The Disappearance (June 2013)

[Lucien DeChain]

The Disappearance

-I'm not crazy!-

Format:

Single. (You may work with someone else for storyline purposes if you like but each person must submit his or her own separate “day” to claim the reward.)

Reward:

Choice of +4 EXP, or $1200

Scenario:

Something is not right in Long Beach. Someone is missing, someone who should be there, but is not. No one remembers them except you. Are you crazy? Or the only one who's sane?

Requirements:

• 1,200 word minimum
  
• One person (PC/NPC or otherwise) is missing from the world for 1 day. When you wake up the next morning (or at midnight if they don't sleep), the person is back and all memories are restored.
  
• You must play through 1 day without a person. You must also have your character waking up the next day with everything back to normal.
  
• Be creative, think about what impact that person has had on the people around you, on Long Beach, on your gang/faction, etc. What is the world like without that person?
  
• Have Fun!

This Monthly Event ends on Sunday, June 30th.

[Katsuri Katashi]

	EXAMPLE CAPTION YO STR: 80 DEX: 83 CON: 83 INT: 85 WIS: 80 CHA: 80		katsuri katashi
			An alarm. That was what shook him from his slumber this morning, something he had not heard for a few years, it should have come as no surprise that he laid there for while. The sound was droning. Loud. Overbearing. As if trying to force him from his bed, even as he questioned his own sanity. Had the herbal remedies suddenly stopped working? Were the voices going to return next? Was he going to be craving... no. The craving was not there. Then what was this? Why now of all times had an alarm accosted him from his slumber. A slumber where he was in a significantly more comfortable bed.. He finally rose to his feet, sliding out from under those covers, nearly like satin, rubbing the remnants of exhaustion from his eyes. A yawn, and a lick of his lips and he'd have stretched, popping and cracking every joint in his body as he walked to the window.. which was not barred by metal rods as he had left it last night.. and all the nights the three months past. "What is the meaning of this?..." Muttered. Listless. Although the look on his face took on a significant amount of surprise, as he was not greeted with the same drab, crumbling visage he had since he had returned.. but instead a city. Bustling. Birds chirping. People going about their business as if everything was normal. The highrises in the distance seemed to gleam and shout at him as if everything about this was just.... wrong. And it was. It was WRONG... was he still asleep? A rather fierce pinch of his arm supplied the desired response.. pain. Pain meant he was not asleep right? How could this be.. Barkers bombs fell. He walked through these streets, these ruined streets, since he had come back, and now, here, everything was right. It was as if the world had not been decimated by a mad man. The leviathan dressed quickly, jeans, t-shirt, socks, shoes, belt, and then he was left standing, in front of a strange front door he had not seen before. Hand hovering just above the knob, debating on rather all of that sunshine and happiness would have been washed away in a haze when he opened it. When he finally did he was greeted by the same scene he had seen from the bedroom. The only thing he could do was stand there, eyes going from one horizon of what he could see to the next. Nothing changed. What followed was probably the most boisterous laugh the large man had ever produced, a feat to be seen for sure. It certainly attracted the attention of pedestrians walking by the quaint little house. Questioning it would get him no where, so the first thing he did was something he had wanted to do for a while. He disappeared back into that house, and reemerged with a set of ear buds in his ears, mp3 player in hand, wallet in pocket, and headed for his favorite Italian place. It did not take him long to hail a cab, and one restaurant name later he found himself arriving just a little after lunch. A giant plate of Chicken Parmigiana. That's what he wanted. Thats what he got. Thats what he paid for. Thats what devoured three servings of. He did so rather rapidly as well. After he took care of his bill he would have hailed another cab, got in, and rode to a local arcade, the sounds something he had not heard for too long. Gaming systems ran internals that were far too weak against EMP's which meant it had been impossible to find them.. most people were lucky to find a television that still worked. Here though, the sounds of change, beeps, and boops saturated the air. So much so that the first thing he did once inside was close his eyes and stand there, listening to it all filling his head.. most likely looking like he was a tad bit soft in the head as he did so... or a tourist. Fifty dollars in ten dollar bills was fed into one of the many quarter machines littering the rather massive floor. The giant bucket of quarters? Carried easily. Virtual Reality games, racing games, pad games, booth games, and most of the gun games were out of the question for the behemoth. This meant he was only going to be able to play old school. Joystick or nothing. Not that he minded, he had to have custom ordered controllers for game consoles lest he break the damn things. The first hour of the leviathans time disappeared into a Turtles in Time machine, a few others trying to get in, but at most only two other people could play at a time as he took up the space of at least two slots just trying to finesse his hands on the controls. A handful of quarters down the drain though, and his victory rolled up the screen. There was a grin. Seemed he had all but forgotten the issues he had been facing the day before, whatever sick twisted place this was it was better than living in that shit hole of a world. Still. He was not satisfied just yet... a low hunched over position, just slightly sideways to the big box of wood, and he was going toe to toe with anyone that would take him one at a SNK vs Capcom 2 machine. He easily spent six or seven hours in this place, only leaving once they were closing up shop.. he'd forgotten track of time you see. Not that it much mattered... a quick stop a liquor store on the way home, several rather giant bottles of expensive bourbon in tow, and he was back home. Laid out on that bed of his, drowning in the booze, which led to the giant passing out probably half an hour into his fit of alcoholic splendor. It was a party after all! Still... the party would not last.. as there was no alarm the second time he woke up.. instead he was greeted with a splitting hangover. The constant throb only managing to drag him out of his rest after an hour of laying about, refusing to move, groaning and whining the entire time. "Bourbon... blegh... is the dev-bleck devil." A cough, a hack, and a near puking incident later, he was on his feet. What he saw, however, would have devastated the man had he not already been lost to the world in his own way. Destruction. The... outside looked as it had two days ago... three days go... for the last two years in fact. It seemed like he had been dreaming the entire thing.. or was it the alcohol? There was a glance beside his bed, and what he found was a rather massive jug, nearly empty, that looked fairly close to brown water. He picked it up, sniffed it, and nearly hurled from the stench. "That... thats the last time I drink moonshine from Barker territory... fuckin.. bleck.. amateurs..." Granted... was it really the moonshine that had caused this? A simple check of his jeans would have found two very telling things... pockets full of coins... and a mp3 player wrapped snuggly inside. Not that he bothered. No. Just flopped back on bed and laid there, staring at the ceiling, trying to get back to sleep. OOC: Oh, and I'll take the EXP plox.
	Current Song: The Living Tombstone - Gypsy Bard Remix

[Kazuya Hikari]

??, 5:00 AM
Dragon Territory
Kazuya's House

The sun was just rising up over Long Beach, California, and inside his bedroom, Kazuya was just waking up, to begin his early morning training. Rolling over, he was expecting to feel the warm body of his baby daughter curled up next to him... only to be met with the cool side of his futon. At first his groggy and half-asleep mind shrugged it off, thinking that perhaps Kaori had gone back to her own futon and fell asleep, and would get up, slowly shuffling down the stairs and to the bathroom, passing by Kaori's room, only to backpedal and stop. Her room... there was no one inside! Her futon was folded and stored in the closet, her clothing was gone, what happened to his baby daughter!?

Wide awake and in Papa Wolf mode by this time, Kazuya would literally tear up the entire house searching for Kaori, but as the members of The Flame Battalion on the night shift were just finishing up their patrol, Kazuya managed to search without being interrupted. By the time they were finished, Kazuya had searched the entire house from top to bottom, and found no sign of Kaori. He was not going to give up so easily however. If Kaori was not in the house, that could've meant she was somewhere in Dragon Territory... or in one of the other territories. He just hoped she hadn't wandered off into Barker's Territory...

Hearing movement from The Flame Battalion, Kazuya just had a thought. Perhaps one of those that had been on night duty had seen Kaori! With hard as stone determination, he would quickly change into a simple white with navy blue trim wifebeater shirt, blue jeans, worn down Converse shoes, and a blue and white baseball cap, and head out of his room, quickly heading down the stairs and outside, only to nearly run into Drake, who was just starting to head back to the base.

"Ah, young master, you startled me! Are you alright? Heading somewhere?"

"Sorry Drake, but I'm in a bit of a rush... Wait, you were on night duty. Drake, have you seen Kaori? I cannot find her."

"Who?"

"Kaori!"

"Young master, who is Kaori?"

"Don’t act clueless Drake, Kaori, she’s my baby daughter! You know who she is! ... Ahhh, I don't have time for this, I have to go find her!"

Quickly turning away from Drake and running out onto the streets of Long Beach, leaving his subordinate very confused and possibly wondering if his master was still groggy and half-asleep, Kazuya would ignore his growling stomach, his baby daughter was at stake, food was the last thing on his mind. Running down the streets of the city, using his Qi to search every nook and cranny of the city, he would pass by a member of The Flame Battalion every so often, asking each time if he or she had seen Kaori, but all he received was the same answer Drake gave him: they had no idea who Kaori even was. By the time noon struck and it was time for lunch, Kazuya had searched the entirety of Dragon Territory, asked every single member of The Flame Battalion (those that had been on night duty were not too pleased to be woken up and asked a question about someone they had absolutely no idea of), and he still came up empty-handed. He was not deterred though. He may have encountered setbacks, but as long as he still lived and breathed, he was going to find his baby daughter. No matter how long it took.

??, 12:20 PM
Neutral Territory
Border

Moving on from Dragon Territory, he headed into Neutral Territory, because while he knew people in Crows Territory, he highly doubted Kaori would be wandering around there, as she did not know of or ever been in the area before. Searching fervently through Neutral Territory, checking every corner of every single building that was still standing, by the time he was done, it was already evening, and he was starving, having not had anything to eat the entire day. As he made his way back to Dragon Territory, he couldn’t help but wonder why he was the only one that even remembered Kaori. Everyone that he had asked that knew her, acted like they had absolutely no idea who she even was... or maybe they weren’t acting. Maybe they truly did not know of her, which begged the question: was he going crazy, or was he the only sane one? He didn’t even try and find Mitsuki to ask, because while he knew how fond she was of Kaori, if The Flame Battalion’s reactions were any indication, he knew if he asked, she would give him the same answer and same look the others gave him. The same went for Olesya, she knew of Kaori, but probably would have no inkling whatsoever if he asked. He had gotten enough looks of wondering if he was alright, or gone off the deep end, asking for someone that didn’t even exist, he didn’t need more.

There was still a bit of daylight left, and there was one more area Kazuya had to check, just to be sure. It was risky, but because this was his baby daughter, he was willing to take the risk. He would go to the ruins of Public High School #259, the place where he and Emily last met... only to part. With the sun slowly setting, he would have to be more cautious in his search in the area, as he would be in the heart of Barker’s Territory, and he couldn’t afford to be caught. Quickly moving through Dragon Territory, by the time he reached the border of Barker’s Territory, the sun was nearly close to fully setting, and he had to search everywhere he possibly could before dusk set in.

