The officer couldn't believe his own eyes as he lowered his gun, the sheer size and the beauty that he was witnessing, the humongous beautifully pink birds caught his attention swiftly, filled to the tip with wonder and awe while the surrounding civilians were already fleeing upon one glance at their presence. He stood appreciating their beauty, stuck in a state of shock and awe. The birds sauntered calmly to his left and right sides, stuck in a trance regarding their elegance, he didn't know which to look at and stood around changing his gaze to both. The birds went in to impale him with their beaks as blood began dripping from them but they were stopped by indestructible glass, they excessively and rage fully continued to try and break it.
"Not the brightest monsters when it comes to intelligence so far but that… flamboyance in colors." Codagan said to a citizen who felt comfortable with him around and stuck around him as he continued keeping his glass barrier up around the officer. The other birds joined to assist in capturing their prey, the officer's trance failed and terror began to spread. Codagan whistled for their attention after he told the civilian to run off back into the restaurant.
"Augh" Codagan vocalizes as he looked directly into their eyes as they turned his way causing his head to be feeling slightly funny when they all turned their attention and it knocks him off his balance. Seyort's inescapable ideal threw himself towards the phoenicopteridae as he named the birds based on what they looked like best to him, with his matching bracelet paired with the sword, he's able to duplicate the scimitar given to him by his great grandfather. He decided to use it against his four bloodthirsty and hungry phoenicopteridae adversaries.
The biggest charged first and the fastest, Codagan leapt over it to dodge its razor sharp beak, thrusting into its chest when he landed and it turned around swiftly. It healed up which took him aback, it jumped up, began flapping its wings before it released a very strong flap that generated wind which blew Codagan away into the direction of the others, he stopped rolling and momentum died down but he rolled off his back farther past them. These crazed phoenicopteridae didn't give him breathing room, ferociously pecking at him but he was guarding against their biological weapons with his Scimitars.
Codagan flicked up two of his fingers as he was defending himself, creating a tall pillar in front of the bigger phoenicopteridae. It hadn't seen it coming and it built up enough momentum to knock itself out by crashing into the pillar. Seyort's inescapable ideal saw his chance and thought of a plan, he began defending against the others in the pack until rushing over towards it, rushing past the others and removing its head by leaping from his pillar and fusing his scimitars, the regular and duplicated one, to create a much larger scimitar with a sharper blade. He showed off a grin after he and the others stood around in disbelief for a quick moment, the death of their leader didn't stop the underling phoenicopteridae from attempting to continue the fight. One by one, with the usage of his Barriers and swords, he fooled each bird and had fun while slaying the cruel and vicious creatures.
The people returned to the area while he was practicing the new trick he learned a week prior, the size amplification trick he used throughout. "How the fluff does that magic work?!" One curious citizen asked as he was practicing it on the sidewalk. "Plenty of stamina, focus, mental precision, attention to detail and a few other exhausting things?" Codagan answered with slight uncertainty in his tone before he shrugged. "How do you practice something you're not sure how it works?" She continued with a tone. "This wouldn't be my career if I didn't know." He replied as he shook his head, vanished his duplicate blade then sheathed his real sword. "You're not a pro at this, are you though?" She finished asking with snark before the moment went quiet and he stared at another grand building in the distance. Codagan's communication gauntlet rang all of a sudden, breaking up the deep silence. "Ah, I'm reminded that Generil and Seyort women aren't all that different." He finished before they parted ways. She left rolling her eyes as he answered his call.
"How have you been?" Ember asked Codagan with a tone of sincerity as soon as he picked up. "I'm good, just slayed some man-hungry Flamingos and saved an officer." Codagan replied as he was walking and talking, waving and giving thumbs up to the citizens he passed by, high-fiving one after refusing their hug. "I'm in a Seyort library right now. Wondering a few questions about you. suspecting a few answers to them. I'd be very disappointed if a few turned out to be the answers I don't want to hear." Ember asked with a tone Codagan wasn't very fond of her having. Codagan put the pieces together, eventually after a moment of Seyort's inescapable ideal feeling like Blue-stocking blade would only call him if she found out about it. He kept asking himself how she found out on the way.
