Her lips were sealed, the tip of the Ketsueki drenched with her victims' blood, the Swordsman to her front watched as she cleaned it with her sleeve, drawing the edge right over her clothed arm. Just after that, she sheathed her katana, and tied up her hair, rolled up her sleeves to reveal her muscles, and cleared her throat. A battlefield painted with blood and littered with the innards of fallen pawns, as she once again withdrew her sharpened weapon, she felt it. That odd experience that was not of her soul, the way she tightened against the sword's hilt, drool foaming from the sides of her mouth, needless to say, it was not that of an honorable warrior preparing for a mutual sword fight between mutual rivals.
Her eyes stared pointed ahead, grip clenched with two hands, the Samurai dislodged his footing and thought,
~{What an immense concentration...}~
WHOOSH! Hair thrown back from the wind, craters forming under his previous stance's origination, he swiftly aimed for a swift decapitation stroke diagonally aimed for her neck. Her heartbeat was irregular for someone so still, the tip of his white blade burning with flames, his eyes widened at this sight before him... each passing second felt like an eternity for her, as she stood upright; she slowly raised her sword to the air with both hands entangled around Ketsueki's handle,
~{What on Earth is happening?}~
Her eyelids shut, her movements as gradual as a turtle moving in a desert or a rabbit hopping through water before drowning, he bore witness to the most unbelievable phenomena. The next thing he knew, he'd jumped past her, his sword had taken off her head, and he now stood right behind her idle anatomy. However, as she parted her lips and spoke without turning her head, his eyes spread,
"{You've laid witness to the chimera illusion of victory, Samurai. However, your flaming sword is no match for me. Vampiric Speed plus Verocious Ferocity means...}"
Both halves of his body immediately fell apart, leaking blood, inner anatomy revealed, Kima swung her entire sword in a circular range expanding outward from her sole person. Fountains of blood leaking into the air as their upper halves were sliced right off, the droplets of bloody rain dripped onto her face, bathing in the liquids of her fallen enemies, she felt the handle click as she sheathed Ketsueki and watched it vanish as she detached the cover from her hip,
"Sayonara," She respectfully announced sliding open the back doors to the house once more to enter, untying her hair, letting it fly right out, she pushed down her sleeves once more... to see Ace strutting inside.
Arms by his side, head hung in shame, drenched in blood and innards, he stepped up the stairs without a word to his lover or sister,
"Babe!" She called to him, leading for him to turn his head down at her while halfway up the stairs, one hand on the railing,
"There's an... ear on your shoulder,"
"Mmm," He affirmed, turning his head away from her thereafter, continuing his walk up the stairs, he vanished into his bedroom, droplets dirtying the carpet, June jerked awake from her slumber.
Not only were the walls now blood-red, but there was a hole in the ceiling, and the moon was green, leading her to shriek with her arms flailing about. Muttering wildly about what'd happened while she was asleep, Kima paid no mind to her, instead, she just walked outside and pushed open the doors just a little bit. Parents covering their children's eyes returning from birthday parties, women puking with men patting their backs, elders gasping and screaming from the memories this awakened in them. It was a horrid sight, but all she did was stare, stare at these normal bystanders having casual reactions to this disgusting scenery, while Kima was the wolf. The odd one out in a pack of sheep, not even her disguise of fluffy fur was enough to fool them, as she was powdered in their same innards. The door shut with a click as the knob was turned, back against the entrance, she heavily inhaled followed by a quick exhalation, eyelids shut over her purple orbs, she peeped one open to see her instructor standing in the middle, leading for her to widen her eyes,
"Mr. Amara?! Wh-what are you doing here?! Shouldn't you be at home with your wife doing... stitching or whatever it is you old people do?" Kima curiously asked of her teacher, now amused at her insinuation, he chuckled, one finger to his chin as he examined the ceiling,
"Well, it's kinda hard to ignore the explosions hitting the shield and all, which makes the whole Island sorta rumble. Not to mention, the news interrupted what I and my wife were watching. Said me, you, Ace, June here, and Katie were criminals charged with treason, and anyone who'd be willing to bring us in would be paid somethin' around $500,000. We're wanted fugitives. That's what we get for tryin' to find out the truth, meaning, we can only escape to the Outside World where they have no jurisdiction," Suggested the instructor to his star pupil,
"But... we'd have to give up everything and go to a new place, one we don't know anything about, one we don't even know is real!" June interrupted him, the taller two turning to her, Kima nodding in agreement before another came in,
"So what? We're done here, let's just get Kate and go," Ace said with a hand scratching his neck, pulling a new jacket over his shirt, he cracked his knuckles and watched as Kima went to his side,
"B-but… but what about Katie's dad?" June questioned, flicking away some of the hair covering her right eye,
"Bring him with us. We could try and find a way to activate his powers and memories from the Old World so he could help us against Callum," Alex suggested to the trio, arms over his chest, all of them looked to one another, they'd be leaving their home; there was no time to think or contemplate anything.
