The beast wrapped its tender, loving hands around Jakery's cheeks. Before pressing its head against his. The two stuck together, unsure of what to do next.
Guilt and regret washed over Jakery. Sweat built up on his forehead as his strength faded from his body. To this, the beast gently hummed.
"You did good," Ether sang.
Jakery shook his head. "I... killed... I k - killed h - him... No - no. I did not do good. I am ashamed. How - why did you make me do this?"
Ether encased Jakery in a loving hug. "Because I love you, Shojoro."
"Am I... still Shojoro..?" Jakery asked in disbelief. "Shojoro is that... that Yonie side of me. I'm - I'm not a Yonie, Shora."
"Then I'm not Shora," Ether let go of his younger brother. "Ask Valentine to clean your face... and be happy. You're growing up like Solice would have wanted you to."
Farmers eased their shoulders, letting their worked up frames rest. They eagerly listened to what their new leader had to say.
Nervousness motivated Ether to deliver. "Through my odds. Every warrior and farmer present here belongs to my Legion. Welcome to Infinus."
Everyone surrounding him heard it. Like machines, they accepted their new shift in leadership. No longer pledging allegiance to a Legion built on the ruins of aged struggles.
Even though it meant they would probably never see their loved ones again.
Valentine took out a small heart-shaped towel from the inside of his crimson vest. Then he began gently rubbing it over Jakery's face. Picking up sweat and fear as it slid over his cheeks and forehead.
Once finished, Valentine turned to a crate full of apples. He picked out the biggest, juiciest one in the crate. Then handed it to young Jakery.
His eyes stared down at it, a daydream. In his mind, Divinity was outside the Light Legion's walls. Lush apple trees surrounded them.
There, Demon and Ether rough housed. They tackled and tossed each other around, hoping to prove their strength to the other.
But to Jakery, it was a peaceful day. His head followed where his siblings threw each other. Eventually getting his attention hooked by an apple that looked exactly like this one.
"What's the matter?" Valentine asked again.
Jakery snapped out of his trance, blinking several times before responding. "Y - yeah. Um... so. Nothing. Yeah, nothing. Just a little daydream."
He reached for the apple, gently picking up in his soft little hands. A sense of security replaced the guilt from earlier. Jakery felt at home.
Gloria's large wings expanded, casting a shadow over those beneath her. Valentine sat on her shoulders, looking down at his students.
"It's time to go," Valentine announced.
Excited to return to his other brother, Jakery climbed on. Keeping the apple safe in his hands as he ascended along Gloria's upper wings.
Being the last one up, Ether sat at the very back. Behind his younger brother. However, that did not bother him. Instead, it was the result he wanted. To comfort his sibling after his first kill.
"You know," Ether began the conversation. "Sometimes I imagine us in our own world. A different reality, one that isn't at all like ours."
Jakery intently listened. Hearing Ether ramble on about stories and worlds he made up in his mind felt like he was being told a personal bedtime story.
"In this world, you and me and Demon are all okay. We are wearing comfortable clothes and living in homes that generate warmth for the entire space. Not just one room," Ether explained.
"What else is in this world?" Jakery asked.
"Uh... instead of flying on beasts, we ride around on the ground. Passing through giant roads that connect regions together," Ether cheerfully detailed. "And there are these laws in place to keep us all safe."
Valentine listened. He couldn't help himself. What Ether imagined was outlandish. No matter in whichever reality, it would never happen. Nothing like it has ever existed.
"In this world... there are these giant homes where they put the sick and injured. Inside, they would treat them. Getting their greatest hands to operate on them, like Valentine."
Hearing his name flattered him. Although he knew it was only a fantasy. Deep down in his glacial heart, Valentine understood what it was to be a dreamer. He was also one.
Albeit, a different kind of dreamer. In his mind, Valentine dreams of the day he could be reunited with his lover. A Thawed, just like him. She had a beautiful mutation to her hair color.
