Tsuna’s fist smashed into the rusted container, creating a small dent of scraped paint. A stretch of his fingers inside of his newly stolen gloves, and he fixed himself for another punch. His mind escaped back to his fight with Zio. When the storm of adrenaline took over and he gained the strength to fight back. He reassessed his position, as he swung his next punch marginally lower than the last. What does it all mean? I’m stronger, not only physically I have this fire ability because of a guy who lives in my body, telling me I have to fight. Since the scrap with Zio, I haven’t felt tired at all. Is this also because of the gem or because of the dragon? A thrust of his foot and he kicked through the rusted metal. Aside from that, the name Rylen keeps saying. Ginchiyo Tachibana… Once head of the Tachibana clan hundreds of years ago. He assumes I am related to her because I have her face, but I’d always been told I have my mother’s face, Satsuki Tachibana. Were there an incident she secretly had children, genetics would be the simple answer. Four generations of genetics making me look like someone who would be my great grandmother is very unlikely. There has to be a connection. He stalled for a moment and looked towards the sky. The Crossing and its eminence shone through the night. Its glistening aura cutting through the dark as if it were a sun of its own. And that thing… No matter where I go, I can see that thing everywhere. What if that’s what started this? And that wish I keep hearing about is how I get back to my normal life. Removing the glove from his right hand, he promptly followed with a punch into the container. The blast that came from his hand mimicked the sound of a gun being fired and the burning rusts scent spread around the area.

“Hey!” a voice called out to him.

It rang through the night and bounced through the other containers, putting Tsuna on guard. A figure descended behind him, its shadow from the moon cast in front of his body. He whirled around to see a more enthusiastic Rylen, two fingers to his head as if saluting.

“I’d consider that a destruction of property, if I actually cared. Can’t be too careless. Our organization can’t really help when the law gets involved.”

“How’d you find me?”

His fingers tracked down his face until they reached his chin. “Long story short, Natsumi discovered you were missing but was too drunk to do anything, so she came to me. She was afraid you’d ran away, but I knew that wasn’t the case. Your mom wasn’t much of a runner, either.”

“Again with my mom!? Shut up! What was she to you?!”

The sharpness of his tone made the Elf hesitate, then recomposed himself. “A leader, a friend. I loved her in the way one would love a hero. She fell into my life when I least expected and shaped it forever. I’ve been thankful for what she’d done every moment of my life and I realize I’ve talked about this a lot in such a short time, but it’s exciting when things come full circle.”

Loved her? The comment about his mother spiked his heart rate, but Tsuna knew better than to react out of annoyance, as it would get him nowhere. Instead, he tightened his jaw and exhaled through his nose. “What makes you so sure that I’m the person you think I am? The name that woman had, Ginchiyo, she could have been my great grandmother who died hundreds of years ago and maybe I look like her from genetics.”

“Well…” Rylen laughed, the hand now moving to his hair. “I’m not a hundred percent certain. You see, before Ginchiyo disappeared, she made it clear to us that our fight wasn’t over. What the fight was for or who it was against, she failed to elaborate. Then I saw how you behaved. You’re pretty cool headed when things don’t concern you. But when it grows into your problem, you think. A lot. Ready to stand your ground if you have a point that needs to be made, even taking a gamble to prove it. She acted the same way. It’s an inkling, mostly. But I’d be a fool to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“All I am is an opportunity, then?” Tsuna’s blood boiled, his fist shaking. “You’d be no better than the bastard in my head if all you want from me is to fight some battle, beat some ancient evil, or whatever bull that you have planned. I want one thing, to find my girlfriend and mom.”

“And I told you I’d help you.” Rylen’s grasped onto his neck, feeling around until he felt the icy touch of a necklace on his fingers. He removed the necklace, holding onto the circular charm, and stared as he juggled it in his hand. “I won’t speak of Ginchiyo again from here on.” A final bounce and the charm flew a distance from his hand, landing in front of Tsuna. “You were supposed to catch it…”

“Let me know next time. Could’ve been some ether bomb for all I know.” A glance at the charm before him and Tsuna’s mind paused. It connected in a full circle, the front ends draped like curtains. In the center were two crossing scrolls, connecting with the outer ends of the charm. He scooped it up from the ground. “This is the Tachibana clan crest!”

“Now, do you believe me? It was the last thing she left before she vanished. Made it herself. It has a special property of scanning out null ether or ether with no element. With you being here, it belongs to you.” Rylen watched with a growing smile as Tsuna slipped the necklace over his head and peered at the crest. His head tilted upward. “Our plight’s growing more dire by the hour. We need to be thoroughly certain we can get you to where we need to without trouble. There, you can see it by now. Can’t you? The red ether trailing in the sky?”

Tsuna stared up and saw nothing but darkness and the stars beyond. Focus. He closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling deeply, then reopened them. Drifting through the sky like a stream of billowing smoke was a dark red essence hovering over the town. “What is all of this?”