Codagan arrived at the Library Ember told him before he hung up, arriving to a very disappointed looking Ember and his mother smiling at him like she hadn't seen him in a century. "Damn it." He thought to himself when he soon realized it was worse than he thought, his mom liked her, he saw she respected something about her, she normally hates the few fans who meet her. "This woman's your mother?!" Ember asked him with extra emphasis on "your'' while she was in a state of disbelief. "Hey, don't cross that boundary." Tegan Dugan responded with a stern tone before she turned to her son showing a smug grin. He couldn't help but release a sigh. "She's been fangirling for forty minutes." Tegan whispered as Ember stood by giving her best smile.
"It's been nice seeing you, mom. I've really missed you." Codagan replied as he leaned in to accept her hug. "I've been trying to respect your decision to separate from us after… the incident… but I've missed you too kid, you vanished on us and never filled us in on what you decided to do, I worried you were grifting and had nothing." Tegan replied, making Codagan feel awkward afterward regarding her specific worry about his whereabouts. "The separation doesn't include you, a hint of momma's boy and you not being very involved in the business anymore, you don't make the stupid decisions for our family." Codagan responded with Ember feeling like he was targeting a specific person. "A second, an Incident?" Ember asked with a louder voice before she sounded like her curiosity was piqued. Tegan's facial expression changed and Codagan didn't like what it changed to.
"How do I ask him?!" Tegan asked herself as she stared at her baby boy and realized he was out of the family's colors, realized he was twenty-two and grown up. "You don't want to know about it– it– I stand by justice and being fair, not an ass." Codagan answered Ember's question hesitantly until he pulled himself together. Ember stared at him, confused and for once not knowing what to reply.
"Syao and your father need your help, Coda." Tegan asked, after coming to the conclusion that the best way is for her to bluntly ask him. Codagan gave his mother a blank stare under his helmet that had its steadfast expression decoratively, underneath he was feeling deep disgust. "I'm not asking you because of my mother's intuition, I'm asking this because it's urgent. They're trying to solve one of the Lore Vessel's challenges, Coda." Tegan pleads with him. "I've got confidence that Scroll and Lantern can get themselves out of it. Get maybe Enyungan, Shenigan, kliogan, Hogan or one of the other dozens of us to save mister fearless and his loyal Junior treasure scout." Codagan replied as he was leaving off but was stopped by Ember. Codagan gave her a look she'd give another under his mask. "You can't stop me and mind your business." Codagan demanded as he removed her hand from his chest when she got in front of him.
"I've got it, you're afraid and can't make a decision." Ember told him, halting him from leaving. "Oh, yeah?" Codagan asked after scoffing. "Do you really think you can live with yourself if you leave them to possibly die and something seriously happens?" Ember argued. "Probably not my whole life but as long as it doesn't hit me while I'm young like this then it's a decent trade off." Codagan replied with a tone Ember could sense sadness in. "It's very evident you're only pretending right now, drop the slow act." Ember responded as she kept blocking him from leaving. "You're the coldest woman in the city trying to appeal to someone emotionally… but— hang on." Codagan replied after a moment with his head down thinking. Codagan heads back to his mother and whispers to her a deal that he made sure Ember couldn't hear but it still piqued her curiosity. In return for something very precious and very kept from Seyort's inescapable ideal by his father, he'll investigate his Father and Brother's M.I.A status. Tegan told Codagan she'd ask his siblings but they're all coincidentally busy around the world and that he's the closest.
"Alright, so what's the mission and objective here?" Ember asked Codagan as she performed her tradition of spinning her bastard sword while discussing. "We locate a cave in Barcelona, investigate something around the area and follow my father and brother's trail until we find them. That was all that she told me. Nothing very specific and not a ton." Codagan answered his Gen-Oath partner. Ember didn't need much more than that herself to succeed, she questioned the odds of them succeeding. The two began walking to the train station eventually agreeing on it after Ember questioned and called out the pros of using flight. She laughed at his irrational fear on the way. They boarded the train that'll take more than a few hours to get them to Barcelona.
