The golden stars across Lily's cheeks glowed briefly. She towered over Talen—her lips abnormally stretched into a wide grin. The woman didn't waste any time and threw herself onto the Unconquerable, sliding her arms around his neck.
Talen groaned. "Alright already!" He complained, insistently pushing her away.
Tony gawked at them quizzically. He tilted his head.
"Uh, who's this?"
Tal pushed her away from his face by her cheek. "My ex. She's a Rank-1 Enforcer that previously worked as a Syndicate agent." He looked at her. "Why're you here?"
"Is that a serious question?" She stood upright and rubbed her nape, sighing dejectedly. "Man, and here I thought you'd be happy to see me…"
"Why? I'm the one who dumped you, remember?"
"Whatever." Lily wiped her nose and sat beside her ex, crossing her legs. "Fine then. I come bearing a message. From the King, Uriel Barron."
Talen's eyebrow perked up while Anthony's eyes full-blown widened.
"Uriel? What's he want to do with us?" asked the lawyer.
Lily shrugged. "Beats me. He was too injured to even say anything. I only talked to his guard who said her name was Raven. She told me to come here and bring you back, Tal."
"Why?"
"The King was attacked. By someone named 'Atlas'. Nobody knows what he wants but it's undeniable he's the same Atlas history speaks of—"
"Yeah. Atlas Amit, one of our founding fathers. He attacked me too. Asshole's been scheming this for almost 900 years, I'm not surprised he ambushed Uri too." Tal flickered the lighter and watched the flame appear, inching it closer to ignite the joint nestled between his lips. "For someone like Uri without any healing abilities, he needs someone to tend to him. And he wants me to be that someone? I'm not his caretaker."
Lily glared. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you two best friends?"
Talen scoffed. "Formerly." He inhaled more of the spliff leaking smoke off its end. "Barronia's King is another cursed position. I have no intention of offering the throne my services any longer. They're our enemy, after all. I won't let them get away… with manipulating me any longer."
"That's ridiculous," interrupted Anthony. "Just two weeks ago, we were talking about how much trouble it was to chase after Uriel and Atlas at once, especially after they kidnapped Lora. We may have fought him and fled, but he got what he wanted. He's the King. And as long as he doesn't plan on hurting innocent people, that should be fine, right? So… why shouldn't we help him? What's so bad about helping an old friend?"
"You don't understand." Talen rubbed his temples with the bottom of his hand. He sighed. "If someone you loved came back from the dead after almost ten years, how would you feel? How would you react?"
Anthony and Lily were silent.
In truth, the lawyer was being completely subjective. There was something within him that longed. Seeing his ex's face again gave him a shock. A shock that briefly overpowered his logic and sent him back ten years ago, when he was only a teenager. Just seeing her familiar face again brought all those memories surging back. Of her. Alora. Uriel. Tony was right. Two weeks ago, he was all but ready to set aside this petty conflict, but now that she'd returned, he was reluctant. Then again, after remembering all of that, who could blame him?
Lily didn't understand. She looked at Anthony for a reaction, but he didn't avert his gaze—he just kept staring at his friend.
"If someone you loved came back from the dead ten years later, how would you feel?"
Talen looked down. The glint from the sun peeked through the blinds and illuminated half of his face upon slowly raising his head. His dark-emerald eyes brightened under the heavenly iridescence.
"I'd be scared. Scared… they'd leave me again."
Fate's pinnacle—the Unconquerable technique. Those who possess unfathomable strength, regardless of the originator, are often detached from society and expected the best of others. Smart people are expected to be geniuses. Strong people are expected to be invincible. A lonely position at the top of the food chain. After mastering nearly everything about the Unconquerable, Talen Amit surpassed everyone's inferiority and stood atop the realm of supremacy as its ruler. But that power is meaningless.
"Talen…" Lily whispered.
He sniffled and stood. "But I don't have any reason to be scared." He walked past Lily, letting his black hair flow with both hands hidden. "He's my best friend. We're… the strongest. Right?"
Tony grinned. He walked over to his friend and repeatedly patted his shoulder, laughing happily. "Awesome, man! So we're going?" he asked.
"Yeah." Tal shrugged. "It's not like we have anything better to do."
"Wait wait wait!" Lily interjected, raising both hands and waving them around. "You can't leave yet! Aren't you waiting for your mother? I don't wanna be on her bad side!"
"That's not my problem. I'm stronger than you so I'm getting through no matter what. Try and stop me all you want, but in the end, I'd win. Always."
