Arc 4: What families entail
Gray sat with nothing but himself. Looking over all he's lost. All he might lose.
Gray {What am I doing.}
Panzer was breaking down under Raylice massive strikes, cleaving through streets of Red Arrows, while Garly was thrown back time and time again no matter what she did.
Gray {I feel like I've said and thought it a billion times since Greenvale. But I failed you. You gave it up for me, and I tried to do the same, for what?}
The boy that first stepped foot in this world was desperate. So desperate to be who he thought he needed, he lashed out, hurt his friends, did things he'll never forgive himself for. Treating Edward like some rival enemy, Rosemary like she wasn't a real person, being so mean to Soku, even making her cry. Letting Ophelia burn. That third chance, it wasn't a restart, a true growth point. It was always a mental thing. It means nothing. He means nothing. Right?
Gray { I didn't know you guys for that long. All of this probably makes me seem like I'm trying to find something to cry about. But you guys were supposed to be my family! I threw mine away, I threw my world away, but is it so wrong to wish for something better!?}
Rosemary had pushed her body to the brink, the fourth stage at its max through her body. She had everybody in mind. However at her core, she broke through the weak mana dampening crystals because she had to. She lost at Solon Bay. She sat broken, but she freed Soku. She became friends with somebody who still won't say her name, so much so she'd try and give up her life. On top of trying to break such restraints for a while now. But she loves what she has, and she'd do anything for them. Gray would, Soku would, Edward would. Gray though, time and time again, has been the only one they had to worry about killing themselves. Edward maybe? Soku and those cuts. Rosemary and her stages? It was all so destructive, but there Gray was, on death's door while they were standing to fight again.
She and Julius ran like hell through the battlefield, past Toll, so many stories to be here. Rosemary held Gray so tightly, Soku couldn't breathe, and Julius stood with Ceasar at the door away. Awaiting the next call. But the frail Demi-human woman held Gray just as tight. Allowing her Mark to expand around them in a bright purple color.
Rosemary: "Can't you heal him just enough to survive!? You can't kill yourself! Not for people you don't even know!"
"If I did that I'd be old enough to drop dead anyway. The Spirits cursed me with this Mark. But…but my life was meant to push others forward. This kid didn't even know that monster, and he gave his life for all of us. If anybody deserves this right now, it's him. Please, let me help Athens for once in my life. Instead of being forced to help these horrid Warriors."
In truth she was in her twenties, but that all seemed so long ago now. How quickly an entire life can flip upside down because of one power man's wishes. However she had the power to flip the world too, but it would take her being to do it. For a boy who would let himself die before allowing such a fate.
Soku couldn't stand losing anybody else, especially after getting Rosemary back. Julius and Caesar turned to begin cutting through a few Warriors without any care. Rosemary was breaking down to pieces. And there lay Gray. The woman activated the full flow, triggering a bright wave of tight mana to bind them. Her scales faded, her long white dreaded hair grew longer, she grew even skinnier. While Gray's body began to let out disgusting crunches, his fingers snapping into place. The woman instantly let out screams of pure terror. The pain of Gray's wounds was enough to almost knock her out instantly.
Rosemary went to stop her but the force shoved her back, forced to watch as her friend evaporated into the sky. Gray's muscles went back together, his dust for bones regained shape, his blood flowed back into place. Even his OD was repaired, adding back what was shaved away.
Rosemary: "Stop! What are you doing!? This is enough!"
"Y'know I did never tell you my name did I."
Her body began to destabilize. Her left arm gone in a flash of mana, fading away like ash up her torso.
"It's Iris, just Iris."
Gray began to scream and scream at the top of his lungs with pain even in unconsciousness. Rosemary on the other hand was left frozen. As she shared a name with her mother. However Iris began to go completely. Her legs, her entire body breaking into nothingness while her Mark's power remained active. Gray lifted, his eyes and mouth bursting with mana, before a large combustion of force sent dust flying through all the immense, thick rubble surrounding them.
Rosemary: "Iris!"
Rosemary ran forward to find nothing but her torn rags over a still unconscious Gray. The damage mostly undone, but he'd have to wait until he awoke to find out the true extent of the damage he's done to himself. Even after Iris gave her life for him to stand and fight again. Rosemary went quiet. The tower shook violently, battles were waged all across the land, but for Rosemary it was completely silent. Just her and her failures.
Rosemary: "If it didn't take me so long to break out! If I would have just tried to run with Soku instead of holding them back! If I would have just run away from that beach instead of trying to play hero! If I just stayed in Greenvale none of this would have happened!"
Like her friends, her mind instantly flashed further back. To all the things and people they've lost in such a short time. Over and over and over again.
