Rizia was escorted to the Requiem Tower, where Riot assembled to discuss issues regarding the Capital. With two suited guards by their sides, Kosuke turned around, now unlocking the suitcase the guard directly behind them held.
Popping it open after turning to face Riot yet again, what lay within wasn't rows of stacked bills, but rather, a screen. It immediately powered on, branding the United Nations logo in the center.
"As you may already know, my name is Kosuke Rizia. Before I joined up with the United Powers of the World, I served as the Harbinger that worked alongside the Foretold Founder: Callum Rivers. We've been alerted to the threat of Retly, and, in exchange for weapons to advance our militaries, we will aid you in attacking them utilizing any plan your strategists come up with," Rizia explained.
"So you're an envoy for the United Powers. Do you come from a specific nation?" Azazel asked.
"Yes. I remembered the family I left behind and returned to them. Twelve years ago, before I met Callum, I was in a car crash with my best friend. She died, my family blamed me—as did her family. I owe my newfound strength thanks to your mercy, but I did it myself. I made the decision, nobody else." Kosuke stepped closer to Azazel. "Detective Karlo, you may not be the Azazel I know but… I want to thank you. You helped me so much and to your memories, I was just a stranger. A stranger. And yet you helped me. Why?" they asked.
Azazel didn't immediately respond. Instead, his dark blue eyes examined his surroundings, almost as if he were searching for the correct words to slide into a righteous answer. Then, he remembered those words the Reaper said only a day ago.
"Well, it's not like I have any specific reason for sparing you. It's just…"
'Selfishness is so hideous.'
"It's just the right thing to do."
Rizia smiled at that response, almost as though their expectations had been exactly met thanks to Azazel's words. They couldn't withhold themselves any longer. So, they went to hug Karlo tightly. Now, while Azazel did hug Rizia back, the multitude of Riot members behind him, including his daughter, started to murmur.
"Hey, sorry to ruin your stupidly tender moment!" Ace loudly interjected with a yell.
Rizia's arms slid off his broad figure at the sound of Ace's voice. Azazel's limbs followed suit, his body tilting so he could now face the shorter gingered man.
"But how can we trust you? I'm sorry but… you tried to kill us, remember? How the hell're we supposed to know you mean what you say and you're not just Rivers' envoy? There could be bombs attached to you and we don't even know it."
Ace's words, for once, made sense. A former enemy like them that mercilessly attempted to slaughter Alex, too. Everyone seemed to agree despite Azazel's affection for them. But, despite everything, the Detective's words weren't enough—they needed 'proof' they all could trust Kosuke. And that was where they strutted on over to another guard, who handed them a rolled-up map. Turning around to Riot while holding the map in one hand, they smiled at everyone.
"If you say you want 'proof', I'll provide it to you. But… before I go off on a tangent or anything, let me ask one of you something. Mr. Amara!" yelled Kosuke.
Peeking up from the surrounding crowd after hearing his name, he pushed through his comrades to reach the front. Now standing some feet away from Rizia, their differently-shaded pupils mindlessly gazed into the beauty and nothingness of each other's pupils.
"You entered the Capital by destroying the same wall I came through; the wall with the hole. Are my assumptions correct?" Riz asked.
"Yes. But, to be honest, it took me longer than expected to destroy the wall. I think it's at least imbued with some Evolutionary-type spell or something like the sort. Whatever it is, the 'something' that reinforced the walls was equal to my strength… maybe even beyond it," Alex responded to Kosuke.
"Well, when you think about a spell that reinforces the concrete wall's hardening, it's natural to think that spell would be tied to Evolutionary-origin. However, what if I told you that the concrete walls that surround the Evolutionary Capital from the world were formed from Requiem might?"
"Requiem—" August's surprising words were cut off his brother.
"But that's impossible! In the New World, the only Requiems allowed to exist are me and whoever wields the Requiem Artifact!"Alex objected.
"Oh, but it's true. Where the Capital stands are beside the rubble of Manhattan from New York City. The former ruler of the land of New York from so long was a feudal lord who commanded reluctant slaves that would soon become his subjects! This is the 'new' origin for the source of Requiem energy!"
And while everyone sat down, Rizia stood up. Clearing her throat into their fist, they opened the map and then spread out across the table where the majority of Riot's members sat. The stage was set. All that remained… was the context of the play.
Three-thousand, eight-hundred and sixteen years ago, a landlord by who went by the last name 'Rivera' obtained unparalleled Requiem might and passed on the unsurpassable power, generation by generation.