"Art had told me that you discovered your unique form of Spacial-authority as you were trapped in a den of tigers?" Ember opened the conversation five minutes after they took their seats. "I want to blame the guy for somehow not listening to me but I realized that I stopped listening to him when he was explaining what an Authority were but if they're my powers? It was a trap hole filled with them that I fell in on my first artifact expedition when I was eight. It wasn't at a zoo." Codagan replied before he clarified the details. "Elaborate." Ember demanded. "Fine, my older brother Yuzegan was supposed to take me on my first artifact search…" Codagan began before he realized he carried that artifact on him and pulled it out of his pocket. It was a very tiny cube he always keeps on him. "This was it, I fell down in a very hidden trap hole on our way from summing up the trip as a dead end, an unfortunate mix up. I was face to face with hungry mutated tigers before he leapt down to save me. While he was mad that I got us both stuck in this hole though and desperately searching, I found the artifact and it was this. It was fully worth the trip though, suddenly a platform appeared while we were waiting for our mom, the lovely lady from earlier, to catch onto her special senses and send the family to our rescue." Codagan continued as he put the artifact back into his pocket. "He realized before I did that I was making the platform for us from starvation, desperation and true boredom. I got us both out that day but since then I became a disappointment to the family in my eyes. I was never able to locate a single treasure, never able to develop my powers further than forming a basic platform, I could do multiple eventually but never able to actually beat against any of my siblings." He finished and confessed in a tone that Ember was caught off guard from when it lacked a surprising amount of shame in it. She could see that he came to accept his life and his story brought up new questions to her. A certain couple of topics stayed on her mind and she felt it waa best to ask on the train.
"That was an entire life story that I don't recall asking for, however, since we're on that now, how many siblings do you actually have?!" Ember finally asked as the question kept evading her until now. "Thirteen." Codagan answered with nonchalance as he was checking out his scimitar's bracelet and getting distracted by it. "All with their names ending with a 'gan' too?" Ember asked as she tried to hold in her laughter. "Nope. One's name is Carl. He's the third eldest out of us, used that word for you, and he's studying to become a top notch geologist from a university in China." Codagan answered her without finding humor in his words like Ember Aluin had found. "He called me a while back. I haven't seen him in ages." Codagan finished as he looked out the train's window. "Would you be offended if I can't control my laughter?" Ember asked without any intention of taking his answer into consideration. "Nope. FYI though, the bizarre name gimmick was your Idol's idea." He answered her question with a smug grin, forcing her to consider her thoughts on the names.
"Since we're on useless topics to pass the time, I've just realized that I never saw your real face for as long as we've been working together." Said Ember after she looked around and checked how many others were onboard with them. "This helmet's always so comfortable, I only take it off for my couple of weekly naps or bedtime." Codagan replied as he sat back with his arms crossed. "If only I had known that I'd be running a rescue operation with a preschooler today, maybe?" Ember replied with a mocking tone. "Throw in that you'd meet Tegan Dugan, you'd still have come to Seyort for whatever reason that you were here, don't deny it. If only there was a way for us to switch powers?" Codagan replied. "Not again!" Ember refused the idea with all of her will put into it, leaving Codagan confused why she had yelled that with a frustrated tone. "Well, as long as you can handle that sharp relic in a fight better than a Pre-K student, don't feel too ashamed of being ugly." Ember replied in an attempt to bait him into taking off his helmet. "Listen, If you wanted to see my beautiful face then all you had to do was ask politely. It wasn't that deep and, didn't need to go that low either." Codagan responded as he removed his helmet. She was taken aback by the fact he had hair the shade of blue sapphire styled with a wavy and curly mullet. She was expecting him to be uglier than he showed. He was confused as to why she was upset until it dawned on him.
