Arc 4: What Families Entail
Yesterday afternoon, on one of Godrick mountain peaks, Gray Kyojin was standing on the edge. Looking over the foggy massive drop ahead, he had climbed to get here in the first place. Shivering, wearing his new armor, and looking to Ryo for guidance.
Ryo: "You ready?"
Gray: "To die!? No!"
Ryo: "You're not gonna die. Just use your Cloak, your mana, or climb down slowly."
Gray: "Uhhh, but I can't glide! If I shoot it out I'll snap my neck, my arm, and slowly climbing down will take forever!"
Ryo: "So you don't want to wait forever?"
Gray: "Nope."
With a thought and a smile, Ryo promptly pushed Gray right off the side before stepping right off himself. Falling straight down without wavering while Gray screamed and screamed, plummeting past him as he spun through the air.
Gray: "WHYYY!?"
Ryo: "For speed!"
Rushing through the dense fog, sharp enough to cut him, through the just as painful frozen air. Soaring and soaring through the white darkness. Consumed in fear, shock, and about everything else that comes with plummeting off the side of a mountain. Leaving him unable to use his Cloak, his mana, or breathe.
Ryo: "Remember the central thought. Calm down, breathe, and focus."
Gray: "YEAH I KNOW!"
He clenched his hands and his eyes and held his breath and -
Gray: "IT'S NOT WORKING!"
Without the fog he saw the floor, the large piercing glaciers, the thick dense snow. So, flailing, screaming, sweating, and looking toward Ryo, he expanded the Cloak. Falling while trying to pick up any bit of air.
Gray {Come on! Super Heroes always make this look so easy! Physics doesn't work this way!}
But, he immediately thought of bending such Physics. Stretching out his mind toward the Spirits, pouring out his mana to them while taking it in. However, instead of focusing toward his body, he pushed it toward the cursed charm itself. Causing it to surge a bright purple before it empowered itself, growing closer to Gray and his spiritual signature. Allowing him to begin slightly floating as he fell, giving him some leverage to glide off of. Yet the ground was coming far faster than he expected, causing him to give in and shoot the Cloak out instead. Latching onto a frozen branch of one of the many trees in the forest to swiftly swing high into the air.
Ryo: "Not gliding but at least you're not dead."
Ryo kept up with ease, stepping off of the air to keep up as Gray struggled. Flying through the air, screaming, barely keeping hold, and throwing out the built momentum as best he could. Hitting trees, branches, leaves, and piles of snow until he hit the ground. Leaping out like he was drowning before resting against the earth, kissing it with joy.
Ryo: "Now, on our march down I'd like to change things up a bit. We spent three weeks trying to grow your ability, your connection. But now I want to summarize it within you. Not just the Spirits, but all of your skills. I don't want to overload you, I want to make you into the best you that, well, you can be."
Before Gray could speak Ryo swung out his arm, flinging Gray down the forest before vanishing instantly. Appearing right behind Gray.
Ryo: "So focus, use it all. We'll slowly make it, you'll survive just as you did to get up here, and when we reach the bottom, you'll be ready."
Once again filled with fear, he could only sigh as he began being thrown around the mountain. Swinging the short sword on his back, taking in and letting out Spirit mana and normal mana, even unleashing Cenic a few times for good measure. Feeling the same punishment Edward had been going through for the past few days. Moving into the night, resting with the same God of War that beat them. To get ready, to truly grow, to make all of the losses worth it. All of them did, as even now, under the night sky ran a girl, atop the roofs, overwhelmed by rage. Pure sorrow, despair, and the only outlet she knew.
{Every Warrior left in this country is full of hatred.}
Through the wide streets of the Capital, the back roads, but most importantly, within a district left behind by Athens. Made of old white stone, covered in filth, with more holes than walls. Forgotten, left to crumble to war. Because, like it was when Athens was first founded, the district had been turned into a Demi-human only zone for six months. Until they were fully forced to leave, allowing the Red Arrows to take hold. The people left on the streets were lost, broken, and nothing more now than a barrier.
