Chapter 21: Ajal; Shauran 24th, 344SR; 9:30

Ajal sprinted through the long and dark tunnel. John and Sarah we're a great distance behind, trying to keep up, but they were struggling in vain. 'Why are there holes in the sides of the wall?' Ajal thought as he breathed in and out . He held the golden ring in his clenched fist as he ran past the bodies of the ghoulish looking women from earlier. They were on the ground, with cracked or shattered skulls. John and Sarah steps became quieter as the distance increased, Ajal ran forward without stopping, 'How far did they get? Did they find more? Dammit, I have to go faster!'

"Ajal! We'll catch up!" Sarah shouted.

'Dark Passage!' Ajal's foot dived into the shadow, his entire body fell into it. He reappeared much farther down the path, then entered the shadow again to do it once more. He zoomed through the dark sewer tunnel at a high speed and flew out into the open light, he landed and his feet dragged against the concrete as he slowed down. However he was too fast, he stumbled over, and rolled as he struggled to stop until his back slammed into a concrete ramp.

Ajal immediately stood up and looked left and right. Several kids were playing with an orange ball stared at Ajal with wide eyes. One of the children was rather chubby, the orange ball fell out of his hands as he stood frozen, all of the kids we're motionless. Ajal stood up and towered over the crowd of children.

"Hey, have you kids seen a guy with brown-"

The kids all started screaming at the same time, 'Huh?' They turned and scattered in multiple directions towards various buildings, Ajal stood still with a confused expression as the kids all went into hiding. 'Huh... The sun must've risen while we were in that tunnel...' He rubbed his eye, his feet felt sore after sprinting. Ajal sensed something to his left and turned to see an old man looking up at him, the old man was clearly physically weak and frail, but Ajal felt a great amount of spiritual strength from him.

"Hey, have you seen a bald guy and a guy with brown hair?" Ajal asked the old man.

The old man didn't say anything, he just nodded pointed upwards towards a road that led into the city.

"He went that way?" said Ajal.

"Hey! You just came through the tunnel right?" A woman at the top of the concrete ramp called Ajal.

He looked up to see a five foot woman with her hair tied up in a bun, wearing a white sleeveless shirt, a long black skirt, and sandals. She was short, her black hair was dense, she had round cheeks with a worried expression on her face.

"Yeah, I did?" Ajal answered while rubbing his eye.

"You're pretty tall for a descendant of Ophi... My name is Marina Jorve, are you looking for a brown haired boy, about five feet tall? Kind of plain looking?"

"Yeah? Have you seen him?"

"Yes, he went further into the city-"

Ajal jumped to the top of the concrete ramp and towered over the five foot woman, she stepped back with a shocked face as she realized how tall he was. Her cheeks went red as she gulped nervously, her hands shook slightly. A slight breeze swished through the buildings.

"What about the other one?" Ajal asked.

"O-other?" Marina replied, she stepped back and scratched her head. "I didn't see another person?"

"Bald head? Long mustache?"

"That... sounds familiar, but no I didn't see any bald people."

"Alright, thanks for the info," Ajal walked past Marina towards the grey building she was in front of.

"Wait! Are there any more of you? Are you all slaves?"

"Well, yeah, most of them are... non-unified- but i'm not. Why do you ask?"

"If the guards spot you or your friends, they'll never be seen again! We have to find him before they do!"

"Never be seen again? I don't know what you mean but, is there any safe place in this city? Preferably a quiet one."

"These slums of Rea are the only place which is safe, most of these buildings offer refuge to people of all races."

"There should be seven others on the way, they'll be coming through the tunnel as well. Thank you for the help."

"Wait where are you-"

Ajal ran towards the building and ran two steps up the red painted wall, 'Spirit Ignition!' He kicked up to the roof and grasped the ledge. Marina was shocked as she watched him easily climb the wall.

Ajal pulled himself up and was met with a calming breeze, the roof of this building was not on a similar level with the other roof tops. 'Now this, is something i'm a bit more used too...' Ajal took a deep breath as he looked at the massive city. He rubbed his eye once more as he looked down. The individual cracks of concrete became blurry for a moment, as he stumbled forward. 'Shit... I don't know how long I can stay up...'

Between each building were long red pillars, they led to the neighboring buildings of the same height. The higher buildings we're connected by several levels of red pillars. Each of the pillars we're rectangular in shape, they created a hatching pattern over the streets of the city. 'What's the point of these?' He stepped onto one of the red pillars and looked down, the streets below we're full of short people with black hair and fair skin. 'They all look very similar... I kind of look similar actually... i'm just not as short.' Ajal got down on one knee as he watched from the red pillar, a child was asked his mother if he could buy something.