After hours on the train and their ears filled with the other's voice discussing their lives, spilling their likes and dislikes and ultimately growing closer to another person than her siblings than Ember would have thought, our unspectacular duo found their way to Barcelona but now they needed to find the road to their destination. Codagan jogged his memory and before the duo knew it, they'd be in a business building searching for their first piece of the puzzle that was already solved for them by Codagan's father.
"Suspicious vehicles have arrived and parked outside." Ember informed her Gen-Oath partner as she watched five SUVs filled with women she noticed leave the cars. "It's just the Relic relationship sorority, they're no biggie, as long as the fraternity doesn't show up too." Codagan responded nonchalantly. "Why is that?" Ember asked, very genuinely confused but not concerned either. "They're opposing groups and can't stand each other." Codagan answered her as he was trying to figure out which painting acted as their teleportation relic until he gave the scroll to Ember and she realized he brought the pair to the wrong building. "Oh crud, they're trailing me with their boss' ole relic while we're entirely in the wrong spot. Let's get moving on." Codagan suggested as he opened the building's window and moved away preparing to leap out. "How strong is your bond with your authority?" Ember questioned as she was unsure of his plan for escaping. Codagan took off his helmet and gave her a smug grin before he rolled out the window and glass appeared out of seemingly nowhere. "See, it only resembles glass but I can assure you that it's fine. Someone that weighs 135 though, quickly forces it to break down." Codagan responded as he gave a thumbs up and chuckled. "Ugh, fool." Said Ember in her head as she wasn't amused by his joke but still walked out and took a leap of trust. Surprised, he guessed her weight pretty accurately.
Codagan looked down at the vehicles then shielded the duo from a sniper with a pane of glass towards the window. "What're you lookin' for?" Ember asked as Codagan pulled out his retractable telescope as he squatted down for a better look down which looked like it was from the seventeen hundreds and noticed the outdated blunderbuss on his hip that looked Italian and around the same age. She realized his scimitar was nowhere to be found. "Passionate historian's child." Said Ember in her head as she looked down with him. "Only Ex-girlfriend, she's the boss of that elite relic sorority down there and the one that's definitely trailing me but she doesn't seem to be with them meaning I'm staying on her mind but— Sometimes, you get more attention from the ones that you don't want than the ones that you do, life really tries to be a comedian sometimes." Codagan replied with a sudden serious tone before putting everything away and getting that move on. "Four out of ten of its jokes can be funny." Ember played along as he began following her who had the map and riddles instead.
"You are really, really horrible at this sort of thing, huh?" Said Ember as the duo arrived at the center of an area in Barcelona called Gothic quarter after the Blue-stocking Blade solved their short riddle. "We still don't have the exact entry into the labyrinth that they entered. Find that then ridicule me, little lady." Codagan replied as he crossed his arms with a smirk. "Three inches on me, only three!" Ember fired back in a low tone before deciding to devote her time to thinking about the answer to the riddle's part two. "Wow, this place is similar to a spot in Seyort, ole traditional town with a bit of a thick gothic style, feel like Architects definitely have a brotherhood sometimes." Codagan replied as a wall caught his eye while walking towards it. What caught his eye was a stone wall that he noticed had glowing green cracks. The bottom was far more cracked. "Hey!!" Codagan called out to Ember who was pacing while heavily in her thoughts trying to solve the riddle until she heard him and looked over right before he kicked the cracked wall at the bottom and staggeringly faded out of sight. Ember was stuck with her gaze and eyes widened where he had vanished. She walked slowly before shrugging and mimicked what he did and when she opened her eyes she was inside of a calming lobby area fit with a desk, tables and chairs but no attendant it would seem. The two were confused but she found it funny the civilians in the Gothic quarter were far more. Ember instantly summoned herself a short sword and initiated the close right stance as she kept her guard up.
