Beneath the City. Eightfold's Base.
Water splashed into Xenos and Hail's faces. Shaking their heads with a hazy awakening, the blonde Warrior of the two moaned, looking down at the floor while repeatedly blinking. The indistinct sound of human voices reached out to him.
"Yo. Wake up!"
It all became clearer when the blonde's head raised. Standing over him were none other than the Head of Eightfold, Talen Amit, and Uriel Barron. Xenos stifled a chuckle, preventing a smirk. He leaned his head back and looked at them from the distance between.
"The Unconquerable Talen Amit and Supreme King Uriel Barron. It must be my lucky day."
"Wha–" Alora pointed directly at Xenos. "That's not fair! How come you know them and not me?!"
Talen pulled his sister back by the shoulder. "Shut up, you're forgettable." He threw her behind him into the other members.
Walking past the playful siblings, the King reached their victim and knelt before him. "I apologize for the delinquents. It's quite embarrassing. Talen's supposed to be mature, yet he acts just like a child sometimes." Uri grinned with his eyes. "You'd have to forgive him for that."
Xenos shrugged. "Nothing to it." His fiery-colored gaze scanned Eightfold's ranks around them. "Uh, do you mind if I ask what I'm here for? I understand now that I attacked one of your members and he wasn't a part of Atlas's team. If you let me go, I'll get out of your hair and just go searching for that asshole again. Sounds good, right?"
"No. You see, we desire a truce. We're also searching for Atlas and the Disastrous. The latter destroyed one of the four kingdoms I'm supposed to protect. For the sake of the justice I pursue, I can't let that evil run rampant. However, it's much more personal for you two, I know. The murderer slaughtered your family before your eyes."
Xenos looked down at the mention of his murdered relatives.
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to—"
"SHUT UP!" yelled Hail beside her brother.
Uriel was admittedly taken aback by her cry, but his toughness remained. He looked down at the sufferer with glistening baby-blue eyes. The tears leaking from her own were enough to indicate the measure of their torture.
"You're one of the Barron Royal Family, aren't you?! WHAT WOULD ONE OF YOUR BLOOD KNOW ABOUT IT!?"
The King nodded. "I am one of the Barron Royal Family. I'm also the New King of the Kismet Empire. From a simple point of view, you could infer I am indeed 'blessed'. But just because fortunate things happen to you doesn't mean one's life is good. I, for one, know I'm not blessed. My best friend was kind enough to remind me how much of a curse Fate is."
King Barron's divine Fate was akin to that of the moon. Like the lunar light shining off the surface onto the Earth below it, Uriel's technique enchanted everything around him. The experienced peace and tranquility flowing into Hail's soul made the tears in her eyes fade.
Uriel's palms released an azure hue. Five tendrils of light emerged from his fingertips to hover before the girls' eyes.
"I understand revisiting the past is difficult for you. If you consent, I'll peek into your brain and ascertain the truth of your circumstances without so much as damaging your psyche."
"What do you need our memories for?" Xenos asked.
Talen smirked. "Easy. Atlas and Monstrum slaughtered your Clan. An event like that is so traumatizing that you two are likely repressing the extent of it subconsciously. If we're going to be working together to thwart their schemes, we need to know everything you do. Whether it's hurtful or not."
"Exactly," Uriel agreed. "Do you consent?"
Hail's elation briefly faltered as Talen's tone intruded her wetted eyes. Upon looking back out at the King over her, she felt her voice instinctively heighten.
"Y-yes!"
Xenos glared at his sister. 'Seriously? The cutesy voice?' His eyes rolled. "Don't do it to her. Do it to me," he inexplicably volunteered.
"I see." Talen smiled, stifling a chuckle. "Are you the older of you two?"
"Maybe. What's it to you?"
Talen's emerald eyes reflected the present but thought back on the past. A past where he would so readily throw himself in harm's way for the sake of protecting his siblings. That wasn't to say he wouldn't do it now. More than ever before, the Unconquerable was dedicated to ensuring those he loved were kept safe. But when faced with a parallel in the form of Xenos and Hail before him, Talen couldn't suppress his feelings.
Sighing, the Unconquerable averted his gaze. "Nothing. Nothing."
He walked away from the group and went to sulk in his quarters. Valentina and Ava followed him shortly. Meanwhile, Uriel looked back down at the siblings, releasing the tendrils for them to sink into Xenos's temples.
The transmission was done in an instant, but the condition for such a swift operation was detrimental to the brain. Spinning away, Uri held his temples, falling back into his dear lieutenant Raven's arms.
