"We cling to memories when truth begins to fray,
Yet even my own seem distant, slipping away… What should I trust today?"
A Sudden Meeting Of The Tribe Leaders!!!
The Tribe Leaders All Sit At A Round Table In A Dimly Lit Room, With Long Flags Behind Each Of Them Representing Which They're Tribes…
Kojiro(Surprised): I'm Honestly Surprised That You Called Us Here Hotoke, Seeing How You Were So Against Us Aligning Ourselves With Each Other.
Asami(Serious): We Can Skip The Pleasantries… What Exactly Did You Call Us Here For Hotoke?
Hotoke(Grim): Yesterday, The Demon Hunter Azreal Was Sent Here By The Organization "The Forsaken" And He Managed To Defeat And Capture Malum's Vessel.
Nora(Eyes Widened, In Shock): Malum's Vessel Is Here?!
Hotoke(Nodding): Yes. Right Below Us As We Speak…
Yaku(Applauding): Well Shit. How The Hell'd Ya Manage To Do That?!
Hotoke(Grim): That Doesn't Matter Right Now, Just Know That He's Here And He's Revealed Some Information To Me And Azreal.
Asami(Curious, Tense): And What Is It That He Told You?
Hotoke(Serious): He Was Talking About The Incident Two Years Ago Which Drove The World Into Madness, Caused By Deimos And Adira…
Hotoke(Serious): And That Adira Used Some Sort Of Mind Alteration Technique On A Universal Scale Which Altered Everyone's Memories And Even Added Memories That Don't Exist Of Events Which Never Transpired.
Kojiro(Disbelief): And On What Does He Base These Claims?
Hotoke(Eyes Closed, Arms Folded): That's What I'd Like To Know.
Yaku Then Puts His Feet Up On The Table As He Puts His Hand's On The Back Of His Head, With A Nonchalant Grin On His Face…
Yaku(Chuckling): Hmmm.
Asami(Curious): What're You Thinking Yaku?
Yaku(Chuckling): I'm Thinkin That The Old Man Has Somethin To Do With All Of This…
Nora(Confused): What're You Saying?
Yaku(Serious): There's Somethin Off About That Old Man… He Has Been Dead Silent About The Whole Situation With Deimos And Adira, And Why Isn't He Here With Us Right Now?
Hotoke(Nodding): Actually I Was Thinking About That Too… His Absence During The World's Crisis Is Concerning, Especially Given The Severity Of The Situation. We Need To Consider Him A Possible Threat For Now.
Asami(Frowning, Arms Folded): If That's The Case, We're In More Trouble Than We Thought. We Can't Afford Any Betrayals Among Our Ranks. For All We Know He Might He Using This To His Advantage In Order To Further Some Hidden Agenda Of His.
Nora(Glancing Nervously): We Should Question Malum's Vessel Further More To Get More Information On This Technique Used By Adira, And We Also Need To Find Where Deimos And Adira Are Hiding As Soon As Possible.
Yaku(Lifting His Feet Off The Table): So What's The Plan Here? Sit And Play The Blame Game, Or Should We Take Action? I Say We Find The Old Man And Confront Him.
Asami(Serious): For Now, We Should Get More Information Out Of Malum's Vessel, And Then Confront The Grand Elder…
Asami(Shouting): Kazuno, You May Enter Now!
Suddenly The Door Opens As We See A Kid Around Seventeen Years Old, With Messy Hair Enter As He Then Gets Down On One Knee…
Yaku(Smiling): Who's The Kid?
Kazuno(Obedient): Kazuno Akayame, I Am Honored To Be In Your Presence.
Asami(Serious): This Is My Apprentice, He Was One Of The Participants In The Tournament Ashe Had Hosted A Couple Weeks Ago… I Had Him Enter The Tournament In Order To Keep An Eye On Ashe And That's Where He Ran Into Malum's Vessel…
Hotoke(Brow Raised): Why Did You Bring Him Here?
Asami(Serious): He's Gonna Help Us Get Information Out Of Malum's Vessel…
Kojiro(Curious): How So?
Asami(Sighing): Just Shut It And Take Us To Him, So We Can Get This Over With.
Hotoke(Standing Up, And Heading Toward The Door): Follow Along Then.
All Of The Tribe Leaders Raise Up Out Of Their Seats And Head Towards The Door As Kazuno Follows Behind Them…
They Then Head Underground To Enter A Room Where Jason Is Sitting In A Chair With His Hands Still Tied Behind It, In Front Of A Rectangular Shaped Table…
With Azreal Leaning Up Against The Wall With His Arms Crossed…
Jason(Eyes Lowered, In Recognition): You're That Guy From The Tournament, What're You Doing Here?!
Hotoke(Gazing, With Malice): You're In No Position To Be The One Asking Questions Boy.
Asami(Directing): Kazuno, You Can Begin.
Kazuno Then Goes Over To Jason And Sits In Front Of Him…
Kazuno(Serious): I'm Here To Ask You To Go Into Further Detail About This Memory Alteration Technique… Exactly How Does It Work?