On one freezing winter night, before he'd obtained the power, Lord Rivera snored. At the end of his mattress sat naked, sleeping slaves; men and women. Just about to enter another hour of sleep, the awakening rumbling of thunder burst from the clouds to crash onto the Earth. Almost as if an Angel had exited the clouds to bless the lands, a deity incarnated above his bed.
Lord Rivera was suddenly jolted awake, gazing at the being glowing with an ivory brightness surrounding It. That was until the light dimmed, thus revealing the flesh below—so the Lord could pick apart the quirks and intricacies that formulated the god's oddly humanoid face.
He was paranormally enchanting. A brown beard surrounding where his lips would be with hints of elder white scattered about the hairs. As if mimicking the Messiah's design, his hair was just as Christ's length, settled over his shoulder with blue eyes reminding the Lord of his overseas enemies fitted with blonde hair.
At first, the Lord was surprised. But, as time went on, and the mysterious being continued talking, his nerves were soothed, his worries vanishing. In the end, it was clear what happened. Shaking this entity's hand, the glowing man soon vanished into nothingness, scattering into fairy dust that phased through the ceiling and spread across the starry night sky.
All the slaves awakened by the thunder were marveled at such an unusual occurrence, sure of themselves that what they'd witnessed was nothing more than a lifelike fantasy. However, differing from the victims entrapped against the matters, under their master's spell, the Lord was entranced by something else entirely.
His golden glowing hand reflected the sight of untouchable heavens beyond the clouds. But, no longer. With this new power, he could cultivate not only his owned lands but of everyone's land! No longer would he have to be a mere 'Lord'! With this power, unrivaled by any human, he could become not a King—no, not even. He could become equivalent to that of a God.
And so, his reign began. This power he deemed that of the 'Requiem' title was unparalleled by anything human. He cultivated lands, built roads, and raised fields. To the Subjects of his homeland named 'the Capital of the Requiem Empire', he was a God of miracles. To his enemies overseas, he was a devil from hell. His merciless nature and ruthless methods truly knew no bounds, as they surpassed any barrier of human cruelty known to man.
For example, in the twelfth year of his reign, he named all other races besides his 'Requiem Subjects' inferior. Having formed an army of Requiem soldiers that obeyed their Emperor over anything, he began ceasing the inhabitants of the neighboring states of their lives. His genocide continued for thousands of years until he reached the end of his lifespan. As to ensure his power would reign over the world for generations to come in the distant future, he informed his offspring to continuously reproduce.
However, despite having birthed many descendants over his thousand-year lifespan, none of them ever awakened the Requiem power he'd utilized for centuries. The military's Requiem soldiers soon lost their power, but only after raising a spiraling wall that surrounded the leftover capital of the Requiem Empire's mainland. And so, without their powers to make them known, the legend of the Requiem faded into fantasy.
From then on, the Requiem Subjects were erased from history. Only inconspicuous traces of relation to the First Requiem Emperor could be found by leftover pictures salvaged by the family. That's how the world decided to exile the Subjects from the realm of knowledge.
Their very ancestry held the potential to surpass any might formulated by human intelligence. The longer they forgot their origins, the better. The time would come when they'd remember, and those watching from the shadows would resurface to silence the truth, no matter what. When the time came regarding Requiems' natural incarnation into the New World, the spies within the Evolutionary Capital knew that their silent censorship reign had come to an end.
So, the infiltrators controlled by the nations of the world were told to put their mission on hold. Instead of checking on the people of the Capital to see if their powers would ever emerge, they were sent off to the Remnant World in an attempt to steal and monopolize the power of the Artifact. Unfortunately, as everyone knew, the power of the Artifact wouldn't fall into their hands—but the Foretold Founder's who ruled over the distant island of Riverton off the coast of the decimated Texas state. From then on, the rest was history.
But now, having been informed on the history of the people of the Capital, everyone was speechless. For all they'd known, the bloodline ended with them. August, Alex, Callum—no one could be absolute about the future. So, to counteract the world's impossibilities, they were sure about one undeniable. That one day soon, because of their lineage or power, they'd inevitably perish. It was a comforting fact. To know that just one death, that being your own, could put an end to everything that'd sprung forth and tortured the world.
But now that hope was demolished. August looked out the window, to stare at the normal City-going citizens walking against the streets below the peeking morning sun.
