Chapter 45: Ajal; Sharaun 48th; 343SR; 10:47

Ajal breathed heavily on one knee, leaning over his reflection in the maroon blood, the bruises across his body aching. His arms and legs felt an uncomfortable tickle, a warm liquid trickled down from the gashes, the wounds he had received from the white-haired ethereal. He hovered his hands through the cold red puddle and felt a smooth handle. He clenched his fist, grabbing hold of his scythe and lifting it out. His black boot stomped in the puddle of red liquid, and the silver bracelets on his arm rattled as he took a stance. He pushed the blade against the ground to support himself. A strong gust of wind blew through. Ajal's torn white robes flowed to the side with the wind, a stream of blood dripping a short distance in front of him tilted with it.

"That last attack... You're unreal..." the man whose blood leaked from above spoke. "Oreizus... Rest in peace, my friend..."

Ajal wheezed, his lungs burned, and the abundant stench of blood made it all worse. He readied to fight but when he looked up he stopped. Idyr was smiling, toward the fall of blood pouring out of the dragon's corpse. The ethereal king's long white hair glided over his shoulders in the opposite direction, a content smile on his face as he stared at his fallen comrade perplexed Ajal. It had a short tail but a long neck, and the eerie face of a man. The wings on its small torso lay flat on the side of the mountain. The chest was blasted open earlier before Ajal and Idyr had fallen from Braxus. Despite the fickle, snake-like body of the dragon, the look on Idyr's face confused Ajal.

"Did it have to turn out like this?" Ajal asked with grit teeth, a terrible feeling growing in his stomach.

At the gap between the mountains below the capital city, the two stood in the dried-up lake refilled with their crimson red blood. The cold air of the mountains was filled with snow and moisture, and Ajal's skin shivered along with the pain. Braxus drifted in the clouds, obscured by the smoggy smoke of destruction. The sun dragged an orange sky under the tips of the mountains. The ground was covered in blood reflecting off of the slivering curtain of sunlight, a mix of Ajal's and even more of King Idyr.

"It was a glorious battle..." Idyr huffed with a satisfied tone.

"Your ethereals will struggle without you... Is this what you wanted?" Ajal asked wearily.

Idyr floated in the air, every droplet of his blood splashed onto the shallow puddles seeping through the divots in the bedrock. His sword spear was embedded in the left side of his chest, piercing his heart. He grasped the handle to pull it out. The spear moved slightly, however, he stopped and descended from the sky, dropping onto his side. The wielder of the harbinger's gift pushed himself up slowly, he leaned back on his knees.

"What I wanted? Heh... Haha!" Idyr laughed out loud, coming to an end with a content sigh. "You... Or any of the other gods would never understand... You all want peace... But lack the will to take it for yourself. I- No... We... We ethereals, who revel in battle... We brought peace by taming the dragons, we belonged at the top. And what did that bring? Years of... Patience... Peace... Pious fake fools with no spines. What gave our people substance, was now frowned upon... I want you all to follow my vision, see life from my eyes, enjoy the battle, and revel in it as you fight for what's yours... As someone more powerful comes to take it all away," Idyr's hands gestured towards himself. "Me."

"You started a war... For that... Oreizus and you! You'd kill thousands just for- what kind of selfish-" Ajal scoffed in disgust.

"What is power, if one cannot feel it? What is life, if you don't claw and drag yourself towards what you want, what you need... Living on the path you don't belong on, is hell... I was content with it knowing my people would be strong, even without me. But then, you arrived. You arrived on Imperion fourteen years ago, after sixty years of our era... A real threat was born, I understood... Despite our strength, despite our place in the world, you showed up, as a warrior for Solron..."

"What? What do I have to do with this..."

Idyr wheezed a pained laugh, "You're a monster... A weapon of the celestial..." the giant man skipped a breath, despite his grin, there was a hint of fear in his voice that was too real to ignore. "Even if we ruled, you were inevitable, we were always doomed to be weaker than you..."

Ajal paused as he heard that, 'A... Weapon?' Patches of blood started to coagulate, turning purple and starting to crystalize. The purple globs of blood failed to mix with the red, like oil on water.

"Heh... Even your blood... It's different from any of ours... The most terrifying part though? You're a child. You probably haven't even reached the peaks of your strength... You... Are wrath... In... It's purest form... The wrath of the-" Idyr looked past Ajal but didn't finish that last word.

The ethereal king slumped over, his head falling low. His vast spirit vanished, as a white smoke flowed off his body. The smoke collected into a ball of light, before cracking and floating into the sky, fading into the remaining sunlight overhead. Ajal turned around, the celestial was right behind him, towering over him and everything else. Ajal looked down.