If they stood here any longer, they'd just be targeted forever, and be located wherever they hid, there was no other possibility, the only thing they could do was run. And so, though June with a tear in her eye, Kima biting down on her lip, and Ace without a care from the way he stared ahead, they nodded.
Packing bags with just enough clothing they could, Alex stood by the door, temple against the entrance… and halfway across the city, Katie felt a ping in her forehead.
Having finished reconnecting with her father and learning of Riverton's origin, as she withdrew from their familial embrace, she immediately rubbed her head, groaning,
"What's wrong?" Asked the retired Detective of his daughter, to which she gasped, snapping her neck all around; eyes directing upward, a sphere was forming in the sky.
Clouds splitting apart, stars twinkling rapidly around the shape that abruptly manifested, a choir from the Heavens could be heard from space. The coloration in the sky began to shift to a light purple, twilight set on this generation, the vibrancy reflecting in her eyes, another rumble shocked her bones, leading Azazel to fall- she aided the older man and knelt beside him.
Little did they know, across the dimensional plane, there stood him, crane aiding in his stance; albeit hunched, he threw it to the side for Harbinger to catch in their hands. His hand inching closer and closer, fingers seconds away from the arms of the spectacles, the cries of the innocent employees echoed through the halls of the facility. The light on his face grew brighter as time continued, stagnating altogether, Azazel witnessed this sight before him… it was true. He was but an irrelevant puppet in the grand scheme of this world, as he held his head, he screamed out at such a volume his daughter covered her ears for her safety.
As the glasses were bound to his eyes, the scratches on his skin faded away like ash being kicked into the wind, looking at his hands, he shed the gloves hiding his fingers. Scars disintegrating to golden energy levitating to the air, eyes illuminating a menacing red, a gust of artificial wind pushed Harbinger back. Back moments away from smashing into a wall, her chest was grabbed mystically by his hand sticking out and grabbing her telekinetically. Carefully placing her down so she could rest and catch her breath once more, he repositioned himself to be at the center where the glasses previously were. Clap!
As his palms smashed together, another invocation spat out his regenerated lips, one audible to her, more unnatural occurrences they were experiencing before their eyes, reflections of lost spirits spiraling in a tornado of souls enveloping her Founder. And yet; unlike maybe others, she was different, in her eyes, the tears she bred were not that of fear, a smile curved up over her blackened lips, and she couldn't help but happily giggle as she gazed at this heavenly scenery.
Alex watched as the sky's color rapidly shifted, it was like witnessing an animation piece come to life, but in reality, of all things. He'd felt he'd seen this somewhere before, maybe in the Remnant World or the Old one, but just then, at the moment of truth, seconds away from the reason that kept together this dimensional plane stable shattering to fragments, he remembered.
He didn't scream, his eyes faced forward, mouth agape, lips parted, saliva streaming down from his bottom lip; Kima turned her head,
"Instructor..?"
He shook his head just after she'd asked this aloud, the truth was right in front of his eyes all along, he was just too blind to see it. He turned to his pupils, then to the sky, there was no other choice. He grabbed June by her arm and threw him on his back, Ace, and Kima watching as he ran, he yelled with his head momentarily turned to them,
"COME ON!"
Without hesitation, Ace lifted Kima into his arms and ran ahead to follow Alex to their final destination,
"Dad… what's wrong? Are you okay?" Katie's voice rang out to Karlo writhing painfully on the floor twitching rapidly.
Eyes wide, tears at the edge of her eyes, she turned his body around from being curled into a ball away from him, just staring at his face. Eyes rolled to the back of his head and twitching irregularly, these were all the signs of a seizure… she was powerless in the face of this, yet again. She could feel a dagger dig itself deeper into her heart from just the surface area, she couldn't slash this monster to death to save herself or Ace in a destroyed colosseum arena, all she could do was stare down, helpless.
The tendrils of darkness from the monsters leaking out from the center of her bandaged soul began to tear out an exit. More and more, it came leaking out as she grabbed at her face, she shook her head from side to side, nails extending to demonic claws, unusual crazed smirk plaguing her lips as she crazily cried,
"No…"
The external source wasn't here, it was just her. She was alone in this void, the hate pouring inward to fill up her soul, claws seeping into her skin to draw blood, she chuckled at the feeling. Cradling her face in her knees, maniacal laughter filling the air, a blur of white lightning sped behind her- and she vanished from her position. Knocked out in his arms, Alex's feet never stopped moving more lightning bolts burst out his ankles as he increased the swiftness he was increasingly expanding with every passing moment! Paths of straight debris created from feet slamming rapidly into the concrete, Ace quirked a brow upright analyzing his instructor's running pattern. ~Odd..~ Thought the Ginger to himself.