??, 12:20 PM
Barker’s Territory
Ruins of Public High School #259

Quickly and quietly moving towards the ruins, using all his training to be as stealthy like a ninja, he would reach the ruins without being spotted or caught, the area appearing unguarded as far as the eye could see. Then again, no one would come here unless they had a good reason to, and with very little left in terms of the legacy of Public High School #259, about the only reason anyone would come here had been destroyed along with the school.

With the few rays of sunlight fading, Kazuya began his search right away, using the time he had efficiently. By the time the sun had completely set and dusk settled in, Kazuya had searched the school from top to bottom, making sure the place looked undisturbed as when he first arrived. He had found nothing, no signs of Kaori, absolutely nothing. It seemed it was time to face facts, Kaori was gone, and he wasn’t going to find her. Making his way back to Dragon Territory, part of him didn’t want to believe that his baby daughter was gone, but it was hard to ignore the truth right in front of him. Once he was safely out of Barker’s Territory and in Dragon Territory, he headed home, exhausted and starving. The moment he was in his house, he went to the kitchen and made himself something to eat, and would work out for an hour, before going to bed. Sleep? How could he sleep when he had no idea what happened to Kaori. For hours, he was awake, staring at the ceiling of his room, but eventually, he fell asleep.

As a new day dawned, Kazuya rolled over, feeling a warm body curled up against him. At first, his mind didn’t process it, but as the truth dawned upon him slowly, his eyes flew open, and he would bolt up in bed, looking down at his futon. He couldn’t believe it, was it...? It was. Lying beside him, still fast asleep, was his baby daughter. It was Kaori. He couldn’t be happier to see her. Gently picking her up in his arms, he would hold her close to him, happy and relieved she was here, that she was alive. He hadn’t been crazy, he knew she existed. Slowly lying back down on his futon, he would go back to sleep, Kaori curling up closer to him, and go back to sleep, he could afford to miss one day of training. They say you don’t know who or what you’ve got until they’re gone, well Kazuya knew that feeling, very well...

(OOC: Word count without BB coding and this Out of Character note: 1429. And money kplzthx.)

[Mitsuki Park]

The travel was horrible, but she didn't have much to work with. She told David she would be on leave for a couple weeks - a month, tops - to make a trip to Chicago. With her coming and going as she pleased in high school, it was only a matter of time for Mitsuki to make a disappearance; old habits were hard to kill, and at least Mitsuki had the decency to let someone know. With that being said, she packed her bag and set off with a map, careful to travel only at night. She knew it would take several days, if not a week to get there simply because she had to go around mountains and valleys of rubble. That, and she always had to stop to take a look at the map. Flying would have been much easier, except she didn't think she had the stamina to last over a couple thousand miles.

Once she got on the expressway toward downtown Chicago, she revved her engine not wanting to spend any more time on the bike. As much as she loved it, her back was killing her and her legs were sore. With there being no traffic, things should have been smooth sailing, but the roads were messed up and it was difficult to travel full speed without hitting a few bumps. Once she hit Rebel territory, she brought up her index and thumb to her lips and whistled- hard.

She pulled out her gas mask and waved it in the air. There were people in the area that should recognize her seeing as she hadn't been gone for that long. Twenty minutes later, she slowed down because of a checkpoint which was entirely unfamiliar to her. She frowned as she came to a stop, checking their uniforms as they approached her. Definitely part of the Rebel faction, but the faces were new, too.

"What's your business here?" one of the members spoke up, his chin raised high. His eyes scrutinized her as if she was making a mistake by rolling up in her vehicle at this ungodly hour.

"I live here," her voice was nonchalant, as if she were dismissing his tone to her entirely. If he knew who she was, she wondered, would he still behave the same way? This reminded her of what happened when Olesya flashed her ID to the bookkeeper.

"Name?"

She arched a brow before sitting up on her bike. She wasn't sure what telling him her name would be, seeing as how she doubted he would recognize her.

"Mitsuki Park.

"Unfortunately, Miss Park, we need to take you in for questioning."

Ignored.

"Take me to Reita."

They should at least recognize his name since he was one of the founding members of the faction. They gave her blank stares before breaking into wide grins. She wasn't entirely amused- instead, she was left confused. She didn't understand; stating Reita's name didn't usually result in grins, instead they usually brought forth scowls. The one who was questioning her broke out into a laugh.

"Who the f-ck is Reit--"

"--Mitsuki?"

Her eyes snapped toward the familiar voice and the men standing near her immediately stood at attention. A smile cracked as she saw the friendly face amidst the sea of strangers. Before she could get off her bike, she was brought into a tight embrace surprising the ones standing guard around her.

"Caleb."

Smiles exchanged. He offered his hand and she accepted, getting off the bike. The fact that they were on a first-name basis was probably even more startling; they've probably never heard anyone call their superior without the proper title in front of it. The one named Caleb sent out orders for his men to take care of her bike, and she trusted them enough to understand that there would be dire consequences if any new scratches were found. He escorted her - and why wouldn't he? With him being one of two best friends her elder brother had.

"Where's Ein and Reita?"

She looked over at one of her closest friends and confidante and the expression he gave her was another thing for her to frown at.

"I'm taking you to Ein now. Who's Reita?"

She chuckled at the absurdity, which came to a slow stop when Caleb didn't laugh with her.

"Stop it. Just take me to him."

Maybe she just wasn't in the mood for jokes, but the odd eerie feeling he was giving her didn't make her uncomfortable, it actually quite terrified her, and there weren't many things that terrified her to begin with. Why would Caleb acknowledge Ein but not Reita? Did they get into an argument or something? But still, to play such a joke on her was…

"…Mitsuki?"

The one named Ein caught her attention with ease. She pulled away from Caleb and went to hug her other confidante; the one who knew how to make peace when there was war going on between her and her older brother. She was with her brother's two best friends and consequently two of her closest- her favorite dynamic duo.

"Ein."

She looked around them, eyes curiously poring the inside of the room. She smiled at some of the photos except…

"Where's Reita?"

Her feet wandered toward a picture where, if memory served her right, was of her, her brother, Ein, and Caleb. Except the picture was replaced with one where Reita wasn't present. Her eyes pored into the photo before whirling to face Ein and Caleb, who shared a concerned look with one another.

Why did they share that look?

Her heart thundered against her chest as she took an unknowing step back, away from the two. She watched as Ein pressed his hand up against his forehead and Caleb give a defeated sigh- she watched as the two advanced toward her in a hurried yet loving manner as to not startle her, but why should she be startled by them? But, more importantly, what reason did they have to share that look?

"MIts, calm down."

"Everything is going to be okay."

She stared at them incredulously as she kept moving away from them. She wasn't panicking, and she thought everything was already okay- they were making her out to be some sort of crazy person with some sort of imaginary brother. She knew Ein and Caleb weren't ones to play such a joke on her but she didn't know how else to make sense of the situation she was in.

"Wait- stop-"

She commanded them. Despite them no longer working under her… But they weren't listening. They continued advancing and she bolted out of the room with both the respected leaders following closely. They had plenty of opportunities to catch her… Why didn't they do it? Why were they merely following her and not stopping her?

Her pace quickened as she began to draw closer to Reita's quarters. Her boots dug against the ground as she pushed off with her toes, breaking into a full out sprint toward his room- where was he? Why didn't anyone know of him? Why did she feel crazy even though she knew she wasn't? Her eyes landed on guards; unfamiliar and odd because Reita never had guards. They noticed her running towards them and they stepped to block her from entrance, but they must've seen Ein and Caleb nearby because all of a sudden they moved to the side, allowing her entrance.

Hand clasped around the doorknob and pushed, stumbling into…

"A supply room? Where's Reita-"

Someone grabbed her wrist and she yanked it free.

"WHERE IS REITA--"

"Shh."

Ein forcibly pressed her head against his chest and held her tight, except Mitsuki wasn't fighting against it. She stayed put, trying to understand. Her brain stemmed in all sorts of directions, from those that were most ludicrous to those that weren't as bad. He kissed her forehead and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Caleb stood off to the side, and she heard small curse words escaping his lips.

Caleb never swore.

Whatever it was that happened, it would have to wait until tomorrow. Finally being free from travel, she found herself slipping into a sleep-like state, exhaustion finally wearing down on her. The adrenaline that once pumped through her body was long gone- did adrenaline die down that fast all the time? A small sigh escaped her as she let herself relax in Ein's arms. Her eyes slowly slid closed and she leaned against him.

"You turned Reita's room into a supply room?"

No response.

"Heh…you guys are so dead once he finds out."

She uttered. Didn't even realize she knocked out until she woke up the next morning. Eyes adjusted to the sudden bright lights and she breathed in the familiar scent of 'home'. The smell of her brother's--

"Nii-san?"

She sat up, looking around. This was definitely his quarters; everything was just as it was when she left, too. The door opened and she saw her brother, his eyes laughing at her, grin on his face. Relief washed over her- was it a dream? How did she come to Chicago, then? Were there still check points? Did security increase because Reita's absence? And supply rooms- they never had rooms dedicated to supplies because it put them in immediate danger. A part of her wanted to scowl, but another part of her was just relieved.

"Finally awake."

"…I had the weirdest dream last night."

"…yeah?"

"Yeah. And you didn't exist."

OOC: Word count w/o BBC and OOC message is 1584. EXP, pl0x.

[Jack]

[/font]

A small petite man entered his office and gave him a salute before standing at attention.

"You asked for me sir!"

"Yes please go call for my apprentice and have him in full battle kit, we're going out on the field."

"Him sir?"

"Must I repeat myself to you recruit?”

“N…no sir!”

Saluting the recruit turned and exited the room, Jack paid no more attention to the matter, in fact the hint that he was speaking about the wrong person went completely unnoticed. Maybe if he was smarter he would have questioned the recruit about the matter but as far as he was concerned this was just a normal day in the Grey Mercenary Corps.

No knock signalled the arrival of his apprentice, the door was kicked open and some girl stormed in, blonde hair, tall and a slender build. She was wearing some form of brown military uniform with brown boots sort of reminiscent of the British black and tans on the 1930’s England. She stared at him as he sat at his desk glaring back at here. All that was going through his mind was where Mako is and why he isn’t here instead of this girl. Racking his brains to try and figure out who she was, He… he-something Heidi!

“You requested me sir, I’m beginning to think that you like me or something, twice in one day is much even for you”

His reaction showed some hint of distaste for her words, irritated at her presence in exchange for his apprentice perhaps. Looking up with cold dark eyes Jack spoke in a deep and menacing voice.

“Where is my apprentice? Where is Mako?”

The girl tilted her head up as if she were talking down her nose and replied in a quite ruthless manner.

“I have better things to do than to listen to a commander go on a rant about imaginary people. I have chores and duties that need to be met so are we going out on the front lines or what?”