***

Ajal looked up and suddenly found himself in a small elevator, 'Huh... Wasn't I just...' His eyes wandered around, observing the grey walls and carpet before turning to the left and seeing Shin in the reflection of the mirror. Ajal froze as he saw him, his first and best friend. The lanky white-haired teen looked up at the floor numbers of the elevator. Ajal glanced around, he looked up at the six bulbs which lit up depending on the floor they were on. They passed the third floor.

"I wonder why uncle Ranad is even calling us at this hour..."

Ajal turned and looked at Shin. 'What is this, what's going on... Am I dreaming?' He had his hands behind his back as he tapped his foot against the floor. He scratched his neck and noticed Ajal looking at him.

"Something wrong?" Shin asked.

"N-no..." Ajal answered.

"Are you going- to continue what you were saying?" Shin asked with a confused tone. "You kind of just, stopped..."

"Oh... Uh, brain fart, I lost my train of thought... What were we talking about?" Ajal stammered on his words.

"Pft, brain fart?" Shin sneered, "Sounds like something Enma deals with every day," he giggled. "In and out of the washroom."

"Yeah-" Ajal laughed as he understood the joke, "Haha.. Hahaha!" a feeling of comfort flooded over him as he wheezed.

Ajal and Shin erupted into a fit of laughter. So much so that the side of his stomach started to hurt. Ajal forgot he was dreaming. Shin's laughter calmed down as he wiped a tear out of his red eye. The elevator came to a stop on the sixth floor, the door opened and they walked out into a long hallway.

"You were talking about those angry women from the cafe..." said Shin, still giggling slightly from earlier.

"Oh, yeah!" Ajal suddenly smacked his head and remembered what he had talked about. "They're angry at me for saying no to them like... For the tenth time..."

The hallway had a brown carpet floor, and orange lamps were evenly spaced out along the walls. Shin walked towards the second door on the left and opened it.

"Seriously? That's it? I wonder why they even ask if they only want one answer..." said Shin

"Exactly!" Ajal replied as he followed him into the room.

"Ajal, Shin, it's good to see you," Anor Ranad greeted.

The archbishop wore a black vest and white pants, he placed a half-filled glass of wine on the table. His grey hair was somewhat long, reaching down to his neck, passed the goatee of his scruffy beard. The small room was lit dimly by a single lamp. Anor leaned on the desk on the left of the room by the open window. Seeing the man he killed reminded Ajal that this was a memory. Anor gestured toward the two beige sofas.

"Thank you for answering my call, please, sit down... I'll try not to take up too much of your time," said Anor.

Ajal sat down, he sank deep into the comfortable sofa. and the first thing he looked at was the active television.

"What... The hell..." Ajal uttered in confused curiosity as he grasped the soft armrests.

Ajal leaned forwards as he watched the recording on screen. Anor Ranad closed the blinds, the bright lights outside slipped through the gaps despite the sun being down. The hammers and clanging of construction continued into the night. After Braxus lost its place, the ever-developing city of Solron saw significant advancements in technology, with a strong, unmatched economy.

The footage being played on the flat rectangular-shaped television was surreal. Ajal and Shin both stared with wide eyes.

"Where is this?" Shin asked with a meek tone, he sounded nervous.

"Near Braxus... In the Badlands... The path to Radion," the bishop replied.

The footage was taking place in a barren desert, very little vegetation remained, a battleground east of Braxus Ajal recognized. He had helped Ra fight the ethereals in that land before. Four men in black robes were adorned with elegant silver crescents on their shoulders and knees. The footage was recorded from a distance, they were tiny on screen and their other features couldn't be identified. They dragged a wooden wagon through the sand, filled with beige sacks which glowed purple. The light coming from the bag bothered Ajal.

"Soldiers... From Radion," Anor clarified.

"What is that, what are they dragging?" Ajal asked.

Shin stared up at the screen, his thin fingers shook as he gulped, he was there as well. Ajal couldn't see his mouth behind the collar. His bright red eyes were wide though. He leaned back and slicked his hair back as he shook his head.

"They're carrying a large mass of a substance called Voyistus... Stolen, from the ruins of Braxus..."

Ajal's head whipped towards the bishop, "Ruins of Braxus?"

"Yes, a strange material probably produced by an ethereal there... We can't explain the nature of their actions, but I believe you should see this next part... "Idyr's will, it's like a curse upon them, even now they seek out war for their own enjoyment, the ethereals may even be seeking out vengeance..." Anor explained.

"The ethereals haven't made a move since Idyr's death... For the past five years, they haven't done a thing. Why would Radion steal from the ethereals?" Ajal questioned in confusion.

"Ajal, I want you to investigate and discover what is truly happening in the east..."