Ajal looked to his left and saw a child with black hair run along the red pillar, towards the taller buildings. He hopped down onto the balcony of the building and knocked on a door. After several seconds, another child opened the door and they both jumped onto the red pillar. The two kids stopped and looked up at the next level of pillars which were another story higher than the one they were currently on. 'No way...' Ajal thought to himself as the second child squatted down and then jumped up to the next level of pillars. He didn't have to grasp the ledge, he had jumped high enough to step onto the next level.

"Wow..." Ajal was speechless.

The children we're using the beams as a means to play, both of them showed no fear as they leaped over the city streets down below. One slip up was a trip to the streets below, they'd almost certainly meet death. Ajal jumped up to the red beam and grasped it with both hands, he hung from it for a moment 'I wonder if I should even be doing this- when I'm still this tired!' Ajal pulled himself up and crouched on the beam, slowly standing up to keep his balance. This one was the highest level for a few kilometers, he still couldn't see the edge of this city. He turned around and saw the black wall, he was still unable to see over it.

Ajal walked along the beam, the two kids from earlier we're playing tag, leaping between beams and running about. The one being chased tried increasingly dangerous maneuvers, however the pursuer seemed even more eager to perform those same maneuvers. One of them finally slipped, 'Oh shit!' Ajal ran forward along the beam, he was too far to catch the child, 'I can use dark-'. Ajal stopped as he suddenly remembered the child he couldn't save from Enma and he hesitated. The child's body twisted in mid air and the boy landed on both feet, before he squatted down and jumped right back up to the beam to continue playing.

"Oh... they don't even need me," Ajal sat down on the red beam.

A strange feeling came over him, Ajal suddenly felt a chill which caused him to shake. He looked up at the clouds in the bright blue sky. 'Why did I hesitate?' He looked down at his hand and noticed it shaking, Ajal pondered his thoughts in that moment. 'What the hell am I doing,' the white clouds drifted lazily across the sky. 'Why am I trying to go back to Imperion... what's the point, they probably think i'm dead...' Ajal held his head, remembering the force behind Ava's kick, the lack of mercy and the intent to kill behind it. 'Even if I went back, would they just try to kill me again before I can get an answer?'

Ajal looked down at the streets, multiple short people with black hair walked between the various stores. A lot of them for some reason we're lining up at a store which sold some sort of cake, Ajal couldn't tell the kind from that distance. 'Now I'm on this planet called Grelt... running around trying to help people... Why? Because I regret the mistakes I made? I don't belong here," Ajal cracked a smile, he crossed his legs on the red beam. He started giggling as held his forehead with both palms, his elbows resting on his legs. 'I'm pathetic. I have no right to stick myself into this world's problems as if I'm any better... I'm not very different looking at my track record...' Ajal looked back to the children playing, one of them leaped recklessly at the other to tag them, his hand grazed the other boy's shoulder as he flew towards the wall of the building. He crouched against the wall, and kicked off back up to the red beams. Their game immediately continued.

Ajal thought back to his fight that destroyed Logos, 'If I was to fight here, the results would be bad. It'd be better to avoid conflict here... That is hoping I don't fight someone as strong as Alexander Rael again...' Ajal paused. 'That guy... the so-called noble angel... ' Ajal thought back to the strange things that happened in that fight. Ajal's thoughts slowed down, 'I'm so tired...'

"I didn't wanna tell Jack or the others but... that angel-" Ajal stopped muttering to himself as his eyes closed on their own.

***

'Huh...' Ajal was no longer on the red beam, he was sitting in an abyss of darkness, he stood up quickly and looked down, he could see his palms vividly, as if there was a light shining on him from somewhere in this darkness. The world suddenly brightened and he found himself flipping a light switch.

"Happy Birthday Ajal!" Multiple people shouted at the same time as the light turned on.

"Huh?" Ajal looked left and right.

A small plant in the corner towered over two kids and their parents. They stood in front of a table with a white and blue frosted cake. The room was kept warm by a buzzing heater, the warmth quickly comforted Ajal and made him feel nostalgic. The smell of pizza in the oven caused his mouth to water.

"It's not-" Ajal stopped as he realized his voice was a much higher pitch.

"Happy Birthday!" More people shouted over him.