Rosemary: "If I would have just stayed with the GoldenKnights then you -
Soku: "STOP IT! Don't say that!"
Soku's hands snapped Rosemary back into reality instantly. Her defended ears are open to the war. An all too familiar, almost comfortable feeling.
Soku: "We met when you saved me and Soku from some anarchists! You met Gray when you saved us from Jeremiah! You helped me defeat Carla, you freed me from this same dungeon! Out of all of us you're the only one who hasn't run off, screamed, or done any dumb shit! So I won't let you sit here and act like you're worse than all of us dammit! I just won't! Not after all that's happened, NOT RIGHT NOW! WHEN ATHENS STILL NEEDS US, BECAUSE WALGONIA NEEDS US, BECAUSE OPHELIA AND EVERYBODY NEEDS US TOO!"
Her voice rose and rose, before Soku stood bloody crying and ready for more. Taking a random Dragon stone knife, placing it in her belt, and turned to find Peter sticking his head out of the drain.
Peter: "Is…is it safe???"
Soku: "No, but come out anyway."
He pulled himself up with all his might, having spent the entire fight trying to scale the long stone drain wall. Rosemary on the other hand moved to Calgary and the small crater she left him in. Only to find his broken mask, a pool of blood, and his body completely gone. Fear took her soul, while Peter made sure he had his poppers ready, his sling shot drawn, and his short Red cloak in place. Before all of their faces began owning in fear. As they all turned, looking on toward a strange loud noise barreling straight for the entrance.
Caesar: "What's the problem!?"
Cesar was thrown out of the way while Julius dodged, as a mass wave of Red Arrows and Spartans came rushing forth. Covered in wounds, drawing with more fear than Peter.
Rosemary: "What happened!?"
More and more, forming an incredibly dense crowd heading back down the drain. Mixes of words and answers flowing between a few hundred people.
"It's Toll, she told us to leave the Tower!"
Soku: "Then we're Toll!?"
"Half way up the tower! She started fighting with some Top Elites, and then…then we heard his flames. Right then she screamed for us to run! And we're gonna!"
Rosemary: "Who's flames!?"
"THE BLACK DRAGONS, ARTHUR WILLIAMS!"
Leo fought torrents of massive magical attacks. Garly fought the physically impossible. And now Toll must face the man who started the hell Gray and the others find themselves in. She stood with many Red Arrows and Spartans, throwing out a massive blast to Warriors that crushed the tight stone tower. Causing floors to crash upon floors, blasts of wind pressure to be seen rampaging out tower walls, and Elites to drop like flies. Then came the flames above. Shot forth with extreme pressure, bending through the stone halls hard enough for them to combust. The Red Arrows standing in front of it faced an immediate end. Their bodies tore apart from the force while the flames ate away at their separating pieces. The fact that he was in this castle caused Rosemary and Soku to seize in panic. Their faces were tight, frozen, almost angry, but far too worked up to stand straight.
Peter: "...Toll is gonna die."
Rosemary: "NO! I WON'T LET ANYBODY ELSE GO!"
Rosemary flung towards the door filled with fleeing soldiers. Only two steps out before Soku grabbed hold. Rosemary instantly surged into the second stage. Flashes of her pushing Soku away at Solon Bay, pushing her to escape from the dungeon, all culminated into a final push. Yet that also culminated in Soku finally smacking Rosemary's hand away, grasping her torn prisoner garbs through her weak stages.
Soku: "I'M NOT LETTING YOU DIE AFTER JUST GETTING YOU BACK! DON'T BE AN IDIOT!"
Rosemary: "BUT WE HAVE TO SAVE HER! HER STRENGTH WAS THE ONLY REASON I COULD GET DOWN HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE! I WON'T JUST LEAVE HER DAMMIT!"
Soku: "I NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT LEAVING HER! WE HAVE TO SAVE HER, TOGETHER! SO STOP PUSHING ME AWAY! I'M FASTER THAN YOU, GIVE ME TIME TO CHARGE AND I'M AS STRONG AS YOU, BUT MY CUTS ARE FAR MORE DEADLY! STOP TREATING ME LIKE A KID, STOP ACTING LIKE I'M GONNA DIE JUST LIKE OPHELIA!"
Again Rosemary seized. Looking to an unconscious Gray for any kind of reason. Before finally smiling. Standing firmly with Soku.
Rosemary: "We go in, we go out. If we even waste a second Arthur will be on us, so GO!"