"My King, are you—?"
He chuckled. Standing back up, he rubbed the side of his head with a low moan. "Fine. It just kinda stung."
"Would you like me to heal you?" She asked.
The King stared at his partner. The pinkish glisten radiating from her irises penetrated the exterior of his soul and melted him entirely. His gaze on her was enough of an answer for her to start healing him while also looking away—a blush clouding her cheeks.
"So?" Lora asked. "What'd you see?"
"It was Atlas and Monstrum alright. But I didn't get to see them. The only way I know it was them is because he and his sister fought Apollo. But the weirdest part isn't even that. It's the fact that he let you both live."
Xenos nodded. "When I came to, I was still in the parking lot with Hail unconscious beside me. We both woke up and ran to the forest to make sure he didn't attack our family after beating us. We were too late. The last thing we remember before beginning our journey here is cradling our parents' dead bodies. It was…" the Warrior's teeth quivered. A tear dropped from the corner of his eye. "despicable…"
Raising his hand, Uriel invoked his technique and waved his arm across the air, dismissing the binds the siblings were ensnared by. Xenos looked down at his freed hands and rubbed the wrists, slowly raising from the chair.
"You're letting us go?"
"No," Uriel shook his head. "I hate to tell you this so bluntly, but with the way you two are right now, you both stand zero chance against Atlas and the Disastrous."
"Seriously? The power gap is that immense?"
Lora grinned. "Seriously!"
"But it's odd. From what I saw in your memories, Hail managed to stand a chance against Apollo. And you didn't get your sword destroyed in your fight with Alora. You siblings are promising. We can give you the required strength… to avenge your people."
Xenos and Hail felt their souls ignite! The burning in those eyes was enough to intake their enemies and with it, the entire world. Those blinded by blood shared that same look. The King knew from experience. Luckily—with one glance down at Raven beside him—he was able to break free from that delusional trance of violence and hatred.
"What?" Aella was still blushing as she spoke.
"Nothing." Uriel sighed longingly, grinning. "You're gonna help me train Hail. Lora, you can take care of Xenos on your own, right?"
Lora's grin shone under the ceiling light above her, flashing a thumbs-up at the Head. "Of course!"
"Okay. The girl's Predestined Power looks a bit more difficult than his, so I'll deal with it tomorrow. If you want to start now, you can, Lora. But I'm tired. I'll be turning in for the night," Uriel said with a sleepy smile.
Marie stepped forward. "What should Lily and I do?"
"Help Lora if she starts training Xenos now. If not, get more food and munchies. I think it's gonna be a long night before any of us falls asleep."
Everyone obeyed Head Barron's orders and turned in for the night—going to work on their respective tasks. Instead of wasting energy training, Lora decided to stay in the main area with Xenos, Hail, Lily, and Marie. Uriel left with Raven to his quarters.
And finally, Talen cried into his mother's chest while his sister hung onto his back on a lone bed in a secluded room. The muffled sound of his sobs sunk deep into Valentina's shirt.
Years of pent-up loneliness fell into his dear parent, but she cared not. She spent the proper time grieving by herself on the ship. Now was the time to tend to her dear children, who blamed nobody but themselves for the death of their younger brother. As tears fell from Ava's eyes roof, the mother pulled her daughter deeper into the embrace, pushing all of their heads together. The Amit family's combined touch resulted in a flow of gentle aura pouring from out of their souls.
Piece by piece, the larger bundles of Fate leaking from their hearts reformed from a simple energetic life force into a shape resembling that of a man. One man in particular. The one who started it all so long ago in the 1990s—the Unconquerable sealed in the Progenitor's trusty sword.
Eros Amit and the sword holding him were on the surface of the Gate City, idly sitting on the desk in Atlas Amit's quarters. Within the Imprisonment, Eros was entrapped by nothing but darkness. Miniature patches of what seemed like light seemed to peek through the realm's false ceiling, briefly filling him with a flimsy sense of hope. But that was all it was.
Nothing but a momentary sensation the apparition of his heart delayed registering from sinking so long. Nevertheless, the old man managed to keep himself amused. For even within this limitless domain likely void of conditions, he could sense it; his family's signature. At the scent of their familiar Fate, the original Unconquerable's head raised,
a smirk flashing off his fanged front teeth.
"I see. So my kids and wife came to rescue me." He chuckled. "Do your best, Talen… I believe in you all."
To Be Cont.