Tsuna rotated the Tachibana crest in his hand as he studied every inch of detail etched on it. “What are the chances that this ends up here? Impossible. That’s a stupid question to ask.” He knocked on the top of his head with his knuckles. “If this is moms, I am an actual member of the Tachibana clan. From the Sengoku era, at least. The secret child of the legendary Ginchiyo Tachibana, who was born several hundred years after she died. Sounds completely normal.” Sarcasm couldn’t hide his excitement, though. It was as if he were a manga protagonist. “Rylen might not be giving so bad after all. He hasn’t lied to me. Yet. And he seems to have my best interests in mind.” He turned his attention to the moon as it hovered high behind the misty red ether that obscured it. His pulse pattered in his throat. “I just need to survive. Whatever happens, I have to.”

From a distance of the road he walked, Tsuna spied a crowd clambering down the street. The smell of beer lingered in the air, their sobriety unquestioned as they tripped over their own steps. “Bunch of drunks… Getting trashed when we could be attacked at any moment.” Tsuna tilted his head upward. “Maybe they can’t see it. Why is that I wonder?” His gaze returned to the crowd. “Yeah, I’ll just move out of the way.” To his right, a dark alley with a dead end. To his left, a dark alley with men rifling through trash and dragging a slumped body. A step to his side, he settled with leaning against a building as they came his way.

“You lot need to make it back to the ship! Captn’ will be pissed off if the deck ain’t shinin’ by mornin’,” a man said. Throwing his arm around a woman’s waist, streams of water seeped from his hands. Each stream wrapping spreading to a unique part of the woman’s waistband slowly sliding through it. His eyes scanned her up and down, then paused at her chest. “As your first mate, I expect it all to be done tonight! I got some other business to take care of.”

Repulsed by the man’s demeanor, Tsuna watched with disgust. Just how common are people like him who have these powers? These people are nasty.

Tsuna snapped his fingers to the sound of their footsteps, catching a spark jumping from his fifth snap. “I think I’m getting the hang of this fire control!” A dim light broke into his sight. A youthful girl draped in rags jogged down an alleyway. Hands in front of her, she carried a fire with her palms. Crossing into his path, she checked out his red eyes. An unwashed face was the initial thing he noticed, then her frail frame and the fact she was barefoot. Tsuna peered down and wiggled his toes. Who am I to judge someone being barefoot? The reeking scent of expired fish ran through Tsuna’s senses, now noticing the girl had stopped right beside him. Abruptly, she shoved her palms forward, producing a narrow wave of fire that flew in his direction. Tsuna’s impulsive reaction was to move his hand in front of the fire, but his body froze. The fire caressed his face, its warmth like a kiss of nostalgia.

“Boo! I’m a Tarragon!” She said with an enthusiastic hop.

Tarragon? He scratched his head, confused by the amber eyed child. “Why are you shooting fire at me? You shouldn’t be shooting fire at people. That’s rude.” A grin developed on her lips, the girl’s red ether emanating from her rough skin so distinctly that Tsuna could see it without focus. She took a step to the side, widening her stance, dragging her other leg over. Tsuna’s attention was all hers as he pored over the bizarre child, having half a mind to think it could chalk up to typical childlike shenanigans. However, there was a noticeable difference in the way she moved. “A kid wouldn’t act like this, would they? Something’s up.” Tsuna’s head swung around, detecting movement on his right and a rancid smell breaching his space. A man shuffled from his side, teetering on his toes as his tongue swayed from between his lips. A swing of his wrist and the grasp for Tsuna ended in failure, with him falling.

“A bit too much to drink, buddy?” Tsuna asked with a sneer. “Should try crawling home instead.” His ridicule won no feedback as the murmuring man pressed himself off the ground. “You tricked this kid into thinking you could get an easy mark?” Tsuna turned back, the child now missing. “Where’d she go?”

Trembling, the man’s pale hands snapped inward on themselves. His bones tore through the skin on his wrists, balancing him as his back straightened.

