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The Os-Nàdarra Sentinels

ARC Three:

The Overlords

Chapter 1: The Spawn

-Unknown location in Egypt, Midnight of August 15th, 2010,

Eastern time-

            The moans that echoed through the

halls of the ancient city would send chills down the spine of even the most

stalwart man. Souls of the dead making their way to an unknown location as they

wandered through the darkness of the corridors, visible to the red gleaming

eyes of a figure cloaked in shadow, seated in a throne with energies of dark

violet flowing around him as he weaved a spell to open the gateway to the realm

of Duat; the Egyptian land of the Dead.

            Darkness, emptiness, silence except

for the wails of the dead greeted him as he opened the way. The souls descended

into the infinite black pit stretched out before him, vanishing as the way

became clear. The red eyes watched them as they descended; normally he would

not need to handle so many, but an incident in the deserts in a nearby land had

caused quite a number of fatalities, leaving the wayward souls in need of a

guide to the afterlife, and this dark being was that guide, sending the souls

to Osiris' Hall of Judgement.

            The guide was Izrail, the Servant of

Anubis.

            Created in the likeness of the

Egyptian Lord of the Dead, Izrail was the guide of the souls of the afterlife,

and the defender of the Underworld Passage in the city of the dead known as

Hamunaptra, hidden within the vast deserts of Egypt by the forces of nature...

and a little sorcery. Of course the city hid more than just the passage to the

underworld; it also hid vast riches of wealth and knowledge -trivial things a

being such as Izrail had no interest in. His only concern was the passage to

Duat.

            Of course, to some, the interest of

Hamunaptra was academic. Like the white, eight-tailed fox standing at his side,

garbed in a golden kimono. Despite all the dirt and grime of the ancient halls,

the fox and his clothes were untouched, as if nothing more than an illusion. A

pair of gleaming, pupil-less and white-less golden eyes gazed from under a head

of silver scalp hair, grown very long -almost down to his waist, and his

perfect, ageless features only further strengthened any assumption as to what

this fox really was; a Kitsune.

            Or rather, a Nogitsune; the fox was

known under the name of Yaiba Akatsuki -in Japan, although in the west his name

would be the other way. Translated in English, his name literally meant 'Blade

of Dawn'; appropriate, as he was a Celestial Kitsune, a being of Light, born of

the Goddess of Harvest, Inari. Although, being a Nogitsune meant Akatsuki had

left behind any allegiance he bore to Inari, and now he served Izrail as a

fellow protector of Hamunaptra; payment for his pursuit of the knowledge within

the walls of the city.

            "A most grim task, my master,"

Akatsuki said to Izrail, glancing at the jackal-headed demigod. "To watch the

souls of the dead enter the afterlife realm."

            "It tends to lose its grimness after

twenty millennia," Izrail replied plainly as the last of the spirits vanished

into the darkness. "And it is what I was created to do."

            "Of course," returned Akatsuki,

turning and stepping away from the pit. "I shall return to my studies."

            Izrail turned around shortly after

Akatsuki did, and began to make his way towards the corridor as he had, intent

on going to check the protective shield around Hamunaptra, to ensure it was

still functional after such an influx; sometimes countless souls passing into

the underworld all it once could cause disruption of the protective barrier

that hid the city from all kinds of eyes, including the machinations of mortals

called 'satellites'.

            The city had to remain hidden;

outsiders could not come here.

            But just as he stepped away from the

pit, a sensation washed over him; a feeling of dread and that of imminent

disaster, so strong and so vast it was like he'd been struck by a tsunami... a

tsunami made of fear. He froze dead in his tracks as that sensation found him,

and he saw, ahead of him, Akatsuki stopping in place as well; clearly Izrail

was not the only one who had sensed that anomaly.

            It carried on for some time; when it

became clear that it was not simply going to go away, Izrail began walking

again, faster this time, driven by the need to find out what that strange

energy he had just felt was. When he sprinted past Akatsuki, the eight-tailed

fox suddenly became alert and watched as his host fled down the corridor. "Lord

Izrail, what was that just now?!" He called after him, but Izrail did not heed

his voice; he broke into a run as well, following Izrail to find out what

distressed him so.

            Izrail strode down the hall for what

felt like a hundred kilometers before he finally came to the room he was

seeking, making a sharp turn through the door and striding to a strange diagram

in the middle of a large circle, drawn in chalk in the middle of the floor.

Sitting next to the circle was a basin full of clear water, which remained

still even as Izrail entered the room, passed the basin and made for the

circle. He stood at the very center of the circle, his feet upon the eye-like

drawing in the chalk, and the moment his feet were placed there, the white

chalk suddenly glowed, becoming a pale, pinkish colour, and glittering spheres

of matching colour rose up from the circle, ascending to the ceiling where they

seemed to vanish into the stone above.

            Izrail turned to face the water

basin, putting his palms together, and began to chant strange words in an

unusual language; Akatsuki arrived in the room just as the demigod began to

speak the strange words, unable to decipher them; although he could read

Ancient Egyptian, the language was something else entirely, and only a few

words rang clear in his ears -too few to know what it was Izrail was trying to

do with the spell circle and ancient words.

