The boys stood for a while as Aymar adjusted himself from the hit. Daya didn't seem to care anymore as she grew comfortable on the bean bag she laid onto. Not sure what to do, Yuma looked at Akira, hoping to see him act. Akira simply returned his look with a shrug, utterly confused by the situation.
"Y'all should sit" Aymar offered, his hand panning to the couch.
Keisuke was the first to walk to the couch, although very awkwardly initially. Akira followed along and sat with him. Not wanting to be alone standing, Yuma sat on the arm of the couch. The boys gave each other a look before Yuma decided to ask the question he had held in from the start.
"How does this place work?" Yuma asked, glancing around the room before looking at the dark veil that separated the space.
"It's my storage? You know... How you use your element to store things?" Aymar replied, a little confused why Yuma didn't know this.
Akira looked at Aymar, confused by him.
"That's not how that works..." he quickly tried pointing out.
Yuma looked at both of them, completely lost himself. What did he mean by using his element to store things, and what was Akira talking about? Unfortunately, neither Akira nor Aymar gave him a chance to ask about it.
"Not if it's too small, yeah... if you have a large opening, you can enter it." Aymar shot back, a little baffled, Akira didn't know this as a fact.
Akira was far too confident; however, He was certain only Items could pass through.
"You could only pass items through... Every storage is linked to your region. You're making things up" Akira snarled with skepticism and arrogance of his own.
Aymar's face scrunched up in irritation.
"Who are you to talk jackass. Acting like your born into this..." Aymar immediately returned.
Almost immediately, Akira got up into his face, staring down at him.
"I was shithead. I know more than you ever could. You and your fraud ass-" Akira was cut off by Keisuke stepping in between the two.
"Could you guys relax?" Keisuke tried to stop the two from ripping each other's throats out.
Akira looked at Keisuke before scoffing and sitting back down. Aymar still stared daggers before Daya opened an eye, looking directly at Aymar. Like a trained dog, he settled down and sat down on a bag near his foot, grumbling, annoyed nothings. Yuma was surprised by the power Daya had over him. To him, she practically had a foot at his neck; he wasn't sure why he was so obedient, but she was awfully like Akame. He glanced at Keisuke, seeing the same face of familiarity on his. For a moment, it was quiet before Keisuke decided it was about time to get to the point. Clearing his throat to gain attention, he spoke with a serious expression.
"I know you both are wondering why we came looking for you and why we're even here." Keisuke started by pointing out the obvious.
"There is a man... a very strong and dangerous man looking for you both, wanting you dead. It's the same with us, and we need your help to stop him." Keisuke continued, conveying the gravity of the situation in his tone.
Aymar turned his head towards Keisuke with an eyebrow raised. It was news to him that someone was trying to kill him.
"Huh? What for? Did I do something?" Aymar asked inquisitively.
Daya simply opened her eyes before looking directly at Keisuke. She took his words seriously, unlike her counterpart.
"No, it's just the fact you two could harm him or whatever he has planned... we need your help more than ever," Keisuke answered, as he looked at Aymar.
"Well, pretty sure we could handle him alone if he's that scared," Aymar replied, dismissing him with a few waves of his hand.
"He's not someone you could handle..." Yuma muttered softly.
Aymar caught what he said and looked at him, wanting him to continue. Yuma picked up on his look and continued.
"He somehow managed to collect other conduits and sent them after us... but he is on his own level. I would know..." Yuma explained.
Aymar's face flashed an expression for a moment. Yuma couldn't tell what it was, but his words made his skin freeze.
"He got someone close to you, didn't he?" Aymar plainly asked.
Yuma was weirded out by how he guessed so accurately without any cues.
"Y-yeah... how..." Yuma stuttered out.
"I've had that same look for years... Let me guess, a parent?" Aymar guessed again.
"Yeah, my mom..." Yuma confirmed, freaked out by his accuracy.
Akira shifted his eyes to Aymar, suddenly interested.
"I see... I'm sorry... Before I got stuck here, I lost my family too..." Aymar added quietly.
Yuma stayed silent, quietly asking to continue. Whether it was because of the moment or the similar backgrounds, he continued.
"Daya and I came from Shanghai... We became conduits a little while ago, but in that lost our way..." Aymar continued.
"How did you lose your way?" Keisuke asked, confused how that connected.
Before Aymar could even answer, he violently thrashed to the floor, immediately writhing on the floor. He screamed in agony as he spasmed on the floor in pain. Daya got up immediately and grabbed him, trying her best to comfort him. The boys got up and looked over him, confused about what was going on. It was clear she couldn't do anything but let it happen. After a few seconds had passed, it stopped. Aymar groaned in pain while he sighed in relief. It was over.
"That's why..." Aymar moaned out, coming down from the pain.
"What was that?" Akira asked, the edge he had previously had faded away, replaced by concern.
"Speak of the devil... ever since I became a conduit, my body has been going through this..." Aymar explained, chuckling, exhausted.
Akira looked confused.
To his knowledge, there had never been a case where a violent attack like that had afflicted a conduit. He wanted to question him about it, but chose to let it die on his tongue. Yuma looked at Daya, wondering what she was thinking, but her face was filled with nothing but guilt and concern for him. It threw him off a bit, considering how she acted with him and how she seemed to have no problem hitting him.
"You alright?" Yuma asked her directly.
"Shut up." Daya immediately shot back at him without letting her eyes leave Aymar.