Ajal looked down in thought, 'He's lying... I didn't find out soon enough though...'

***

"No-"

Ajal looked up to answer and was met with a flaming ship in the snow. 'Huh?! What the f- Am I really dead? Is my life flashing before my eyes?! ' Ajal looked around and realized where he was. He looked around the valley of mountains around him, the abandoned city of Braxus was suspended high up in the air. 'Did I really die on Grelt...' The celestial from before was no longer there, parts of the mountain across the valley had been destroyed.

"Ah!" a person's muffled cry came from the inside of the ship.

The wintry winds of Imperion's mountains blew violently, and the fog from Ajal's exhausted breaths floated into the opaque mist. The top hatch of the damaged Lancer class burst open, a pained grunt escaped the mouth of the struggling madman stumbling through. Ajal huffed wearily as he took big steps through the thick snow reaching up to his knees. The man crawled out of the Imperial ship, rolling over the wing and falling into the snow.

"Ow... You crazy bastard! Ack..." the man coughed as he raised his head out of the snow. "What kind of... crazy son of a... Who chases a Lancer class? Without a ship- Ack!" Ajal grasped his leg and dragged him away through the thick snow. "Ah! St-" the man's voice muffled by packed snow.

Sparks and strands of electricity rippled off of the exposed electrical panels on the side of the Imperial Lancer. The ship's wing was embedded into the ground, it sliced a trail into the snow as it crash-landed on the side of the mountain. Its other wing burned off, and a glowing orange rim on the sliced hull slowly faded as it cooled. The outer hull of the ship was grey with linear black decals on it, and the underside of the ship faced the sky as it sparked and crackled even more, before finally exploding. The violent, unpredictable winds spread out uniformly as the force of the explosion rippled from behind Ajal. As he reached the cliffside over the other half of the mountain's descent, Ajal lifted Damon out of the snow by the neck and held him over the five thousand-foot descent.

"Ah- Wait!" the man gasped as he dangled over the endless fog.

"This is the end, Damon... Answer me, where are you getting the voyistus!" Ajal huffed as blood leaked down his head.

Damon Clem desperately held onto Ajal's wrist, his legs dangling over the drop. The mercenary had blonde hair, crooked teeth with an oddly shaped nose surrounded by a scruffy beard. His worried blue eyes glared into Ajal's with both hatred and fear. His boot slipped off and fell into the fog, slowly disappearing into the fog below. The winds flowed back after their ebb, shaking Damon's black cowl he wore over a jacket plated with smelted dragon scales of various colors.

"Fuck you..." Damon huffed. "I ain't telling you nothing!" he spat.

"Your band of mercenaries is done! You're all that's left... Now tell me!" Ajal demanded an answer.

"The others..." Damon replied hesitantly. "Ha... Haha... Hahaha!" Damon laughed maniacally.

The sun rose between the peaks of a large mountain, and a smaller one. The fog at the base of the mountain started to clear. The light was cast over the rotting body of Oreizus at the foot of the mountain, its massive wings drooped over the rocks.

"Haha... You must remember this place... After all, this is where it all started! Right!" Damon cursed.

"Answer the question!" Ajal demanded.

"They put you on a pedestal, and you said you'd change! Change, haha!"

"I am going to crush your neck in a couple of seconds if you keep wasting my time-"

"You wanna know where I got the voy?! Then I must say you are certainly stupid..."

"Answer me!" Ajal roared.

"First Idyr, then the dragon's war, however, the rest of the gods fell shortly after... And now they used me to target the celestials... Each time, you were at the center of their conflict... Their warhorse shedding all of its blood like a snake sheds skin..."

"Whose they?!" Ajal shook the madman.

"That fucker Anor Ranad... And the rest of the bishops... You fucking Imperial pawn... You've been their slave from the very beginning you cunt. You wanna know how I- no, me and my team! How we mere mortals took down two celestials!"

The man looked at Ajal, however, his hand had also been shuffling through his pocket. Damon pulled out a vial with a purple liquid within it. 'That's-' Damon stabbed it into his side, and the liquid flowed into his own body. Ajal threw him away anticipating an explosion. Damon rolled across the snow, and immediately coughed heavily, then wheezed.

"You injected yourself... With voyistus?" Ajal asked as shook his head, pitying the mercenary in front of him.

"Ack-"

Damon stopped and his eyes rolled back, he fell limp before rolling onto his back where his body became rigid. A third purple eye sprouted from his head, 'Huh...' Ajal watched in shock as his body started to move again. His limbs jerked in different directions at the same time, bones crackled, skin tore, and his body was hot enough to melt the snow around him.

"Aah!" Damon screamed in pain.

