Chapter 6 - Epilogue

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She watched the vibrant city spread out below with a contemplative frown on her delicate, worn out face. Judging from the multicoloured buildings of varied heights and lengths, some with walls covered in a colourful, sweet scented powder; the way people themselves were dressed as brightly, designs in a rainbow of shades and patterns; and the sounds of the region, music and voices and cries and laughs and birdsong, each melding together in a uniquely frantic harmony, the city of Aju definitely deserved it's nickname.

"Nyx!" Called a laughing voice as a man joined her on the balcony, a maniacal grin on his face as the sun bathed this red hair in a golden light. With his pale skin and flickering hair, he was a candle wrapped in a dark, long sleeved shirt. "Have I got news for you."

"Croak?" She asked without turning around to look at her guest.

Aed stopped short. "Huh. Guess news travels fast. Who gave you the scoop?"

"The usual."

"Tagman, the little sneak. Just because he's got authority to keep tabs on us and he thinks he likes you doesn't mean—"

"I asked."

Aed raised one of his crimson coloured eyebrows. "You sent someone all the way to Tagman's base in Sagol to find out? How come?"

She paused for a few seconds before answering. "Not sure."

"Is it because of her?"

Another carefully calculated pause. "Maybe."

"Did you hear all of what actually happened?"

"No details."

"Well have I got the details for you!" Declared Aed, his grin returning as he walked up and stood next to her. He leaned on the ivory balcony rail and whistled appreciatively. "Man, this city is real nice. I can't wait to raze it to the ground." Her companion paused. "Ha! Raze it to the ground. Like 'raise' but—"

"The details."

"Yeah yeah yeah." Aed waved his hand dismissively. "I was going to get to that eventually, you buzz kill." He sighed when Nyx didn't reply, instead focusing her attention on Aju as if checking to make sure that every hue was present in this Capital of Rainbows. "Fine. So we all know why Deus sent out a couple hands to look for street kids and orphans all over most of the major cities, right?"

"Healer."

"Yeah, exactly. To find a healer to make a new 'K' seeing as our resident healer is too 'useful' to dispose of that way." He said with a mocking severity. "Well so there were rumours that one of them was down in Irre, which coincidentally isn't too far from your old place."

Nyx stiffened but nodded her head slowly. "That's what I thought too."

"Right?" Aed held out his hand. "Wait before I spoil anything. So Croak, Fiendhound—still a stupid alias if you ask me—and a bunch of other nobody grunts went out to go get them. Capture a bunch of street kids and torture them 'till they spat out who the healer among them was. Pretty easy right?"

"Sure."

"Well somehow they manage to muck it up. Instead of getting the information there and burning their little hole to the ground, Croak, being the overconfident moron that he is—" Aed chuckled. "The moron that he was, decided to Rraid their hideout and carry off all the kids they could get their hands on. A whole cage's worth."

There was a loud, shrill whistle that went on for a couple of seconds. The people below them tensed a little before hurrying off to the grand temple a few blocks away.

"I hate those things! Would it kill them to make the sound less annoying?" Continued Aed. "I better wrap it up if I'm going to make it in time. Are you joining us this time?"

"Details."

"Of course! Of course!" The red haired Rrist dragged three fingers over his heart. "As pious as ever. Anyway, as Gabba tells it seeing as he was there and the only one that survived." Another chuckle. "Funny story how he survived but I doubt you would want to hear that. He claims to have heard the back door of the cage being opened a few minutes before the explosion but no one's gonna believe that. Point is the whole thing went kaboom! Man, that would have been nice to see! Gabba's watching all of this from a nearby shadow after barely making it out in time. The cage is blown to queendom come and he assumes all the kids and every Rrist there except for him and Croak are dead. That lucky bastard was riding ahead enough that the explosion didn't do too much damage. He walks back and to everyone's surprise, there's still one runt lying among the wreckage, not a scar on him. That's when these other two show up."

"She wasn't in the cage?" Was that relief in her voice?

"Apparently not." Replied Aed with a shrug. "She shows up with this other girl and they manage to distract Croak for a while before he gets so angry that he catches one of em and cuts her throat." He made a slicing gesture in the air aimed at the citizens below them. The lady beside him seemed to stiffen up at those words but he was enjoying the story too much for him to notice. "Gabba said he was too far to hear what the other one started shouting at him. Okay then Croak charges but stops suddenly with a jump backwards. She doesn't wait though and rushes at him, pins him to the ground and—get this—starts turning him into compost."

A small gasp escaped from Nyx as her hands clutched the railing a bit tighter. "It is her."

Aed seemed amused at his companion's reaction, rounding off the rest of his story with a smile. "Gabba said he watched as Croak basically disintegrated right there on the road. The other boy got up and being the coward that he is, Gabba decided to tuck his tail between his legs and run away."

"She's actually alive..."

"I guess so." Aed began walking away with his hands in his pockets. "That about sums everything up. Oh yeah." He stopped and turned back towards her with a grin. "When the others get wind of this, those kids'll have hell to pay. That's gonna be fun to watch. Of course, I could go ahead and take care of them before all that."

"I'm coming too."

Aed tilted his head to the side. "You? You're actually going to come on a Rraid? This Rraid of all of them?"

The young woman at the balcony took a deep breath and ran a hand through her auburn hair, steadying herself. "If she's still alive then... I want to be the one to put an end to everything... seeing as it's the least I can do after... all that's happened."

The red haired Rrist grinned ferally. "Been a while since I heard that much come out from you at once." He shrugged then gave her a mocking bow. "Well, if you insist."

Nyx gazed at the horizon for a few seconds before turning to leave with a small, grim smile on her face. " I do." She said, returning the bow. "After all, sisters forever."

End.