“Infernus’ ether. Spreading all over the southern end of the continent like a plague. It’s the most informing sign his brood is closing in on us. According to Leora, it’s been like that for a day or so when that wave crossed the sky. Around the time we found you, actually. Today’s worse than yesterday she says. With the insight we have from those who witnessed the creatures or people being dominated by his ether, we’ve learned that they attract to richer sources of it like moths to a flame. And you’re like the sun to them. Morath isn’t the most quintessential place to hole up, but if we tried moving too soon, we might find ourselves circled by an army of those under his influence. My plan was to get you combat ready, before that happens. Infernus’ power alone could turn the tide, combined with the strength of Ginchiyo. You’d be able to stop this.”

“Infernus doesn’t think I have a shot with the way I am right now.”

“Infer-… What!?” Flabbergasted, both of Rylen’s arms crossed. “You can talk to him!? When? For how long?”

“Since he first entered my body. We’ve had our abrupt exchanges now and again, but he just recently told me it would be our last one for a while.” Tsuna peered into the sky again, then stared over at Rylen’s continued shock. “What do you know about Infernus’ son?”

“Son? That’s only a myth the dragon worshippers in the near the volcanoes tell. Infernus has no son.”

“Not from what he tells me. His son is the reason things are becoming worse. He’s coming for me. To kill me. If he gets his hands on his predecessor’s ether, he’s going to start another war to avenge the dragons who died in the last.” Palm covering his mouth, Rylen paced in place. This was the hardest Tsuna had seen him think. For someone learning that a myth might be reality, he’s quite calm.

“Damn… This changes everything. No doubt this hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Tarragon.” He sighed, giving the sky another look as well. “Thank you for telling me. Knowing if you can trust us or not must be difficult for you, but with that you may be saving lives.” His attention turned over to the holes in the containers near them. “So you were searching for a spot to train. Looks like you’re not going down without a fight. Is that the choice you’ve arrived at?”

“Yes. I’m certain of it at.” Tsuna’s gaze fell to his bare fist. There was no choice to be made. He must survive this encounter.

Rylen clapped his hands nonchalantly, drawing Tsuna’s attention to him. “Are you ready to develop into the protagonist?”

“What the hell do you even mean by that? Are you writing a book?” It wasn’t the first time he’d heard that. More interest enveloped Rylen’s character, the more the two spoke. “Didn’t you call Zio the protagonist before?”

“Protagonists change. Maybe his book ended, or maybe he’s closed his character arc. Doesn’t matter. Now it’s your time to step up.”

Tsuna swung his glove covered fist at another container, holding it in place waiting for a flame to shoot. “Quit talking like that. It implies you know more than everyone else and just aren’t telling us.”

“A point here, a bit there.” He said with a wiggle of his fingers. “What I don’t know is how we’ll get to them, but you needn’t worry about that and neither should I. My focus is what Infernus has told you now that I know the two of you have spoken.”

“He’s done nothing outside of digging through my head and telling me about his son. Before we left The Crossing, his focus was on discovering the mystery of that power that came over me when I fought with Zio. Because let’s be real, there’s no way I should have been able to withstand a punch from that man. At least that time, I wasn’t watching my body control itself. I know now that the power is coming from this thing in my hand.”

“That is a… more important discovery than you know. Don’t ask how, because I’m going to explain. Continue with your training as I elaborate.

Tsuna’s eyes fell low as he pulled back a punch with his exposed hand. Try to hold back on this one. Almost as soon as his fist touched the container, a wave of flame circled his knuckles. Damn.

“The gem in your hand isn’t as new to us as it is to you. Before you arrived, two important people have existed in this world for hundreds of years with that same gem lodged in their hands. The Elysian Diamond Gate General, Maximus. And the Hylerian Wing Commander, known as ‘Echo’. Each wielding insurmountable ether. Many believe them to be the descendants of Astraea herself, locked in an endless battle against one another to rule... But that’s all just rumors and speculation! The two nations have been somewhat peaceful, so we have not seen the Generals in quite some time.”

He can always spew a mouthful. I wonder how he knows so much. After another blazing punch from his exposed fist, Tsuna recoiled back. With a sharp sigh, he reached into his pocket and removed the journal. “Maximus and Echo?” He wrote. Bookworm, Gun otaku, knows too much somehow, Rylen. “Do the Elves of this world live a really long time? By your outward look, you don’t seem a day over thirty. But you know a lot of things someone who’s thirty probably wouldn’t.”

“That would be the least of your concerns. If you die tomorrow, then it wouldn’t matter right?”

Tsuna’s face went blank. “Awfully dark way to put it for someone so enthusiastic.” Tucking the journal back in his pocket, Tsuna removed the glove from his hand. “From what it seems, whenever I punch with my bare fist, I trigger that fire that blasts out. However, that changes when my fist is covered. It’s like whatever comes in direct contact with my skin or causes pain stirs it up… But my fist is coming in contact with the inside of the glove…” Thinking this much is making my head hurt.

Rylen shrugged. “I’d help if I could, but seeing as you still don’t control your ether, it could be a multitude of reasons. With the inability to converse with Infernus, now your task has only become far more daunting.”

“Not like he’d help anyway.” Tsuna sighed, shoving the gloves into his empty pocket. “I’m done training for now. Got some energy left, so I’m going to walk around the city. Maybe to the entrance so I can see something that doesn’t remind me of home.”

“I trust you’ll find your way back to Infinity. The night is yours. I shall return to assess our situation further. May you stay safe under the light of Astraea, Tsuna.”