On the dawn of the day before the war, there was a single room, a cold chamber where nothing mattered and all that remained was the simplicity of its design. The architecture, the chocolate wooden style, the carvings implanted into the running of the walls, the miniature cracks, it all made for a peaceful setting as but only one light illuminated the chambers' darkness.
Yank but one strand for the luminescence to appear, and the shade's silhouette leaked on the wall, like steam escaping the innards of a steel pipe, but, fortunately for the shadow, the object wasn't alone. For what was the lamp seated on? Not the floor, no, of course not, but rather, atop the instrument as Callum felt his fingers crack with but the tiniest added pressure, and for the multitude of chairs spread across what served as his null audience, he performed.
His fingers were the harbingers of sound, bringing a volume of enlightenment to fill the room, the way they tapped against the keys so elegantly, pouring such sweet sounds out the tips of extremities, letting his body absorb the notes he formed. The information he spewed out from his arms, nerves controlling every waking movement he made, every jerk his fingers took, every accidental twitch he didn't notice, for as he continued to move the tips over those multicolored keys, with each passing second, his expertise increased tenfold.
This hollow shell of a room where nothing existed but the projected light and the music from the keys as he pressured his touch onto them, for as he reopened his eyes to reveal the left's crimson shade, gleaming to the core, his lips followed in their parting.
"'Symphony No. 5'… 'Destiny.'"
As the raspiness of his husky voice littered the ceiling and reverberated off the halls, the music's speed continued, increasing evermore for the swiftness he imbued into the tapping was nothing short of superhuman. The sounds so familiar, the pings so potent, the charm of the audio struck but a curious cord through but a normal bystander, raising their brow at the song. The creaking of a door was obvious in this room, for while he continued to play, in the peripheral, there they were, stepping down the space between the exorbitant seats and reaching an end as their feet attached to the stairs leading up to the side of the stage.
And with another's intervention intruding upon his music halting his performance, he announced the end of his fingers' playing as the sweat was wiped away by the back of a hand slapping against his moist forehead.
"I wish you wouldn't come in unannounced like you always do… as long as we've known one another, you never tend to change that annoying habit of yours, Riz."
As they appeared from the obscuring view of the piano's top, a smile magically appeared as if summoned over the Founder's lips. Harbinger donning their special suit shaded entirely like the night sky, their finger traced against the dark chocolate carvings of the instrument they stood beside.
"I came looking for you at Kel's request, she wanted to tell you: the preparations are in place, we're all ready for them when the time is ripe," Kosuke informed their superior, leading Callum to nod quickly, sitting up as he pushed himself away from the keys, pushing soles onto the ground, adjusting the collar of his button-up.
"If that's so, let us provide refreshments for our guests, shall we? It's only right… after all, they are family."
As the Founder, with his trustworthy right hand by his side, started to strut toward the exit, the building he resided within had resembled that of an ancient structure known before the World's fate was altered by man. The Sydney Opera House, slammed right into the center of Riverton, the Jester atop clapped his hands together, the demonic aura from within his heart extended everywhere; for the night sky was overshadowed by new darkness. A personal 'space' made just from him.
"Miriam, you were a good girl for being my pawn."
His hands stretched out from that position, arms affixed forward, a spark discharging out fingers' tips, and like a descending curtain signaling the end of a performance, this meant just the opposite as the veil ended its initial covering. The start of a new era for the world, as Riot ventured off the coast of the Remnant World with their distant destination in sight, Ace could feel the air of the past wash over his pale face. The shell of his old self was shed, his spiky hair moving with the flow, for as he looked to the scenery laid before his team, hope engraved in those Eternal crimson eyes, he turned his head and saw the opposite for his beloved cousin.
The truth behind what laid behind the scenes of her mind, not even the ginger knew that, for as he squinted closer, what was laid bare in her orbs' center was nothing short of what he first spotted that fateful day of their meeting. Atop that roof, where they both stood at the edge, on the verge of dying if they even dared to take a step out, that look... the word for it rested on the tip of his tongue. He'd seen it somewhere before, but where?
In the deepest reaches of his inner memory, there it was, for he was oblivious to the fact of his bloodlust, that inner monster inherited from his father, his grandfather. That sphere of flames that manifested so abruptly in the core of the orb, the way strands move in tandem with that glare... there was no mistaking it, for as he, smitten, gazed at her face's cheek, even now, he could identify it as the one and only:
Dark Determination.
As time accelerated and the distance between closed, a foot stabbed onto the port, riddled with bullets, the sky with a hole in the center, Kate didn't even spare it a second glance, continuing forward as everyone but Ace and Hana gazed above in awe. Running to attempt to catch up with her, his hand stumbled out from the side, trying to reach for her skin.
"Kate, Kate!" He cried, leading her to turn around slowly, snowy sheath in hand.
"Something wrong, Ace?" She obliviously queried of her older relative, but even as she questioned him, that determined gaze in her eyes' center never faded.
"I- I... know we both want Alex to be okay, for, I mean, we are here to rescue 'im and all but what if... what if he's not okay? What if he's been, tortured, god forbid, like me? What if he's the enemy's puppet? Or what if we finally get him back and then he dies right before your eyes? What happens then, Katie?"
A question she could honestly say she's pondered, a possibility she'd often considered, for as she hung her head at the sound at those paths, those alternate times entering her ears, Ace's worried expression fell with a sigh. Fingers like magnets, attaching to hold onto the shoulders of his beloved family, the ginger raised his head once more to stare into the blue glow her eyes resonated.
"For the almost-year, I've known you, Kate, there's been one constant about you I can never ignore. You've considered everything I just said, I know it; you're not stupid. But, that's the thing... there's no doubt in my mind, that, after considering every possibility there is about Alex's fate, you ended up at the same conclusion every time, didn't you?"
What more could she say? He knew her like the back of his hand, like the back of his sisters', how could she deny that? That stare the two of them shared as she finally raised her head, crimson meeting azure, no friendly chuckle was exchanged, for the time had come. The destiny both of them were designed to, no matter what ups and downs they'd been through, no matter the struggles, it all culminated here, at this place. Like a reoccurring nightmare that couldn't be conquered until a fist is slammed down into the terrifying fantasy, she turned away, away from her cousin, the boy that saved her from that hell all those months ago...
Into the unknown, a different world none of them knew the same, thus began the start of the beginning of the end.
July 22nd, 2022… Riverton Island.
To Be Continued.