Hundreds file into Archfield; people from all over the continent dressed in nice apparel make their way to the funeral hall guided by initiates and operatives, everyone wearing distinctive armbands that show their organization.
Grim'Lok straightens the collar of his new suit, green and black… Risaki's favorite colors. The thought makes Grim'Lok shudder with sadness. He tightens his armband while staring into his own eyes.
A knock is heard at the door.
He turns the light off in the bathroom and makes his way to the door, opening it.
Nayara stands in front of him in a silky black-and-green dress; her eyes drift to his suit, noticing his crooked collar. "Nervous much?" she asks while fixing his collar.
"I don't wanna see him like this," Grim'Lok admits, as they start walking down the hall.
"Nobody does. He was just alive three days ago… It doesn't feel real," Nayara mutters more to herself than to Grim'Lok before regaining herself. "But he wouldn't want us to stay sad at his death. He taught us to be warriors."
They turn into the courtyard where hundreds of warriors are gathered, all dressed in variations of green and black suits and dresses.
"A respected warrior like Risaki Payne gets his wishes respected. He wanted the funeral to symbolize his time as the guardian of a seal. His coffin was made from the scorched trees from the sacred forest Gomen," Grim'Lok overhears while sliding past an operative.
He notices the looks—whispers about his early rise in ranks. He doesn't pay attention and walks directly into a familiar figure.
Saido pats Grim'Lok on the shoulder. "Long time no see, kid!" he says jokingly.
"My apologies," Grim'Lok says; Saido waves it off. "No need. You must be going through a tough time." He looks at him and Nayara. "Come, I should show you two to the funeral hall."
He leads them through the crowd skillfully. Grim'Lok, still wary of the people around him, walks with his head pointed to the ground—not in fear but in shame. His master died and he had not been there to die with him.
The walk is fast, leaving no time for thoughts before Saido is standing in front of the doors. "Are you two prepared to see your master in such a state?"
Nayara and Grim'Lok both look at each other with a thousand unsaid words. Their eyes show a sadness their bodies would not let them show.
Grim'Lok is the first to nod. "Yes." Nayara, watching Grim'Lok do this, is immediately flooded with a sense of ease. The nervousness leaves her body like a beautiful waterfall. "Yes."
"Very well."
Saido opens the door, revealing the pristine funeral hall: the marble walls, the hundreds of chairs with the Dipea-Kicho emblem on the backs. It all makes Grim'Lok tear up.
Nayara, ever so observant, notices this and simply takes his hand. "Come."
Saido watches as the two of them walk down the aisle. "You live on through your last two students," he says, his eyes laying on the scorched casket at the end of it. "Master."
As they approach the casket Grim'Lok stops.
"I'm serious, Nayara. I'll avenge our master." He lets go of her hand and clenches his fist. "He made us strong enough to pass the exam, right?"
Nayara smirks before grinning fully—pearly white teeth shining in the light, nodding in agreement. "We can take on anything," she declares.
Grim'Lok is the first to step up to the casket, Nayara quickly following behind. One half of the casket is open.
Inside lay their master, Saido's master, and many others. Risaki's snow-white hair flowed down to his shoulder; his eyes were closed, a sign of respect among the dead in Azunne.
Grim'Lok stares at Risaki's lifeless body, partly shocked, partly at peace that his body has been recovered. "At least he still looks good, no?" he says with a slight smile.
When he looks at Nayara his eyes widen in shock. She's crying.
Tears form in her eyes, stream down her face, and drop from her chin in a repeated cycle. Grim'Lok wraps his arms around her, pulling her into an embrace, comforting his best friend.
People now enter the hall, seeing the two embracing in front of the coffin. No words are said or heard; only Nayara's weeping fills the funeral hall.
The seats quickly fill up; hundreds from all around the continent came to attend Risaki's funeral. Even high-ranking warriors from other organizations are in attendance.
Grim'Lok holds Nayara and nods his head. "There's no doubt in my mind… I'll find out who did this."
Grim'Lok led Nayara to two seats near the casket; a sign read, "Reserved for Dipea-Kicho members." Grim'Lok read the sign and sat down with her.
As the last few people find their seats, the lights dim around everything but the aisle and the casket.