Yuma subtly scrunched his face in offence at her words. All he wanted to do was check in on her, and that's how she reacts?
'Bitch.'
"Don't mind her... she gets like this every time I go through it..." Aymar explained, looking at Yuma.
Yuma looked at Aymar and just moved on from that harsh moment. Reaching his hand out, he tried to help Aymar up. He grabbed his hand and stood up. Daya tried propping him up, but he simply patted her back, assuring her he was fine to stand on his own. Sitting back down on the bag, Aymar looked at Akira.
"Sorry... I know this is all new to you and suspicious... and instead of explaining, I lashed out back to you..." Aymar said softly.
Akira gave him a curt nod and decided to let his suspicions die for now, accepting his unexpected apology. He knew he had a greater mission ahead of him and picked the route that was best for the collective.
"Do you mind explaining yourselves?" Akira asked, this time with the intention of building trust.
Aymar nodded and answered his question.
"As I said before, we are newer elements. Ten years ago, the current Fire monarch and Water monarch clashed, resulting in Kamori and Daggett being born. Newest elements added to the descendants roster... I primarily took more from the water while Daya's element took more from the fire." Aymar explained, his voice still hoarse from the spasm earlier.
"I see..." Akira mumbled to himself quietly, unsure what to believe since there was no way to prove or disprove his claim. Despite it, something in his subconscious screamed there was a lie there, but he chose to snuff it out in good faith.
Aymar shifted his view to Keisuke and Yuma.
"... You two said you needed help to take down someone, right?" He quickly shifted the conversation.
Yuma nodded.
"Yes... A man named Killian" Keisuke stumbled out, thrown off by the sudden attention.
"Killian?" Aymar asked, a tinge of recognition in his voice.
"Yeah, you know him?" Yuma asked immediately.
"Not personally... But he's well known back in Shanghai," Aymar elaborated.
"What do you mean?" Akira raised an eyebrow at that revelation.
Aymar's expression grew serious. Yuma glanced at Daya and saw that her face was struggling to hide the fear she had when she heard his name.
"He's a notorious criminal, worked with the triad... Legends go around about his cruelty and evil... and how he denied death." Aymar said as tension crept in.
"He was known as rén miàn shòu xīn, but in Japanese the closest term for it is jinmen jūshin. He was a sick man known to kill without discrimination. There hasn't been a crime under the sun he hasn't committed." Aymar continued.
"He really was known when a family of a rival gang went missing. They found the body of a woman half-eaten in a box sent to the man's family. The day the government went to execute him, he survived and killed everyone who was there. I'm guessing about the time he became a conduit... Truly a man-faced beast." Aymar shuddered as he finished.
Chills ran down Yuma and Keisuke's spines as they heard that. Akira defaulted to his stoic face, unable to react to the information. Yuma knew he was a twisted man, but to go as far as cannibalism to send a message, he wasn't dealing with a low tiered mad man. Keisuke snapped out of his trance of horror and immediately focused with determination.
"Exactly why we need you. We could take him down for good." Keisuke interjected.
"Got a plan?" Aymar questioned Keisuke immediately.
Keisuke nodded vigorously, the passion to protect and take down Killian apparent in his eyes.
"Alright.. I'm I-"
"No." Daya cut Aymar off with a dark expression across her face.
Turning towards her, Aymar looked at her, wondering what was going on in her head. Yuma and the others looked as well, noting her expression.
"Why not?" Keisuke asked, breaking the silence.
Daya looked directly at Aymar, purely ignoring the others.
"Look at your condition! You're in no position to fight in general!" Daya snapped at Aymar.
"Daya.." Aymar softly chuckled.
"I'll be fine... I don't need someone helicoptering around me..." Aymar tried to reassure her with poorly chosen words.
"THAT! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! YOU TAKE SO MUCH FROM ME AND ACT LIKE YOU CAN TAKE MORE! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST-" Daya's shouting was cut off by Akira's monotoned question.
"What is she talking about?" Akira asked, looking at Aymar.
Sighing, Aymar didn't put up any resistance to his question.
"She suffers the same thing I do... but I take her condition on top of mine..." Aymar explained calmly.
Akira looked confused, but before he could ask for more clarity on the matter, he continued.
"I linked her shadow to me... Anything that afflicts her hits me instead." Aymar elaborated, pointing to the ground near her feet.
Yuma took a look at where he was pointing and saw that Daya didn't have a shadow at all, unlike the rest of them. Looking at Aymar's feet, he saw his shadow was much more pronounced and solid, like two overlapped shadows. He wasn't aware he had this much control over his abilities; it seemed like Akira was shocked as well. His eyes were wide as his lips pressed into a thin line.
"How far along are you with your abilities?" Yuma asked next.
"Bout the same as your silver-haired friend." Aymar responded.
"You've attained Perfect Echo?" Akira mumbled, taken aback.
Aymar paused.
"Wait, you have Perfect echo?" Aymar asked, a little stunned.
Akira nodded slowly, hoping what he claimed was true.
"My bad then... no, we're not there... It's more like closer to half" He corrected himself quickly.
Akira's face of stoic excitement died and reverted to his usual look. No one could've been able to tell, but Yuma learned to see it through it.
Still, Yuma stared in disbelief for a moment as the two looked at the collective. One face filled with resentment for them, and the other, a tired expression. Half was better than what they had now.
'These guys are absolutely needed.'
Yuma thought quietly.