"So, the Evolutionaries and Hybrids of this area are descended from Requiem blood. And the one who gave the First Requiem Emperor his power… was Dad," August said with an absolute tone.
"But I don't understand why! Didn't the New Allfather want all Requiems to die because their existence perpetuated a violent cycle of hatred? Why would he want to cause more chaos by perpetuating their existence?" June jumped in to ask.
"Well, we are talking about Ben. For all we know, he could be imitating the Old Allfather and he's just orchestrating events for us to play out," Azazel suggested.
"That old geezer could never do something like that," Alex claimed, staring straight ahead at the Detective. "They controlled his destiny for all of his life. Why would he want to control our destiny, no matter what power he has?" he asked.
And Azazel was speechless. Despite all his smarts, he couldn't piece together the answer to that complicated query. What would he say anyway? That their father WAS the type of person to control others for whatever gain he sought, as proof by the Academy's true intention? Of course not. The only option he saw was to remain quiet and being the intelligent man he was, that option seemed the smartest choice at the time.
Unlike the Rivera family who was connected by something invisible, allowing them to telepathically communicate, the Karlo bloodline wasn't descended from angels. That being said, how would Katie know the quiet, despite what her father's silence secretly meant? Her unfortunate ignorance led to her lips parting, thus leading to a personal interjection spewing from her mouth.
"Because he was a selfish person."
Just those words ignited a fire within the many hearts of Riot's members, causing them to shoot deadly glares her way. But she didn't care. Regardless of whatever Alex or August believed, what she'd witnessed, and undoubtedly what her father witnessed, was the inescapable truth. One they'd been maybe running from their whole lives. Not that Ben Rivera, the New Allfather, was a terrible person. But their father…
"He was a selfish person who strived freedom and arrive at any means to achieve that end. I believe he could be manipulating us at this very moment—for all we know, he could be pulling the strings that make me speak. But then again, I suppose you'd rather have those strings keep my mouth shut, considering you reckless man-children continuously avoid the truth that you must come to terms with. Your father, for all his glory, was never a 'good person."
How long had they been ignorant? How long had they been avoiding the certain truth before them? Then it hit him. Those 'Seas of Time' he'd witnessed—was it not a dream? And what he'd seen after brushing his hands through the sea, could that have been..?
"Does that mean Requiem Subjects are all connected by something?" Alex asked Rizia.
"I believe so. Multiple Subjects have claimed to have seen a vast sparkling sea with the silhouette of an hourglass hovering over the horizon. Could that have been what you saw?" Kosuke questioned.
"It was. When I was trying to break through the wall, I'd fallen asleep and I'd awoken there. I believe…"
Then it came flooding in. That unforgettable scenery the foretold future held, the fiery palette that the sky had become engulfed by.
'That's… Death.'
He was still standing. A hand came to his shoulder, being that of his redheaded student's fingers sinking into his clothing.
"You should prob'ly sit down, Al, c'mon," passively offered Ace.
But no matter how hard his body was jerked, the realization was as strong as the same Requiem strength imbued into his blood. He was left idle, with shrunken pupils and an unexplainable grimace replacing his features. For some reason, this June reminded Katie's unforgettable expression and the words that accompanied it.
'They're all gonna die…'
Abnormally, no matter what Ace did, he couldn't get Alex to sit back down. Despite how hard he pulled at his arms, the effort was for naught. August dared to stand up, but before he could, his son sat down, and Azazel's daughter raised from her seat. Gripping her mentor's shoulder, now standing up, she offered a piece of advice.
"Sit down, Alex. You're just tired--don't worry about this so much."
Just as she finished parting her lips, her voice trailed off, courtesy of the spark coursing through her veins. Stabbing at her flesh's every inner crook and corner until eventually culminating at the height; the most important organ of the human body. She was unknowing to that knowledge's source but that aching feeling was innate, something plaguing her very being that tortured her brain. Inevitably, as expected, she'd conclude. Thanks to the knowledge she'd received via touching her instructor, she was quiet.
Ace extended his hand, gracing Katie's shoulder with the touch from his finger tips. After all, she had been standing up for quite some time now—not to mention, without moving.
"Katie?" Ace called to her.
No matter whoever glimpsed it—the Seas of Time connecting them nonlinearly would always ensure time would flow the predestined path it was always foretold to take. That was what all Subjects' would see if they dared to peer into their future.
And upon coming to that realization, juxtaposing Alex's silent horrified reaction, Katie collapsed to her knees and finally… screamed.
"AGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGHHH!!!!"
To Be Continued.