First, the council walks in; dressed in black robes, their faces are fully covered to protect their identities from those not from Azunne in attendance. The six of them stand in front of the casket facing the crowd.
Tenki steps forward, her eyes gazing over the crowd, noticing every single person in the room is wearing armbands. Some are from notable organizations, some from smaller, more unknown ones.
"Firstly I'd like to welcome you all to Archfield. It's such a shame it has to be under these circumstances."
"Many of you sent warriors for the OMEN Exam; unfortunately, many were sent back." This causes a few members in the audience to chuckle.
She looks back at the casket. "Risaki Payne was a good man, a warrior who held his oath to the very end. His dojo was not just a training hall, but a home for those who did not have one prior. Risaki was like a grandfather to all of OMEN, always spouting wisdom and tales of the old times."
Her face lifts into a smile as she says the next words. "He was the guardian of the seal, protector of the sacred forest, and our beloved master."
This causes widespread chatter and loud arguments over the legitimacy of this claim. Before it escalates, an overwhelming presence enters the hall, making the people who were talking quiet almost immediately.
"Please have respect for the Dipea-Kicho's head, Risaki Payne." The Pinnarch of OMEN, Erik Stormbreaker, walks down the aisle. His 6'8" muscular frame stands at the peak of OMEN's power; his long black hair, often pulled into a ponytail, is let down, allowing it to reach his lower back.
The people in the crowd watch him walk with respect.
When he reaches the council they bow in respect.
He turns around. "Today we remember Risaki Payne."
Everyone stares at Erik as he strokes his beard. "He was not only a former member of the Eclipse Division, he was also my comrade. Risaki lost his life. He died protecting one of the sacred seals. He died protecting Azunne—"
Someone stands up in the audience, a civilian from Seiji. "If he died protecting it, then surely that doesn't mean it's just been left unchecked, right?"
"No, the seal has not been broken—only damaged." This causes the room to erupt into more chatter; this time about the safety of the continent.
Erik sighs, turning to Grim'Lok and Nayara, signaling them to come up to the podium. When he turns around his eyes begin glowing violently, the air around him crackling with electricity.
"Enough! We've already dispatched a team to contain the seal. Not only that, we're sending his last two students to guard the seal until we can send a 'seal reinforcement' team." His voice had an echo that lingered in the hall.
Grim'Lok steps forward with a fire in his eyes, Nayara following behind him. "You all… you all dare to disrespect my master on the day of his funeral? Have respect for the man who lost his life to keep this continent safe." His voice was like the growl of a wolf, reaching every crevice of the hall.
Erik puts his hand on Grim'Lok's chest, sending a small jolt of electricity through him. "Calm yourself, Wolfshire."
Grim'Lok nods but never takes his eyes off the crowd.
"You may commence the ritual," he turns to the council. "Eclipse Court."
Each of the council members turns to the casket, watching as the lid closes, sealing Risaki inside the Hakusari wood.
"Uken," Tenki says.
The familiar name causes Grim'Lok's eyes to widen; the mark on his shoulder reacts to the name.
"A warrior has graced your realm yet again. Tsyra guides his soul," the six council members say, each holding their hand toward the casket.
Erik then held his hand to the casket. "For this warrior's name is Risaki Payne."
The seven hands all point towards the casket, mimicking the 'Great Seven Seals.' The crowd watches as the casket starts to glow; streaks of Chikara flow into the casket from their hands.
Grim'Lok stares at the ritual in awe, his mark pulsating in response.
"Uken, take Risaki to the next plane. Allow his soul to rise to Kaezo. Allow him to be free."
Grim'Lok watches as the Chikara flows from Risaki's body into the air, then into his mark. His fingers clench as his veins glow under his suit. He blinks for a second, but when he opens his eyes he's in the watery realm of Tsyra, standing in front of his master.
"What the—" Grim'Lok mutters; Risaki opens his eyes, staring directly into his soul.
"I see it went according to plan." He walks toward Grim'Lok with a smile. Each step causes ripples throughout the water. Grim'Lok stares at Risaki.
"Plan...? What plan?" he asks, making Risaki swipe his hand. This summons a map of the world. Each of the five continents is connected by landmass with the Kurinnoki sprouting in the middle of the world.