{They only stayed behind because of their hate against any non-human. They only stayed because they're weak, scared, pitiful.}
The many homeless people who roamed the streets, lived within the crumbling buildings and under destroyed bridges, were thrown away. Piling up more and more as broken Red Arrows, civilians caught in the cross fire, Warriors shunned away, and lost Demi-humans arrived. With the war, so many luxuries became dreams, a normal life was so far gone. In came such a girl, sprinting across the rooftops, soared over the gaps, looking for anything at all.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
Then came the first sighting of the night; there was a young girl fleeing desperately from a Warrior. Chased down the road as he laughed, the other Warriors closed behind, while everyone on the streets fled for the darkness. Swooping down to slam her shoulder against a running Warrior, throwing him across the street before blasting with him. She would pinball up the walls of a tight alley, scaling over the right side of the street from above. Getting attention from the Warriors to separate almost the entire group, sending them charging into the streets with their weapons drawn.
{A bunch of idiots with swords!}
She was coated in a veil of wind, glowing slightly green as she ran across the stone ledge.
"UP THERE!" "AN ELF!"
Instead of dragging on the fight, the moment the young girl made it to safety, Soku pivoted across the roof in the opposite direction. To continue on and not waste time, and not get overwhelmed.
{It's not worth it, and if they call even more Warriors, then I'll be done for. This is supposed to help, and if I fail, then it's all over. For everyone.}
She continued patrolling the streets, the skies, the top of the city itself. Mostly overtaken by greenery.
Past many people sleeping atop the rooftops. Past small pits of fire, huddles of sheets and blankets, rotten wood, loose bricks, and crumbling stone. Past it all until she could find something to do. And she would, time and time again. Screams from below, pinballing down the buildings to hurl wind at a warrior antagonizing a young woman before dashing back off into the shadows. Crashing through old windows to kick forth a torrent of pressure, slamming a Warrior back against the wall of the bedroom they were robbing. Allowing her to take out her sword and roll away from another, watching as the second of the three Warriors barely missed their slash.
"GET BACK!"
Instead of freezing, preparing, she fought. Running straight up the blade stuck in the wooden floor with her own sword flaring with wind behind her, slashing right through the thick leather armored shoulder of the man. Then, seeing the last Warrior run forward with his spear ready, she jumped off of the back of the second Warrior right over the spear. Allowing her cleaver to crash against their armored chest. Sending an influx of wind that caused the front wall of the bedroom to burst open, allowing her to leave by soaring up through the air. Continuing to chip away at their torturous grasp on the district through the night before returning to the tunnels beneath the Capital. She ran and ran, using the rest of her mana to force over exertion, to force her growth. Until she finally made it past a few guarding Red Arrows, given passage to the barracks. Where she'd fall asleep in an instant.
Peter: "Soku! Sorry to wake you so early but we've got to go!"
She flung up instantly, covered in bruises, tired out of her mind, and about to slice Peter in two.
Peter: "Sorry sorry! But I couldn't wait!"
Soku: "For what!?"
They were both met by loud drunken and tired shushes, forcing them out of the room. Leaving Soku in more sleep induced rage.
Peter: "Because it's done!"
Peter pulled the long wooden staff sitting against the wall, placing it right into Sokus hands. Leaving her surprised by the wait, and falling to the floor before standing again with it properly in her hands.
Soku: "A thick stick?"
Peter: "No! Put mana into the mana crystal!"
Right in the center on the inside of the staff was a glowing white crystal, and when it took in a miniscule amount of Sokus mana, the sides burst open with large green wings. Bat like, binded with more wood, and ready for use.
Soku: "The Glider!"
Peter: "Glider MK 1"
Soku: "Huh?"
Tired as ever and completely out of juice, she instantly fell back asleep against the wall. Leaving Peter to go back into his room, making sure to leave a blanket on her before he left.
Lincoln: "YAHHHHH!"
Five in the morning, at the same moment Soku fell asleep, Edward woke up in a horrid fashion. In Lincoln's cabin below Mount Yelira, forced to train, eat and sleep within a dense stone set of weighted armor, he was grabbed by the nose by the world's strongest man. Spun like a ball on his finger, bounced up and down, and threw through the front door in a few seconds.
Edward {For three days I've been thrown around like a rag doll. HOW IS THIS SUPPOSED TO TRAIN ME!?}
His thoughts were quickly brought to a halt by an iron tree, something he would continue to bash into as Lincoln dribbled him across the mountain.
Lincoln: "Hah! You think you'd learn to dodge or somethin!"
Edward: "If I could keep up!"