            Then, as the kitsune watched, the

pool of water in the basin began to stir; his golden eyes averted to the pool

as it swirled about like a whirlpool, suddenly rising out of the basin as a narrow,

swirling stream that arched towards Izrail, stopping inches from his face

before it began to widen, becoming a thin wall of water before his very eyes.

It expanded until it appeared wide enough to swallow him whole, and became as

dark as ink, save a single white slit from the tip to the bottom in the very

center.

            The slit widened as well, opening

like an eye, and within it, a blanket of white that soon became swirled with

colour. The longer he watched, the colour began to form a picture, like an

animate painting, blurry and unclear until his chanting continued. In moments,

it was then like he was watching a mortal's 'motion picture' or 'movie',

showing him a place far from his home, on the other side of the world; a modern

city with buildings of iron and glass, streets of liquefied stone hardened and

worn from the use of automobile transports... and a scene of destruction.

            A battle was underway within the

city; a giant wyvern of steel, battling a host of elementals and mortals alike,

clashing over and among the buildings. Among the ones who battled this

iron-clad beast was a green and blue avian, launching flames of chaotic fire,

while the beast fired beams of pure electronic energy. Izrail watched as the

battle continued, raging on for several moments, until a titan-sized spike of

solid ice was brought down upon the creature, impaling it and staking it into

the ground, ending its existence. Izrail zeroed in on the green and blue avian

once again; he was certain that he was the source, but who was he? The spell

was still too unclear for him to identify the winged boy...

            Suddenly, just as instantly as it

appeared, the sensation of infinite fear ended; within the window, the boy's

colours suddenly changed, becoming bright red and gold colour scheme common among

phoenixes of the Fire Element. Izrail's lost track of the very energy he'd been

sensing, as if it had just vanished from that very plane of existence. With no

reason to continue watching, he manipulated the water back into the basin and

let it fall flat, returning to its boring, unassuming state.

            Izrail let his hands part, letting

them fall back to his sides as he spread his stance to retain his balance.

Akatsuki stepped forward to help him, but a raised hand from the demigod

stopped him in his tracks, and he dared not advance. Izrail stood perfectly

still, eyes on the floor for a moment, but drawing no breath -his body was

merely a construct and did not require breath- and contemplating everything he

had just witnessed in that vision.

            "My Lord... what did you see?"

Akatsuki asked. "What was that horrid sensation?"

            "A phoenix," replied Izrail.

"Young... impulsive... but strong of will and body, battling this giant,

mechanical beast; they were in a city, far away in the west. That boy is

carrying something within him; something I thought vanished centuries ago...

but it was reawakened temporarily."

            "What was it?"

            Izrail turned, looking at Akatsuki.

"The essence of the one who brought destruction to the known world over five

thousand two hundred years ago," he replied. "The one the ancients named

'Lucarinai'."

            Akatsuki's solid golden eyes widened

to the roundness of dinner plates, tails stiffening as those words sunk in.

"But... that is impossible. He was destroyed by The Great Four; the Necroslayer,

the Demon Hunter, the Spirit Dragon and the Orphan -they eradicated him! How

could he still be alive?"

            "He isn't," replied Izrail. "But

even death cannot always claim those whose power surpasses even that of the

gods; Lucarinai is not alive, but his essence was so strong, it appears a

fragment of it lingers in this world still, and that unfortunate youth now

carries it within him, and it sleeps, waiting to be awakened." Izrail stepped

down from the circle, passing Akatsuki to exit out to the corridor and walked

down the hall. "Somehow, he awakened that power only briefly, but enough of it

for its mighty backlash to reach even here, on the other side of the world."

            Akatsuki eyed Izrail quizzically.

"Other side?" He repeated. "Where did it originate?"

            "The north-western most continent of

the world, known to most as 'North America'," replied Izrail. "But it was too

brief for me to sense its exact location; I do not know which of the two

nations there it came from. Even if I did, both of those countries are vast...

it could take us many months to find it, assuming it were to remain there."

            "What will you do then, Lord

Izrail?" Akatsuki asked. "Shall I go west for you and seek this youth?"

            Izrail did not take long to answer.

"No... not yet," he replied. "This essence has hidden from me for eight hundred

years; if it could remain concealed for that long it will not be so easily

found; we know it's out there, but it will not stay in one place for long. We

can only wait until it awakens again, and then when it does... we will seek it

out, and purge it from this plane of existence indefinitely."

            "What of its host?" Akatsuki asked.

            "One life, given to guarantee the

continuation of all life in this plane of existence," Izrail replied plainly

and without hesitation. "It is not a difficult decision to make."

~~~~~

-Unknown-

            Darkness...

            Laughter...

            It was everywhere around him; Volcan stood -or rather

floated- without the use of his wings, in a void of infinite nothing. He could

see no heat, no light, no sign of anything in this darkness with him; just him,

and the feeling of a cold grip around him. No limb or hand held his body that

he could see, but it still felt like something was trying to crush him, and

every cry of pain he elicited only intensified the pressure, followed more by

that sadistic laugh that was haunting his ears.

            "Where are you?! Where is this place?!" He cried, his

voice seeming to echo endlessly into the dark. "What do you want from me?!"

            Out of the darkness, a white shape appeared; light? No;

it was smooth and glassy, and it was not purely white. In its very center was a

circle of rippling shades of purple, and in its center, a smaller black circle.

It didn't take Volcan long to know what this was; it wasn't a light of any

kind, it was an eye, belonging to an unknown entity. A purple eye starting at

him, larger than he was and carrying his own reflection within it, void of any

emotion and chilling Volcan down to his very soul. The appearance of the eye

was soon followed by a voice that sounded so much like Volcan's, but filled

with a mad thirst he couldn't comprehend.

            "I'm coming out..."