Jason(Serious): I've Already Explained This To You-
Kazuno(Coldly): You Still Don't Understand Do You… No One Trust You, And You Have Already Been Seen Conspiring With Deimos Two Years Ago Before You Slaughtered Half The Population Of The City…
Jason(Sighing): You're Really Just Further Proving My Point About Your Memories Being Altered… You Just Said That I Was Seen Conspiring With Deimos When In Reality It Was Malum Who Was Possessing My Body At That Time…
Jason(Eyes Lowered, Hunched Over): The Technique Going Off My Knowledge, Tampers With The Spiritual Energy Inside Of Everyone's Brain… And That Spirit Energy Is Used To Create Illusions Which Act As Memories Or Rather Kinda Like Nightmares Which Occur In Your Brains And Creates "False Scenarios"…
Jason(Slouching): And At The Time From When She Activated The Technique Everyone In The Universe Stood Still, And During That Time Memories Were Being Dumped Into Or Created In Your Brain, Which Caused You All To Go Into A Vegetative State…
Asami(Confused): So Your Saying That, We're All Under Some Sort Of Universal Trance?
Jason(Nodding): Exactly… For A Brief Moment, Everything Stopped. No One Could Move, No One Could Think— Except For Those Strong Enough To Resist The Initial Wave Of The Technique. Those Individuals May Still Hold Fragmented Pieces Of Their Real Memories, But The Majority Of The Population, Including You All Were Affected.
Yaku(Frowning): And You're Trynna Tell Me That No One Noticed This Happening?
Jason(Annoyed): It Happened Too Quickly. Even If Someone Did Notice, The Moment They Tried To Make Sense Of It Their Minds Were Already Overwritten. Think Of It Like A Shadow Creeping Into Your Thoughts— By The Time You Realize It's There, It's Already Too Late.
Hotoke(Grim): How Convenient For You, Isn't It? Blaming All Of Your Actions On A Technique No One Remembers Being Used.
Kazuno(One Arm Leaning On The Chair): And Even If What You're Sayin Is True… You've Still Been Linked To Malum For Two Years Now, And You Expect Us To Trust You?
Jason(Lifting His Head, Eyes Unfazed): Trust? You Honestly Think I Give A Shit If You Trust Me. I'm Telling You The Truth, And Wether You Believe It Or Not Is Up To You, But The World Has Already Fallen Into Absolute Chaos With Demons And Devils All Running Around Killing People…
Jason(Weary): And The Longer You All Who Deem Yourselves As The Authority Of Justice, Then You Should Focus All Of Your Free Time On Tracking Down Deimos And Adira, Before You We All Face Far Worse Than Just Distorted Memories.
Kojiro(Serious): We Don't Have Time For This. If This Technique Is As Powerful As You Claim It Is, Then We Need A Way To Reverse It.
Jason(Sighing, Shaking His Head): That's The Problem… I Dunno How. The Technique Isn't Just Something That Can Be Undone. Not Unless You Confront Either Adira Or The Court Of Angels In The Heaven Realm. Which You Would Need The Cooperation Of Aria And Miss Athena If You Want A Hope In Hell Of Doin That.
Kazuno Subtly Glances Into Jason's Eyes For A Brief Moment… Sensing Determination As He Subtly Taps A Device On His Wrist, Signaling Something… Or Rather…
Someone!!!
**Meanwhile On Top Of The Walls Encasing The Southern Tribe**
Aaliyah, Kaida And Suddenly… Yami All Appear Standing On The Walls As Yami Begins Chanting An Incantation For A Powerful Technique!!!
Yami(Chanting): Kyokai Ido: Erebosu no Shoku!!!
Suddenly The Sky Begins To Shift Into Complete Darkness, As Yami Summons Her Domain To Envelop The Sky Above The Southern Tribe…
Intercom(Blaring): Three Intruders Towards The Main Wall Have Been Detected!!!
**Back Inside Of The Detention Quarters**
Hotoke(Grunting): Damn It!!! I Can't See Anything!
Jason's Open Eye Widens In Surprise, And Also Recognition…
Jason(Internally): Yami?!
Then Kazuno Bolts Up Using The Darkness To His Advantage As He Goes Behind Jason And Rips Off The Magic Sealing Chains…
Kazuno(Telepathically): Take Your Sword And Go Toward The Main Gate… Expect A Fight Against The Tribe Leaders, And I'll Even Chase After You To Cover My Tracks! Don't Make Me Regret This!
Jason With A Serious Expression On His Face Then Grabs His Sword And Then Makes A Hand Sign…
Jason(Chanting): Rairan Shunshin: Denji Arashi no Jutsu(Thunderstorm-Blink: Electromagnetic Tempest Technique!)
Suddenly Jason Teleports Into The Sky Above The Detention Quarters, His Cape Swooshing With The Wind As Yami's Domain Suddenly Crumbles, Bringing Back The Moonlit Sky…
Then The Tribe Leaders Rush Out Of The Room And Head Towards Jason, And Prepare For A Fight…
Jason Fly's At Top Speed Toward Aaliyah, Kaida And Yami As Hotoke Manages To Catch Up To Jason Quickly…
As Hotoke Attempts To Strike Jason, Kaida Appears And The Two Clash…
Hotoke(Displeased): You've Got Some Nerve Showing Your Face Around Here, My Worthless Daughter!
Kaida(Blank Face): …
The Fight Between Father And Daughter, Begins Now!!!
To Be Continued, In Chapter Sixty-Three…