Again and again Lincoln's training, or torment, would spark the warrior's Spirit. Something that caused Lincoln's smile to grow even harder, while his fists swung father. Breaking down the Helsing with each passing second, to continue bashing him down through the days. He rolled, stood up, got hit again, stood up, again, up down up down to no luck. Causing him to ravage with fury, moving past the dense stones strapped to him to block. Bracing just before Lincoln punched hard enough to break his stone embrace.
Lincoln: "Good! Keep it up!"
The force would then slam him up the mountain, making Edward stand and try again.
Lincoln: "Let the rage swarm you! Don't hold anything back dammit! You're gonna need to let out everything if you want me to make it better!"
Break the Helsing, down to his core, to build him back up as the man he has to be. Whether or not he was truly ready. The bases for Lincoln's entire mission, similarly to Ryo's current task with Gray. To take and harden his anger, to take Edwards loss to Moro and turn it into something greater, mixed into punches and kicks. Leaving Edward in confusion, anger, and pain.
Lincoln: "Focus dammit!"
Edwards' eye jotted back toward Lincoln, then in front of him, then to his sides, trying to keep up with the blitzing beast. Swinging widely, growling, roaring, unable to do anything.
Lincoln: "I said focus!"
Just as he turned back a pressurized blast of wind knocked him forward. Rolling forward as his anger snowballed, causing him to leap back into action. Block, crash, run block crash run, again again again. Forcing himself to keep up, under his crumbling stone armor, forced back up the mountain.
Lincoln: "I can just pummel you forever! How are you gonna learn if you don't try!?"
Edward: "Learn what!? Focus!? Cause you keep saying it!"
Lincoln: "Yes focus yah idiot, but you gotta know why you're focusing. Get a clear view in mind, why you're doing this. Now come on, spit it out!"
Edward simply couldn't. His loss to Moro, his life long mission of vengeance. It was so ingrained into himself that it seemed obvious. But in truth, he was fighting for so many reasons he couldn't keep track anymore. Pain, anger, regret are the only things that come to mind. Something extremely obvious with just a glance at his face.
Edward: "Why do you care about that"
Lincoln: "Because I've never truly trained anybody! You want to come in, and then leave better, not join the Warriors. You're not my son."
Edward: "But I'm a Helsing right? You were friends with Musashi, and probably knew my parents better than I did. I thought you grabbed me because of my blood."
Lincoln couldn't help but laugh, taking hold of Edwards face and lifting him into the air right after. Edward kicked, squirmed, roared, but always missed. Held at bay like a toy.
Lincoln: "I grabbed you because of that look in your eye. I know how it feels to think you have it all, just for it to slip away, and be left to deal with the pain alone. Because it was your failure alone that caused your grief. Your inability. And that inability, it's great isn't it?"
Unable to speak through his large, dirty, bloody fists coated in Edwards loss, he simply nodded. So Lincoln dropped him, giving him a sip of his gourd . Only for Edward to try and spit it out right after.
Lincoln: "Don't waste that! I'd chug it down, keep the pain away, let you do and think whatever you want, not your body."
Edward: "Please don't tell me being drunk will help me. Even still I'm a Helsing, unawakened or not. It's gonna take a little more than this to get me going."
Lincoln: "Sure kid, if that's what you wanna think."
Before they could continue, Lincoln swiftly grabbed Edward and latched his gourd to Edwards mouth. Forcing him to gulp down the extremely heavy whiskey while he walked up the mountain. Up until Edward almost threw up into it, getting Lincoln to instantly pull it away.
Lincoln: "Losing and not being able to handle it is the reason Athens is the way it is. But keep in mind, making it through broken or losing outright, it's all the same. Will you be able to stand with the cracks?"
Edward: "Well, I guess I should fill them up right?"
Lincoln: "Filling sounds better than breaking down and rebuilding. All you have to do is make sure that what you're fixing isn't too far gone."
So for a moment, he sat and thought, all while Lincoln moved further up the mountain. Passing steam shoots, building ponds and streams, and scaring Spirit beasts off with pure presence. The alcohol quickly began to set in right after, leaving Edward feeling like he was falling. Falling, rising, falling, rising, his senses roller coastering alongside it. But, for as much as his stomach resisted, he tried his best to keep a straight face. Shivering on.
Lincoln: "Hah! Told yah! I'm not the smartest around but I know my elixirs."
Edward: "You can brew potions?"
