Chapter 46 - Timely

"I never thought I'd ever say this but, I missed this place...," said the woman. She sounded on the older side and also had a bit of an accent.

"Are we late?" asked the young sounding man standing a few feet behind her.

He was much taller than the rest of the group; they were all covered by long black robes, their faces safely hidden underneath oversized hoods.

"No, I believe we are right on time," A different man emerged from their midst, he walked past all of them towards the front. He didn't sound very old but, he sure had a mature timber, he spoke with more certainty and confidence than the previous male.

"It has already started, I can feel it," said a young woman from the back of the line.

"What are we waiting for exactly?" asked the same young man from before.

"The signal,"

"I know that... I meant what is the signal?" he asked again.

"You'll know when you hear it," another young woman gave him the answer, she stood right beside him.

"Dying in a fight then rising from the afterlife into another fight... How deplorable," the woman that first spoke, had spoken again.

"I hear we're not the only ones back from the dead,"

"I hope they brought back the ones that killed me!"

"We are not here for our pesky personal desires of revenge, do not forget that!" the wiser sounding man said.

"It's no fun then,"

"Do you all have your coordinates?"

"Yeah..." Most of them said in unison, and most of those that did, sounded pretty young.

"And remember, if we fail, then all of this would have been for nothing!"

"Eh... We won't even get to enjoy our second chance at life...."

"What about you Deucalion? I'd heard that you vowed to never get involved in a fight again,"

"Not at all my dear Satomi, I... Vowed to never take a soul, not to never fight,"

The two oldest members of the group had finally addressed each other by their names.

"Hear that people? He doesn't want to take another soul," Scuffed a young man that had been silent until that point, as Deucalion remained silent.

"We all made our fair share of mistakes," replied Satomi.

"Well, some of us made slightly graver mistakes than others so, it would be really nice not to put all of us in the same load," The young woman that stood at the back spoke again, although she sounded more aggravated than before.

"Still angry at me, I see," said Deucalion.

"You kinda killed us... So don't hold your breath for hugs," another tall man spoke.

"Technically... I didn't,"

"It's up for technicalities now," she stopped for a moment before continuing, "If I thought I had a chance at killing you, I'd have done it the moment you rose from the grave,"

"But you learned your lesson, I'm glad you wisened up, Erica," said Deucalion again.

At those words, the tall man that stood beside Erica lost his temper and dashed towards Deucalion, but the other members of the group stood in his way.

"Calm down Boid! Now is not the time for this!"

"Shh, listen!" said Satomi in a hushed voice.

She extended her hearing to the night; if dead quiet had a sound, it would be that. It felt like nothing around them was alive anymore, like it all died in an instant or... It went silent, in anticipation for something much more important than any chirping they'd make. The forest didn't sound like a forest anymore.

"What is it? I can't hear anything!"

"I can feel it, it's coming our way," said the other young woman.

They all looked down, sensing some sort of vibration crawling their way through the ground. Then, all of a sudden, a loud and ear-piercing shriek arose, it sounded so far yet so close.

"It's... Lydia," said one of the young men with a shaky voice, he'd recognized the voice of the banshee he knew once upon his lifetime.

"I suppose that is the signal,"

"I believe so... Let us all meet again once our missions accomplished... Stay alive," uttered Satomi before they all scattered apart, for they all had somewhere to be.