Tony rolled his eyes and voiced his disgust. "Shut up! Listen, weird hair, are you coming or not!" He pointed at Lily, demanding an answer.
"Her hair's the same color as Uriel's though…"
Talen sighed. "What a pain."
In the end, Lily decided to go with them. Valentina and Eros came back to find their pupils missing and the apartment interior empty. It wasn't like they could yell though. Despite them being their students, they were adults with the freedom to make their own choices. Eros yawned, removing the shades from his eyes and bending over, lifting the note off the coffee table.
"Looks like they went back to Barronia. Lily came to collect them to heal Uriel."
She entered the kitchen and began to remove the contents of groceries trapped within the bag, carefully placing the food in the fridge.
"Heal Uriel? For what? And where'd Lily come from?"
"Beats me." He shrugged. "Says something about Atlas having attacked Barron too. We'll have to wait for them to come back to continue training."
Valentina faltered. Hovering her hand over a spam container, her breath shivered briefly and her head raised, looking at her husband.
"Should we have gone with them?"
Eros shook his head.
"Why?"
He smiled. "For the same reason, we haven't gone after Alora." He sunk into the sofa. "I have faith… in everyone."
Three hours later, in the King's castle.
Talen, Anthony, and Lily walked through the golden halls of the palace. Everywhere they looked were numerous bloody battles etched into the walls, sketched by ink.
"This place hasn't changed a bit," the Unconquerable sighed.
Tony squinted. 'But we were only here two weeks ago…'
The throne room doors widened gradually. As the interior was revealed, the intricate engravings and unparalleled detail etched into the walls, floor and ceiling blessed the room with a golden hue. Anthony slowly lowered the hand covering his face and let out a chuckle, turning to Lily and Talen—their features stoic.
'What a buncha stiff,' he thought.
"So," a raspy voice intoned, "you've come."
Talen solely stepped forward. "You asked me to."
The King, leaning back on his throne with hands flat on his lap, chuckled. "That's true. Even so, I thought you hated me. So much so that I thought we'd never get to be friends and fight alongside each other again. The thought of such an end—"
Amit sucked his teeth. "Don't give me that sappy shit. Regardless of how things are now, we can't go back to normal… not just because you ask for it."
Uriel leaned, emerging from the shadows. "So? What do you propose we do instead?"
"Rematch." Talen raised two fingers. "Two on two. Me and Anthony against you and Marie. If I win, you help me. In exchange for your cooperation, I'll consider returning to Barronia and helping you rule. But if you win, I heal you and help you rule no questions asked. The strongest Fate user—your most trusted subordinate. How's that sound?"
The King stood from his throne. "Like it's too good to be true." He walked down the steps and reached his old friend. "Your terms are endearing. I accept." Uri grinned.
"Alright then uh—" Tony spoke up, "—how's this work?"
"I just changed my mind. Let's raise the stakes a bit. I always thought Lily's technique would give me a bit of trouble, so let's test that out." Talen pointed at Uriel. "You and Lily against me." He turned to Tony. "You still wanna fight Marie?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess. But it's kinda unfair if you have two so gimme Aella too."
"Really?" Uri chuckled. "Are you sure? Her technique and Marie's might overwhelm you."
"That's fine." Tony shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I'm only doing this to train anyway. Talen's the real challenge, remember?"
Lily grabbed her ex by the shoulder. "Hey!" She turned him around. "What do you mean you're gonna fight me and Uriel? That's stupid!"
The Unconquerable shrugged. "Like I care. One second of my time will outmatch all of you. Lest you have something to say about it, that is."
Uriel nodded. "Alright then. Anthony—you go first. I'm kinda intrigued about what makes you so confident," said the King.
The vessel shrugged and decided to obey. Everyone got ready for the coming fight, including Talen who warped back to Helenheim to collect the King's sister. But while everything was preparing, someone was hiding their presence, seated atop the palace on its roof. Fist into his cheek, the long black-haired progenitor smirked.
"Show me your Power… Monstrum's vessel."
Trivia: Lily Barlowe was born October 6th, 1994 and her height is 5'6". She has caramel-dark skin and braided white hair tied into a bun. She has freckles but over those freckles across her cheeks are golden stars that glow in correspondence with her technique. She wears a pale jacket, a long black turtleneck underneath that, and tight jeans that go up to her waist, the belt is brown. Her Predestined Power is 'Celestial Epitome Embodiment.' There are only ten Fate-users graded Rank-0. She's one of them.