"I planned for you to absorb my Chikara, to strengthen you. You'll need it because from here on out," he takes a step back; this causes the 'Goddess of Life & Death' Uken to appear next to Risaki.
"You fight for Eldoria itself." As he says this Grim'Lok's mark starts to glow.
"My mark seems to have worked well for you, Grim'Lok," Uken talks; her voice is angelic, almost as if listening to heaven itself.
Grim'Lok looks at the mark as it pulsates, then back at Uken and Risaki. "This mark?" he points to the mark on his shoulder. "Why did you put this on me?"
"I put the mark on the last Wolfshire, just as the prophecy said."
Grim'Lok's eyes widen. "Prophecy?"
"A lone wolf gains the mark, loses his master, and inherits that former master's will. All to gain the strength to stop the resurrection of the King of Kouniza. The fact that Risaki spent those three months with you researching how to get into contact with me only means the prophecy was true." Grim'Lok clenches his fists hearing this; flashbacks of destruction linger in his mind.
"Screw that damned prophecy! All it's done is cause me trouble. I just wanna avenge you, master." He declares, causing Risaki to grin wickedly.
"Avenge me you say?"
Grim'Lok nods. "Yes. I will avenge you, master." He clenches his hands, watching as his previously white Chikara—now green—visibly flows through his veins to the shock of Risaki.
"Because you absorbed the last bit of my Chikara," Risaki starts, putting his arms behind his back, "it seems you are able to absorb the rest of his Chikara which is lingering inside the Dojo." Uken finishes, appearing next to Grim'Lok.
"Risaki found out how to contact me through the tree inside the Dipea-Kicho. A way only accessible by the guardians of the sacred forest. My forest."
"Gomen?" Grim'Lok asks.
Uken nods while looking at Risaki. "Although the state of it now is troublesome."
"Dargus destroyed the forest," Risaki sighs while looking at the water. "I failed."
She nods again, confirming what Risaki said; her gaze is cold and unforgiving.
Grim'Lok turns towards Risaki. "Tell me, who killed you?"
Risaki is in front of Grim'Lok now, looking up at his student. "Noctis Dominion."
Grim'Lok's eyes narrow. "That's not what I asked."
The two stare into each other's eyes; for the first time the student stands up to the master, marking the beginning of the prophecy.
"Dargus and the Terror Twins, the three of them all allied to Noctis Dominion."
All Grim'Lok does is nod before looking back at Uken. "Take me back now."
Uken's eyebrow raises. "Wanting to leave so soon? Your master is right here after all—"
Grim'Lok repeats himself, causing Uken and Risaki to understand his seriousness. "Clear your head, Grim." Risaki commands, causing him to take a step back.
"You are not just a warrior. You are an OMEN Sentinel, someone who leads the charge in battle using their brain and not their brawn."
Grim'Lok sighs, his clenched fists and jaw dropping in unison. "I'm completely calm."
"Well, before you go back there's some things I left for you at the Dojo…"
Grim'Lok grins as he and Risaki start walking together around the realm.
Risaki's casket stops glowing, signifying the completion of OMEN's funeral ritual.
Erik is the last one to pull his arm back, turning around with a new sense of pride. "Risaki's soul has passed onto the afterlife."
The declaration is like a weight lifted off a few people in the crowd, but something still lingers. When the funeral is over Grim'Lok walks through the street alone, overhearing merchants talking.
"That damned seal better be intact. I've heard rumors from wanderers that Noctis has already broken two seals."
He turns slightly as he walks, taking note of what he just heard and heading straight for his quarters, preparing for his mission later tonight.
A FEW HOURS LATER…
Nayara sits on her bed, fully dressed for the mission, staring at her feet. All she can think about is the mission. Heading back to Gomen after Risaki's death is like walking into the home of a dead person.
Just as she stands up someone knocks on the door.
"Open."
Grim'Lok stands outside, fully prepared for the mission, his armband tied on his arm tightly. Juzu on his right side stands with his back to the door, his long hair visible from underneath, OMEN's symbol on the back of his vest. Mizaka on the opposite side stands proudly, her cloak covering her entire body except for her head, her cropped silver hair shining in the moonlight.
The four of them give each other nods before dashing toward Archfield's entrance; their mission starts now.