Making it purple instead of the usual white, grey, and dim-blue. Since he first saw her, Valentine's heart knew he needed her. And he was right. Through her, he earned his Third Rule.
Until the day she disappeared. No one knew why. Like dust in the wind, she left no trace behind. Except for her final moments with Valentine.
A memory he treasures like an ocean of opulence.
-Two hours later-
Gloria folded all four of her wings. Puffing up her feathers as she settled down on top of the bunker's roof. Everyone jumped off, stretching from the long ride.
Instantly, a disgusting odor filled their lungs. Jakery held vomit in as Valentine and Ether covered their noses and mouths from the wretched smell.
Tears formed in their eyes as they scrambled to find the source. It smelled far worse than a rotting corpse, even worse than anything they have ever experienced.
Moments later, Gloria opened her wings at her own accord. She began flapping the nasty air away. Causing the area to be more tolerable.
"Dammit, ugh. That damn smell, what is it?" Valentine didn't hide his disgust.
Ether cautiously made his way closer to the bunker's door where the rotten aroma was stronger. He opened it to let out the bad air, hoping to clean the inside so they could investigate.
"Wait, Oria isn't out here. Where is she?" Jakery asked himself.
That was a good question. Enough so to motivate Ether to rush inside, regardless of how bad it was down there.
His stomach twisted and turned, trying its best to hold in his recent meal. Eyes slowly turned pink, irritated by the disgusting atmosphere.
Black dust escaped from under the bedroom door. As if air was flowing inside, forcing the dust outside. He twisted the doorknob and pushed, expecting the worst.
Everything inside the bedroom was black. Walls, windows, beds, even the lying body. In the middle of the room, a creature made from imperfection and negativity stood over the fragile body of a Zesher.
Adrenaline and hatred overtook Ether's senses. It reminded him of the vile creation that corrupted his younger brother. His weapon flew out of its sheathe, thirsty for whatever came next.
Without a second thought, Ether drove the blade through the creature's leg. It attempted to turn and face the attacker, only to receive another strike to the shoulder.
Rage. It was all in Ether's mind. Revenge for taking who he loved. Swipe after swipe, Ether was pleased to see black blood and gore spill out of the creature.
Curious, he reached into the chest. In there, his hand searched for any signs of a heart. When it confirmed it had one, Ether eagerly pulled it out of its chest before crushing it.
Vile chemicals slid down his closed fist. Pleasing his bloodlust, but not his motherly instincts. In a heartbeat, his mind went from enraged to protective.
With one quick motion, Ether descended upon the nearby downed body. His arms hugged Demon tight as he rushed outside, hoping to bring him back to life.
Jakery stepped aside, allowing his older sibling to escort the dormant body out of the bunker. The foul odor disappeared after the Distorted's death. Which encouraged him to run back inside.
Valentine helped Ether slowly put Demon down beside Gloria. "Good to know that she's okay."
Ether narrowed his eyes, confused after hearing Valentine refer to Demon as a 'she.' That's when he looked down. Where he believed Demon was, Oria rested. She whimpered like a frightened animal.
Her fragile frame balled up, hoping to protect herself from the dangers all around her. Sweat and tears decorated her body in a wet reflection of light.
Before either of the two could ask Oria anything, Jakery screamed. It wasn't a scream to warn about danger, but to warn about something horrible. A tragedy.
Down in the bedroom, Ether discovered why. Jakery was on his knees, crying a waterfall out of his feeble little eyes. Beneath him - all around the room. Bits and pieces of his older sibling.
Gore dawned the room in a fresh new paint of vicious colors. Tainting the beds, metals, windows, door, walls. Remains of his heart rested over his open stomach.
Ether stumbled back, shaken up by the experience. His eyes drifted down to his weapon. A silver reflection of himself stared back.
"...J akery, get out of here... I don't want you to see what happens next," Ether instructed.