Ajal stepped back as he watched in confusion. However it became apparent as Ajal watched purple crystals sprout from the man's body, ripping through his skin and growing from the man's blood. The rising sun shone through the purple prism. Ajal turned and looked down the side of the mountain, the mass of crystals at the foot of the mountain shone with a similar luster. Damon's final words started to sink in.

"No..."

Ajal walked over to the body with crystals growing from it and reached for the needle Damon had injected himself with. There was still a trace amount of purple fluid in the vial, Ajal squeezed it out. The liquid dripped off the edge of the needle, hitting the ground and immediately hardening. The substance crackled before it started to expand into purple gemstones.

"This is mine... My blood is... Voyistus is... Me..." Ajal dropped the vial as he started to understand Damon's last words.

Ajal fell to his knees as he shivered in disgust. His hands clenched as he felt a sickening sense of dread. He looked towards the ledge.

'They never wanted to kill the dragons...'

Ajal walked towards the ledge and looked down towards the bottom of the mountain.

'They never wanted to kill the gods or destroy the celestials...'

Ajal looked down, his hair blew out of the way as he gazed upon the field of massive voyistus crystals sprouting. They covered parts of the dragon.

'They just wanted me to shed my blood on the battlefield... so they could keep using it...' Ajal raised his hands, they shook as he realized all of the lives he had taken were for nothing. He let out a cry of rage, that went unheard within that winter storm. Despite being enraged, he didn't hear or feel the impact. He looked back at Damon, his body getting piled with snow, but despite the pain, he was grinning. Ajal's clenched fist drew blood as he shut his eyes. The world around him turned dark.

***

Ajal felt a warm sensation spreading over his torso, it was soothing. People bickered and argued around him, however, it was too difficult to hear. Pain rippled through his body, primarily from his core. A warm light showered over his wounds. 'Everything hurts... Ugh...' The voices became clearer as he returned to consciousness.

"You really thought you alone could heal a wound like this? Without a catalyst at that... Unbelievable..." Nova scolded.

"I heard you the first four times you said it! And I don't need a stupid cat list to do it if I use spirit arts!" Sarah argued back.

"Can you two just focus on-"

"Cat list!? What are you, five? What an idiot..."

"Nevermind," Lawrence shook his head as he sighed.

"Who are you calling idiot!" Sarah spat.

"You!" Nova shouted.

"Please be quiet... You're so loud," Ajal uttered weakly.

Ajal's vision became apparent as he opened his eyes to the light. Sarah's hands hovered over the wound in his chest. She wore ragged clothes, torn and scraped along with her skin in various places. 'This is... healing magic?' The wound in his chest healed a bit faster than usual. Tears poured down her face rapidly, she started to whimper and cry. Reinhardt and George ran over as soon as they heard him.

"Ajal! You're alive!" Sarah gasped and sobbed at the same time.

To the left was the red-haired ethereal Nova, she was on one knee hovering her scepter under Sarah's hand. She wore a simple pink shirt In her hand was a scepter with a small perpendicular piece at the end. Another scepter with an orb wrapped in its crown rested on her back, 'A staff for bending magic... And the one on her back is a catalyst.'

"You're awake..." Nova looked down at him, her red eyes wide as they shook in disbelief. "The- wound isn't even sealed..."

"It's a miracle he's even awake!" Reinhardt shook his head.

"There was a hole in your stomach!" George yelled.

"I thought I died... I think I saw my life flash before my eyes just now..."

"Heh... You're an insane guy you know that... " Reinhardt laughed nervously.

"Where am I..." Ajal looked up to see the edge of the chasm and grey sky, he tried to move but he couldn't.

Ajal felt the lower part of his spine reform, crackling as the displaced shards bent into place. A sudden jolt of pain came from the bottom of his chest, Ajal slowed his breathing down. 'That last stab really did a number on me... My spine and most of my organs were shredded by that attack...' The memories of the day before came back to him.

"How long was I out for?" Ajal asked, a shiver coursing through him at the thought.

"Your battle with Alexander Rael ended over a day ago..." Angela answered.

Ajal turned his head to the left and saw the noble of house Rover, her yellow eyes looked tired, her hair and skin stained with dust and dirt. She was seated next to Zeus and the other angels who had shown up to help fight the abyssal being. Each of their white shirts possessed a blue insignia of a mask.

Zeus stood up and walked over to Ajal, he stood over Nova as he looked down at the wound. The normally energetic and hyper angel was shaken at the sight.

"We saw you fall from the top of the chasm... And before that, there was a castle in the sky as well... I was wondering what had happened to Alexander during the festival... I didn't expect this..."

Lawrence sat in the corner a short distance away from Angela, he took a deep breath after he heard her say that. The blonde male with a ponytail dragged a stone over his greatsword, the sound of the blade drag against the stone and the crackles of a nearby fire was all Ajal could hear amongst the voices and ambiance.