Rosemary in the third stage trying to preserve strength, while Soku poured wind mana out around her body, blasting ahead of Rosemary as she pinballed up the staircase over Red Arrows. Charging back into battle, while Peter stood shaking so hard he couldn't breathe, and Gray laid against the broken floor. Unable to do anything at all, because of what he did to himself. Now forced to unknowingly send Rosemary and Soku off against an almost sure death without any extra help. Truly -
Azalea: "A liability and nothing more. Doesn't it hurt so much to fail so often? I only really failed once so I wouldn't know."
Gray struggled to move through the darkness. His feet no longer sticking to the Cloak ground, his eyes no longer blinded by the scenic-like fog. His entire body was in immense pain, so much so he could hardly walk in a mind space. Forced to drop to his knees and kneel upon Azalea and her oozing throne. She sat with her legs crossed, her dress fused to the domain, her beautiful hair flowing in wind that shouldn't be here. This time Gray started forward, his hair hanging low, his eye bags heavier than ever, and his eyes themselves, filled with that disease like anger that is always festering within.
Gray: "The cracks on your skin are fading. Gotta know the skin care routine or are you just trying to look pretty for me?"
Azalea: "That nasty way of speaking you call humor right? That's what you just tried? I'm just stating the facts. Without that woman killing herself for you, our OD may have been susceptible to mana decay. Oh and you may have been paralized."
Whatever confidence or will that anger gave him was instantly snatched away. His head now staring at the bubbling black misty floor.
Azalea: "You keep putting pressure on our OD like this the next time you crack it you could blow a hole in it. Get mana decay, lose your manas power, I could go on and on. Oh and your body still has some permanent damage. Luckily for you, with my Spirit affinity you should be able to heal past it eventually. A nasty crunch in your knee every so often? Random shoulder and back pain? A right arm potentially permanently numb? Head aches or OD burn? Oooh maybe you'll grow an addiction to medial Elixirs and healing potions! I hear they can dissolve teeth after too much use!"
Gray: "WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER! IF I DIE YOU DIE WITH ME!"
Azalea: "I'M ALREADY DEAD, AND IF YOU'RE NEVER GIVING ME CONTROL THEN THAT'S NOT GONNA CHANGE! THIS IS A CURSE Y'KNOW! HAVING TO WATCH YOU SPEECH WITH ALL THESE PEOPLE, KILL SO MANY OF MINE! YOU BROKE DONTES FACE, GOT CHARLIE KILLED, SOMEHOW LIVED FROM CRIMSON ZHAO AND THEN MADE HIM LIKE YOU!? HOW DID YOU DO THAT NOBODY CAN DO THAT! UGH!"
The Cloak rose all around them, the mist grew faster and denser, while Gray was snagged by tendrils upon all of his limbs. Forced into the air, forced to take the tear inducing pain his body was experiencing. The anguish Azalea was letting out.
Azalea: "MEETING MUSASHI AND RYO AND GORDON AND JONG AND GETTING TO ATHENS! IT ALL SEEMS MADE UP! AND HERE I AM WATCHING IT ALL PLAY OUT BY THE SECOND! WATCHING YOU DESTROY EVERYTHING I'VE BUILT, DESTROY MY OWN PRECIOUS GOD! USE MY MANA LIKE A SAVAGE, USE THE CLOAK OF DARKNESS LIKE IT'S SOME ROPE AND CHAIN! THE FACT YOU EVEN POSSESS THE CLOAK IS MOCKERY TO MY ENTIRE EXISTENCE, AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN HOW DO YOU DO THIS!? AND YOU GET UPSET AT ME FOR TREATING YOU THE SAME WAY!? HAH! YOU SHOULD HERE THE STORIES OF THE WITCH OF DARKNESS! WHO I'D BE IF WE MET IN REALITY! BUT NO, I'M FORCED TO BE A JESTER TO A JESTER!"
Gray was thrown into the darkness. With a bit of confusion, as he could have sworn he saw a tear flowing down her shaking face. But he couldn't think anything more before he was forced into unconsciousness. Truly absent as Athens pushed forward through hell. Where Toll kicked the air like a ball to send out missiles like wind pressure. Sending Warrior and Elite forces into the broken open space the battle had created. Multiple floors and walls all open and collapsing, held up by the thick dragon stone supports within the tower. Where the leader of the Top Elites, Frank Will, clashed Dragon Stone blades to her Dragon stone leg brace. Throwing each other across the broken tower.
Frank: "IGNUM!"
Instead of using a magic crystal, he used something more savage. Magic crystals are a conduit, increasing magical reach as well as control. But for some, it was far easier to pull in elemental mana right into your hand and cast. Leaving burns, while sending out a wobbly blast of fire meant to burn the space around Toll. Giving himself time to open the jaw of his helmet, take out five separate Elixirs, and drink them all in one gulp.
Frank: "Man I needed this! It's been like three hours since I've felt a buzz!"