Tsuna stepped back, hastily slipping a glove over his left hand. “Okay. Is this some more mysterious world bullshit? That’s not normal!”

The mans body cracked, his spine shifting in his back, while his neck stretched to his side, revealing eyes void of color.

Tsuna’s legs trembled. The evolution of the monstrosity seeming to come to its end. Should I run? Can I fight? Why isn’t it attacking?

Ether rushed behind the creature, turning a bright red before dissolving. Where the ether vanished, a figure appeared, draped in a hooded gray robe, creeping from behind the creature with slow and deliberate steps. “Others may find this approach too direct, so I sincerely apologize, my Lord. But I swear on my life that this act was necessary to get your attention.” Silence carried on, the figure watching Tsuna simply stare at him with his fist up. “Lower your arms. You’re in no danger here, my lord. Despite the rumors you may have heard amongst man. Any creation of ether can attest that their influence is cancerous. However, without that, they wouldn’t have conquered most of the world.”

“I don’t know who you are.” Tsuna said. “Sorry to disappoint, but it’s hard to believe anyone who calls humanity a cancer or some type of parasite is on the good side of things.”

“In this new body and fragmented memory, I don’t believe you could see the entire picture if you wanted to. Imagine, a world so vast, of a race that’s created subcultures within itself. Leading to substantial differences that it’s hard to believe they’re of the same background. It’s both magnificent and terrifying how easily they become divided.” The figure stopped beside the creature, crossed a hand across their belly, the other behind their back, and politely bowed. “A late introduction. I am Nomu, a wyvern of your creation.”

Perplexed, Tsuna stood straight. The voice was of a man, but his thin figure would say otherwise. “But you’re a man? Last I checked, wyvern are dragon-like creatures with wings instead of arms.” He glanced at beast beside the man. “Kind of like the one you’re next to.”

“In that observation, you would be correct. If we look through the annals of history, in the beginning, there were only dragons, kobolds, siren, raijin, and tengu. In time, Astraea created the races of man. Beginning with the Elves, followed by Humans. Minhki, however, arrived at a mysterious point in time. Their origin is still unknown, but I digress. In admiration of man’s ability to tame the etheric elements, Infernus, you, sought to bless your kind with the ability to change shape. A byproduct of this goal created me. A wyvern. The disfigured and underdeveloped version of a dragon, but capable of what you wished. A blank slate, capable of housing every kind of ether.”

“Was Infernus not a god? Couldn't he turn his people into humans if he willed it?

“A god among dragons, maybe. Though many of our kind disapproved of his decision. Seeking changes means you’re imperfect. Collide that with the Draconian arrogance and you’ve created doubt. Infernus could only reshape himself, but it would be impossible for the embodiment of fire to carry the ether of his brothers and sisters. Thus, his journey began. His disappearance the final blow to our people. We became the very thing he sought to turn us into. Man. Fractured into subcultures at war with ourselves.”

“I have to admit.” Tsuna said. “He seems more human than he’s made out to be. He wanted better for everyone and they only hated him for it.”

“Being a leader is never easy, my lord. But that is why I am here. I humbly believe you should start again. With me as your advisor, we can rebuild and restore your form. You only need to trust me.” Nomu extended his hand, waiting for Tsuna step forward.

”Trust you?” Tsuna looked downward, then stared at Nomu. “Tell me the truth. Is it true that they will attack the city? The dragons?”

Nomu nodded, his hand still extended. “Regrettably so, but this is your chance to stop it. Whether or not you take my hand, your son will attack. However, I could mislead him, giving you time to escape and sparring the city from destruction.

The option left a weight on Tsuna’s shoulders. One he wasn’t sure if he could bear. He scoured his mind for answers. If I take his hand, we could spare the city. No one will have to die and when can control my ether, I could find everyone. Tsuna anxiously looked over his shoulder, spotting a sea of crimson eyes staring at him. Man, woman, and child. Their blank expressions crept into his very soul. “I.. I…”

From the darkness above, Zio descended with his spear pointed at Nomu. “Wyvern!” Zio shouted, twisting into a fiery wheel before unraveling and firing a precise beam of fire. Before the shot could reach the Nomu, the creature beside him slithered before in its path, disintegrating to ash on contact. “Get away from him, monsters!”