Gritting his teeth he stood up, grabbing his kit as he stormed out of the room pushing passed his new apprentice. Moving to the other half of the building Jack did not wait to be motioned into Phoneix’s quarters. Slamming the door shut he moved up to the desk and asked the blunt question.

“Name and describe my apprentice to me.”

The man looked up from his work with disinterested eyes and replied without emotion.

” Heidi, tall height and slender build. Blonde hair and blue eyes, Heidi is female. Wears her hair in a bun and is an expert at hand to hand and close ranged melee weapons but also excels at using the bow and arrow. You discovered her one night after retreating from a successful raid. She witnessed you dismember numerous foes as your team escaped back to the barracks. She approached you and you gave her an invite to try out for the corps. Since then she has progressed significantly among the recruits and on the one month anniversary of joining the corps you named her your own personal apprentice. Now leave me.”

Jack turned and exited the room looking at Heidi and nodding at her to follow him. They moved out of the barracks and into the busy world of Huntington Park. The markets grew every week almost consistently while the trade they provided gave them ample revenue in both commissions and boarder payments. As they moved through the world Jack’s mind was filled with doubt over his reality, could he trust what he saw in front of him, when he went to sleep after his morning training he was certain that he had fought with Mako, the bruises on his ribs indicated that he had fought. So who was this girl next to him?

“Where would you rank yourself among all recruits?”

“Fourth.”

“Why would I pick the fourth best to be my apprentice?”

“Isn’t that best answered by you?”

“I would like to hear your own answer.”

“We are both melee and strike fighters; Nnaturally we possess a light and slimmer frame to others in our separate leagues. We prefer striking from a distance and then coming in for the kill. I think you picked me because I show similar traits to you. Because of this you can train me more effectively because the challenges I will face have also been faced by you.

“And how do we differ?”

“Firstly I am smarter than you.”

She paused unsure whether or not to continue well aware that Jack had a short fuse at times she was unsure of how he would take her critiquing him like this.

“As I have said, your endurance and strength is subpar to your speed, just like myself I do not have the frame required to be a brawler of sorts. I must pick my target and take it out with taking as little as damage as possible. I analyse my target, find their weak points and execute my plan. You an individual who possess extreme speed but lacks the intelligence to maximize it have had to go against your natural traits. Through shear repetition and practice you have become accustomed to not overthinking combat situations and drilled into yourself your battle plans so they come naturally. Like a two headed dog you try and go left but at the same time go try to go right. You have trained extensively at improving your strength as well as your endurance something which is commendable considering you are a short distance runner. ”

Jack paused and looked around they had already exited the confines of their barrack’s area and came across a high school. Turning toward his apprentice he motioned for her to look at the school.

“What do you see?”

“A highschool”

“Yes, as you may know many of the fighters in California all went to high school together. People used these schools as a form of control, to discipline the teenage masses, to train them and experiment on them. They created us Heidi we should thank them in full for doing that.”

“And in turn you will use their own creation against them, your own training grounds of sort.”

Turning toward his new apprentice Jack gave her a pat on the shoulders before moving on, they walked for what seemed like several hours until coming up to an obscure building giving the command for them to stop moving when they were about a hundred meters away. They would bed down, pulling out some cold food to eat in silence as they always did. After they ate Jack would break the silence

“Apprentice wake me up if anything happens otherwise you are to take the first watch. I’ll relieve you when it’s time for my watch.”

Pulling his hood up over his head he leaned back against a wall and cuddled up for the foreseeable future. A few hours later when it was around two in the morning he felt a heavy yet familiar hand shake him. Opening his eyes he instantly grabbed his blade and placed it onto Mako’s neck.

“Commander they are moving”

His first thought was where Heidi was but that was quickly pushed aside as he watched the doors to the very large building open up and fifty men walk out all wearing cloaks and all wearing some sort of insignia on their arms. Swearing to himself Jack briefly gives a stare at Mako trying to reassure himself that the person in front of him was in fact Mako. Before looking back at the convoy he turned to the camp site. There was a grove about the size of Heidi where she had been sitting it was therefore maybe several seconds before it no longer looked like mark had ever been there. Turning back to the convoy Jack’s eyes narrowed focusing on the target at hand.

“It is a good night tonight apprentice; I smell strength in the air and change on the horizon. Look up at the sky the gods send us a good omen!"

The sun was beginning to come up and the moon was disappearing as the earth rotated around.

[/i][/ul]

~1400 words
Money please

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien woke up.

Something was wrong, that was the first thought he had. First of all, this wasn't his bed. Secondly, this wasn't a bed. It was, in fact, a blanket and pillow set on the concrete floor of a half-demolished building. He looked around. More blankets. More pillows. More people. Lining the floor like tiles.

Where was this? Lucien sat up, looked around. From what he could see, it was Anaheim. Right where the barracks should have been. Right where he fell asleep.

Suddenly alarmed, he bolted up and out of the structure, only to find... Ruins. And not just the kind he was used to. The sky was red. The rubble was everywhere. Dead bodies littered the streets, the smell of blood and smoke heavy in the air.

This was a battleground.

*

This was not the Anaheim that he knew. Walking through the ruined streets only affirmed this point in his mind, and as he wandered somewhat aimlessly, more and more he began to realize that something had gone horribly wrong.

A siren went off. Someone shouted.

“Look out, the Crows are attacking again!”

”What...?” He breathed. Indeed, coming from the West, a large force was closing in fast. Swift as lightning. Lucien couldn't do anything but stare, as he grew to recognize his allies, his brothers and sisters, destroying, slaughtering everything in sight. His feet wouldn't move. He felt every inclination to run, but something kept him planted.

”Luc, for God's sake, get inside!”

Wedge?

And he was shoved to the side. Stumbling, he felt Wedge's hand on his back, leading him into the nearest building. Wedge slammed the door shut, and they were safe inside. Sighing, Lucien turned to his best friend, incredulous.

”Wedge, what is going on? Why are the Crows attacking Anaheim? Don't they know that--”

”Wedge? I haven't heard that name in years... That used to be our little inside joke, right? I had forgotten...” He mused, lifting his head in thought.

”Forget that. Wed- Marcus! Why are the Crows attacking?” The slim boy frantically tried to snap his friend back into reality.

Wedge just blinked. ”They always attack, Luc. Almost daily now, they send in a force to try to oust the Dragon resistance. Seems they really want this land, but nothing in it.” He replied.

Lucien stared. Then, after a moment, he began to stammer. Incoherent at first, then morphing into actual words. ”What. What! The amount of things that are wrong with that-- Okay. Why would they openly fire on civilians? What's more, I'm a Crow, too. Shouldn't I be--”

Slap.

”Luc, don't EVER say something like that ever again. Ever. You hear me, DeChain?” Wedge's voice was hard and angry. His eyes were stern, and he looked like he was deadly serious. Which, Lucien didn't get... Why did no one...

”But...” He began as he rubbed his cheek, tears welling up in his eyes. ”What about “Unfettered”? And Marcus Prasad, and Delilah... Why are the Crows like this?” He was shaking now, unable to stop himself.

Wedge gave him a look, like, duh, you should know this. ”The Unfettered One, Mad Kiyoshi, Prasad the Grim, they lead the attacks. I.. I don't know of any Delilah, though. How did you hear that name?” He asked, quite suddenly. They spoke in hushed tones as the Crow forces passed by.

And Lucien tried to reiterate. ”Delilah Black, First of Crows. Come on, everyone knows First of Crows. She was the default leader of the gang after Kiyoshi died, and 'Unfettered' got captured...” His breath slowly faded out of him, making his words more and more miniscule until he didn't have any air left to put behind them. His face went white.

He was not where he should be. No, a more accurate description is this: Someone who is supposed to be here is not here, and someone who is supposed to be dead is now alive.

”Wedge, I have to go. You have to trust me. I must leave.” He looked into his brother's eyes, and his intent was pure. There was no dissuading the slim boy.

Wedge sighed. ”I wish you'd stop calling me that. Go, I guess. BUT. I'll see you when you get back, okay? Because, you will get back.”

Lucien nodded in reply. Wedge nodded back, and then did something that Lucien wasn't expecting. He leaned in, placed his hand gently on Lucien's neck, and planted a kiss on him. Retreating back, Wedge looked into Lucien's eyes with his own blue swirls of light and dark.

”I love you.”

Lucien didn't know how to respond. At this point, he wasn't even sure where he was, so it was impossible to know if this was even his Wedge. Which, might mean...

Lucien bolted, sprinting out the door, not wanting to deal with such things as that until he knew that it was definitely his Wedge that just confessed his love for him. And he ran, ran until he was close enough to see the Crow leaders party.

*

Activating his Qi, he hid in the shadows as he observed the Crow's leaders, standing in the middle of a ruined intersection, as destruction rained down around them. It was possibly the most dangerous place a person could be, but Lucien needed to be sure.

And, looking on, he was reaffirmed. He was not where he should be.

He looked on as the men he recognized as “Unfettered” Winters, Marcus Prasad and Kiyoshi Akechi looked on to their destroyed prize. Kiyoshi was definitely alive, and there was, indeed, no sign of Delilah.

Now there was no mistaking it. He slipped away, and headed West, towards the Nest.

*

As he neared the place where the Crow's nest should have been, instead he gazed upon a darkened pile of rubble, in front of a giant tower, with detail of spikes along the sides and top. It looked like a giant death spike, and Lucien thought that very apt. It was surrounded by guards. If he got any closer, even with his Qi, he would be surely seen.

What is this... Why... He desperately tried to explain the situation to himself, thinking that something must have...

Suddenly he turned and sprinted, running for a place where no one would ever try to find a Crow.

*

Lucien remembered Lightning Tower being heavily guarded, but not like this. A blanket of Dragon soldiers lined the landscape, seemingly endless. It seemed as though the Dragons had been taking any volunteers they could, to fight back against the apparently bloodthirsty Crows. And that's why Lucien was here.

The evening sun was setting, now. It had been a long day of walking, and his water bottle was almost empty. No matter where he went, he needed a place to sleep. Remaining visible, he approached the Tower. He was stopped by a man, giving him a once-over, and then waiving him through to enter the massive tower. Once Lucien stepped inside, he realized it had been converted, no, in this case, it had been designed, to be a giant refugee shelter. A desk at the front of the room caught his attention, and a man sat behind it. Walking over, he paced slowly, burdened with the weight of this next series of questions.

”Excuse me, could you tell me if you know a man by the name of Leon Sudeki?” He asked, hesitantly.

The man paled, and a tear started to well in his eye. “Yes, I know of that man. The former master of this tower.”

Lucien blinked. ”Former?”

“Yes,” The man replied, downcast eyes. “Uncle Leon, as he liked to be called, died in a battle with the Crows last August. There is a memorial statue in his honour at the top of this tower.”

And Lucien shook. If Leon was dead... Kiyoshi was alive... Lucien gazed at the man, fervently searching within himself.