"He just vanished from Helios over a week ago... The higher-ups didn't tell me where he went, they just kept saying his mission was important... You know anything, Lawrence?" Angela glanced toward one of the two Lightbringers in the group.

"No... I don't care about my family's antics..." the droopy-eyed angel replied.

"That's ironic..." Angela snarked.

Ajal looked at the staff held over his chest, he reached up and hovered one hand around it. The warmth soothed his hand as he focused his spirit from his chest to his hand.

"Don't move Ajal!" Sarah scolded. "Your guts weren't even in your body!"

"That's- a terrible thought..." Ajal replied. "What happened to Helios?"

"I sent Yami to scout... But he hasn't returned yet... It's been more than a day, and that makes me worry even more," said Angela. "As much as I want to give you a break... Especially after everything that's happened... Helios only has half of its houses defending it... The military is still there, but they won't stand a chance against Oaraun... Added with the fact they may have gifts and abilities we have no knowledge of... We really need your help-"

"What?!" Sarah snapped. "Absolutely not! Look at him!"

"She's right Sarah, no one there can stand a chance against Oaraun... We don't have time... That army is probably already attacking Helios... This has to speed up," Ajal focused his spirit on his right hand and head.

"But..." Sarah frowned as she looked up at the angels.

"She was getting nowhere without my help... Who taught you how to use magic... A novice?" Nova bickered.

Sarah looked at Ajal and then back to Nova. Ajal simply looked away, 'novice...'

"Him?" Nova tilted her head.

"I'm not very good with magic..." Ajal rolled his eyes.

"Wait... You taught her how to cast magic without a catalyst?" Nova asked with a bewildered tone.

"A catalyst isn't needed for magic... It was originally founded from spirit arts..."

Ajal ignited his spirit within his mind, he could feel the aura course through his broken torso. 'Channel my spirit ...' Ajal circulated the spirit around his head. Sarah and Nova both looked down in surprise as Ajal's hand glowed white. Inside of the white glowing edge was the pitch black silhouette of his hand.

"What do you mean you don't need a-"

"Eclipse magic, Stellar Corona..." Ajal chanted.

The healing sped up, Ajal channeled the light towards Nova's staff, speeding up the healing of his wound again. The warmth almost became hot, Ajal leaned his head back as he felt his skin, flesh, and tissue start to reform.

"How did you... And- You have an affinity for light magic... But you... You use darkness and shadows when you fight, how could you possibly also have light energy as well? And... It's this pure?! How can that be?" Nova rambled in shock.

"Ugh... Here she goes..." Lawrence groaned.

"Shut up Lawrence! This is serious!"

"You possess pure light magic? Only the Lightbringer is capable of harnessing that?! My gift doesn't even have that..." said Angela.

"To possess eclipse magic requires both pure light and pure dark mastery... To see someone with both is rare!" Nova turned and shouted that last part at Lawrence.

"I don't care..." Lawrence muttered to himself as he continued to sharpen his blade.

"You two really know your stuff... I can't use it often in a fight because I have to stop every other ability in order to manifest it..." said Ajal.

Ajal tried to push himself up to Sarah and Nova's surprise.

"Woah! Wait Ajal you were seriously injured! You were barely breathing when we found you!" Sarah pleaded.

"Easy Ajal..." Reinhardt cautioned.

"I- have to stop Jack... Before it's too late... There are so many lives at risk... So many have already been lost..."

"What makes you think anything will be different? This time Alexander Rael might really kill you..." Lawrence warned.

"I can take him..." Ajal stated confidently.

"What..." Lawrence tilted his head. "Do you not see... All of this... We aren't kidding when we said it's a miracle you aren't dead..."

Ajal looked around and took in the surroundings. Purple prisms of gemstone were all around him, enough of it for them to be able to sit on it. Reinhardt, Ben, and George sat in the corner on a round stone of voyistus. The crystal substance formed from Ajal's blood grew in various places, closer to the battlefield, Logorite sprouted around the various stones of voyistus. Across from them, the angels sat, with Lawrence sitting between the two groups in his corner.

"He's right! Please rest!" Sarah asked desperately.

"Every second matters... Angels are probably dying as we speak..." said Ajal.

"Well... Unfortunately, you're right...... We don't have the luxury of time..." Angela stood up and walked forward. "It's already been over a day since they left the chasm... They're probably sieging Helios..." the noble explained.

"Wait just one second..." Ben asked while he glared at the angels. "You don't seriously expect us to help them, right?"