"What should we call ourselves? I'm thinking of something cool like Team Mizaka!" Mizaka says as they run through the forest that surrounds Archfield.
Juzu looks at her like a disappointed father, making Mizaka shrink in shame. "Okay, maybe not that."
Each step Grim'Lok's mind grows heavier; the names replay in his head endlessly: "Dargus," "Hora and Hera."
"Who are Dargus and the Terror Twins?" Grim'Lok asks, never losing speed, not even for a second.
Juzu and Mizaka both look at each other. Juzu is the first to speak. "The Terror Twins are two siblings that Noctis orphaned and took in from age six to seventeen. They are regarded as some of the most deadly assassins on the continent of Azunne. They have signature white streaks on the opposite side of their hair."
"Dargus is more complicated. All that's known about him is he calls himself the 'King of the Monsters.' After that even his appearance is a mystery to those under A-rank. Reports say he was the one that created the giant heat dome that surrounded Gomen."
Grim'Lok nods in acknowledgement but doesn't say anything else for the remainder of the trip.
…
Nayara is the first to notice it. "Holy…"
"They weren't kidding."
Ahead of them stands the aftermath of Risaki and Dargus' battle: a gigantic canyon in the ground that circles Gomen, the now-scorched sacred forest. "How…" Nayara mutters.
Grim'Lok stares at the trees with awe. "Dargus was able to burn the sacred forest using a forbidden kinjutsu," he thinks to himself, looking at the fourteen-mile-wide canyon that separates the living forest from the dead.
"It looks like its own island; this canyon is so big," Mizaka says while peering down the cliffside and into the canyon.
"And it's deep, so don't fall in."
The four of them leap over the canyon, making it to the other side with relative ease. When they land, immediately something feels off to Grim'Lok. All he does is grit his teeth, not wanting to alert the others.
They head further and further into the forest, noticing the aftereffects of the burning. Animals lay scorched and ashed, practically imprinted into the ground.
Grim'Lok grimaces, his eyes analyzing his surroundings thoroughly. "It's just as she said."
"Halt."
Juzu puts his fist up; Grim'Lok stares in awe. Nayara falls to her knees, Mizaka takes a step back, her shock evident on their faces. The Dipea-Kicho Dojo stands destroyed in the middle of the clearing.
Juzu claps his hands together, closing his eyes in concentration. "Kikanchi!" He extends his Chikara a few kilometers in each direction, trying to find anything, anything at all.
Nothing.
Juzu opens his eyes in disbelief. "There's no Chikara in this forest at all. What the hell happened during Risaki's battle?"
Grim'Lok dashes toward the Dojo. "That's because the seal is weakened!"
He leaps into the building, seeing everything inside destroyed and burned—everything except for the tree-of-connection sapling. Grim'Lok approaches the tree with a confused look. The mark on his shoulder glows faintly as one of the withering leaves falls to the ground.
The rest of his squad walks into the dojo watching as Grim'Lok approaches the sapling. Nayara runs to him.
He analyzes the tree. "Untouched by the flames," he frowns as another leaf falls; this time he catches it. "Yet without a connector, you still wither away."
When he says this his mark pulses, and he senses Risaki's Chikara in the dojo.
Quickly he dashes toward it, down the corridor past his squad and into a room, also untouched by the flames.
Juzu sighs, turning to Nayara. "Help us secure the perimeter."
Nayara nods before the three of them flicker outside the dojo.
The door Grim'Lok ran into had a sign on it he blitzed right past; it read "Risaki Payne's Office." Inside the office he stood in front of a desk; a golden scroll lay on top of it.
"This must be what he was talking about." Suddenly his mark starts glowing through his clothing. Grim'Lok clutches his arm in pain.
"Dammit!" He drops down to one knee as the mark glows brighter; it feels as if his very essence is being extracted from him.
Then the pain stops, but his mark continues to glow. When he looks up he sees it, exactly as Risaki said. Risaki's Chikara lingers in the air, creating a near-identical clone of Risaki inside the office.
"I've been revived temporarily through your mark. My Chikara you absorbed allows you to summon my essence from the dead, a wish I asked of Uken before I died," the clone says.
Grim'Lok stares at Risaki, partially in disbelief, more in resentment. "Are you sure you want me to inherit the dojo?"