He turned around once more, he was inside one of the first homes he had ever lived in, he looked down at his hands and they appeared small. Ajal stared at the cake, before he stood up and walked towards the window he knew was to the left of the table. He put his palms on the glass and looked out the window, the sky was pitch black, however the world was vibrant with color as if it was broad daylight. The horns of cars honked as they tried to get through Solron's terrible traffic. The gray buildings were all Ajal could see besides the black sky, a hand touched his shoulder and he turned to see a young Enma.

"What are you looking out the window for! The cakes this way!" Enma shouted at Ajal with a childish anger.

Enma had short red messy hair, a cheerful smile spread across his face, one tooth missing from the front made Ajal laugh under his breath. To his right was his brother Shin, his hair wasn't messy, rather loose and straight, he had white hair, he seemed to be nervous. They both wore white tank tops with ragged pants, those clothes made Ajal feel nostalgic, many of the people who lived in Solron weren't wealthy, but what they lacked in wealth they made up for in community.

"Happy birthday Ajal," said Shin, Enma's younger brother.

Ajal looked at the white haired boy for a moment, and his eyes went wide. 'This isn't right! Where am I...' Ajal looked around.

"What's going on-"

"Check it out! Turbo Man 2!" Enma shouted again, holding up a disk.

The three children were suddenly in Shin's room. It had the pattern of a man with a red helmet riding on top of a hoverboard.

"You got it already? How?" Ajal asked.

"My uncle got it for me." Enma answered, his eyes still closed, and his wide and cheerful smile was all Ajal seemed to see from him.

"This is my room... and he got it for me..." Shin whispered.

"He's riding a hoverboard in this game? That's really cool..." Ajal looked at the disk.

"A hoverboard? What's that?" Shin asked curiously.

"This thing. How do you not know what a hoverboard is?" Ajal pointed at the red craft the man was riding.

"That's the Turbomachine from Turbo Man 1? What's a hoverboard?" Shin asked.

"Huh? No the turbomachine inspired the first hoverboard, there's hoverboards everywhere, it's... its..."

Ajal looked at a calendar on the side of the room, it was the twenty-first day of Hemhir, the three hundredth and twenty-first year since rebirth. 'That's right,... hoverboards weren't invented until the year three hundredth and twenty five...' Ajal recalled.

He looked up at the screen, he didn't notice Enma and Shin had already started playing. As he watched the gameplay, he heard the sound of someone hitting their hands on a window. Ajal glanced at the window with a confused expression, he saw nothing but the black sky and the side of a building. Ajal looked back at the screen and noticed the faint image of someone on the screen, they slammed their hands into the screen, as if trying to break out. Ajal felt something poke his forehead when the figure in the screen slammed his hands against the screen, his third eye opened.

That's when Ajal noticed it was him inside of the screen trying to break free, and just like that his eyes shot open.

***

"Ah!" Ajal's head whipped upwards.

He heard the sounds of the street again, he was looking at his lap, his back hunched over on the red beam while he sat with his legs crossed. The sky had become a dark blue. 'Holy shit... it's already night time? Ah crap I wasted time!'

The sounds from the streets below made him believe he was back in Solron. 'I- I fell asleep?' Ajal stretched his back and looked around to see the two kids who were playing looking right at him.

"How long was I out?" Ajal asked the children.

The two of them looked at one another, one of them had a mushroom cut and the other had short spiky hair. The one with the mushroom cut held up his hands wide open.

"A few hours!" he shouted from the distance..

"Oh... thank you." Ajal replied as he looked down.

"Are you a descendant of Ophi?" the other child suddenly asked Ajal.

"No...?"

"See I told you he was too tall to be one of us..." The spiky haired child murmured to his friend.

"Yeah but he still looks like us? Hey I have another question!"

'What's up with these two... at least I don't feel nearly as tired...'

"Are you a half blood?" the spiky haired child asked.

"No? I don't know what that is... you and all these people, are you all descendants of this Ophi person?" Ajal asked.

"Hey we're asking the questions here half blood!" The spiky haired child blurted out.

Ajal looked at him for a moment with a confused expression.

"Was that supposed to be cool?" Ajal asked himself.

"If you aren't a descendant of Ophi you'd better show some respect to her name and us, this is our turf!" the child threatened.

Ajal looked down at the red beam he stood on, and at all of the other red beams. And then looked back at them. 'He probably isn't talking shit, I saw how they could maneuver these beams- come to think of it... ever since I woke up, I've been pretty rusty with my movement, I could use a warm up...' Ajal had a fun plan in mind.