”What about these names... Mathew Amtrum, David Blaze, Zack Asiv, Sean Barker, Vespyr?” He said the last one on a whim, in an act of desperation.

The man pondered for a second, and gave an answer as clear as day. “Mathew Amtrum, the Earth Dragon, deceased. David Blaze, the Storm Dragon, missing. Zack Asiv, missing. Sean Barker, missing, presumed dead. I... Have not heard of the last name. Why are you asking? And, how do you know all these names?” The man eyed him, curious.

Lucien took a step back, and his face paled. So, then, the Crows have taken control of Long Beach? But, it wasn't Long Beach anymore. It was just an empty plot of land, cleared of all previous activity and left levelled.

”I.. Have one more name for you. Have you heard of a woman named Delilah Black?” He winced prematurely, bracing for the answer he knew was coming.

“Delilah Black? ... No, I don't recall anyone by that name. Now, why don't you sit down and tell me – Hey!”

Lucien ran out of the tower. The sun was setting, and he had one more place to go.

*

Tired, weary, hungry and thirsty, he walked past the all-familiar intersection of Cherry and Willow. He stopped, caught his breath, and sat down after he got dizzy. The sun had disappeared hours earlier, and he was growing weary. Looking to the darkened streets, not a single piece of light could be seen from the area ahead. The streets were deserted. And that meant one of two things. 'They' were gone, or they were still undiscovered. Either way, he was safe. Ari was safe.

As he picked himself up, standing, a woman approached him from the street he was facing. She eyed him, her white hair dangling in front of half of her face, silhouetting her piecing gaze. She looked him over.

”What's the password.” She posed the 'question' lazily, as if she wasn't ever expecting anyone to get it right.

Lucien kept his gaze on her.

”What Rogues?” He breathed.

The woman grinned, raising her clawed hands, and stabbed them into his torso.

*

Lucien woke up. In his bed. His actual bed, in Anaheim. He bolted up, looked at his stomach. There was nothing there, nothing to signify he had been mortally wounded. Still, though, he felt it. Like something was there, that shouldn't have been...---

His thoughts slammed back into his brain as he realized. DELILAH!

He dressed hastily, combed his hair only three times, and sprinted out his door.

What awaited him... Brought him tears of joy.

END.

(OOC: IC word count: 1750. I'll take the EXP.)

[David B.]

David awoke slowly, letting out a heavy sigh. He stared up at the cieling, the small child next to him rolling over. He smiled to himself- Maddie had a bad dream, and wanted to sleep with him. Of course, the little terror stole all the blankets, leaving him destitue and frozen. He sat up, scratching his chest under the black tshirt as he peeked in on Olesya- who was sleeping soundly. He closed her door and yawned, scratching his stomach before walking for the sink in the kitchen. He let out some water onto his hands and began washing his face when he paused, listening intently.

In the distance, there were screams.

He shut the water off quickly and grabbed ran for his room. Grabbing a shirt, he pulled it on and headed for the door when in burst three men, all in Crow Uniform.

"Mr. David Blaze, you are to be detained under the orders of Zero Kiyoshi for the murder of Zero Unfettered and First Crow Black. You WILL come with us."

David had no time to look between them or ask questions- despite the shock of their accusations, these men were assaulting the Dragon Stronghold, entering the home of the Storm Dragon with weapons drawn. David brought his arm up and gripped the handle of his sword. The three mens grips tightened on their spears.

"Crows- for the crime of trespassing on Dragonland in force, assault on Dragon territories and interests, killing of Dragonkin and betrayal of alliances designed by myself and First Black, I hereby declare war on you and any that stand with you, and sentence you to death."

The men charged, and David whipped out his sword. Their heads followed their bodies out the doors. David dashed out to see A man (Lucien) fighting August. Behind him, Youichi fought two Crows. David leapt forward and kicked Lucien in the side, sending the man through the railing and falling to the ground below. The guy twisted in the air and landed on his feet, however, looking up and growling. August turned to help Youichi, but David was mkre mesmerized by the sights along the horizon.

Below him, and stretched out across Dragon territory, fires burned. The Dragon Core clashed in the streets with Crows. Crows clashed with Gods. Gods clashed with the Core. What in the hell was going on...? He turned to Youichi and August who just dispatched the two Crows, ordering them to move in and secure his voice. He ran for the stairs, grabbing a Dragon as he did so.

"I want a civilian task force to move our people west to the secondary shelters. Pull in forces from the east to secure our battlements. Who have we got left and what happened?"

They were nearly shouting above the din of battle.

"Sir! Raikoutsu Sudeki is dead, as is Anna and the Doctor. Shugo and Valo are fighting near the Peace Cafe, and General Hikari has pulled reinforcements in from LAX. Leon and Mathew have combined their forces and are slashing a wedge east already, with some allies at their backs. We've lost about a quarter of our forces, sir. Everything was going well when it was just the Crows, but then the Gods...Sir, everyone thinks we killed their leaders, but it was the sewer dwellers sir-!"

David cut him off.

"Bring me Kiyr and General Hikari."

The man nodded, then paused.

"I'll get the General here right away but...sir, where might I find this Kiyr?"

David looked to him angrily.

"GET ME KIYR BARRIAL NOW!"

The man jumped and saluted before running off. David lifted his battle armor from his room and brought it down to him out of the sky, dressing himself as he marched to battle. He grabbed a passing God by the neck- Dionysus- and turned, shouting in rage as he hurled the bloodies fighter through a wall, listening to the sickening crunch of bone. The man came back suddenly, fear on his face.

"S-sir! General Hikari has fallen, injured, to the Kraken, and I have been unable to locate anyone named Kiyr Barrial. Orders sir!"

David growled and gestured for the man to lead him to the gate, where he saw the Kraken tearing into Crows and Gods alike. He would step into the ring of bodies and lock eyes with the terror of the Gods. His men backed off, and David called out to them.

"Fall back and protect the General. See that he regains his composure before you return. If i should fall, defer to him until another Elder arrives. MOVE."

He would step forward, readjusting his glives before drawing his sword once more.

"You know, Once a girl told me she was terrified of you. That you were one of her biggest fears. I will be glad to remove you from Kiyr Barrials life."

The Kraken spat.

"I don't know any Kiyr Barrial, but I will happily take your head as a trophy, storm dragon!"

David frowned.

"Kiyr.... Blonde with blue eyes? Shadow user? You should not forget those you impact so heavily, demon."

The Krakens tentacles started eeping out.

"I never forget a face, Blaze. And I do not know any Kiyr. Enough talk. You die."

The Kraken launched himself forward and-

David stabbed him.

In the heart.

The Krakens eyes widened and he slid off the blade to his knees. Davids eyes went wide in shock of his own. As the Kraken pitched forward, he stared at the body for several seconds before turning to the window of a nearby building. As he walked over, he notced things he didnt register before. His left cheek had a long scar on it, and his muscles were bulging. He was covered with tattoos, and far more scars than usual. He stared for several seconds before he felt the click behind the eyes.

"Kiyr..."

He ran, far faster than normal, for the east, stopping Dragons along the way and questioning them.

"Kiyr!? Where is Kiyr? Have you seen Ms.Barrial? I am looking for Kiyr!"

No one had heard of the blonde shadow user. He turned around the Corner and stuck out an arm, clotheslining a trooper with black hair and the symbol of a Crow Zero on his shirt, not stopping even when the mans men shouted his name. He raced, trying to locate Amtrum and Leon. He needed to find out what was going on. Why his men were so scared and he was so strong, like he had spent every waking moment trying to get stronger and stronger, not caring about anyone or anything...

He turned a corner and tripped on a rock, tumbling forward and smashing his head against-

He awoke, in bed. He sat up, covered in sweat. Maddie was not with him, but he heard her snoring in the next room. He got out of bed and ran from the room in his boxers, flipping on a light and looking himself over. He was relatively normal and unharmed, despite being pale. His white knuckles gripped the sink and he stared at himself for a long time.

If someone that close to him was simply gone, would he really have ended up like....?

OOC: message without code - 1202. Money please.

[Delilah A. Black]

The Disappearance of Jonathan 'Unfettered' Winters

Before Delilah's eyes opened that morning, she knew something was amiss; for one, a breeze was brushing her black hair across her forehead...for another, what she lay on was not her worn out mattress, but the cold, hard concrete.

Alarmed, Delilah shot up and to her feet, whipping her head around to look at her surroundings. She was...nowhere she knew. Lying beneath a pile of collapsed rubble that seemed to resemble a cave of some kind, the shredded threadbare blanket that had covered her cast off to the side of the slab she had used for her bed. It certainly looked lived in, with a fire pit near where she stood and traps littering the distant entrance to the cave.

But what was she doing here?

Distracted, the first thing she noticed was that while her head was twisting this way and that, that there were no black strands whipping her face. In fact, her head felt unusually light. She reached up to touch her hair...only to find it crazy short.

Shorter than she ever would have allowed.

"What on earth..." she whispered to herself.

Suddenly, a thought entered her mind that sent a spear of ice into her heart. She began turning on the spot as panic rose in her chest.

"Oliver?"

No answer.

The mechanic gritted her teeth. "Oliver, where are you?"

Silence greeted her question. Her breath started to come hard and fast in as desperation overwhelmed her.

"Oliver, sweetie, this isn't funny."

Silence.

Tears started to well up behind her eyes. "OLIVER FENRICH STUART POTT YOU COME OUT RIGHT THIS MINUTE."

Only a strained whistle from the wind blowing over the edge of the tunnel answered her. She lifted her hands to her face, cupping them around her mouth.

"OLIVEEEEEER!!"

As she did so, she caught a glimpse of a certain something on her left wrist. Shocked, scared, she looked down...and her light blue eyes dilated at what she saw.

A red wing black bird tattoo. Full, complete, no scars marring the ink.

In fact, all along her arms, she found almost no scars at all.

"...I-I.."

Delilah's knees gave way and she fell back on her ass, stammering at the lack of...anything that was there.

What is this? What happened?

"What the hell is going on?"

The reappearance of the tattoo only meant one thing; she had never been in the asylum where she had confronted her mother for the first and last time, which meant she had never gone to jail, which meant she had never been in San Francisco where she had been arrested for Militia.

No scars...

No Oliver...

No Stu...

No San Francisco...

"....no Militia?" she mused to herself.


Delilah slumped, lifting shaking pale hands to cover her face, elbows braced against the dirty, torn knees of her jeans. But...that was impossible. Even as the words left her lips it sounded even more ridiculous than it had in her head. Militia had been started in her old high school before the assault on the correctional facility...if THAT didn't happen, then...

Then...

Again, blue eyes snapped open as realization after realization piled on. All of them amounted to one unspeakable link, something that combined all of these impossible realities that had appeared before her. It all branched from one place.

Slowly, she lifted her head out of her hands, determination lighting the old, cold fire in her blue eyes. Delilah staggered to her feet and made her way to the exit of the cave to find the one with the answers she sought.