"Uh, some service would be really appreciated, anyone?" Codagan called out as loud as he could while ringing the bell at the attendant's desk only for nobody to answer his call. "I think I have the answer to this next part." Ember replied after looking around and realizing there were doors of a corridor labeled with each corresponding to the location of the treasure they were hunting and Codagan's Brother and Father. "Yeah, my mom told me the answer too." Codagan replied as he walked next to her at the door. "You really think that you're a funny guy, don't you?" Ember asked without any amusement in her tone as she stood outside the door of the world's oldest sword. "This isn't the world's first sword, by the way." Codagan realized as he remembered the fact from his father years back and he found it weird remembering. "These swords were dated way back three-thousand three hundred before the common era though." Ember responded with a face full of confusion. "My dad also had dreams and aspired to become an historian and archeologist, in a sense he is, before he saw how disgustingly lucrative treasure fetching actually can be in this world. He dropped out a bit into finishing school for his archeology degree but one thing that he still follows are the weapons." Codagan informed his friend as they stood directly in front of three distinct paintings of swords. "My gut is aiming me towards the center sword being the rightful blade." Ember responded although very hesitantly after a quick survey of each of the options. "Yeah. The philosopher's tool, legend claims it has the power to give you instant and detailed knowledge on whatever you desire if you're willing to slit your own throat. Take the chance. This Lore Vessel fellow I grew up hearing stories about was— indescribably eccentric. I don't know how to describe what my dad told us about him besides he just spewed eccentricity everywhere he went, every place he visited. A man with vast power and so much boredom. Sounds like hell to me." Codagan informed her as the answer made Ember feel pleased. Codagan moved on ahead first after he touched the painting allowing the picture to glow green and since Ember remained having very little clue of how any of what they experienced so far works, she decided to follow his lead.
The Duo entered but Codagan looked around while stuck in awe at the awesomeness of the cavern with only one light source, Ember turned around and summoned her beloved bastard sword before initiating the inside right stance upon swiftly noticing the stranger hook sitting in the corner behind them, strangely quiet with his lantern acting as their blue flaming light source in the darkened part of the cavern. He had black hair, darker toned skin and mash perm styled hair. He stood and was as tall as Ember expected, six-three.
"That light…" Said Codagan with a low voice as he paused and tensed up. "Been what— about slightly over a year, Scimitar Jr?" Codagan and Ember heard from Seyort's inescapable ideal's Brother. "Ah— we've been tricked and came here for nothing." Codagan replied with a calmer tone but Ember could tell by how he gripped the handle of his scimitar how furious he felt not very deep. "Father figured out how to manipulate her abilities. Don't leave us this soon though, we need you like we did before you decided to break us up, little Code." Syaorangan proposed with quite a sincere tone. Codagan clinched his scimitar handle heated up. Ember stood firm right next to him, not knowing what to expect even though he didn't look like anything especially spectacular. "Completely your choice here. Exit or engage?" Ember asked after summoning a rapier and easing into stance at his command. Codagan told her to stand down with a hand signal.
"Why do you still want to be his little lapdog when you were there during the tragedy too?!" Codagan inquired from his Brother. "You mean the incident?" Syaorangan replied with a heartless tone as he placed his arms behind his back. "Syao…" Codagan whispered with a calm and heartbroken voice. "When you decided to leave, he brought up an excellent point. How many of those would return that care, hm?" Syaorangan voiced before he shrugged him off and left through the wall past the duo where they entered the cavern. Codagan looked grasped onto the handle of his scimitar tighter with a tear falling down his right eye. "This happened about a year ago, us and old scroll, our father, were hired for an Artifact hunt for a high profile client. This decision to disassociate with my family didn't come out of the blue like that clown would love to paint. The client was sick and twisted. He blew up his company's building for some demented reason with hundreds of innocent workers inside thanks to one deadly categorized Artifact that we sold to him. What really makes me agitated is that we code named him Scroll because he inherited a scroll that acts as an index for any Artifact we come across. He was comfortably aware of what it was capable of, and now I feel no different than being petty arms dealers. I can't shake—" Codagan revealed to Ember who remained quiet listening to him but swiftly reinforced her guard when she heard another voice from behind.