It caused his skin to turn red, sweat like crazy, and imitate a powerful connection to the flame spirits. A second worked to cool his body from the temperatures, as well as cool his pain. The third to increase his body's strength, and a fourth to increase his endurance. Creating a mix of Elixirs most would overdose on, turning his eyes white, causing his heart to beat rapidly, and his anger to spike like crazy. The fifth Elixir was just for the thrill, and to stop the itching feeling all over. All to become an Elite Juggernaut, rampaging forward while smashing his sword against the tower over and over and over again.
Toll: "So this is all that's left of Athens!? Elixir addicts clinging to false strength! Those were banned in the army years ago!"
Frank: "AND THEY GOT UNBANNED WHEN THE ARMY STARTED NEEDING MORE WARRIORS!"
He carried a large amount of force forward, causing the broken tower to collapse even more, all while his focus was on the flame spirits. Pushing what little mana he had, boosted by the Elixiers, to create an even brighter aura of fire mana.
Frank: "EL-IGNIC!"
Toll had taken in deep breath after breath. Focusing in on her body, similarly to the Dragons fist and internal mana. She didn't know what she was doing, and she hadn't mastered it, but it always made her attacks stronger. The Art of the Demi-humans, lost to those outside the Southern Islands, but still there, always there. Only for the best to find it. And Toll was the second strongest Demi-human in Athens, and was one of the strongest before Bearguard sent them all away. She even spun to gather a little more force before slamming her leg through the air. Frank on the other hand combust with bright orange and red flames, his body as the core, burning through Toll's dense skin before everything was thrown backward. Frank was sent flying, trying to drag his feet against the stone, before crashing against wall after wall.
Still came the many Warriors and Elities, chipping down her soon to be empty power. Her life was on the brink, and all she could think about were the times she walked through this Tower, safe. A teenager in the low ranked Warriors in awe, in her twenties with more friends she could ever dream of in the upper ranks, twenty six as an Elite drinking with Lincoln and Leo, so many parties and gatherings, so many stressful meetings forcing her to stand in rows and bow. Her heart burned for Leo and Gary's safety. For Athens. She could fight these fake Warriors all day and night, but Arthur? Her fate ended with somebody on their first trip to Athens. An unlucky crossing of paths. The world was against her, but she was used to it.
Toll {Please, if it's just me, I'll accept it. Just don't let tonight be the last days of the Red Arrows. I beg, I beg of you. Please.}
Cretan faced the sea, what felt like East of Athens but what was truthly north of Saga. The beaches now swarmed with fleeing people, to boats, to hide, to swim, to wait. The tall towers stood over Athens, the tallest set of buildings together in Athens, the tallest city in Athens. Even the longest city in Athens. Blocks collapsed, others fizzled into the air as smoke from dense fires, and Kacy Kast continued to rain hell on the world. She pulled in massive balls of fire spirits and wind spirits to send out shots like a cannon ball, miniguns, rain, anything. Rapidly spreading her flames and dropping large spheres of molten earth no matter who was below. Crushing her own Red Arrows, and always missing its true target.
Leo {I won't let tonight be the end! We'll push on until this war is finally over! Even if it's a straight year of fighting I'll do it! It's basically been like that for four years anyway!}
He blasted street to street cloaked in Lighting, throwing out bursts of bright yellow electricity toward groups of Warriors to leave them on the destroyed cobble barley alive. For the Elites in front of him, he clashed his Golden Alfheilm spear with their Dragon stone. Sending them flying through sheer force alone while his lightning collected on the inside. Single hits, to the head or side, all like haymakers. He couldn't peirce through the Dragon stone, the blade was a bit too thick to get through the vents on the armor, but he was definitely strong enough to crush them anyway. Large crackles followed within the wind of each strike. Down across thrust, jumping off faces with electric bursts, focusing ranged shots into his fingers for five separate streams, stomping the street to force out lightning. The strikes of lightning were like hands. Taking hold around each soldier, through each soldier. Enough to kill the average person, and enough to leave the average Warrior broken. Lifting into the air along with their escaping screams. Compared to Panzer, the Red Arrows seemed to be holding on tight. Grouping up as much as possible, evenly splitting Demi-humans and humans, anything they could. But still hellfire rained down behind them constantly, arrows from nowhere took out five Red Arrows every few seconds, and then there was Olivia Trude.
Leo {She won't get off my ass!}
Angry, not at Leo, but at all the chaos around her. The innocent's suffering because she hasn't ended this yet. Fueling her might as she pushed mana toward the wind Spirits. She then took in a large burst, causing her skin to glow green and her eyes to do the same. Flashing around Leo, took out her wand, and yelled toward the world.