To find 'Unfettered'.

. . .

Delilah stood in the center of where the Crow's Nest should have been. The walk here should have been an indicator, given how desolate and...abandoned the coastal part of the town was.

But this.

There was literally nothing. Where the docks were supposed to be, there was nothing but miles of debris floating in the ocean. There was no military, no civilians gardening or harvesting the acres of potatoes, no people clearing away debris or scavenging.

She couldn't shake the ache in her heart where Oliver was...IS she reminded herself firmly. She might not be able to see him, the scars that were associated with her son might be gone, but that didn't change what her heart knew. This, however...this wasn't just a piece of her, it was part of everyone, all the citizens and Crows who lived here.

...had lived here.

She wondered what day it was, how far she was in the future. If it was, in fact, the future.

Then, a sobering thought.

What if it's the present?

A shiver tickled down her spine and the mechanic spun on her heel. Enough speculation; she needed to find 'Unfettered'.

. . .

Hunkered down by the side of the road, Delilah watched with alert eyes through her little peep hole in the rubble as a large Barker battalion marched past. She had no idea Barker had this many in the area, and it didn't look like a show of force to keep who ever was in the area in line...it looked like a regular patrol. The platoons were laden with various grades of Experiments and smug looking soldiers. It was bad enough she was on edge just from seeing the enemy soldiers marching through HER lands (actually, this was where Dragon land was supposed to be, but again, there was next to nothing to indicate a gang had ever been there), but she also didn't have any of her regular weapons on her save for her small flip knife.

Still, for one with her skills, it was more than enough.

As the battalion passed, she noticed that following behind them were lines and lines of shackled civilians. Heads bowed, in rags, destitute, not even guarded by any soldiers. Downtrodden didn't begin to describe them; here was a people that were completely, utterly, beaten.

The desire to tear this whole piece of Barker's army apart with her bare hands was strong. But that wasn't why she was here. Now, she needed answers.

As the line came to it's end, Delilah broke cover and ran behind one of the last rear guards, tall and lanky. Her hands came up and clapped a hand wrapped in cloth across his mouth and knotted the other one into his hair. He screamed in surprise and struggled, but once her hands were on him, it was too late, and Delilah had dragged her prize back behind cover.

Crouching over him with her hand pressed aggressively down on the back of his head and her knee propped against his back. He flailed his fists at her in an attempt to punch her in the face. Grabbing one of these wrists, she cranked his hand back into a lock that made him writhe and let out a muffled cry into the dirt. She leaned down and put her mouth directly beside his ear.

"Behave yourself little soldier. I'm not very gentle with my toys...and you are very, very fragile."

The man stilled, though from his prone form, Delilah could feel a seething hatred and anger rather than fear. She found herself smirking; well. At least this one had balls.

She waited until she was sure the Barker patrol was out of earshot before she spoke again. "Now I'm gonna set you right so we can have a little talk. If you answer all my questions like a good boy, then you can go. No homework, schools out, A plus. But if you scream..." She flicked her blade out of his pocket and held the blade against his throat. He stiffened and she felt a little bit of satisfaction in that reaction. "If you understand me, tap your right hand twice."

After a beat, he reluctantly did as he was asked. Carefully, keeping the knife on his throat, she flipped him over to look at the Barker Soldier face to face.

Glowering back at her was none other than Cain Howard.

Delilah inhaled sharply, eyes wide. Unexpected relief flooded her body. "Cain?" Her eyes narrowed again and she leaned close, suddenly very angry. "Why are you with Barker?"

His scowl deepened. No recognition showed on his pierced face. "How the fuck do you know my name?"

Surprise etched across her features and suddenly, emotion welled up behind her eyes. Fuck. She pushed it back and leaned forward. Keep it together, girl.

"You don't know who I am?"

"The bitch who just kidnapped me and is holding a knife to my fucking throat," he snarled.

She grimaced. Double fuck. "The name Delilah Black doesn't ring any bells?"

"Nope."

"What about the name of gangs? The Crows, the Dragons, the Gods?"

Cain scoffed. "Gods were cleared out six months ago. Dragons barely got started a year ago before we took them out. Never heard of no Crows."

Indignance spread over her features like a rip through paper. "Never heard of--We're one of the biggest gangs in the area! We had infrastructure, people growing food, fishing what the FUCK is so damn funny?!"

"You!" he cackled. "I mean, that's a cute story and all, but I've been here a good long while. I ain't never heard of no fuckin' Crows."

Delilah began to shake, rage pouring into her veins like a starved junkie. She pressed the knife a little closer to his skin and his laughter abruptly stopped. He looked back at her with loathing."David Blaze, Leon Sudeki, Mathew Amtrum, Kiyoshi Akechi, Kiyr Barrial...Lucien DeChain, Bastille Amtrum, Marcus Prasad, do any of these names mean ANYTHING to you?!"

Cain opened his mouth, about to say no, when he paused. "Yeah. Sudeki rings a bell. So does Amtrum."

"Tell me about them."

He stared at her somewhat more warily now, finding the black haired woman perched over him a little crazier than he had initially thought. "...Sudeki and Amtrum are with us. Some of the original Experiments. So is Bastille, but her name ain't 'Amtrum', it's 'Cunningham'."

Delilah could feel her mind tearing at it's seams. She bit back a strangled cry and focused on the task at hand.

"They're not part of a resistance or anything?"

He stared at her incredulously now, "You're not from around here, aren't you."

"TALK."

He scowled and after a reluctant moment, began speaking, clearly not sure of the sanity of his captor,"There ain't no resistance. It's all Barker now, allll us. That Amtrum guy, he broke out and tried to start some shit with one or two guys from the old school, but we took carea him. Bastille and Olesya took him out. Sudeki was gonna be a problem too, so Barker, ah, cut his ties, if you catch my meaning."

She blinked. Olesya. Bastille. Oh Lord, all of the original Experiments were with BARKER. "...Emily. Emily del Santos, girl with white hair, Filipina. Is she with Barker?"

Now he blinked. "...yeah. He told us how he did it too, he had all the students in a place a couple o' years ago and brainwashed em. Used 'em as a base for his soldiers. He wanted us to know what he did in case any of us stepped outta line, you know?"

Delilah stared down at Cain without really looking at him for a long few minutes.

Fuck.

FUCK.

FUCK FUCK FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK!!!

She forced herself to breathe and breathe deep. No one she knew who she was. Militia never existed so the people in the Correctional Facility were never rescued, which meant she had never been to San Francisco where she met Kazuya, which meant not only had she never met people, but that virtually NO ONE had met each other. Crows did not exist, Dragons and Gods were no more. She'd never met David or Olesya or Marcus or Lucien or...ANYONE.

She was alone.

It was like she had disappeared.

But there was a common denominator here. Something she couldn't...did not want to voice. The sheer possibility of it was more terrifying to her than almost anything else.

Meanwhile, Cain stared up at her with an expectant and slightly annoyed expression. "Can I go now?"

Delilah's eyes snapped firmly back up to his and Cain's green eyes flinched from hers in surprise. She just stared. Unable to meet the gaze of the black haired woman, he just looked off to the side with a sour expression.

Should she ask? Did she really want to know? She was more than fine believing 'Unfettered' was alive and well somewhere far, far from here.

But she couldn't let it go. He might be a Barker prisoner, or converted into an Experiment, or, worse, siding with Barker willingly. Or...he was...

The mechanic's blue eyes bored down into Cain's for a while longer before the man with the green mohawk finally spoke up, "Are we done here?"

"'Unfettered'."

He blinked again. "Excuse me?" He flinched as Delilah leaned closer to him, breathing on him.

"Jonathan Winters." She repeated slowly. "Otherwise known as 'Unfettered'. White haired man of German descent with an eye patch. Slightly Nazi-esque leanings. Barker must've had a huge file on him, you must know something."

Cain contemplated for a moment...before shaking his head. "Nope. No bells. Sorry, man...er, lady."

The strain must have clearly been showing on her face because Cain tried to lean as far away from her as possible as this news ricocheted off her face. "There...there must be something!" she cried, almost pleading.

Cain just raised a pierced eyebrow, "Look, lady, if this guy was as big of a deal as you say he was, then we would definitely know because he would have been fuckin' dead.

"I have never heard of no Jon fuckass Winters."

A flat sheen covered her bright blue eyes and the man's face lost what blood was left of it. At first, in the back of her mind, she thought it was just her expression that had scared him.

A moment later, warmth spurted over the hand gripping the front of his shirt. In her right hand was the bloody blade that had sliced clean through the man's trachea and his carteroid artery and jugular vein, cutting a smile in the man's throat.

Cain. One of her Tengu. One of the ones she had taken an instant liking to, and whom she knew respected and trusted her now lay dying beneath her hands.

Cain gasped and gargled, blood spilling from the gaping wound of his throat and frothing at his lips. Feeling...cold, Delilah got up and walked away from the man, even as he scrabbled feebly at her with betrayal in his eyes.

At least he had the dignity of dying at the hand of an enemy, as a soldier should.

. . .

Delilah always was too cowardly to commit suicide. She thought about it, certainly, now that the world around her held no purpose for her.

Her reason for living, Oliver, was gone. Never existed except for anywhere but in her own mind.

Her drive, her reason for her honour and her fight, the Crows, her friends, her family...were no more or never were.

And now, her closest friend, one of the people who had influenced her the most, someone she...

Delilah choked on the thought, unable to utter it even now. It didn't matter anyway. He was her purpose, the reason for everything and he too, had vanished.

The ache in her heart was unbearable. She felt hollow and empty...and slightly mad. No one knew what she knew, what was going on in her head. No one knew that she had once had a son, in a different time and place.

She had no reason to exist. No one would miss her, because no one knew her. No one knew her because 'Unfettered' didn't create Militia, didn't send her to San Francisco, didn't rescue her, didn't let her join Crows.

Literally, she had said before that without him, there would be nothing. Now, it seemed, she was right.

This world held nothing for her anymore.

Still, she was a coward. She would not die willingly by her own hand or the hand of another. She would go out in battle, but she wouldn't be stupid about it; she wasn't about to die to some weakling with a weapon.

No, she was gonna go out in fuckin' style.

A half mad grin pulled at the mechanic's chapped lips...and she started to run, following behind the battalion as quickly as she could. Qi shimmered over her skin and she laughed, a metallic grating sound from deep within her throat. She didn't care; she was going to hell anyway. Might as well take a few fuckers out with her.

She never did ever have a chance to go crazy with her natural talents as a killer. Now was as good a time as any.

Catching up with the back end of the battalion, Delilah scaled a building easily and ran swiftly along the roof top.

"...for my son."

She leapt from one to the other, picking up speed as she saw her targets in the middle of the group.

"FOR MY FRIENDS WHO DON'T EXIST!" She cackled. Looking ahead of her, there was a ledge that was perfect for what she was about to do.