~~~~~

-Early morning of January 4th

2011, Unity Falls, AB-

            Beams fired from Volcan's eyes as he

sat up, filling the room with red light as the rays of concentrated heat

erupted from both orbs and scorched into the wall in front of him. By the time

he realized he was not attacking his intended target, he shut his eyes,

clapping a hand over them to contain the rays of heat until they abated,

keeping them back until he got them back under control.

            Uncovering his hands from his eyes,

he looked around the room, seeing familiar surroundings and forcing himself to

calm down; using several breathing exercises, he managed to ease his tension

and calm his troubled mind enough that he didn't accidentally fire off another

elemental projectile at the next shadow that twitched in that room.

            When he was steady enough to turn to

look at his wall, he eyed the fresh new burn marks left by his concentrated

heat beams, seeing them smolder alongside the six more that he'd put into the

wall already. "Kim is going to freaking kill me when she sees that," he said,

fully accepting that he was probably facing the loss of his entire damage

deposit and then some - including but not limited to eviction if he didn't fix

those burns as soon as possible.

            To no great surprise, his smoke

alarm in the hallway outside of his bedroom began to sound off as the smoke

from the smoldering paint reached it, filling his ears with that horrible,

high-pitched beeping noise that had sounded off every night for the past week

whenever this had happened. Irritated he jumped out of bed, storming out into

the hallway to reach up and shut it off by tapping the battery slot, popping it

open and silencing the device.

            "Fucking piece of..." grumbled

Volcan, ears ringing from the smoke detector. He peered into the guest room,

checking for Vinge -only to mentally kick himself when he remembered the Ice

Phoenix had been released from his custody and moved back home almost two

months ago. Good timing, thought

Volcan; he'd hate to see how Vinge would react if the Ice Phoenix walked into

Volcan's room one morning to check on him while he was having a nightmare and

end up roasted by his eyes.

            But what was wrong with him? He had to try something -anything, to get

answers. But he didn't want everyone else to know about this; something like

this would only terrify them.

            Well... maybe one could know... one

who might be able to help him find an answer.