On the ground in front of Ben was John, his eyes had been shut closed underneath his blonde bangs. He had bruises across his body just like the others, however, Ajal's heart sank as he noticed John's arm. A bloodied bandage surrounded his right shoulder, he was unconscious while leaning on the voyistus.

"What... What happened to John?!" Ajal stuttered in shock.

"After the city fell... A piece of debris fell on John and crushed his arm..." Sarah admitted.

"What the hell happened... What happened to Jack?"

"Jack-" Sarah paused. "After we split up... We reached the guard's tower... But... We got separated... The next time we found him was... Was when he was leaving the central building in Anka... With an angel..."

"An angel?" Angela asked.

"Yeah, he was blonde, average height..." Ben described. "Kind of like that guy, but his hair was messier... And not... Blue..." Ben pointed to the blonde angel from house Rover.

"Hair like Leo's?" the angel with dark brown skin pointed to the one he sat next to.

"Why'd he say it like that?" Leo whispered to the woman next to him.

The angel sitting next to Zeus had a well-defined jaw and short puffy black hair. His collar was left open while he sat with one leg on his knee. 'That one was named Ando if I recall correctly... And she's Kiril...' The woman with light brown hair had been staring at Ajal's wound with wide eyes for some time. She seemed very reserved, her hand moved from her lap, and brushed her long hair over her shoulder. The blue-haired angel had a full head of hair, a braid next to his ear pulled most of it over his head, it was well kept. He held a shard of voyistus between his fingers, seemingly entranced by it.

"Lector was in Andurill? He told me he wasn't going to the festival..." Kiril pondered.

"So... Wait... That explosion from the center of the city... Jack did that...?" Ajal asked in disbelief. "Jack... Caused the city to fall?"

"Well... The part of the Lightbringers blast that you didn't block glassed a circle into the ground... Paired with the damage already done by the resistance's attack, the logorite facility being destroyed by... By Jack was just the icing on the cake..." Reinhardt admitted.

The words Jack had told him multiple times rang in his head. Feelings of regret swarmed over Ajal's mind. He turned towards Ben.

"Ben... I'm sorry..." Ajal suddenly apologized.

"Why are you saying sorry Ajal..." Ben asked, his tone sounding aloof.

"I... When I found Adam it was- it was already too late..."

Ben stared at him blankly, he didn't even react.

"You have no reason to be sorry, you did what you could... In fact..." Ben glared at the angels. "I think Jack only did what he felt was right... To be honest I think I would've done the same..."

"Ben..." said Sarah.

"He murdered a lot of people..." Leo reminded Ben.

"And?" Ben replied to the blue-haired angel.

"And...?" Leo retorted.

"Ben-"

"I heard what Jack said... Of course, you three don't know who he was talking about at that time... But me, my brother, and Franklin did. The lady from Logos who was a farmer, Lydia, she lived across from Jack..."

"Lydia?" Ajal repeated, "the woman from the caravan?"

Angela looked down.

"Yeah, we left her in Ulkay... And they captured her and her children again... The angels never did stop hunting the non-unified Ajal, nothing changed, apparently, Jack found her dead in that building..." Ben shook his head. "In fact... That angel mentioned it was House Rover who had found her!" Ben shouted.

Angela's expression remained low. Ando and Leo looked at each other, and Kiril looked at Angela. The noble raised her palm to the lieutenant as if telling her to stay calm.

"You got anything to say?! Anything at all! It's funny how I got an apology from Ajal before I got one from the people who really owe me one!"

"Huh? I don't even fucking know you, I don't owe you shit. Piss off weakling, tell someone who cares..." Zeus glared at Ben.

"Zeus! Mind your language!" Nova scolded.

"Zeus, please shut up," Kiril demanded.

"Yeah, just keep your mouth shut, please," Leo advised as he cringed.

Nova looked at the two other lieutenants after and blinked several times.

"Yeah, I'd imagine the angels don't care, you all seem okay with letting this all happen, it must be nice being privileged!" Ben shouted.

"Please don't mind what he said," Ando stood. "He's a complete idiot-"

"Yeah, I don't give a shit, because I don't know what you're talking about!" Zeus shouted back ignorantly and cut off Ando.

"Buffoon!" Ando turned and shouted.

"Seriously haha, that's fucking golden," Ben cursed. "Ajal, I don't give a damn if the angels die, let them... They all fucking deserve it..."

"I don't give a damn if you die either..." Zeus muttered. "Ow!" Kiril smacked him in the head. "What the fuck!"

"House Rover is responsible for that woman being captured... The Lightbringers decided to handle it, they must have sold her off to the upper class of Andurill if she was there..." Angela spoke as she looked at the ground in a mix of disappointment and regret. "I'm sorry..."

Ben grit his teeth, "Yeah like that's gonna do anything..." he muttered as he looked away.