Olivia: "Dear Spirits that guide this world! Hear my calls, here my need!"
He let out a surge of lightning all around, but she vanished out of the way. Losing a handful of Warriors leaping to surround him before she finished her chant. The affinity of wind was the most rare, the bigger your connection the higher your chances were. Resulting in somebody like Olivia possessing a large sum of mana, with control strong enough to let out spells strong enough to send Leo crashing through buildings. And in this case, it really hurt him.
Olivia: "HERE MY SCREAMS! AL-GISJO!"
A third of the street, all around Leo, was instantly encased in bright green wind spirits. Yet they flashed, filled with Spirit mana, and became a violently powerful blue. Flowing and flowing faster than he could leap away. Leaving him trapped, forced to hold his ground as the world became nothing but slashes. The wind coming off the outside of the dome was enough to crush the buildings in on themselves, send Red Arrows and Warriors flying, and even left Olivia barely holding onto the road. Leo cloaked and guarded with mana, tightened electricity around him as densely as possible, and took hold of his spear. Throwing it as hard as he could to break through the dome. Again and again through his reinforced leather armor, stronger than the Warriors, made like the original people of Athens to be refined into something better. Still they went past, into and against his skin, his fingers. He saw so many people fighting for Athens. Who had died for Athens. Who died for him. A father who could stop it all nowhere to be found, and a brother at the soul cause of it all. The family who took Athens, who made Athens, and he would die before he let them end Athens.
Leo {COME ONNN!!!}
He let go of his dense. Pushing a torrent of lightning behind his spear to increase the power. The dome expanded, ripping open for hundreds of small and large slashes to unleash upon the already collapsing street. And Leo's spear hit its target. Slicing through Olivia's side, the electricity is enough to send her crashing against an alley. Unable to stand. Only able to look on as Leo leapt to defeat the rest of the Warriors. To finally win, and take Cretan back forever. Olivia could only look at the destruction she caused and failed to stop.
Olivia {Get up dammit! You fought so hard to get here! Kacy, Ena, Gracey, they did too. I have to prove that Athens was wrong dammit! That Bearguard is right! That woman is just as, no, stronger than "The Warriors"! So stand dammit stand!}
She got a leg up, an arm against the cobble to stand, but another arm helped her the rest of the way.
Olivia: "Thanks."
Ena never spoke, simply nodding her head and seeping into the shadows once again. Back to ending life after life without ever being sensed. To leave Olviia sighing, in immense pain, and already running back to action. She let out a short surge of mana toward the Spirits, took in a deep breath, and once again chased Leo down with the rest of her might.
Olivia: "Gisnel!"
A light aura of bright green wind flowed around her entire body, twisting perfectly around in a dense fashion instead of a large flooding surge like Soku. Not as powerful as simply taking in Wind mana, but not nearly as degrading on the body. Her brain trembled, her mouth was dry, her stomach churned, and her OD was quickly reaching its limit. As a Wind Mage she took the burden of strength. Needing to stand out, needing to use the grand connection she was given. As a Warrior, devoting her life to the cause when she was just fifteen, she would never leave Athens' side. No matter how much she hated what it was becoming. And as a Top Elite, she would pursue possibly the strongest man in Athens. Below Raylice, and obviously below Lincoln, but they had been absent for so long they were leaving the minds of everyone. Just a Legend. Even if they were right there in their backyard.
Leo {I can keep helping the Red Arrows down here for a while, but they'll keep dying if I don't stop that mage raining down crazy attacks! I'll target these Top Elities, and then I can focus on the Elities! If Panzer and the Coliseum fail, if they all fail, a single victory will still matter! They can't say the Red Arrows were snuffed out like nothing! We'll change Athens dammit! One way or the other!}
He moved through the air like bolts of lightning, surging over a carriage, up a building, towards the wall of another building to leap to an even taller wall beside it. Pinballing up the climbing towers, toward the Mayors tower. Where all the fire, earth, ice, and wind kept erupting from.
Olivia: "You're not getting anywhere near her!"
Everybody was fighting, stacking over each other, so overwhelming, so confusing. And everybody was soon to approach death's door before the third hour of this country wide battle ended.
The Capital was silent of true battle, rushing out toward the other cities, their posts, or the Tower. But that Tower may be the most dangerous place in all of Athens. Toll was within the hellish Tower growing harder and harder to fight in, as it all kept falling around her. Frank kept chugging Elixer after Elixer to stand and fight, but he was moving slower and weaker than the Warriors running past him to fight. Arthur's flames purged floor after floor, right about to do the same to Toll any minute. Rosemary gathered parts of Warrior and Elite armor atop her torn clothes. A Dragon stone vambrace, leather armor strapped around her body, while Soku sent wind against the many groups of Warriors and magic ahead. Stunning them for Rosemary to blast her leg into the fourth stage, and kick hard enough to break through them all. Running past the many fleeing Red Arrows with full focus. Julius kept watch of Gray, and Peter even forced himself up the first few flights to help; The Battle of Athens Tower was holding on, ready to snap at any second.