            Turning and going back into his

room, Volcan headed over to his dresser, not even bothering grabbing a pair of

jeans as he put on a shirt and grabbed a winter cloak, keeping his wings tight

against his back as he wrapped it around himself and left the bedroom, picking

his keys and wallet from the basket and keyhanger in the foyer and headed out

the door, locking it behind him before he turned and headed for the stairs,

briskly descending them and running outside into the winter night...

~~~~~

            Bapbapbapbapbap!

            Obsidian's ear twitched as she heard the tapping, turning a little in

her sleep but choosing to ignore it, believing it to just be part of her dream

as she lay comfortably in her bed, warm underneath the covers of her soft

blankets...

            Bapbapbapbapbap!

            She stirred again, one eye opening slightly as the second knock

sounded. Rolling that eye to look at the clock, she let out a low moan at the

time it displayed and tried to hide her head under her pillow. "God, don't let

that be a homicide call..." She pleaded, voice muffled by the pillow over her

face. "Just go away, please..."

            BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!

            "Alright, alright!" She cried in defeat, throwing the pillow aside and

sitting up, rubbing her eyes as she threw her legs over the side of the bed and

stood up from the bedside. Picking a bathrobe that was hanging on the back of

her bedroom door and wrapping it around herself to use as a cover, she stormed

out of her bedroom and into the hallway.

            BAMBAMBAM!

            "Keep your shirt on, I'm coming already!" She called scornfully as she

approached the door. Someone better be

dying or someone's going to get a kick right where it hurts! The

amethyst-scaled dragoness growled in her mind.

            Approaching the door, she looked through

the peephole, and was shocked to see Volcan standing outside. Eyes narrowing

with curiosity, she unlatched the chain lock and the deadbolt before she opened

the door, letting in the cool night air as she stepped into the doorway to

address the phoenix. "Volcan? What're you doing here this time of night?"

            "Hey 'Sid," returned the phoenix;

his voice sounded weak, and tired... now that Obsidian considered it, his eyes

looked kind of... dark. Or was that shadows from the porch light? "I'm sorry to

just drop by like this."

            "Well, Volc; you know I'm always

happy to see you," returned Obsidian, but despite her reassuring voice, she

couldn't stop looking at his eyes. "But..." She paused, unable to look away

anymore. "Volcan... tilt your head back."

            Slowly, he did, letting the porch

light illuminate his entire face; Obsidian nearly gasped with shock as she saw

how dark the sockets of the phoenix's eyes were, and the whites of his eyes

were pink with irritation, the dark bags making them stand out even more.

            "Oh my god, Volcan; haven't you been

sleeping?"

            "Not really..." The phoenix replied.

"'Sid... can we talk?"

            "Of course," replied the dragoness,

stepping aside and pulling the door open wide to allow him in. "Come in."

            Volcan carefully stepped into the room

his shoulder bumping the doorway as he did, but the phoenix barely acknowledged

it, passing through the entry hall before making a turn into the living room.

At Obsidian's insistence, he took a seat on the couch, and she seated herself

right next to him, her eyes never leaving him. Volcan ran a hand down his face,

groaning and leaning back against the back of the couch.

            "I'm so tired..."

            "Volcan, why haven't you been

sleeping?" Obsidian asked.

            He looked at her weakly, reading her

face for a moment; she was clearly concerned, maybe even afraid for him, and

probably wasn't going to let him leave without giving an answer... not that he

intended to. He'd come there for her help, after all. With only brief

hesitation, he began to fill her in on what was happening.

            "I've been having these... horrible

nightmares lately," Volcan began. "In it, I'm floating in this infinite

darkness; I can see nothing in it, except for this... eye, I guess is what I'd

call it, which appears in front of me. I don't know who it's supposed to be,

but every time it appears, I suddenly hear a voice saying 'I'm coming out' and then I wake up... for the past week shooting

Pyro Glare from my eyes, and I've scorched my wall in several places. It's a

miracle I haven't burned the whole complex down."

            Obsidian studied his face as he

explained the situation to her. "So these nightmares are throwing your powers

into flux?"

            "No, I think it's more than that;

they feel so real that I keep waking up feeling like I'm being attacked,"

replied Volcan. "At the same time though I've had nights like that before; it

also feels like someone else is trying to use them."

            "That doesn't make any sense; who?"

            "I don't know, but those Pyro Glares

are going off involuntarily, not because of my reflexes," Volcan explained. "I

need to focus my elemental essence into my eyes to use them, like creating a

circuit with some wires and a battery, only I can control if something is using

that circuit; it's not so simple as just staring straight ahead, it takes

focus, and with my mind so scattered while dreaming I shouldn't be able to use

them."

            "I don't understand, Volcan; what're

you saying?"

            Volcan looked at her, a serious

expression on his face. "I think someone is in my mind, trying to control me,"

he replied. "And I think it may be that 'other side' of me. That's why I'm

here; I need you to look inside my mind, try and find out what's causing it."

            Obsidian regarded him for a moment,

clearly considering his request, but she didn't take long in coming to a

decision. "Okay," she said. "But what do I do if I find it?"

            Volcan hesitated with the answer,

eventually having to admit he didn't know... regardless, Obsidian turned more

to face him, reaching up with both hands to place her fingers on his temples,

both of them shutting their eyes. Volcan opened his mind to the dragoness, and

she telepathically projected her conscious into his mind, feeling herself

entering Volcan's mind as it left her own; in a way it almost felt like diving

into a swimming pool, only without the splash or sudden rush of cold from the

water.

            Renewing her concentration, she

continued through his thoughts, seeing within the confines of his mind,

containing windows of memories and thought patterns seen as projected ideas -it

amused her how somewhat cartoonish some of Volcan's thoughts appeared to be

sometimes, imagining all kinds of different scenario's he could encounter, but

they were moving very slowly this time -probably a side-effect of his fatigue,

having not slept properly in days or even weeks.

            Continuing her trek through Volcan's

mind, she entered a new area; something was different about this one. It seemed