"FOR JONATHAN FUCKING UNFETTERED WINTERS!" Jumping off--and into the middle of the army. At this, several of the Barker soldiers had turned to look for the source of the sound of the shouting woman.

As they looked up and saw the silhouette against the light of the sun with the spikes of her Qi standing far out from her skin, they saw what appeared to be, for a moment, a large bird swooping down towards them.

"FOR CROWS!!"

---

The battle was long and bloody. Laughing merrily through the chaos and blood shed, Delilah had decimated two thirds of the battalion by herself before reinforcements came in with ranged weapons. With the help of crossbow-men and an OGRE, Delilah finally fell in battle, with a smile on her face, crushed beneath the arms of the OGRE as her Qi shattered, leaving her already damaged body defenseless.

She didn't care that this was probably just a weird blip in the history of the new world of Barker and that she would die without even her name to be remembered by the soldiers who had survived. She was happy just to join the nothing her loved and dear ones had vanished into.

Part of the void.

. . .

Delilah woke up with a choking gasp, shooting upright and out of bed with a violent start. Breathing hard (I shouldn't be alive, I shouldn't be alive, I shouldn't...) She began checking herself over rapidly.

Scars.

The scars were back.

Then...that means...

Delilah fell back against the bed(!) with a joyful sob, just gazing down at her arms, the cuts on her palm, the deep gouges in her torso...her Militia tattoo.

For the first hour of that morning, the First Crow lay in her bed and wept for the indescribable gratitude and joy that had replaced the aching lonliness in her heart.

Never had she been happier...than to be fettered.

((OOC: 3181 words EXP Please))

[Reiner Leonhardt]

Reiner walked around the neighborhood of Huntington Park. He got to visit the shops and the stalls purchasing some food with the pseudo currency that was issued to all inhabitants in the territory. With their tokens they could buy goods and services and then have those tokens traded in for other materials at an exchange rate from the self-named LA-Bank.

It was always a fun time whenever he was allowed to leave the barracks free from his daily duties, where ever he went he was always saluted by Mercenary soldiers due to his senior rank but today of all days people really saluted him even looked at him in fear. Traversing the many narrow and crowed walkways of Huntington Park Reiner until he came up to his favorite store going in to purchase the goods only to have his tokens rejected and be given them for free. It puzzled him deeply.

To him today was just another day like any other with the long journey around the territory until he made his way home that always awaited the young man after he finished his duties and was not required to stay at the barracks for the night or week.

He had made sure everything was in order among the various sections of the training hall, always pausing a moment to bade a goodbye to the assistant as she exited on her own way home having finished her morning duties.

Tonight he would be the host for a small tournament of all new recruits to have them fight for a position in his own squad, his very own squad would be situated around a strong defense, they would all have to be men and women who would rather die than let Barker claim more land, in the absence of the vanguard they were the first line of defense for all of their homes. The setup had been a relatively calm one without any hassle, he made his way home and slept but when he woke up he felt different. Afraid that he had overslept he rushed back to the barracks only to suddenly be treated differently by everyone he had come across.

So now Reiner only had his own thoughts to keep himself occupied, he asked the question over and over again before finally returning to his quarters and having a drink of coffee. Within about fifteen minutes of sitting down there was a loud bang at his door getting up he walked toward the door and requested who it was before answering. Opening the door after a short discussion through the door he was summoned to the commander’s office.

Unsure as to why the man in charge would want to see him out of the blue Reiner stood up and put a coat on before making his way out of the room and into the common room. Instead of heading into where Jack’s personal quarters usually were lactated. He was lead to a much larger, lavish and elaborate part of the barracks, in fact he had no idea that it even existed. Turning to his escort he piped up.

“Hey, so how long has all this been here?”

Reiner motioned to the very high walls, expensive drapes all the really expensive furnishings which were completely un like Jack’s minimalistic life style approach. No he was more inclined to spend money in practical ways, encouraging his soldiers to spend their own pay on their armour and weapons. The quote reached his lips as if he were just told, ‘You are warrior’s not just soldiers! Being a soldier is a job, a warrior is a way of life. You have no use for a large, home, no use for a luxury car or the latest cell phone. You do have a use for the latest body armour, or the sharpest blade. Invictus, present yourselves on the battlefield as if you are worth a billion dollars’ in contrast to that old Jack this place was a bit too luxurious for a mercenary corps.

“It at least has to be a few months now. I think pretty much ever since the corps was sold to the new owner and the former commander stepped down, yeah basically as soon as O’Connor left the new owner came in and started renovating the place.”

“There’s a new owner? Ahh… I’ve seem to have forgotten. Fatigue from training and all”

Reiner chuckled, it was true he trained a lot so sometimes he was just worn out and forgot really simple and well known things; at the very least his escort bought his excuse. He had no idea that the corps had been sold! All he could think about was where in the hell was his Commander. When they reached the door, there were two very lavish looking men, in polished gold Corinthian helmets almost right out of a movie. It looks crazy; unreal in fact they were more like models then soldiers. The question on his mind was ‘what happened to this place?’

When he entered the building there was a very fat man sitting on top of a wooden throne eating grapes and looking down at him. For those who were versed with the very wealthy in Los Angeles this man went by the self-appointed title of Emperor Octavian. A homosexual drug lord who in the aftermath of the apocalypses rose to substantial power by acquiring the services of many underworld people and putting them to work. Jack O’Connor even worked for him some months ago and was even able to outsmart the ‘emperor’ when he set him up it seems he bought the mercenary corps just to spite him.

“Commander Leonhardt, welcome! There is a convoy departing shortly I would like you and your most elite soldiers to escort it safely to its destination”

Stunned at what the man called him Reiner could only stand their motionless for a few seconds before nodding and giving the man a bow. Bemused at his poor attempt at a bow the Emperor dismissed him, while turning his nose up into the air and commenting on how barbaric these mercenaries were. On his way out of the room Reiner was dragged aside by a cloaked man, this cloaked man was none other than Nick Archer. The man was substantially shorter than him and the only reason he was able to pull Reiner across was because of Reiner’s state of shock.

“Listen to me closely and answer all my questions. Who are you?”

Shocked at the sudden question, Reiner stuttered on his words.

“I am Reiner Leonhardt”

The man’s grip tightened, Riener was struggling to comprehend the whole situation.

“Until just then what was your rank?”

“Recruit 4th class”

“And now you are commander of Invictus?”

“It would seem so…”

The German wasn't slow to the conclusion either, standing straight the giant grabbed Nick by the collar and lifted him into the air.

“Now, who are you?” Reiner demanded


“I’m Nicholas Archer”

Reiner grip tightened he wanted to know where his commander was, Jack had rescued him from a life of inaction. Despite their fundamental differences in morality Reiner needed to be strong. He was almost choking the man by now.

“And your rank?”

Reiner was speaking in quiet hisses. His thick German accent making his English words sound harsher than they really were. If anything they served to unnerve Nick somewhat.

"We, we don't have ranks. Scathach is a little bit different to Invictus we're a bit more..."

"And what would a midget like you know of Invictus!"

"Shh..shh...shh! Not here! We must go!"

Reiner dropped Nick who rubbed his neck before pulling on Reiner's sleeve to lead him away.

"What is happening!?!"

"You there! HALT! Intruder! Alert the commander... commander?!?!"

A siren erupted around them as men came rushing out of the various corridors of the barracks. The whole time Reiner was being tugged along by this small person he had never heard about.

“We’re cut off!”

Nick cried as he looked behind and in front of him. Reiner roared, breaking the grip of Nick before charging forward. It was customary for Invictus soldiers to roar battle cries before engaging the enemy. The soldiers were armed with make shift spears so engaging them when they had a spike wall up was just suicide but he had no alternative. He had to find his commander, he had to! Attacking the man on the right first he dodged the spear thrust only receiving a glazing blow. Grabbing the man by the skull Reiner used it as a ram to slam it into the other two guards. Turning to Nick, Reiner yelled at him.

“MOVE!’

15 minutes after the escape

"Tell us everything you saw!"

The guard swallowed, his nerves getting the better of him. A little bit of encouragement was required in the form of a hard shove from one of the other guards.

"I s...saw an intruder who matched the description of the fugitive Nicholas Archer leading the commander away. When I called them to halt they ran away that was when I blew the intruder whistle. By the time I caught up to them they had already attacked and injured two guards and killed on. His skull had been crushed"

"Can anyone support this statement?"

"I can affirm that Commander Leonhardt is not in his quarters"

"I can affirm what this guard says, the commander is a traitor!"

"You all hear this! The commander of the Grey Mercenaries is a traitor to our cause! He is to be killed on sight."

45 minutes after the escape

They were sprinting down the streets of Huntington for the majority of an hour before entering a rundown building in lower Los Angeles. What looked like to be a place homeless people were living in, it was a series of run down shacks surrounded by multiple crumbled buildings.

“I use this place as a storage facility; it usually goes unnoticed as account for the general shit area. That and this place has already been scavenged since the apocalypse started.”

Nick was bustling around the shack before bring out a few pots and pans and handing some to Reiner. 

"Lets prepare a meal and I'll fill in what I've worked out from this morning when I was chased out at sword point"

Some time later

After they finished preparing their meal and eating it Reiner listened in as Nick informed him that what ever was happening meant that they weren't who they thought they were from at least. "Okay hear me out and this will sound really strange. So I think that where ever we are, the world has been flipped somehow but only marginally. You were not commander of Invictus but commander of the Mercenaries. See the Commander is known to us as leader of Invictus but to the majority he is more well known as the Commander of the Mercenary Company. Likewise no one knows of Scathach outside of it's role in providing information to the company. That was why Scathach and Invictus disappeared but your role as being a soldier in the company meant you stayed I don't know, 'active' in this world."

Reiner shrugged, finding it all hard to believe.

"I don't know, Nick, all I do know is that I can never go back. I killed a man. One of my own soldiers and I killed him!"

Standing up Reiner moved off into the corner of the room, content to speak no more to Nick and fell asleep sitting up.

The next morning


"Reiner!" 

He shot awake but not after he felt the tip of Jack's boot being rammed into his ribs.

"Wake up! We're moving out in fifteen minutes"

Looking up he stared at where Nick had slept only to find some other man in his role. The man was someone from Invictus, the squad captain Francis.

[Lucien DeChain]

Those who requested money for their reward have received it.

Posting is, however, open for another 3 hours!

[choongsung]

Pre-Apocalypse

Something was stepping on him. It was not too heavy, but it was heavy enough to cause Vincent a little bit of discomfort. The young man opened one eye to look at what was causing this pressure only to find himself face to face with a cat. “..Oh hello Navi” The cat responded with a soft meow, acknowledging her owner and walked off towards the cracked door. Before leaving the room, she looked back at Vincent and meowed once more as if she was beckoning him to take care of her needs.