BASH! Shoulder-charging a guard in their chest for their ribs to break all at once and fly outward to the ocean, Alex watched as they helplessly pinwheeled their limbs around, silently crying for help. Weight being their downfall, lips sinking to the water, then soon followed the rest of their figure. June jumping off her advisor's back, Ace appearing beside his baby sister with Kima dropping onto her feet, Alex turned to place Katie in his cousin's muscular arms. He didn't have any sudden reaction, in fact, he immediately held her as she was dropped to his care, Kima stepping forward while the other two remained silently, she challenged their instructor with a cry,
"Mr. Amara!! What the hell is happening here?! We're not just leaving because we're fugitives... ARE WE?!" Loudly questioned the superior of her comrades to their commanding officer. Back to her face, neck bent as he crouched on the wooden boards of the pier, he locked himself in this position, scratching his neck and dejectedly exhaling,
"Of course not. This has been in the making...this plan- ever since I was born into this New World. We are all pawns in his scheme, and the only way to escape it is to leave far away to a world ruled by monsters," Alex stood upright after explaining to Kima, head moving side to side, whitened pupils darting rapidly within the confines of his eyeballs, he thought... then ran to the right.
A dinghy boat pulled up to the pier they were standing on, the wooden edge they were standing on shaking once more, Ace mere moments away from dropping her unconscious body, the trio turned to watch the very fabric of reason rip apart from the world it was bound to. He couldn't believe what was occurring before his Divergence sight; another change in the world, the very same one that happened at Acheron thanks to his grandfather.... was this the same thing? WHOOSH! The quartet was easily thrown onto the boat with a single-arm swipe, Alex unzipping his hoodie, he easily whipped out the tie hidden in his hair; it would all move in the wind. Tying the arms of the sweater tight with a tug around his waist, he looked off to the distance carved out before him, a new destiny he was fated to challenge. Reality and space distorting before him, buildings' peaks ripped off to ascend to the vortex of clouds in the sky, he exhaled,
"So... you've been reborn again, huh, Naraku?" White lightning discharging off his shoulders, his legs rapidly moved up and down, from this far a distance, he was inconceivable.
But a rapid streak of indistinguishable energy moving at speeds akin to light, speeding up the side of a building, leaping off to an ascending slab of construction. More flew right past his face, head-turning to watch them, he stood up and followed them after preparing a running start, feet skidding across another, the square-shaped debris broke apart upon his leap. WHOOSH! Soaring through the air with both arms raised to the sky, he couldn't help but smile with both eyes closed; the very fabric of the world was on the verge of returning to nothing, but he couldn't help but smile. The beard singed away and he was left with nothing around his lips, only gruff staining his chin. Spreading open his eyelids to slip within his tanned outer layer, he dislodged the whip locked to his belt, hearing that familiar metal jingle, he snapped it right down the middle with a horizontal slice down the middle.
The rectangular debris split apart as he soared past it, and just as he watched it with a glance to his back, he turned back. What flew right by his face was none other than... the logo for 'Rivera Manufacturing', the smile curving downward to a dejected frown, pupils shaky with the memories of the past, teeth-gritting, he roared. BOOM! A shockwave detonated beneath his feet, flying right upward, buildings' remnants disintegrating from the leftover bolts crackling against the centers, he aimed right ahead. It didn't matter, nothing did, he smiled as he faced what could be his very demise, flashes of a past no longer existing surging through his mind, hope for a future he'd be excluded from, they all lit aflame the light called determination as he moved right ahead to the belly of the beast lodged into the night's clouds.
And just like that, as if he'd never even been there in the first place, the white streak the teens were previously following vanished into the skies. The boat drove off to the mainland, another world they were unfamiliar with, Katie was unconscious on the floor of the ship, Ace was in the passenger seat, June was behind her brother with her arms around his neck, Kima drove the vehicle forward. It was okay, they'd be okay. Just a pebble in the road, another obstacle they'd have to cut through, nothing they weren't already used to. So, they fled from Riverton Island, abandoning their past lives, but it was alright. They were on another path now, moving ahead, they'd be okay. The future was on their side, this story wasn't over yet, they'd come back when the time was right.
And when that time would come, they'd, without a shadow of a doubt, or a sliver of hesitation... avenge the fallen!
This is a story of acceptance.
Summer Arc - Fin.
To Be Continued.