Kaine stepped to the closed dark doors, as a winged serpentine figure rose before it. Eyes glowing a dangerous greenish hue, Nova stared straight at him and he knew something else possessed her at this moment.

“You know, of what darkness stands for now.” The demon spoke with his familiar’s mouth, “You choose not that path, you denied it. Now you remain with only two, so which shall you choose, boy?”

Kaine took in a deep breath, glancing back down the dark corridor he had just walked, he saw the petrified form of the skeletal warrior he’d left behind. “I don’t know that yet.” Kaine responded.

“Good, a cynical mind is just what I was looking for but be not indecisive Dark Child, life rarely ever gives time to choose when hell comes forth knocking.” The demon said, hissing as Nova approached, “Still I wonder, which shall you choose?” It mused, slithering up his legs and settling around his neck. “When everything burns, when your every choice is locked away, and all your hopes seem too far. When the moment seems utterly impossible to defeat. What will you do?”

Meeting his eyes once more, “Will you choose my hellfires of demonic supremacy.” It said as a blaze of green lit up within Nova’s eyes. “Or…something else?”

“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” Kaine added, watching as Nova’s eyes returned to normal, the familiar resting itself onto his shoulder.

“I guess I shall wait, watch and see.”

As suddenly before him, the door crumbled, falling into a pile of dust.

-

-

Jedd stood leaning onto the stone wall, gazing into the darkness of the tunnel, the barely visible doors within looming over them. It had been only a few moments since Kaine and his familiar dissipated into them, and the tension around her had already fallen to becoming…tense.

As Sin stood on the walkway’s edge staring down into the sky below, Dark stood behind her, gazing over Jedd and her group.

Neither side had anything to say to the other, neither one but Jedd whose curiosity pushed her off the wall.

Walking up to the two, she faced them as Sin turned to the sound of her approach.

“What is Mangoest?” She asked straight up, meeting Dark’s amused eyes as he smirked back.

“It’s Dutch for Mongoose, what about it?” He asked, knowing full well it wasn’t the answer she was looking for.

“Jor reacted to that word unlike anything I’d seen from him before, why?” Jedd pressed on.

To that Dark chuckled, “Yeah, which only furthers my theory.” He said in amusement.

Raising a questioning brow to his words, Jedd was growing annoyed with his attitude.

“I am also curious, as to what this theory of yours might be, care to share?” Sin then asked, leaning in onto Dark’s back, making him obviously uncomfortable.

“Ah, fine.” Dark grumbled, seemingly bothered but not moving away from Sin at all as she smiled cheekily back at Jedd.

“Well, I guess it’s less of a theory and more so a confirmation.” Dark then mused, gazing off into the dark tunnel. “Three years ago, our guild died. Well, Kaine killed it if I were to be more…accurate about it. Ah, Jor is Kaine.” He quickly mentioned, before continuing on. “He…After what happened, he’d changed. The annoyingly positive, overly chummy and unavoidable co-leader we had known, was dead. Gone and buried beneath what came back to us.”

Narrowing his eyes, a flash of anger went through Dark’s eyes, “He led like a tyrant. He did not ask, he demanded. He did not help, he commanded. He was one hell of a beast to deal with and fought just like one too.”

“Yeah…” Sin chimed in, “One by one, the guild crumbled, everyone grew frustrated with him until what remained…until we all just decided to resign and leave him behind.”

“The guild scattered, everyone going into their own path, be it another guild or in Kaine’s case, another game.” Dark continued, “But not until he made a name for himself back in Aether Rifts Online. The solo player everyone bloody hated. Ruthless, almost savage in how he fought, but otherwise inescapable. But, suddenly he quit. He stopped playing Aether Rifts and we did not see him log into the game at all.”

“Right but…we had him friended over the system’s list too, he still got on here and then.” Sin added.

“He was on invisible though, couldn’t see what he was doing. I figured he’d switched games and didn’t want us to know, though begs the question why he didn’t unfriend us.” Dark then said.

“He did unfriend all of us later on.” Sin argued.

“Yeah but still, it was strange. Although I didn’t pay much attention to it, until Sting and Kendo brought something to my attention.” Dark sighed, turning to gaze off at the cavern as a whole. “Those PVP-maniacs had also switched games, from Aether Rifts Online the MMORPG to a new game by the same developer, Aether Rifts; Tides of War, the MOBA. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.”

“It’s basically one of the top 5 E-sports games of this decade, yeah who hasn’t?” Farvo mused, the rest of the crows gathering in now.

“What did they find?” Jedd urged as to not derail the topic.

Chuckling at her curiosity, “Mangoest.” He said simply at first whilst turning to face her. “It’s…It was, a team who partook in the Final Rift, ToW’s pro league. And amongst the team’s player roster, Kendo noticed a familiar name.”

Understanding now what Dark was getting at, “Kaine’s” Jedd said.

And Dark nodded, “Not Jormungandr, his usual name. Just Jor, what he usually names his alt character. And even that quickly changed after the first few matches, I don’t know why, but he changed his name to Nidhogg. And call me crazy but, both Kaine’s and his sister’s character names came from ancient earth’s Nordic mythology. I did my research, Jormungandr the world eater, Nidhogg the incarnation of evil…Coincidence?”

“What confirmed this…then?” Jedd asked.

Dark’s eyes narrowed once more, “Nidhogg, he played like an animal. I had only heard rumors and second-hand recounts but when I actually saw Nidhogg’s playstyle in a game with the exact same combat system as Aether Rifts online…Kaine’s tactics, but it wasn’t Kaine’s playstyle, not the Kaine I knew. Gah, how do I explain this?” Dark groaned, grinding his teeth as words failed him.

Finding himself gazing at the dark tunnel, “The movements, the way he attacked in an evasive fashion, increasingly growing quicker as time went on. That, that is Kaine but…Nidhogg didn’t just grow quicker with each attack, he evaded less, he took the hit just to land his own. Nidhogg was brash and aggressive whilst Kaine is quick and evasive.” Taking a moment to sigh, Dark shook his head before glancing over the crows.

“What I saw on that screen wasn’t Kaine, and who I saw fighting earlier in that field wasn’t either, but both are one and the same. Kaine is gone, and what we’re left with, is Nidhogg.” Dark said, “But this one here is faltering, whilst the Nidhogg I saw gave no two fucks about what came at him…Jor is distracted, tense and I dare say afraid of…something.”

Afraid?

Jedd thought, as suddenly the sound of something crumbling behind them caught all of their attention, each turning to see a figure walk out of the suddenly dust-ridden tunnel.

“Well, that was interesting to say the least…” Kaine groaned as he appeared out of the shadows, glancing over each of them as they all awkwardly stared at him, for several long awkward moments. “What?” He asked with a raised brow, “Something on my face?”

“More like something’s up with the entire thing.” Dark mused with a smirk, as both then glared at one another.

“Think we should…get some rest.” Jedd offered, glancing over at Luna who lay waiting by the tunnel entrance.

As she did the wolf rose, “Accommodations can be provided, but the Great Watcher would be greatly insulted if we do not announce your presence first…” Luna warned.

“Then I guess we’re off to meet this Great Watcher first.” Roy added, moving to stand in between Kaine and Dark, “Shall we?”

“Fine,” Dark grumbled.

“Sure.” Kaine said.