In Panzer, the Warriors held their fortress. A city denser than the Capital, a city that made most of the weapons, metals, materials, and armor across all of Athens. A city turned into a home for Warriors, Elites, and devout servants. Civilians remained, enough to crowd the streets with screams, but they got quieter every second. Collapsing in a burst of blood against Raylice massive attacks. Garly held her bleeding, cut, screaming body while forcing out a layer of incredibly dense stone skin. She vanished, away from Raylice and her street cleaving attacks, trying her best to kill as many Warriors and Elites as possible instead of wasting her life against Raylice. But she knew Raylice was just chipping her down for the perfect moment. Doing exactly what she was doing to the Red Arrows, in a far grander, scarier fashion. Garly slashed, tore, bit, but Raylice had the world thrown upward in massive torrents of pressure. A level of pure might only a few others share in the world. Somehow retained from her decades of imprisonment.
The Colosseum City? A place once regarded as the pinnacle of Athens beauty. Built around a massive Coliseum of course, but after Lincoln and Raylice battle decades ago, it was broken to a point of no return. Shattered, filled with the unluckiest in Athens, once the criminal capital of Athens infested with Bounty Hunters, gangs, and underground organizations. Now infested with the Gravestone Pirates, watching over a mass of prisoners within the decayed and shattered Colosseum. The large black sky washed over them, the sand covered in the blood of the slaughtered. While the Warriors and Elites battled a mass of Red Arrows at every entrance of the city, along with the many already within, the Gravestone Pirates were solely concerned with killing. To them it was to grow stronger, to prove themselves, to get some food after so long. And to do exactly what Bearguard ordered them to do, be the monsters he swears they are. For a large amount of Dragon Ore and food, nothing more.
And the strongest man in the world watched over it all from afar in the woods of Mount Yelira. Listening, watching, drinking. While Edward recuperated from his battle against the pirates. Unable to fight, unable to get to his friends, unable to get to Moro. Forced to wait, forced to get stronger, like he had for weeks. Athens got closer and closer to its end, and he was doing nothing but training to kill a single man. So he looked out through the trees at a chaotic world. Before facing the pinnacle of human ambition.
Edward: "Is it time for the Dragon of Athens to return?"
Lincoln responded with rage like he said he would, hitting Edward on his injured and bandaged shoulder before pulling forward in the mud he sat in. Edward didn't budge. It hurt like hell, and even a small bit of force was kicked up, but his Warriors Spirit flared within. Locking their single eyes together.
Edward: "...If you don't tell me, I have to act. And I'll return."
Lincoln: "Dammit kid you can't do anything here! What do you want me to do!? Fly around the whole country, fight everybody, force them to be peaceful!? That's not how this works! It would just make me a tyrant, and Athens a bunch of slaves!"
Edward: "Then help your son! Do something dammit! If you won't, then don't stop me! I can't just sit by and watch this! Not when my family is screaming at me from the grave to stand! Not when the only family I have is drowning in flames!"
Lincoln: 'I'm not stopping you from leaving! I thought you wanted this!? When the battles calm down the Gravestone Pirates will be stretched thin. This could be your best chance to end those monsters once and for all!"
Edward: "And this could be your best chance to turn Athens around the right way! We could go together!"
Lincoln: "Dammit kid listen to me!"
Lincoln stood, vanishing behind Edward before holding him up by his torn tanktop.
Lincoln: "IF I PUSH MY BODY MORE THAN IT CAN HANDLE I'LL BREAK! I TRAINED EVERYDAY FOR ALMOST SIXTY YEARS! I BROKE MYSELF WITHOUT AID OF BLOODLINES OR MAGIC! I DID THIS! AND I'VE HAD TO SUFFER KNOWING IT'S BEEN CHIPPING AWAY AT MY BONES, MY MUSCLES, BIT BY BIT UNTIL I'M NOTHING SINCE I WAS THIRTY FIVE! I TRIED OKAY! I TRIED FOR OVER TWENTY DAMN YEARS! AND HERE WE ARE! I CAN MOVE, FIGHT, TRAIN, HELL MAYBE I COULD END THIS WAR MYSELF! BUT BY THE END I'D BE NOTHING BUT A MUSCULAR HUSK, WHILE THE WAR STARTS ALL OVER AGAIN!"