Zeus looked at Angela, he clearly had something on his mind but he didn't say it. The group fell silent as they all looked down. Ajal looked around, doing a head count as he realized someone was missing. He looked around before seeing Franklin in the corner opposite where Lawrence sat.

"Franklin? What happened to you?" Ajal asked the uncharacteristically quiet one in the corner.

Franklin held his hand over his bruised eye, the boy with a skin complexion similar to Ando didn't reply. He sniffled as he glanced at them.

"He's been kind of down..." George mentioned to Ajal.

"Huh? What happened?" Ajal replied.

"Franklin, where did you even go?" Sarah asked.

Franklin looked up at the angels across from him, he had a sad expression, eyes filled with hopelessness, 'He looks... Depressed...' He rubbed his hands against his eyes as he raised his head.

"I followed Jack after he met up with us... After the city fell... We ended up running into the Lightbringers... and Alexand- I mean... Oaraun... That's when..." Franklin looked up at the angels again. "He told me and Jack where the angels and demons really came from..."

Angela looked surprised for a moment. The angels all looked at one another before they looked at Franklin. 'Where they really came from...' Ajal recalled what Oaraun had rambled about during their fight, he glanced towards Angela.

"Where we really come from?" Leo leaned forward.

"What did he say?" Angela asked with a skeptical tone.

Franklin gulped as he looked at the two of them, "He said the angels and the demons are just like Ajal, they came from a different world... And conquered the druids, our race, the Ammonians. The war against the demons, being abandoned by the celestial... All lies... We're just tools to the angels who enslaved us... We're all just..." He slammed his fist into the ground, "pieces of garbage!" Franklin rambled while keeping his head low.

The circle of people was silent as they stared at Franklin, he continued to keep his head low. Ajal could sense the spirit of everyone, 'things are tense here... George has been holding in a lot, his spirit is spiking randomly... After what happened to John...' Reinhardt put his hand on Ben's shoulder. 'Ben is holding back a lot more right now... It's kind of unnerving how calm they look...'

"But... Why are you so beat up..." Sarah shook his head.

"He also told Jack what I did... What I couldn't admit to..." Franklin sobbed.

Ben's eyes raised as he blinked repeatedly, and his lips puckered as he realized something. Sarah's head turned between Franklin and Ben. 'Ben's spirit just spiked...'

"What... What did he tell Jack!?" Sarah asked.

"He told Jack about Carol..." Ben admitted.

"Carol?"

"Alexander Rael was going to kill one of the slaves that day for sure, we didn't even know what we did wrong... None of us liked Jack... His parents would never shut up about trying to resist the angels... Carol was a girl who was the daughter of the parents that the Eldritch family was friends with... So when he showed up and immediately hung out with her, we assumed he'd be the same way... We even jumped him the day before..." Ben explained while lowering his head, Ajal could sense his guilt. "But then Alexander went after Franklin, and he started abusing him... No one could do a thing, and so he said their names..."

"I- was- I was just!" Franklin started to breathe heavily. "Have you seen what he did to people?! Did you see what he did to my parents!" Franklin tried to reason with everyone for forgiveness.

Ben looked down as Sarah got up and walked towards Franklin, he cowered. To his surprise, she hugged him tightly. Franklin's eyes filled with tears. He quietly sobbed into her shoulder as Sarah patted his head.

Angela's head rested against the purple stone, she rubbed her eye as she let out a sigh of disappointment. Zeus looked up at the noble, his green eyes squinting at her. The noble stood up and walked towards Sarah and Franklin, she kneeled down and placed both her hands over each other on the ground. The two non-unified looked at the noble in front of them with wide eyes. Angela bowed her head to the ground. Zeus scoffed as he looked at his captain do this, he looked to Ando and back to Angela with a confused face.

"I'm sorry! For all of the suffering you've all had to go through!" Angela shouted. "I know my apology, or words, or anything is not enough to atone for the years of suffering... But I want the angels to be different! The Lightbringer's rule has led to countless problems and atrocities... I promise that if I was to rule, your people would be promised the prosperity they deserve!" Angela declared.

Franklin and Sarah looked down at Angela. Ben, Reinhardt, and George had surprised expressions as well.

"What are you doing?!" Zeus scoffed. "Ow!" Zeus yelped after Kiril smacked him in the head.

"The nobles of house Rover and Pendragon are against the slavery of your people! Not every angel believes in that! I promise!" Angela cried. "Not all of us are good, I'm not good either, I admit it... But I want my squad and every angel to be better!"

Franklin and Sarah looked at each other and back at Angela. Ben kissed his teeth and then scratched his head of long hair. Then sighed.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier, about you all dying..." Ben apologized.