"Really? Who's going to punish me for disrespecting Oophles?" Ajal mocked.

"I'm warning you!" The spiky haired child crouched down, ready to pounce.

He was at least twenty meters away from Ajal, 'He's getting ready to jump from there?'

"Wait Andrei, your mom told you to stop fighting or else you'd get grounded..." The other child cautioned.

"You can try as well, dork," Ajal said to the other child.

"Dork?! What'd you say butthead!" the other child threatened.

'That wasn't the reaction I was expect-' the spiky haired child Andrei leaped forward at Ajal. 'He can jump far-' Ajal jumped backwards to dodge, the child had leaped forward from the spot he stood. Ajal looked up and watched as he landed on the same beam in front of Ajal, he returned a stern look to Ajal's calm one.

"Wait Andrei! That's dangerous! If he isn't a descendant he could get hurt from that fall!" the other child shouted.

"Don't worry Morin, I got this!" Andrei replied.

"That's not my point!"

Andrei approached Ajal slowly with both hands raised to push Ajal off, 'Is he trying to scare me?' Ajal raised his leg straight up and focused his spirit into his foot, Andrei hesitated. 'Imperial Battle Arts, Hammer!' Ajal slammed his foot into the pillar with just enough force to shake all of the beams, Morin stumbled on his feet. Andrei, being even closer to Ajal, stumbled in place, only for Ajal to sweep his leg with enough force to spin the boy over. He grabbed Andrei by the ankle and dangled him above the streets, 'That wasn't much of a warm up...'

"Ah! What!" Andrei struggled, his arms flailed helplessly.

Ajal didn't want to drop Andrei to the streets so he dropped him back down on the beam. Morin stood there with wide eyes, trying to contemplate what just happened. A slight giggle escaped his shocked expression, and a wide grin spread between the boys ears.

"Okay, things have changed. You're a challenge!" Morin grinned.

"Forget it, you two are too weak for this," Ajal declined to proceed.

"We can't fight, but how about tag. It's our specialty."

"Hmm... Sure, on one condition," Ajal agreed.

Morin walked along the red beam, until he was on the same one as Ajal, he breathed in and out as he contemplated his approach.

"You think you can beat us at tag?" Andrei stood up.

"Yeah, it'll be easy, who ever is it at after five minutes loses. Are there more of you?" Ajal asked.

"We won't need more..." Morin replied.

"You will, if I win, you help me find someone in this city i'm looking for."

"And if we win?"

"I'll... join your club?" Ajal offered.

Morin and Andrei looked at each other for a moment.

"What do you have to offer?" Morin asked.

"Tell us about yourself?" Andrei also asked.

"Wait- why does this feel like a job interview?" Ajal stuttered nervously.

"Because it is," they both answered.

"Huh?! Well, you're right, if I have nothing to offer there's no point..." Ajal put a thumb to his chin.

"What about that thing you did earlier? That kick? Could you teach us how you did that?" Andrei asked.

"Huh? Oh, that's known as Imperial Battle Arts, a fighting style which focuses on efficient use of spirit arts, it's taught where I come from... my home," Ajal explained.

"Imperial Battle Arts?" Morin repeated.

"C-cool... that sounds really cool, okay just teach us that if we win!" Andrei shouted with a wide grin.

Ajal focused his spirit into his feet, Andrei walked to the red beams on the right and Morin took the left.

Morin charged forward. 'This is a game of tag so, I lose if he touches me.' Ajal leaned off the beam and to Morin's surprise he stepped off, only to grab the beam with the other hand and swing to the lower levels. 'The lower levels may give me more room to get-' Ajal twisted his body in mid air as he heard Morin kick off the beam from before. He just barely dodged the kid's hand as he rolled onto the horizontal beam Ajal tried to go to. Ajal reached for a vertical beam instead 'Dark Passage!' he phased into the shadow, and a dark spot moved along the red beam before Ajal poked his head out from the shadow underneath the beam he was on before.

"What!" Andrei shouted in surprise.

"What kind of gift is that?!" said Morin.

"You two are way to slow," Ajal exited the shadow and pulled himself up on top of the beam.

"Gah! Cheating wasn't allowed!" Andrei charged forward onto the same beam as Ajal.

"Nor was it mentioned."