Lincoln: "Hell no! Potions and elixirs are two different things! But yeah I can mix them, weak healing slop and some tasty slop that spikes the booze way high! A couple big swigs back to back might even set me on my ass!"
Right then it all fell further. His stomach angrily growing back, his mind failing, and his heart burning, and yet he still held it in. Seeing as Lincoln reached a small cave in the mountain.
Lincoln: "Remember. Find why you fight. I don't care how wordy it is, I just need a genuine reason. Not because others wanted you too, not because of an expectation. But why YOU chose this path? If you can't, then there's nothing on from here."
Edward: "Okay, what's next?"
Again Lincoln moved faster than Edward could speak, pushing the Helsing directly into the cave. Then, just as he stood to run back, Lincoln broke the entrance. Leaving him in some darkness, aside from the red elemental crystals lighting the back. An opening to a far larger network under the Volcano. So, with a massive pile of rubble ahead, Edward walked back toward the cave to find his way out. And finally put into words just why he fights.
Calgary: "Come on, it's just through here."
Gray ran down the mountain with Ryo hot on his tail, Edward began moving through the boiling caves, Soku was forced to attend a strategy meeting without any sleep, and then walked Rosemary. Her face was without any light, her walk without life, but still she walked on. Unbound, even from her mama dampening crystals temporarily. So she could enter a room in the center of Athens Tower. A large, three story space, with multiple floors within. All for the Warriors to train, aside from the ring in the center.
Rosemary: "Am I training with you?"
Calgary: "Of course, I'll even give you a few pointers."
Even under his Dragon Stone mask she could feel his wink, pulling her heart into itself. However, it also gave her the chance to finally punch him as hard as she wanted without consequence. So she followed him forward, and even in her gifted golden sweater and long black skirt she lit up in gold. Clicking three times to be engulfed in a thin, flaming, golden light. While Calgary pushed into stage four, his armor's enchantment turned the energy blue instead.
Calgary: "Is the fourth your highest? That's all I saw you use on Solon Bay."
Rosemary: "Yeah, it is. But I can handle it, for a bit."
Without a word they both dashed forward. Calgary leap pushed him far further far faster, giving him the chance to let out a barrage of quick blows. And give advice, no matter how bad it was.
Calgary: "Since the stages take so much so quickly you gotta force everything you can out at the beginning!"
Rosemary returned the words with a confused look, and a sudden kick across Calgary's face. Temporarily boosted into the fourth stage to push him back.
Rosemary: "Really now?"
She piled up the pressure, pivoting all around him with bursts into the fourth stage. Blow after blow, punch kick dodge again. Calgary, even in the fourth stage, struggled to keep up. Throwing out jab after jab, with pressure blasting with it, only for Rosemary to side step and crash her fist across his face.
Rosemary: "You gotta be able to fight before you push your limits!"
With "oooohs" from the observing crowd, Calgary pushed into the fifth stage. Sending her rolling back into a punch to the stomach.
Calgary: "You were -
Cutting him off, Rosemary threw it all into a right hook. Throwing him off his game, moving his mask just enough to distract him, and knocking the wind out of him. Yet his fifth stage armor gave enough guard for him to block the next strike, grabbing hold of her arm right after. Then, with an arm grabbed and Calgary's fist heading toward her face, she used her other hand to ignite into the fourth stage before unleashing a flick of all her fingers. Sending force a blunt blast of wind to throw him off, just enough for a drop kick to send him back. Getting an even louder reaction from the dazed and tired Warriors.
Calgary: "You can do all of this, but without more power you'll have nothing. Skill and technique are nothing compared to flashy moves."
Rosemary: "Really now? So the world's best anything is just somebody with extreme power? No skill?"
Calgary: "Skill is a power! Some born with it, some without. If you don't get it, you better hope you get something else. But it's nothing in the face of grandiose abilities."
The longer they went the more strain Rosemary was put under. Having to fight in front of the Warriors, having to speak with Calgary, having to do anything for these people seemed awful. But the idea of growing stronger, getting something that might help just the smallest bit, was enough for her to push on through any hell. It was a power of will they all had. Whether it be staying behind to train in the snow, getting defeated and left for dead, doing some good ole vigilante justice, or flat out brawling for once, they were trying. All working I'm different ways for the same outcome: the saving and survival of the country that gave them life, new or old.