Lincoln shook Edward widely under the night. Louder than all the nearby explosions and screams. The massive crowds of civilians running, on horseback, on any carriage or Spirit Beast they could find, with as much of their family as possible. The Wars were the focus, the cities at the focal point. But the people, they were the reason for it all, and they were the only ones unable to do anything but suffer against the opposing sides. A country where most of the people still within were some kind of soldier. He was giving up so much wasn't he? Thousands dead, thousands more to come.
Why on earth was Lincoln Valentine so damn weak? Questions questions. Edward felt them surge forward like anger. But it had been sunken within the souls of Athens people. No hope for their Dragon to ever roar again. This world lost Kioshi. Musashi. The strength of the strongest were fading within every country in Saga, every continent of the world. The Era of the Gods was ending, and its remnants survived long enough to push toward whatever this next era would become. Lincoln though, sixty, won so many battles, achieved his dream and a bigger one he didn't know he wanted; he had a family. All lost, except the only thing that could bring it together, his power. Give it up for the future, throw everything to throw the next generation forward. Act like the Gods Musashi and Kioshi were, or become something like Elizabeth Voria or the Mad King Cornelius. Forever in their castles, only using their strength only when they need to show dominance. Not Ryo, atop a mountain for most of the last twenty years.
After everything they'd lost, what Edward saw as pure selfishness, especially amidst all the battles unfolding. So many, from random skirmishes to his friends possible last moments. And Lincoln, ranting about how he might not be able to fight, the same fear that is within every person no matter their current condition the second they stepped into battle.
Edward: "YOU'RE JUST SCARED OF BEING HUMAN DAMMIT!"
Edward threw it all forward, leaving Lincoln astonished. It was like all the anger from the Gravestone pirates, the same people he just got finished slaughtering, took everything else with it. On top of the build up of annoyance from their time together. With the war, with Athens on the line, all he felt was despair coated in flaming rage. His bones shook, his muscles tightened, his skin got hotter, before nothing. The effect was untrue, but his strike was still enough for Lincoln to feel it. Edward screamed, his arm pulled back, before smashing Lincoln's nose within the span of a few seconds. Lincoln's nose was fine of course, breaking Edwards finger, but a wave of air pressure went along with it. Enough to move the mud, push the leaves all around, and crack the trees in one great surge. The backlash of whatever happened left Edwards arm in a dense straining shocking pain, before dropping slightly num. Yet he still clenched his teeth with rage, his left arm gripping as hard as possible on Lincoln's thick, Dragon stone dense forearm.
Edward: "IF YOU WOULD JUST GO SPEAK WITH YOUR SONS, CREATE A SPACE FOR UNDERSTANDING! BUT THE EASIEST ANSWER IS JUST GO DEFEAT BEAUREGARD! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO END HIS LIFE, JUST END THIS! RETURN ATHENS TO WHAT IS WAS! THAT SHOULDN'T TAKE ALL OF YOUR STRENGTH! AND IF IT DOES, WOULDN'T IT BE WORTH IT!? WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND GIVING YOUR LIFE FOR ATHENS IF YOU WERE WILLING TO DO IT FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE!"
Lincoln: "DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS IS ATHENS!? HAH!"
A land where the Demi-humans may never feel safe in Athens again, at least for a century. Where Toll punched Elixir addicted Warriors, breaking a Top Elite boosted on even more Elixers face with a clean left hook. Before Arthur Williams himself walked down the steps laughing in his burnt robe, without shoes, holding a bottle of whiskey. Brought by the king. The Devil of Walgonia, their most esteemed guest, sparking flames against one of Athens most promising Elites of its history. Before he let them off in an instant, through the destroyed middle section of the Tower, through countless Warriors, all to hit Toll.
Toll {FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!}
An incredible burden, immense pain, on top of a focused blast of black flames. Screaming into the sky while her wounds gushed blood, her armor decayed and fell, her eyes went white. Her entire left arm consumed, and in a flash, sizzled from a thick waving shadow to ash, before the fire faded into nothing. Taking the many half dead or dead people in the room with it, along with the horrific screams. Leaving Arthur laughing and laughing, at just how weak they all were. Toll on her knees in a single blast, and Athens best cried for it to stop as the flames quickly ate away at them.
Lincoln: "ATHENS CAN NEVER BE WHAT IT ONCE WAS! THIS DISTURBING ABUSE EVERYBODY HAS BEEN PUT THROUGH! SO MUCH OF ITS HISTORY, LAND MARKS, STATUES, BURNED AWAY! SPIRIT BEASTS THAT USED TO BE TREATED AS A PART OF THE LAND HUNTED AND FORCED INTO FEARFUL PACKS! HELL, GIVING RESOURCES TO THE GRAVESTONE PIRATES AND PUTTING ATHENS ON BLACKBEARDS MAP! EVEN MOUNT YELIRA COULD BLOW ANY MONTH NOW, HELL ANY WEEK! THE SECT COULD APPEAR, ANYTHING!"