"Hey- Hey... You- don't have to go that far, Miss Angela..." Sarah advised.

"I do! What's happened to your people, I cannot apologize enough for being unable to change anything for so long!" Angela promised.

Ajal sighed as he felt his inner organs heal fully, "What's with you guys... This is way too emotional..." Ajal pushed himself up as his skin and muscle continued to heal. He continued to push his spirit into Nova's channeling staff.

"Yeah... For once the dumb guy is right..." Zeus agreed.

"You're seriously getting up?" Lawrence asked rhetorically. "There's no way we can get to Helios in time from here... They are probably already there... Not to mention they have a divine being..."

"And so do we," Ajal interrupted.

"Like I said, what can you even do right now? You are definitely not fixed after the last fight... After the last three fights..." Lawrence added.

Ajal looked to Lawrence, and then to Angela who stood up and turned. He looked to Zeus and the other angels, and at Nova.

"There is no choice really..." Ajal stated. "Without me, you'll be killed by Oaraun, if I go alone I'll have to deal with the angels and druids too and I'll probably lose again. Together though, with your knowledge of the city, we have a small chance..."

"Knowledge of Helios?" said Ando.

"Yeah."

"You have a plan...?" Kiril asked.

Ajal nodded, "What are your gifts?" Ajal asked.

"Hey... That's kind of a personal question don't you think?" Lawrence interjected.

"Well I already know half of your gifts, you don't have to tell me everything..."

Leo stood up, "My gift is right here," he drew a pen from his pocket.

Leo swung his bag around to his front and pulled a hazel-colored sketchbook from within. He sat cross-legged in front of Ajal and Angela and opened the book. 'Woah...' As the pages flipped Ajal witnessed stunning images of almost perfect detail. Mostly landscapes, but each of them almost looked real.

"Are you drawing again?!" Zeus shouted.

"Those look really good... You drew- What the- Huh?!" Ajal complimented, before getting more and more surprised.

Leo looked up at Ajal for a moment, he looked side to side before he continued turning the page. The page was turned by several images of the ocean, the same scene but just slightly different enough that you could see movement. 'What in the?! This guy can draw better than Shin!'

"Thanks..." Leo said awkwardly.

Leo opened up the sketchbook to a blank page and held the pen close to the paper. Ajal's eyebrows slowly raised as Leo's hand started to move quickly and rapidly, drawing lines, curving and straight all over the page. 'What the...' It was as if his hand was being controlled by someone else, it glided all over the page. Expertly and efficiently illustrating an image.

"People in my family commonly have a very good memory, we can remember things almost exactly the way we see them... This gift just lets me draw what I see in my head..." Leo explained.

"That's... That's incredible..." Ajal was speechless.

"Map of Helios, and the surrounding area..." Leo presented.

Leo had finished drawing a map of Helios's city, complete with a title, legend, and labels. The water even had cross-hatched textures. 'Wait... Are all of his drawings done like that?' Ajal blinked several times as he looked at the detailed image. 'Don't ask him that...'

"Unreal..." Reinhardt uttered in shock.

The map featured a large city at the top of the to-be gates, surrounded by a large circle, 'That in the middle must be the celestial...'

"My gift is here," Kiril pointed to her eye which suddenly changed color to a lighter hue of blue. "I can see from very far away... That's about it..."

"How far?" Ajal asked.

"So long as it's above the horizon... I don't know if there is a distance really..."

"That's... Also impressive..." Ajal turned to Zeus and Ando.

"What are you looking at, stupid face?" Zeus sneered.

"Wow..." Ajal whispered to himself.

"Don't mind him, his personality is only just complete and total shit-" Ando said quickly. "I have a similar gift to his, a spirit-based one, but mine isn't as strong..." Ando opened his palm and a white light bounced out of it in front of him.

The gift took form, growing two large legs and arms, it landed on all fours and lowered its head as it looked up at Ajal with yellow eyes. 'A cheetah?' The creature looked at the many people in the group, before turning as it heard Ando flick. He pointed at the ground and the large black cheetah sat in front of him, silver spots covering its body. It sniffed the voyustis on the ground and then looked back at Ajal as it opened its jaw and yawned.

"She can run and jump pretty far, but only if I ride. I don't think my gift is as useful right now... She was worn out after helping the people of Andurill to safety," said Ando.

"Hm..." Ajal looked down at the map. "This city... The front gate leads directly to the center?"

"Yeah, that's the main street from castle Patheon, each street leads towards it..."

"Wait... Hey Leo, can you draw the city itself?" Ajal requested.

"Like... The front of it? What angle?" Leo asked.

"Every angle that you know, I just need to understand the topography and the buildings... I have an idea..." Ajal stated.