like some pieces were missing; glancing around and remembering other times she

had entered someone's mind, she remembered that this area was where emotions

were centered, spread out like a mural of colours. There was a lot of bright

red in Volcan's mind, differing in shades only slightly -remembering her

psychology classes in high school, red was considered a colour of passion,

courage, or rage, depending on its shade; the darkest red was the emotion of

lust, the next shade being the emotion of hatred, and there was very little of

that in here; Volcan's mind was dominated by the brightest red, the colour of

Passion in abundance, seconded only by the colour of Courage, which was just a

slightly darker red -roughly the colour of a red apple, while the colour of

passion was like the colour of a strawberry.

            There was also a great deal of

sky-blue, which was a colour to symbolize loyalty, and there was very little

dark blue -the colour of sorrow. However, she found a surprising about of

yellow; the colour of fear was surprisingly vast in Volcan's mind, and it

seemed to actually be... widening, among the mural of emotional colours she

could see.

            "Now what could this mean?" She

asked.

            And then, she saw it... a dark spot,

on the yellow area, lingering like a wart amidst the yellow, and completely

still. Looking closer, she saw it was a deep gray, darker than charcoal, and

though it was unmoving she knew it didn't below there; Black was not a colour,

but a shade, serving as the symbol for emptiness, the hue of space -an empty

void, which is why so many associated it with evil, because when referring to

someone to have a 'black heart' they essentially are saying there's no heart at

all, which wasn't far off; usually people with this much 'black' in their minds

had no emotions at all, or had suppressed them to the point where...

            She mentally slapped herself in the

head before shaking it. "Now's not the time to be playing analyst, 'Sid; your

friend needs your help," she said, and continued on, wanting to get a closer

look at that dark spot.

            Floating through Volcan's mind, she

slowly approached the blackness, seeing it scurry across the yellow, leaving a

trail of more black behind it, almost like it was feeding on the yellow...

Curiosity was becoming increasingly hard to suppress as she followed the black

spot further, watching it continue to consume the yellow. It didn't make sense;

emotions didn't consume each other like some cannibalistic feeding frenzy...

which probably meant that inky ball was not an emotion at all, but Obsidian's

intended target.

            "Found you," she said with a firm

voice, before she chased down the blackness. It tried to scurry away from her,

but she headed it off, sending it left towards the blue area.

            Continuing to pursue, she prevented

it from veering off, but didn't want it to reach the blue area. Unfortunately,

she wasn't quick enough; consuming much of the yellow before reaching the blue.

Unlike the yellow though, this inky sphere did not seem to feed on it, but

rather absorb some of it, not taking it away. It caught a fair chunk of it

before veering off towards the green -another area which wasn't exactly in

abundance, meaning Volcan wasn't the envious type. Obsidian continued to try

and pursue the darkness, chasing it across the green before it suddenly halted

and went back, right at her!

            She instinctively avoided it, seeing

it trail back down across the blue area before trying to make a beeline right

for the yellow again. "Oh no you don't!" She growled ferally before chasing it

again, faster this time. She cut it off from continuing across the yellow, and

to avoid her, it veered off in another direction, still leading her on a merry

chase.

            This time, however, it ended up in

the darkest red area, shooting across it and to its slightly brighter

counterpart, but it stopped before the second-brightest red -the courage, and

dropped away, falling towards another area. Obsidian watched as it dropped,

seeing it fly through the openness of the mind, sprouting a pair of deformed

wings as it once more made a beeline for the yellow once more.

            "You've got a one-track mind!"

Obsidian scorned the greed of the strange, invasive conscience as she once more

moved to intercept it, delivering a telekinetic bolt that knocked it off

course, and it crashed down into the Gray area at the very bottom of the

emotional sphere. "Good; colour of neutrality. Nothing to take down..." She

paused.

            Gray wasn't just the colour of

neutrality; it was also the colour of traditionalism and intelligence, varied

in shades like many other emotions were. She'd seen this thing was actually

devouring the fear in Volcan's mind but it seemed disinterested with anything

else, only absorbing small amounts of it, like a sponge would absorb water. Now

she'd just knocked it into the gray area; what was going to happen?

            Suddenly, the blob of darkness began

to move again, spreading itself out over the gray and consuming some of it. But

just as Obsidian rushed towards the blob to try and stop it, it suddenly

condensed again and launched itself off of the gray area, flying right at her!

She halted in midair, but it was too close; it burst into a swarm of tentacles

that immediately grabbed for her; she tried to swat them away with her

telekinesis, but her projected form was quickly entrapped by them, and she

could swear she felt them physically as the bound her legs and arms, choking as

she felt one on her neck as well.

            The blackness closed around her;

still she could feel her bonds but now she could no longer see the other

colours of the emotional sphere as the darkness formed a new sphere around her.

She nearly panicked as she realized she could not call back her telepathic

projection back to her own mind; it was trapped! She was trapped! Struggling to break free, she fought the darkness,

demanding with her mind's voice "Who are you?! What're you doing to Volcan?!"

            As if to answer her question,

something began to take shape in front of her; she looked straight ahead as she

saw something forming out of the darkness, seeing what appeared to be the head

of an avian materializing in a form of grey matter like a swarm of a billion

insects around the head of a statue -or even the head of a person, as this

shape was animate, releasing a moan that made Obsidian's heart stop as it

formed and peering at her with a pair of violet eyes that made her blood run

cold -even here, in her telepathic projected form, she could feel her body

trembling.

            "It's not polite to interrupt my

meal," a voice that sounded oddly like Volcan's, but more distorted and

almost... spirtual, in a way, spoke from the beak of the hideous shape in front

of her. "Even as I am now... I still must feed, my sweet."

            "What in the hell are you?" Obsidian

asked, almost forgetting she was bound by this thing inside of Volcan's mind.

            The avianic face grinned back at