This question makes Risaki chuckle. "Grim'Lok, of course. You're the perfect candidate for it."
"Stand up."
Grim'Lok does just that; when he does Risaki pats his shoulder. "You'll be stronger than I was when you're old someday. You're stronger than I was at your age now."
"Protect this dojo, protect this forest, become what I could not."
"The strongest warrior ever," Risaki says, which makes Grim'Lok grin.
"Is that a challenge?"
Risaki grins, matching Grim'Lok's intensity. "Indeed it is."
His face gets serious, and Grim'Lok does as well. "Now read the scroll and accept the contract."
Grim'Lok walks toward the desk, staring at the golden scroll.
He summons Chikara into his fingertips, giving them a visible aura around them. He unravels the scroll: a contract to become the head of the Dipea-Kicho Dojo. The next movement—he bites his finger, drawing blood.
"I will protect this forest, this dojo, the world, these innocent people that inhabit it, and my friends."
He draws a line of his blood on the signature line of the contract, watching as it starts to glow intensely.
Suddenly roots erupt from the ground, swirling up his legs and latching onto his arms.
"Calm yourself. You see, Grim'Lok, Wolfshires naturally have a special affinity that allows you to absorb and gain other affinities, meaning you'll be able to have a vast arsenal. You've always had this. Nayara has no clan so her affinities have not awoken to her, but I already know them from conversing with Uken prior to my death."
"Stormveil will be hers, same as Erik Stormbreaker; now back to you. Because you have the Wolfshire affinity—"
The roots begin pumping Grim'Lok full of Chikara, straight from the tree in the main hall. The tree outside begins to glow and pulsate weakly, still bright enough to alert Juzu, Mizaka, and Nayara, who have regrouped in the main hall.
"What the hell is going on!" Juzu says as the Dojo starts shaking.
Grim'Lok's eyes begin to roll back in his head as his veins start to glow green Chikara.
"You'll be gaining wood affinity, directly from the Tree of Connection of course."
Grim'Lok starts to scream out in pain, but due to a barrier inside the room no one outside hears it. Risaki watches as Grim'Lok clenches his fists; naturally he starts to produce his own Chikara, causing Wolfshire to absorb the tree's Chikara.
His eyes come back as he looks at Risaki with a fierce and determined gaze. He allows himself to continue to absorb the Chikara; in turn the tree becomes a link to Grim'Lok.
"Grim'Lok," Risaki says, not for Grim to answer but to initiate his next words. "The Tree of Connection is not just any regular tree."
Grim'Lok looks at Risaki as he slowly walks toward him, struggling against the resistance of the roots. "What do you mean?"
Risaki watches Grim'Lok with awe. "Incredible— even to move at all means you have enormous strength. You… you truly are the child of prophecy!"
"Grim'Lok, that tree inside the Dojo is the seal inside of Gomen. In history the head protects the seal with his life. My master, the previous head, died protecting it; I did as well."
Grim'Lok stands in front of Risaki, the roots tight around his arms and legs but he doesn't budge. He puts his hand on his master's shoulder, mimicking when Risaki would do it to him.
"I shall not suffer the same fate."
"Then we have to shatter Noctis' oath. Come." Risaki snaps his fingers and the giant map of Eldoria on the wall opens, revealing it to be a secret door.
Grim'Lok stares in awe. The roots unlatch from Grim'Lok when the door opens. "Let's go see the roots ourselves. We have to claim the ancient artifact warriors such as me, my master, and your father have used."
Grim'Lok stares at Risaki upon hearing him say "father." He approaches the doorway, seeing the stairway lead below the dojo and underneath the main hall. "Well, let's go claim it then—"
"Grim." Risaki stops him before he enters. "This isn't just a grab-and-go. You will face trials meant to break you. Do not take these trials lightly."
Grim'Lok looks at Risaki before pushing through his master's chakra clone. "I take nothing lightly."
From the top of the Dark Highlands, three masked figures watch as the Tree of Connection inside the dojo stops pulsating and goes calm; the previously wilting leaves are now healthy and thriving.
"Hora and Hera told us to watch for that exactly. Let's go," one of them sounds annoyed as they jump down from the highlands and into the scorched forest of Gomen, heading straight for the tree.