“I wish she’d just leave me alone” mumbled Vincent as he shook himself awake and got out of bed. Hope no one gets in trouble. Please tell me that they actually listened to the liberty brief and aren’t doing anything stupid. These were the questions he would ask himself as the young man went to the bathroom in order to wash his face and complete his normal morning ritual. After all, Marines were Marines and weekends usually invited trouble. Vincent took a look outside the window before leaving the room. It was bright and sunny, but raining steadily enough to give his vehicles in the driveway a proper carwash.

“Appa! (Daddy!)” At this, Vincent turned around surprised to see his three year old daughter smiling at him from the doorway. “Bap moguseyo! (Eat Breakfast!)” He immediately walked over to his daughter and embraced her tightly. It felt like forever since he saw this little girl. Forever… just a couple years felt like forever. Though slightly confused, he was more than happy to follow his daughter out to the dining room where a traditional Korean breakfast was prepared. On the table was a circle of Korean side dishes and two slightly larger bowls. One was holding rice and the other held an egg drop soup with rice cakes and green onions. Everything seemed fine and dandy, but one thing was missing.
“Kara? Where’s your mother?”
“Mother?”
“Yes.. Where’s mommy?”
“…”

Kara continued to stare at her father as if he was talking about something completely foreign to her. Everything around the house seemed to point out that Vincent’s wife existed. The food on the table, some of her personal belongings, the pictures… The pictures. Vincent stood up from the dining room table and walked into the living room where the family photo was hung. She was not there. Vincent’s wife was not in the picture. It was only him and his daughter.

“What the heck’s going on…” mumbled Vincent as he slowly walked to the dining table where his daughter had begun to eat her share of the breakfast. And of course, making a mess as usual.

“Dear, you gotta slow down eating or you’ll make a mess..”
Little Kara giggled uncontrollably as her father wiped the excess food off her face and the table. Still wondering about what was going on, Vincent slowly ate his breakfast while keeping a watchful eye on his daughter.

If Kara is here, where’s Clara? Sure everything was a hell-hole last night but.. this is just too weird.

Vrrmmmmm. Vrmmmm. Vincent’s phone began to vibrate on the countertop. “Interesting.. electricity and electronics seem to work for some reason? He picked up the phone, it was his brother.

“Hello?”
“Hey Vince, did I wake you?” his brother responded.
“No, you didn’t. The cat did. What’s up?”
“Just making sure that you are able to come to that family gathering tonight”
“Yeah, I can. Don’t really have anything going on. What time is it?”
“It’s at 5:00pm. 1700 otherwise if I were to convert it into military time for you. You’re brining Kara right?”
“Yeah, of course. By the way, has Clara called you? I can’t find her anywhere at home”
“…Clara?”
“Don’t screw with me. Your sister in law, my wife”
“Uhh.. dude. You have a kid but you’re not married man”
“…..what?”
“Look, I gotta go prepare for tonight. Whatever’s going on in your head, hope you figure it out bro. Talk to you later.”
*click*

Vincent was completely speechless. Was he the only one who was sane? Or was he the only one that was crazy? The young man finished eating, washed the bowls, and put all of the side dishes away. As he walked back into his room in order to brush his teeth, Vincent’s daughter came tugging at his pant leg.

“Appaaaaaaah” she looked up at him with a toothy grin. Vincent looked at his daughter and said, “Yes dear?”

“Ana jwuh!! (Hug me!!)” With a smile, he bent over, picked his daughter up and embraced her. His daughter was always vying for his attention. After a couple seconds, Vincent held her in one arm as they both went into the bathroom to brush their teeth. As they were brushing their teeth, Vincent looked at his daughter through the mirror. She was completely identical to her mother. Her face, her laugh, her mannerisms, exactly the same. There was no way that Clara did not exist. There was no way. After both Vincent and Kara brushed their teeth, the young man took about 30 minutes getting his little girl dressed up to go outside. She just simply did not like any of the clothes that he was putting on her.

“…I have a feeling you’re going to be a huge pain when you go up” grumbled Vincent his daughter led him out to the driveway. Once again, everything was exactly the way it was before he went on deployment. There were even two cars in the drive way. One was his, the other was his wife’s. The third car, one they bought together was missing.

That’s weird thought Vincent. Maybe my brother was just screwing around with me. Clearly, Clara’s car is in the driveway. And the third one is out. Maybe she went to work?

By this point, the low flying clouds had dissipated and the rain stopped leaving a warm sun, and wisps of white cirrus clouds painting the blue sky.

He placed Kara in the child seat, buckled her up and made his way to the driver side of his car. Vincent wanted to take his daughter to the beach today. Because of work, Vincent never really had much time to spend with his daughter. He always had to leave her with his brother’s wife or parents especially since his “missing wife” was also busy with her job lately.

Maybe I’ll go and call her clinic and see if she checked in today.
Vincent called his wife’s physical therapy clinic as he drove out of the driveway and into the street.
Ring. Ring. Ring. Someone picked up.

“Hello?”
“Hi, this is Vincent Chung” the young man said as he drove up the road towards the highway.
“Hello Mr. Chung, how are you doing today? How’s that shoulder doing?”
Vincent had been getting his shoulder treated due to overuse at his wife’s clinic for several months now.

“Doing alright, thank you. Just wondering, has Clara come in to work today?"
“…Who sir?”
“Clara. Clara Chung”
“Well sir, We do have a Clara Noonan. But we don’t have a Clara Chung.”
“What are you talking about. This is her clinic!” Vincent was getting frustrated. It felt like everyone was in on some gigantic joke. Everything was exactly the way it was supposed to be. Yet, no one, not even his own child could remember that very important person in his life.

“Look sir.. please calm down” pleaded the operator on the other line. Must suck to always deal with angry customers.

Vincent hung up. He did not want to deal with this bullshit. He was upset. He was nervous. He wanted to hurt someone. Then he looked at the rear view mirror. Vincent stopped the car. His daughter looked like she was about to cry. Catching himself before he did anything he’d regret, Vincent calmed himself down slowly.

“Kara, lets go take a walk okay?”

The two had already arrived along a nearby beach. Vincent got out of the car and unbuckled his daughter from the baby seat and placed her gently on the sand. He was still trying to wrap his mind around what was going on. His wife was missing and no one he knew seemed to even remember that she existed. The young man looked down at his daughter as he walked her towards the water. At least for now, it was better to remain calm instead of frantically searching for someone that seemed to have vanished like a ghost. His daughter didn’t act like anything was wrong. She was just having her fun in the sand. Once Vincent and Kara got to the shoreline, he let go of her hand and walked behind her as she frolicked in the gentle surf. Luckily the waves were calm enough for Kara to play on the beach without getting knocked over.

Although he kept a strong face in front of his daughter, the disappearance of his wife worried the young man. No matter the scenario that Vincent ran through his mind, everything came out as a blank. Soon after getting herself soaking wet in the surf, Kara removed herself from beach and began turning herself into a sand cookie next to her father. Well, there was no stopping her. She was as stubborn as her mother. If she did exist anymore. While watching his daughter, Vincent began drifting in and out of a daze.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“You see that kid playing in the sand?” asked a woman’s voice.
Vincent replied, “Yeah I see him. What about him”
“We’re going to have a child just like that someday.”
“Just like that… More like you or more like me? Because it’s going to be trouble if the kid’s anything like you.”
“Oh please. You have no say. You’re going to be gone all the time.” The woman lay across Vincent’s lap as both of them turned their attention to waves rhythmically pounding the beach.
She looked up at him and said “Well, promise me you’re always going to make it back. Dear?...Dear..?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Dear…. Dear…”
Someone was shaking Vincent. The young man snapped out of his daze with a start and went crashing into his daughter’s pretty decent sized sand castle. And there she was. His wife, standing there looking at him with an amused look on her face. Few seconds later, Vincent found himself rolling away because someone was throwing sand in his face. Of course, his disgruntled daughter.
“Omma (Mommy)! He broke my castle!”
Just like that, everything was normal again. It was as if she was never gone. How strange. Before Vincent could think about anything else, he had to get the sand out of his eyes.

(OOC: 1789 Words. Stats)

[Kyrie Blaze]

Blue eyes that were red-rimmed opened. Kyrie gave a slow exhale, pushing herself up off the bed, though she wanted to curl up and sleep, longer. With a sleepy yawn, she set one bare foot down on the floor, then the other, and took a pace or two, lifting her arms high above her head in a languishing stretch. Kyrie enjoyed the pull of familiar muscle and tone, and for a moment, could ignore the growl to her stomach, and the splintering ache to her heart. She moved towards the window, pulling aside the blinds that kept the light outside, turning her room into a dim, comforting twilight.

Blue eyes blinked rapidly. The sun was high in the sky. There was something off about the streets. She frowned.

Paused.

Blinked.

With the startling realization she was very, very naked, she whirled, poised on her feet, blades of shadow forming at the ready in her hands. The blind fell, dimming the room once again. On the bed - that in itself being of remarkably good quality - there were black silk sheets. Black. Silk. Sheets.

"...what is this madness and who thinks this is funny..?" She muttered beneath her breath, immediately turning the blades to a sheet to wrap around herself. She quickly rooted around the room and breathed a sigh of relief when she found her clothes and blades. Donning her garments, the blonde rubbed at her temples. This was disorienting, but it was still Dragon Territory. She made a hurried, discreet exit, pushing the rumble for food from her mind.

Today. Today she needed to go see Delilah. To talk, because she wanted someone that would at least empathize, if not understand, the rend in her heart, and how divided she was. And she needed to talk, not to David or Scarlet, but to someone that was outside of it, but still cared and knew her enough to help her.

And then there was the matter of who was moving her in her sleep--that in itself was a remarkable feat. She tended to sleep very lightly, as though she knew she had to be aware even when asleep.