her. "I'm the one who'll claim this one's body... soon as I am strong enough to

do so," he...she...it, replied to the dragoness, seeming to actually move

closer to her. "And when I am done... there is one more thing I shall claim

before this day is out!"

            Obsidian felt her body being

attacked; something was grabbing it and pushing it against a hard surface! She

had to break free, but this thing had her in its grasp, and she could not get

loose. She felt physical pain coming from her body, and mental pain as she

continued to try and get free but the bindings were becoming stronger, refusing

to let her go.

            With no other choice, she tuned out

the pain coming from her body and focused everything into her mind, and with

one mighty telepathic blast, she attacked the strange entity; all around her it

expanded, stretched so thin it looked like a bubble, before it suddenly burst

open, and she went flying through the confines of Volcan's mind, out of control

as she was launched from the sphere of emotion. Regaining control, she steered

herself back to the frontal portion of Volcan's mind, where she'd made her

entry, and hurriedly returned to protect her body.

            Someone was on top of her. Someone

had her pinned to the floor; a large heavy figure with powerful arms pinned her

down against the hardwood floor and were pulling open her bathrobe, exposing

her half-clothed form underneath, before grabbing onto her shirt, trying to

tear it off...

            She gasped as she realized what was

happening; whoever was attacking her was trying to molest her!

            The police training kicked in at

that moment; not knowing or caring who it was attacking her, she thrust her

knee up into the scrotum, making them grunt with pain and tense up, arching

their back towards the ceiling. With them stunned by the attack on their

crotch, she pulled both legs up to her chest, placing her feet on the torso of

her attacker and pushing hard, launching them off of her with all the strength

her dragonic legs could muster. They flew through the air a short distance,

hitting the wall between the living room and the entry hall and nearly going through it as they smashed the wood and

drywall with their weight.

            Obsidian was on her feet in a

second, putting up her fists as she prepared for what was undoubtedly about to

be a fight... until she saw who it was she'd just kicked away, and she froze

dead in place, eyes becoming as round as dinner plates as she recognized the

person. Volcan was standing popped up against the wall, holding his head where

it had hit the wood, and groaning as he opened his eyes and looked at the

Dragoness, utterly confused.

            "'Sid... what just happened? How'd I

get over here from there?" He asked, looking at the couch, which was a good

three meters away, but he only recalled being there; he didn't remember

standing up...

            Adrenaline and horror were still

gripping Obsidian as she replied however. "What the hell is the matter with

you; why'd you attack me?!" She screamed at him, her brow furrowing with rage.

            "Attack you?" Volcan asked, shocked.

"But I'd never...!" He stopped, eyes widening in horrid realization as it

dawned on him just what he'd been doing, especially when he saw Obsidian's

shirt was torn over her belly, and some of the fabric was caught on the talons

of his left hand. He stared at that hand for a moment as if it wasn't his, his

breathing intensifying as he turned back to Obsidian with realization.

"Obsidian..." Without another word he turned and ran for the door, knocking

over a vase with his wing in the process. "I'm sorry!" He called back as he ran

into the door, adrenaline-backed superhumanoid strength causing it to go flying

off of its hinges.

            He regretted the damage, but not as

much as he regretted what he'd just tried to do! Something was wrong with him;

he wasn't in control of his actions, and now they had just endangered someone

he cared deeply about. He had to get away from there, away from the city -away

from everyone! He wasn't safe; he was a threat to them all!

            Obsidian, snapping out of her

adrenal-induced trance, ran for the front door. "Volcan, wait!" She cried,

realizing it was not his fault now that she'd managed to get her second wind,

but the phoenix was already airborne, flying off through the howling cold wind

-that alone was a sign he wasn't himself, as that wind could cause him permanent

harm if he flew through it, but he wasn't going to stop; nothing would stop

him, and he'd never forgive himself for what he'd just tried to do to her.

            Turning and running back into the

house, Obsidian strode to her room, finding her cellphone on the nightstand and

looking at the numbers in her contact list, able to think of only one person

she could call about this. She found the number, pressed 'Call' and held it to

her ear. "Come on, pick up, please...!" She begged.

            Lighris turned over in bed as his

phone started ringing, letting out a long groan as he rubbed his eyes, followed

by a pained yelp as he accidentally rolled onto his wing and compressed it. Now

cranky, he sat up and spun around in bed, throwing off the blankets as he

reached for his cell phone on his nightstand, looking at the caller ID but

barely able to read it through sleepy eyes, so he simply hit the 'accept'

prompt and held it to his ear.

            "This better be good," he groaned.

            "Thank

God! Lighris, quickyouhavetogetup; something'sgonewrongwith...!"

            "Hey, whoa! Slow down; who is this?"

He asked, somewhat sharply. "I'm still waking up here."

            "It's

Obsidian!" The caller replied.

            "Obsidian?" Lighris repeated.

"You've never phoned me before; you didn't write me a parking ticket or

anything, did you? Or seatbelt; I get one more and..."

            "Will

you shut up and listen?!" She snapped through the phone. "I'm calling about Volcan!"

            Lighris froze. It was never a good

sign when a cop was calling you about a family member, he knew. "What happened

to my brother?" He asked, a low growl in his voice.

            "Something

is happening to him; I don't know what it is but, he was just over here, and...

ugh! Nothing makes sense!" He practically heard claws grinding against

scales as Obsidian was most likely scratching her head in frustration.

            "Okay, calm down, officer," stated

Lighris. "If it's easier to explain in person, what's your address? I'll come

there."

            "No;

it'd take too long. You'd have to go across the border gates and there's only

two open this time of night. Meet me at C-Plaza; it's about halfway."

            "Okay, I'll meet you there. Just

keep your head cool when I arrive, alright?"

            "I'll

try... thank you."

            With that, both sides hung up.

Lighris got to his feet and walked out to the living room of his house, heading

over to the window and peering off in the direction of the city. "Shit, bro...

what've you got yourself into now?" He asked, deep concern in his voice...