"My boy, you're comfortably aware that we find and sell more than weaponized Artifacts to our clients." Eliagan Dugan, Codagan's father replied with a sudden appearance, Codagan but all expected. "That fact only worsens what we do. The lucrative business that I used to be a pawn in. It took my Brother and Girlfriend." Codagan argued as he called his scimitar. "The honor that scimitar holds is being wasted in your hands." Eliagan opined as he shook his head with disapproval that Codagan didn't allow to blind him. "You didn't lose me, Code, you left and never tried to reconcile. You being acting like a self-righteous, ungrateful and stubborn kid is what made you lose me." Syaorangan corrected his brother with no smile in sight. "We'll forgive you and I'll give you back your access to the wealth if you stand down and give us a hand with this final puzzle." Eliagan offered him as he held out his hand to shake. "I think I can take you in a fight, old man, I'll take my second option." Codagan returned as he shoulder rolled. "You've inherited some very dangerous traits from your mother, little boy." Eliagan responded as he walked back out the cavern. Codagan and Ember followed after him, preparing themselves for a fight.
"I don't hit my children, no matter how ungrateful they become— I don't, except your brother has an issue that's been boiling with you ever since you left." Codagan heard from his father as they exited the cavern and saw Syaorangan with his inherited lantern. Seyort's inescapable ideal attempted to use his powers to trap his taller and less merciful Brother but as he was stunned by this happening to him for the first time in his life, he felt Syaorangan's two touch back kick to his chin. "You were very correct, Father, your powers run on the same type of energy that our artifacts utilizes meaning The Lore Vessel found a way to remove everything." Syaorangan reminded his father as he stretched his leg after delivering that ferocious kick to his shorter Brother. "Syao, you've got to be the son I'm most proud of…" Said Eliagan in an attempt to irk Codagan. Ember noticed she couldn't summon her swords, she kept trying but each time she felt exhausted slightly more, so she quit and let out a deep sigh, at the thought of having to engage Codagan's family in hand to hand. "Syao, let's see what his little friend is capable of since she's here with us. She's looking bored watching our drama." Eliagan commanded his son, Syao and Ember exchanged eyes before Codagan got closer to Ember and yelled with a bellicose tone. Codagan rolled a punch from Syaorangan then Seyort's inescapable ideal successfully countered with an uppercut to Lantern's chin, causing him to stumble back and feeling slightly proud as it made him realize his Brother was improving himself.
"Thanks." Ember showed her gratitude in a lowered tone. Codagan gave a slight smile before turning his attention back towards his Father as he gripped his scimitar's handle and had a quick heartbeat. He was sweating when the realization that his only way to stand a chance against the two is gone. "I'm not coming back to the mansion or the business but I can't bring myself to find a way to tear everything down like I know I should since I chose a side, I just— can't!" Codagan declared then admitted as he looked at Ember as he gripped his scimitar tighter. "I'll call Aobangan to help us. Leave until you sort yourself out. It was my idea to bring you here." Syaorangan insisted and confessed. Codagan looked at his Father as he realized the idea that he wanted to see him was completely false. Ember watched as Father and Son glared at each other for five minutes before realizing what she had to do, pull him away and take what Syaorangan insisted as much as it bothered her.
"You've been quiet for hours, on our first train ride to Barcelona, you wouldn't let the silence accompany us for even five minutes." Said Ember with the intention of breaking the silence and her currently brooding travel companion. He sat staring at the train's floor with a face filled with guilt, shame and disappointment while feeling like he has no spot to stand if he's hesitant towards action, he got the sense she was beginning to feel uncomfortable. "I could've gathered sufficient evidence. Reported them with it. I could've joined the I.A.S and put a stop to everyone but my grandfather and Great Grandfather's respect would be lost. Syaorangan's, Lourangan, Carl's respect and reputations." Codagan pondered out loud to let Ember know what he was thinking and make her feel more comfortable. "Syaorangan's respect was already lost when you left it sounded like to me and his reputation's shot since he happily participates to be fair." Ember replied before she noticed Codagan giving her a look like he was confused.