Departing the building that certainly wasn't Mathew's house, she kept note of that, and ghosted along, heading quickly towards Crow Territory. Luck seemed to be on her side: whomever moved her put her near the large skyscrapers she could glide from with her shadow wingsuit.

~~~

Careening down, Kyrie soon popped into and out of the shadows of the Crow's wall, and slid to make her way inside. While she had no reason to hide, she stuck to the shadows of people passing through. It was an instinctual hunch, that if she got to Delilah quick enough, things would get better. But she needed to get to the First Crow before that could happen. Clearing enough distance from the gates with her piggy back ride, the blonde swapped shadows into a building's and soon emerged.

She only got a block or two more before she saw two familiar faces. And then three, as one stalked towards her, his posture . Wide blue eyes blinked rapidly, and she looked up at Marcus.

"You." He intoned, the word cracking through the air with the intent to root her to her spot. "I don't know you. I don't like that at all. Your name. Now."

Kyrie blinked, thrown off by the abruptness, the cold, calculating glint to his eyes. Bastille and Lucien closed in, standing on either side, their gazes hard.

Kyrie wasn't about to let this intimidate her, not one bit. She squared her shoulders and looked up at him. "I come to see the First Crow, Delilah Black. And, Marcus, you know very well who I am."

For a moment, the Wolf seemed baffled, and then his expression changed in a subtle way. It was a look that clearly told her he thought she was crazy. He growled: "Did I just fucking stutter!? Name. NOW!"

Crystalline blue eyes narrowed. "Kiyr Barrial."

He moved so quickly she scarce saw it coming. His hand shot out, grasping her face around her mouth to haul her up into the air, so she was level with his gaze. His other hand shot out with a knife, pressing the sharp edge to her throat, digging it in very slowly.

He leaned close, and sneered: "You. You're the Dragons' Bitch."

"Funny, Marcus. Let me up and take the blade from my throat. I need to talk with Delilah." Something about his gaze, Her eyes shot to Lucien and Bastille, each addressed respectively: "Please, Lucien, where is she? I am asking. ...and Bastille, where are your children; where are Aryanna and Evelyn? Are they with Mathew?"

Lucien grimaced, disgusted. Something deeper than that shone in his eyes: loathing. Bastille, however, barked a sardonic laugh despite her bored expression. "If God cursed me with wailing, bloody offspring and whoever this Mathew is, on top of the mess He's made of everything else, I can't wait for the opportunity to obliterate him. Let's just kill her now--Dragons would take a hard blow, and Leon would probably do something stupid in retaliation. We should prepare."

"Just because I set up an elaborate prank on David does not mean you need to take this one so far!" She was highly aware of the fact the pressure of the blade was increasing, and felt the cold weight of Marcus' gaze. Shadow pooled from her legs and feet, sank into the shadow from the building along the ground...and Kyrie disappeared from Marcus' grip.

Something was very wrong, here.

It set her heart racing, and she could hear the curses behind her. Her heart was beating so quickly, and yet she felt a hard palpitation as it skipped a beat. She hoped, hoped it was all some prank. This had to be an elaborate hoax. And now, now she was fleeing Crow Territory. Fleeing from Marcus, Bastille, Lucien, and at least a score or more of their militia. She didn't cry, but couldn't deny that it had hurt.

~~~

Panting from the run, thankful she had somehow managed to ditch Marcus and his company, Kyrie moved through Dragon Territory, asking for Mathew. She got baffled responses, and the more they didn't know, the more her anxiety began to show. Delilah, and Mathew? towards Leon's Tower. Upon her arrival, she was promptly let in without even so much as a blink or question. Ascending by taking the stairs two at a time, the blonde soon came to the throne room. Leon was there, wiping blood from his hand while Aryn leaned over his shoulder, nibbling on the skin just below his ear. A body was being dragged off.

The brunette, upon seeing the petite blonde, backed off, a flare of jealous hatred shining in the green depths of her eyes.

And Leon's gaze unerringly found hers. With that, the blonde suffered a jolt. His eyes were blue. With some white, yes, but obviously...

Leon could see.

"Kyrie. You're up earlier than I thought." He stood, walking towards her, where she was just standing, staring. Wide-eyed. He reached out, snagging her chin to tip her head to the side, observing the slight line upon her throat with dried blood. He ran his finger over it, and if she had been surprised before, the action drew a shudder. "Training already? And here I thought I left you exhaus--"

She drew away, eyes flashing in anxious warning. Do not touch. "Leon, where is Mathew? Where is The Earth Dragon?"

"Who?" He blinked, playing along, his eyes roaming.

"The Earth Dragon, your best friend. The one that dragged you from Barker's rig he slapped you in to draw the electricity from your body to power parts of the city. Where is he?!"

The blonde was dumbfounded when he just laughed, catching her chin once again and pressing his lips to hers, his tongue-- Kyrie gagged and flung herself away, into a crouch, glaring daggers even as she pulled one from her vest, another appearing of shadow beneath the hand that was upon the floor.

"Damn, Kyrie." He chuckled. "For being so emotionless, you play a damn good part. That's why you're mine. That's why you're the best we have, and that's why I have another target for you."

He was walking back towards the throne, and Aryn still glared. She felt her skin crawl and wished for mouthwash. Leon turned back with a black missive, grinning, apparently in good humour. She stood, shoulders straight despite the panic building in her chest.

"Where is Mathew, Leon, stop playing around and just tell me. Where is the Elder that I apprentice under. Where is he? And where is Rai?"

As if summoned, the young Sudeki popped out of an alcove, his teal eyes glinting. Kyrie jolted. Raikotsu had lost an eye. This was not--could not--what was going on? She blanched, eyes wide, and Rai laughed.

"Damnit, don't do that, unless you want to drag us away for a few hours. Seeing you at work gets me all riled up, you know that, Kyrie." The man-child - who was more a man, now, it seemed - shook his pants, adjusting them, and the blonde felt bile rise in her throat as she looked at Leon, who thrust the paper into her hands, setting his hand on her waist, nails dragging--she flung herself back, once again, chest heaving.

"Stop. Touching. Me!"

Enough was enough, she was getting out. She pivotted on her foot, whirled, and took off down the stairs of the tower. Bursting back into daylight, she tore away from the tower, breathing in hard, quick gasps. Panic mingled with pain. How was this even possible? When she slowed, slumping against the building, the weight of what was going on finally started to settle. She felt sick. No Mathew meant that Bastille hadn't been lying. Evelyn and Aryanna, the two precious babies that meant the world for her, gone. No Delilah. The world was looking bleak, losing colour and meaning for her. She coughed, choking back a pained cry.

Apparently she was--with Leon and Rai? A shudder rolled down her spine again. She blew around the corner--and bumped into something. Or, rather, someone. She turned to see a man looming above her. Older, definitely rough looking. And his coat...

"...that coat." Her eyes were wide, and quickly narrowed and hardened. It was Mathew's coat! The Earth Dragon's coat. The man wearing it was equally as tall, if not an inch or two more so. Older, though.

He looked down on her and she felt small and insignificant. When he spoke, his words were gruff, like he would rather just cuff her away. "What about it?"

Kyrie's jaw worked, teeth grinding slightly against one another. She shook her head at The Earth Dragon, and backed away. As she spoke, she began to turn, preparing to run. "Nothing, Earth Dragon. M-My aapologies."

It was ten minutes later she came to a stop, slumping against a familiar building, intending on seeing, at least, if her gardens... Her gaze shot up as footsteps approached, and Anna came into view. The blonde's back stiffened, and her eyes blazed. Her hands clenched, one around the sealed black envelope. But with Anna, even being who she was, there was a trickle of hope.

"Anna?"

The blonde nodded with a smile, gesturing to the envelope. "Who do you have now, Shadowstrike~?"

Shadowstrike? Kyrie shook her head, looking at the blonde, almost pleadingly. "Anna, where is David? Where is The Storm Dragon?"

Anna would know. She always knew where he was and what he was doi--

The blonde looked puzzled. "...but there is no Storm Dragon, Kyrie. You're tense. Too much acting, it's starting to stress you out, making it seem so real. You should come with me. Leon and Rai won't mind if I--"

"No!"

She pulled away and back, towards the street.

No David. Anna was trying to--Leon, Rai. No Mathew. No Delilah. The missive was suddenly ripped open, and blue eyes flashed over the printing on the pages.

'...internal affair, unstable, handle with utmost discretion, loose cannon...target: Olesya Van deBogart--' Kyrie blanched at that--even if Anna had never heard of David, she really couldn't kill the white-haired woman. It wasn't vengeance. Or Justice, something she clung to because the alternative would only get her killed. Knowledge and patience she valued, and Olesya? Olesya was not her enemy. Not here, where-ever here was. But the signature upon the bottom of the page, marking it official: 'Barker!?'

Shadow shredded the papers to ribbons. The blonde swayed backwards. She worked with the man who ravaged the world? The man she swore would be brought to justice? A dismayed cry rose up in her throat, given sound by her voice. A wordless denial. A plea.

"Come on, Kyrie, it's not that bad."

"No--stop. You do not understand. You have no clue. Get back, get away, Anna!" She fairly screamed at the blonde, for all she had done--Kyrie's blue eyes flashed, but she could not strike out at this blonde, either. Her qi rippled in response to her emotional distress, and erupted from her back in large Dragon wings of shadow.

The blonde crouched, holding back a scream of pain. Not because of her qi, or the thick appendages that were held at the ready. But because the cracks in her heart widened. She sprang up into the sky, and instinctively used the wings to fuel the jump. Up, up, up, into the sky she went. What should have been an exhilarating event was pained. A scream tore itself from her throat. A name.

David.

He should hear. If this madness was somehow, someway, all just a cruel joke, he would hear the pain and anguish, and he would come. It didn't matter he'd hurt her, it wouldn't matter if this was some horrible, twisted prank that was several hundred times worse than hers could ever have been. He would come!

But he didn't.

Even as she circled and soared with no joy, with only fear and cutting anguish, he didn't respond. And with a jolt, she realized--her eyes narrowed and she swept her wings in a powerful stroke, hard, directing her flight to Neutral Territory. To a bar, still standing. To Levi. Levi had to be here, there was no way he could not be, even with the original Earth Dragon, even though she couldn't feel him, he. had. to. be...

She landed, hard, stumbling until regaining her feet, which slapped against the cracked and broken pavement. The wings cracked, dissipating after shattering into the air as the blonde rushed in a sprint into the abandoned bar. What she saw...

Dust. It covered everything. The bar was still as run-down as when Levi Kayamei had first stumbled upon it. Hope was such a cruel mistress. Feeling the strength drain from her limbs, she stumbled. Staggered. Made it to the piano - one of two - and crashed to the floor, curling up as the sobs could no longer be held back. She wept there, curled on the floor with footsteps leading to her prone, shaking form in the dust. Her blonde hair spilled around her, dragging in the dust. Its glint in a small patch of sun the only bright spark to the room. The last vestiges of her heart cracked, shattered, and crumbled to dust. Her devastation was utter and complete. Those that were the most important to her...

Gone.

...hours passed, and finally exhaustion claimed her...




Kyrie jerked awake, panting. Crying. Her hands clutched - not wooden floor and dust - blanket. Rough. Not silk. She wasn't naked. She was in Mathew's home. Grasping the pillow, she clutched it tightly and sobbed into the material, caught in the echoes of pain from the dream, and pain much more recent.

Relief made her weak, made it so she was unable to move, to think. So instead, she simply felt. If this was a dream..if she was to be transported back to that other world, she would die there, even more surely than she would, here. She could not live...not without love.




. o O ( Word Count: 2701 before this message. EXP please. Stat changes will be bases of 30 CON and 40 CHA to enable brief flight. Dragon Wings first revealed to the public eye in another thread, as a memory, from a PM discussion regarding a traitor within Dragon ranks. )

[Lucien DeChain]

Posting is officially closed.

Players can go ahead and add the +4 exp, if that's the reward they chose.

Money amounts have already been adjusted.