~~~~~

            Obsidian stood, uneasily, in the

middle of C-Plaza, in the park located next to the parking lot of the night

club, 'Casa 'Del Gato', which was nearing closing time; customers were being

given their last call for the night and were coming out in droves, those sober

enough to drive heading for their cars -and some not, but of course there were

a couple of cruisers driving by looking for just that, so Obsidian didn't need

to be concerned about them... not that she was. Most of her thoughts were only

on Volcan, fearing for his life and his sanity as she impatiently fidgeted,

waiting for the others.

            After phoning Lighris she had

contacted Rikyuu, Pavan and Vinge as well; Rik wasn't even bothering with the

meeting, and was already out looking for the Fire Phoenix. The other avians

hadn't arrived yet though, Tsume and Brent hadn't answered their phones and

Obsidian didn't dare call the police -not yet... not until she could be sure of

what they were dealing with, and what was happening to her friend.

            As she sat on the park bench,

waiting, she felt the wind picking up, and heard a pair of feet touching

ground, followed shortly after by a second pair. She turned in the direction of

the sounds, and saw two avians, one pale white and the other a light brown, immediately

recognizing them as Vinge and Pavan respectively.

            The dragoness leapt to her feet,

walking over to them. "Thank you both so much for coming," she bade as the

hugged the two phoenixes.

            "Like we'd do any less for my

buddy?" Pavan asked, patting Obsidian on the back.

            Vinge held her gently with one arm

for a moment until she stepped back from him, keeping a hand on her shoulder as

he asked. "'Sid, are you okay?" He asked. "On the phone you sounded

hysterical."

            "I'll explain when Lighris gets

here," Obsidian promised.

            A rumbling, mechanical roar was

heard up the street, almost as if on cue, and the three turned to see a blue

pickup racing into the plaza, narrowly beating the red light of a corner

intersection, before making a beeline for a parking stall on the street,

skidding to a stop -clearly double-parked, but the driver, Lighris, leapt out

after barely taking time to activate the parking brake and cut the engine.

            "There he is," Pavan jested.

            "Not now," Vinge whispered sternly.

"He looks ready to blow a gasket."

            Lighris strode over to the three,

his wings barely tucked in as he sprinted down the sidewalk towards them,

coming to a stop with his eyes fixed on Obsidian; his face was hard, clearly

holding back anger, but it was clear in his voice. "Obsidian, what happened?"

He asked, his voice a little shaky. "Where's my brother?"

            "He came to my house a little while

ago; just under an hour," Obsidian explained, trying to keep it short. "He said

that he'd been having trouble sleeping and that his powers were being set off

involuntarily, so he came to me for help."

            Pavan looked at Vinge. "Aren't you

still living with Volcan? Court order or something?"

            "They revoked it after the Cyber

Wyvern attack," returned Vinge. "Allowed me to go home after a five-month term;

I moved back home two weeks ago, just before Christmas."

            "Did you see him behaving strangely

at all, prior to you moving?" Obsidian asked.

            "A month ago, he started distancing

himself from me, always coming up with some excuse to head out, and staying in

his room whenever he was home," replied Vinge. "A few times I confronted him

about it, wondering what was wrong but he never gave me a straight answer, and

seemed in a big hurry to get me back to my place when the term ended. Since

then, I've barely seen him."

            "Same here; barely answers his phone

either," added Pavan.

            "So what else happened?" Lighris

asked. "If he was just having sleep issues he should've gone to a clinic."

            "It was more than just sleep

issues," replied Obsidian. "He said something about feeling this... other mind

inside of his own, speaking to him. He asked me to scan his mind, to try and

find it." The dragoness shuddered. "God, I found it alright..."

            "You're speaking of that dark half

of his?" Vinge asked. "But it's mindless -pure primal instinct. How can it be

taking him over when he has a clear mind?"

            "Because this wasn't some primal

intelligence," Obsidian returned, her voice breaking as she held back tears.

"It was sentient, alive; it spoke to

me, in words! It attacked me in Volcan's mind, trying to hold me back and..."

            "What; did he hurt you?" Pavan

asked.

            "Volcan... He tried to molest me,"

replied Obsidian, almost losing control there.

            "Impossible!" Lighris shouted, all

too loudly. The volume and tone of his voice as he pointed an accusing finger

at Obsidian made her recoil, while Vinge turned about and put both hands on

Lighris' chest, holding him back; the very thought of someone claiming his

brother would try to rape someone was the final straw for him. "My brother

would never do that to anyone! Not in

a million years!"

            "I know he wouldn't; that's why I know it wasn't really him," Obsidian

replied, defensively. "I pushed him off, and when he realized what happened he

ran out of my house; I tried to stop him but he took off before I could catch

him... and now he's out there somewhere -I don't even know where to look!" She

finally lost control, the tears forcing themselves to her eyes. Pavan stepped

forward and held her as she began to tremble and sob, her tail curling around

her legs as her body shook like the tail of a rattlesnake, leaning into the

Wind Phoenix.

            Vinge allowed Lighris to calm down,

while Pavan comforted Obsidian, and then turned to face the lightning hawk, his

ice blue eyes meeting the bright yellow gaze of Lighris. "You know what this

means, don't you?" He asked. When Lighris couldn't come up with a response, the

Ice Phoenix continued. "We both know Volcan is not a schizophrenic -not in the

conventional manner. This can only mean that other presence inside of him, that

'Black Volcan', is trying to take control. It must've done so when he was at

Obsidian's."

            "But how?" Lighris asked. "Volcan's

had that evil inside of him for eighteen and a half years; how could it be

taking control of him now when it couldn't before?"

            "I don't know," Vinge admitted. "But

however it's happening, we need to find Volcan and try to find some way to stop

it." Vinge raised his left hand to the tip of his beak, biting his index finger

ever so slightly as he paced around. "After what happened at Obsidian's, no

doubt guilt will be driving him now; he won't want to be found. You're his

brother; do you have some idea as to where he might go?"