The crimson eyed crowd fled, dispersing into the alleyways, leaving the three of them standing in the street. Zio kept the spear pointed forward as he backed next to Tsuna.

“You know him, my lord?” Nomu asked. “This man, connects to the very bloodline that caused your disappearance. The one who established the hunters who’ve killed our kind indiscriminately for centuries. The Tarragon. People who would disturb our peace to sate their lust for blood.”

“Bullshit!” Zio retorted, tightening his grip on his spear. “Wyvern are the reason the Ikon war started! You corrupted innocent people with Ikon, twisting them into monsters like you! There’s more blood on your hands than the Tarragon order has ever spilled.”

“There are key factors in that period of events that you seem unaware of. Hear me when I say that we gave ourselves to the dark powers to prevent its contamination. Though blind to the result, we saw an opportunity, a way to survive.”

Zio composed himself, shifting his spear into his other hand, “To survive long enough to die.” He dove forward, the tip of his spear igniting as he flew. Nomu raised his arms into the air, the sleeves sliding down and exposing his scrawny arms, gathering two violet colored orbs at the tips of his finger. Zio stabbed forward and Nomu thrust his hands, releasing a rush of violet flame. Before the flame could reach Zio, his body shrouded in red ether that protected his body from the fire. Zio resisted the wave of flame though as he attempted to walk forward, the fire forced him back.

“My lord!” Nomu said, over the roaring of the flames. “Call my name when you’re ready to save us. To save dragon kind!”

The violent flames diminished, Zio finally pushing through with a thrust into the flames, but Nomu was gone and only Tsuna and Zio stood in the area.

Zio clutched his spear tight, then glanced over his shoulder to Tsuna. “I don’t know what he told you, but it’s all lies.” He quivered. An audible gulp coming from his throat. “Wyvern have always been deceptive, because they’re too weak to fight head on like a dragon could. I thought they were all gone, but…”

“Why?” Tsuna asked. “Why do you hate them so much? To the point you would hate anyone even associated with them.”

“It’s because of them… My fiancée is dead. It’s because of them, I killed my father. I ran from the Tarragon. The order I was supposed to become the leader of, knowing full well that I would be exiled and maybe killed.” Zio took a long sigh. “Rylen sent me away and Rylen’s the kind of person who does everything for a reason. So it got me thinking. More than I have in the last ten years of my exile. The more I hate, the longer it will take for the pain to go away. Father, Elanora, their deaths have sat with me every moment of my life since then.”

“Is there… a way to redeem yourself?” Tsuna asked, “Where i’m from, I hated everyone who treated me differently. Leading to me doing wrong because I wanted them to hate me. Before I came here, I had made it my goal to change the way they looked at me and become better because of it. Maybe you can too, somehow.”

“Maybe.” Zio relaxed his posture and turned to Tsuna. “I’ll find a way, eventually. Now my job is to keep you from falling into enemy hands. Getting to know how much of a hotheaded idiot you are, I’m starting to like you.”

Tsuna recognized his attempt at humor and laughed, causing Zio to laugh too. “It’s like looking in a mirror.”

They laughed again. The moment brightening the expression on their faces until both of them became silent. In both of their ears, a chime rang through in the sky, growing louder by the second.

The hoarse voice of a man rode through the streets on a horse. “Drakes! An army of drakes is coming to Morath!”

At the moment it took Tsuna to register the man’s words, Zio had already jumped into the air and landed on a building. “Get back to Infinity! Find Rylen!” With no other order, he departed towards the city gate.

As Zio left, Tsuna had noticed something different. The surrounding area had turned red, the ether that once loomed in the sky had now sunk and a dense pressure fell on Tsuna’s shoulders. It was as if the air itself had become an object. A tightness wrapped around his neck, inhibiting his breathing. The dry air hit his tongue, creating black spots that blurred his sight. I need to get out of here…