Ajal dodged backwards, even though the child could leap fast and far, as long as he dodged properly at the right moment he could evade them. Ajal glanced at the tunnel he exited from earlier in the distance, the caravan was coming through the tunnel 'They finally made it...' Andrei noticed him not paying attention.

"Damn show off!" Andrei screamed.

"Andrei you go from the left, I got the right!" Morin leaped up to the second level of red beams.

'Dark Passage' Ajal's hand was covered in a shadow he took steps backwards but as his spirit charged he turned his back to them and looked towards the higher buildings further towards the center of Andurill. With his spirit focused into his leg, the moment Morin and Andrei jumped for him. 'Spirit Ignition!' Ajal kicked off the beam and leaped a great distance. The force from his kick off stopped Morin and Andrei in mid air.

"Holy shit!" Morin was shocked by the height Ajal jumped to.

"Stupid Imperial Battle Arts!" Andrei cursed.

Ajal soared through the sky, flying over multiple streets and landing on a red beam a great distance away. The moment he landed he coated his hand in a white and black aura and put his palm underneath the beam and left an exit point for dark passage.

He turned around and the children we're far back, they were hopping across the red beams quickly, Ajal only had a moment to breathe. His heart beat quickly, his bones ached already so his legs felt even worse. 'My body is still sore...' Ajal looked around the vast expanse of buildings, 'Jack could be in any of those streets...'

"Get back here!" Andrei shouted in the distance.

Ajal looked up, the buildings still went higher, and there were two more levels of red beams. Ajal ran up the wall of the building and kicked off it, then grabbed the rough concrete edge of the building and pulled himself up. He was close to the base of the large mountain, to his surprise, the town seemed to rise as they got closer to the mountain. Ajal jumped up to the next higher beam and pulled himself up, he looked down and saw nothing but the asphalt streets and the tiny figures of people on the ground walking through them.

"Got you!" Andrei shouted.

Ajal looked to his left and saw Andrei in the midst of a lunge, Ajal gripped the ledge and shimmied to the left as he climbed up. He just barely dodged Andrei, 'How did he go from being behind me to there?'

'They have ways around this big city...' Ajal footsteps behind him broke his focus, he turned to see Morin run forward, Ajal expected him to leap, but he didn't. Morin stopped and watched Ajal carefully, 'This kid has a plan...' Ajal grinned as the child continued to try and get close to Ajal, but he continued to back up. 'Why hasn't he gone for a tackle, it'd be his best option-'

"I've got you now!" Andrei screamed as he leaped from a level below up to Ajal.

'He was waiting!' Ajal looked back at Morin who crouched down to jump at Ajal, he couldn't dodge to the side, or backwards. Morin tackled into him and Andrei grasped Ajal's leg.

"Yes!" Morin cheered.

"We got him!" Andrei cheered as he pulled himself up.

"My plan worked!" Morin laughed.

"I made your plan work!" Andrei laughed as well

"Hah- Hahaha" Ajal laughed and the two of them stopped.

"Huh- why are you laughing! You lost!" Andrei shouted.

"Oh- shit! Andrei he's it now-" Morin stuttered as Ajal jumped over both of them and tapped the back of their heads.

"Shit! Get him before he can run!" Andrei charged forward.

"I'll be back where we started, I doubt you'll get back and find me before the times up... bring your gang and help me find my friend," Ajal waved goodbye with a smile on his face.

Morin and Andrei lunged forward with their hands outstretched. 'Dark Passage.' Ajal disappeared from that spot before their hands could reach, he reappeared where he placed the shadow before.

"So these are hybrids... interesting," Ajal uttered to himself.

Ajal's hand was engulfed in a black and white aura, he put his palm on a shadow on top of the red beam. His body was shrouded in the same aura as he looked down to the street below and focused his spirit to his foot. He leaned off the ledge, 'Spirit Ignition!' Ajal kicked off the ledge and soared quickly to the streets below. He slipped through the shadow on the ground and reappeared at the shadow he placed. He flew straight upwards, to about twice the height of the tallest buildings in Rea.

He reached the peak of his height. 'Damn... this country is massive... I can't even see all of it from up here...' The wall stretched around all of Andurill, Rea was mainly buildings, but the dense streets became more spacious the further away from the wall they we're. Andurill seemed to be shaped like a giant circle, the district known as Rea only made up one quarter of that circle. Ajal squinted as he descended back to the ground. He looked past the wall, the green grass and trees stretched for miles, but within the city there was none, it reminded Ajal of the urban jungles of Solron. 'There's nothing but concrete, metal, and stone for miles...'