The sound of the fire. The heat. The fact Arthur was so close caused Soku to seize on the stairs. Forcing Rosemary back, to hold her dear sister, looking as worried as can be. While Soku was completely locked up in anguish, Ophelia's memory completely overtook her. Arthur, her fear of the fire, her fear of it all so much in an instant. Afterwards, she felt so strong. The longer it took to get up the stairs the more Rosemary felt her pain. The farther she got from Gray. The farther she got from making it out alive.
Lincoln: "ATHENS IS NOTHING MORE THAN A MEMORY! I KNOW YOU'RE STUPID ENOUGH TO KILL YOURSELF FOR A MEMORY, BUT I'M NOT! I'M NOT WILLING TO GIVE UP THE ONE THING I ALWAYS WANTED! NOT AFTER THIS WORLD TOOK MY WIFE! MY FRIENDS! MY FAMILY! I WAS BROTHERS WITH MUSASHI, KIOSHI WAS LIKE A DAUGHTER! BUT THIS WORLD WAS SHIT WHEN IT STARTED AND IT'S SHIT NOW! BEING A WARRIOR, LOSING SIGHT OF MY ONLY GOAL, THAT'S THE REASON ATHENS IS HOW IT IS! IF I WOULD HAVE STAYED AWAY FROM LILITH, LEO AND BEARGUARD WOULDN'T BE HERE! IF I WOULD HAVE DIED IN A GUTTER LIKE THE STREET RAT I WAS BORN TO BE, MY HOME WOULDN'T BE ABOUT TO BLOW UP!"
But Toll stood, screaming and crying, ready to fight. Rosemary ran up the stairs as fast as possible, leaving Soku to clear the stairway. Leo soared up through Cretan, into the sun of flames forming once again, while the other two Top Elites chased behind him. Garly managed to crush squad after squad of Elites and Warriors with her extreme combination of strength and speed, barely managing to escape Raylice, desperately leading her in circles to waste her might and insure as little Red Arrows and civilians died as possible. Julius rushed in head first to pierce skull after skull face first with a rapid barrage of strikes to protect the mass group of escaping Red Arrows. And then there was Ceasar. Who should have been below with Julius, but was somehow higher up in the castle than even Rosemary. Past the battle. And right at Bearguards Dragon stone door.
Edward: "I DON'T CARE IF YOU THINK IT'S NOT WORTH SAVING! I DON'T CARE IF YOU DON'T THINK MEMORIES, LIVES ARE WORTH PROTECTING EVEN AFTER THEY'VE LEFT! I DON'T CARE THAT YOU'RE SCARED! I KNOW EVERYBODY IS STILL FIGHTING, GOOD OR NOT, AND IT'S GOING TO END ONE WAY OR ANOTHER! I WILL MAKE SURE MY FRIENDS, WALGONIA, AND THE RED ARROWS ARE VICTOROUS! FOR THE MEMORY OF WHAT SAGA USED TO BE! WHERE ATHENS AND WALGONIA WERE PROUD, WERE SISTERS, WERE WE WERE FRIENDS JUST LIKE YOU SAID! AND I'LL MAKE SURE THE GRAVESTONE PIRATES END ALONG WITH IT!"
Lincoln: "JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DREAM DOESN'T MEAN IT'LL HAPPEN!"
Edward: "THEN, THEN DAMMIT WATCH ME!"
Lincoln didn't resist, allowing Edward to jump down the hill. Facing toward a clearing for roads, leading toward the Coliseum city, toward the North-East Bay, and all the way toward the Capital. Looking back one last time, and bowing his head.
Edward: "Thank you. You put me through hell, but you forced me to think. I used to hold my rage in, but that only ended in failure. So I let it out, like the world told me I should. But…but you should teach me how to become even stronger. And that I was strong enough, worthy to fight. But you were wrong about me being a Beast, or a Warrior like you. Because I'm a Knight, a Knight of Walgonia. And I have to go fight for them."
Lincoln: "Dammit, then take these, you earned them remember."
Lincoln threw Edward his Dragon Stone gear in a heavy, large sack, with a dangerously sharp sword stabbed right through. But Edward caught it, and smiled, before turning away. Leaving Lincoln alone again. Like he had been for the last four years. Toward the War. A surprise attack, one the Tower and Raylice almost caused to instantly back fire. Now it's up in the air, if these battles will end and come together, or if this really is the last night Athens breathes.