiped his face with a dry and sandy cloth then took a much closer look at the scenery.
It had been a question as to why he couldn't pick up any other traces of life, and now he knew.
Bodies, still and lifeless, lay scattered down the way from him. Blood was fresh, but the strong scent of whatever was rotting nearby had drowned out its smell. Children, Men and Women alike, all slain, organs scattered about, intestines sprawled out in a faint message that pointed him to where he knew he had to go.
Heads lay to the side, half of the faces pure grey and devoid of any color. The eyes were rolled up into the skull, as if the life was sucked from them before they were actually killed.
"Did I do this," He asked himself.
He found no answer, mind too fractured from the night before to really form any conclusion. The lack of blood on his tongue, or on his body aside from the tears in his cloak and old pants, told him he was in a battle of some kind. He remembered the Hunter he ran into, and how it was searching for Gems rather frantically. Unstable as it was, Kairas was sure he had dealt with it before coming here.
He was sure.
He was. Or thought he was.
The aching of his body plagued his mind so much it prevented him from thinking too much. He touched his side, the center of his source of pain, and with a deep breath, stepped forward. The blood was dry when approached, despite being fresh. The egyption heat played a part in that, from what he could tell.
His eyes scanned over the intestines, taking in the way they were adjusted, pointing towards the run down building at the end of the roadway. His foot moved, careful to avoid the remains of the dead to not disturb them, and carried him forward weakly. He reached the doorway of the building, placing a hand on the broken hinges and peered inside.
His eyes adjusted to the dark, a figure greeting him there.
It spoke to him yet didn't at the same time. The only thing visible was its lips, which he couldn't tell were male or female. The way they moved spelled out words, but he couldn't hear a voice, just see what words were being formed.
"You're awake," He read and nodded, leaning against the wall after stepping inside. The house ignored the sun outside, and was cold all the way through as if there was a simple pocket of air separated from the rest of the world. Not that Kairas was one to complain, he preferred the cold to the heat anyway.
"Who are you? Did you kill all those humans?"
The figure didn't move, nor comment on his question. Instead, it continued to move its lips, speaking of things aside from the night before. "You took your time, travelling, but now you must go back. Dark forces are afoot, and you must return to the front lines and battle against them."
Kairas grit his teeth, speaking in an increasingly frustrated tone. "Did you not hear what I said?"
Once again, it ignored his words. Kairas took a quick glance around before the figure spoke.
The room was completely empty. A one story building, no stairs to go up, no basement to go down to. It stood out from every other place that was in the village. Something that, even if anyone else had survived, probably wouldn't notice didn't belong.
"The boy needs your help. Like you, he is on the verge of losing himself to the darkness inside him, and needs an anchor. The Dark God Gems inside of you have been merged for too long. They're feeding on your natural evil sides, awakening, and must be tamed or they will destroy you."
Again, Kairas found himself touching his side.
The burning sensation, the strong surge of pain stemming from that one spot. "I know that much, but what I don't understand is why is it harming me? Him I can understand, he's rejected the darkness completely, but I have not." He took a deep, painful breath, and exhaled. "I'm not afraid of the dark."
"Yet you reject the light." Kairas watched the figure in a stunned, but expressionless silence, nodding for it to continue. "Your case, while similar, is also very different. Your darkness comes from your rejection of light, the untamed, quaking anger you have towards your father, and the refusal to let it go. What has been your goal, your drive forcing you forward caused you to forgo developing any sense of humanity, and the light inside of you, simply put, doesn't like that. You're a Fallen Angel, like Takabi. Neither of you should reject parts of yourselves."
"And what the hell would you know about me or him?" Kairas took a step forward, green electricity beginning to surge and cackle around his left hand. The room grew colder, Kairas feeling his senses slowly return to him, his body suppressing any lingering pain. He was thankful for his healing factor, otherwise he would have been dead a long time ago.
The figure, for the first time since he arrived, moved then.
"I know more than you think I do, Kai. Your sense of justice for your family has caused you to stray from the right path, and you're afraid to go back. You've been running. Running away from duties you know you must do."
The surging lightning grew more intense, the air thickening. "Shut up."
"You lost your beautiful mother, your powerful father is missing, your brother hates you, and your sister, for all you know, is dead. You've no idea what to do, where to go, or how to spend your miserable existence." The figure twisted, shaping into a man, hidden by the darkness. "There's at least one thing that your brother has over you though."
"I said shut up!" He thrust his palm forward, electricity surging through the room, striking the figure with enough power to force a green explosion. The building ripped apart from the inside out, chunks of concrete and metal flying through the village, landing with heavy thuds that disturbed the strong, heated silence of death and the sun.
The cold had faded, yet the man had not. His voice came in clear then, a gust of air carrying him away from Kairas, high into the clouds. "You will never be rid of your past, so long as you cling to the false idea that it was your father who wronged you." Then it was gone, just like the sand in the breeze.
Kairas narrowed his eyes, dissecting the voice, but couldn't believe it was actually him.
There was twinkle under some of the remaining rubble. Kairas took notice and approached it, knocking away the large, smouldering rocks and concrete, kneeling down and picking up a gold, three piece locket. Craning his head in curiosity, he opened up the three chambers.
A picture of him.
A picture of Takabi.
And a picture of a young girl with long black hair and violet eyes. Their sister, Shine.
His eyes widened, glowing a strong and powerful green, that if the pictures were alive, would shiver and run away in fear.
This was that man's locket. His father's locket, given to him by his wife. For it to be here, to be in his hands, to be untouched and clean and well kept, meant something.
It meant his father was very much alive, well and moving about.
It meant he was still on his father's mind.
It meant that he had the perfect opportunity to kill him, to rid the world and universe of that man, and he couldn't do a thing. Not from lack of trying, but the frustrating, simple realization that he just was not strong enough, and if he continued on his own way, he never would be.
The rage building within him settled, and he came to a single thought. Kairas could not kill Girston on his own.
He needed help, the help one one other person who he could truly trust.
Standing, he raised his palms at his sides. Black ice ripped up from the sand outside the village, bending forward and closing off the outside world. Kairas placed his palm against the soil, a pillar of black forcing him up towards the top of the icy structure, and he carved a hole to crawl out.
Once again exposed to the Sun, he looked down at the village and closed his eyes, sitting down and placing his palms together. "O' Father. Allow these souls peace within your golden gates."
A soft prayer. Gentle, to ease the souls he was sure he could not save.