            Lighris tightened his fists

somewhat, his frustration making him want to yell at Vinge, although he didn't

really have any reason to do so; maintaining his composure he considered the

question for a moment. "Unfortunately I don't," replied the lightning hawk.

"Overwatch is always where he'd go to clear his head or just relax but he knows

that's the first place we'd look for him. There's no shortage of places to hide

outside of the city; this side of the border there's nothing but wilderness from

here to Calgary or Lethbridge."

            "And he knows this area pretty darn

well," Pavan added, resting a hand on Obsidian's back as she managed to stop

her crying and step back from him. "And he might not even be on the Canadian

side if he left from 'Sid's house."

            Vinge looked at Pavan. "You've known

Volcan the longest, and you know the area around the city. Go to every place

you can think of he would go -start with Overwatch, and work in the surrounding

area first; those who are running from something will not usually linger far

from anywhere they feel safe."

            "How could you possibly know that?"

Lighris asked, unconvinced.

            "Basic psychology," replied Vinge. "Now,

Lighris; you and Obsidian look through the city, dividing between the Canadian

and American halves. Check everywhere you can."

            "Hey, who died and made you captain,

frosty?" Lighris growled.

            Vinge leered at him with such a look

that it actually made Lighris flinch. "Do you want to massage your ego or do

you want to find your brother?"

            Lighris made no retort.

            "Where are you going to look?"

Obsidian asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her arm as she looked at

Vinge.

            "I'm going to go look in the

forest," replied Vinge. "Volcan could hide somewhere down low too; somewhere

with lots of cover, and I know a few places out there he could try." He took in

a deep breath as he continued. "Now... I know most of you will not want to hear

this, but remember; Volcan is not himself right now, and he could be dangerous

if that other side of him takes control. If you find him, do not try to

confront him without the rest of us." He looked between each one of them,

studying their expressions as they let sink in what he said. "Understood?"

            Obsidian and Pavan nodded

immediately. Lighris did too, with some hesitation.

            "Alright; let's go!" Vinge

commanded.

            The group scattered. Lighris went

back to his truck and Obsidian to her car while Pavan and Vinge took to the

skies; Pavan was the first above the city buildings, turning to  the north-west and flying as fast as the wind

could carry him. Vinge cleared the buildings in time to see Pavan fade out of

sight, and peered to the east to see the sun beginning to creep over the

horizon, signalling the approaching dawn.

            "Volcan... wherever you are, hang

on; we'll find you." He silently promised.

~~~~~

(Play 'Fight Inside' by RED'

            Volcan stumbled into the clearing,

his vision blurred behind tears and his confused mind, barely navigating where

he was going. He'd lost control mid-flight and nearly crashed in the forest as

a searing pain shot through his whole body; he hugged himself with one arm,

trying to dull the pain with no success. He walked across the clearing, making

it only halfway before another jolt of pain sent him dropping to his knees,

wings hanging slack him and propping himself up on his hands to keep himself

from face-planting into the ground.

            "Urgh! Fuck; what is happening to

me?!" He demanded, despite knowing there was nobody around to hear him, or give

him an answer to his question.

            Volcan felt sick... sick down to his

bones as he recalled what happened back at Obsidian's place. One moment he's

seated on the couch next to her, letting her read his mind to try and find the

source of his nightmares, and the next thing he knew she'd kicked him off of

her, finding out that he'd tried to force himself on her... how could he do that?!

To her of all people; why would he do something so horrid? Once more he found

himself crying in guilt, a sting in his heart as he silently apologized to the

dragoness again and again.

            'Yes...

keep that guilt, and all that sadness. Makes it easier for me...'

            A voice! Not his but eerily similar; he sprang back to his feet,

putting up his fists as he turned about, searching the clearing for any sign of

the owner of the voice, grinding his beak through another moment of pain.

"Grgh...! Who said that? Where are you?"

            A chuckle... 'You can't see me with your eyes, idiot. I'm already behind them.'

            "Be... behind them?" Volcan asked.

            'Still

haven't figured it out yet? I'm peering through your own eyes right now... or

what will soon be my own eyes.'

            It was him...

            "You..." Volcan whispered.

            'He

can be taught,' the evil voice

said, sarcastically. 'I just wanted to

say, before I take over, I really appreciate all the time we've spent together;

you've been a good vessel, and your body will make a fine one for me when it's

in more deserving hands.'

            Another jolt of pain, and once again Volcan was doubling over, barely

catching himself on his hands before he hit the ground. "H-How is this even

happening?!" Volcan demanded. "For all of my life you've been nothing more than

a mindless monster; you could never do this before!

            'Don't

you remember six months back, when we merged into one against that wyvern? The

voice asked. This all began back then;

back on that day when you and I became one. Our minds, our spirits, our

essence; all of it joined. Ever since then, I've learned some interesting

things, including how to free myself from the confines of your mind.'

            "Like hell you will!" Volcan returned. "You're staying right in there

where you belong, you bastard; I won't let you come out! I've held you back for

eighteen years; I'll keep holding on for the rest of my life!"

            'Even

you do not have the will to contain me for that long,' the voice continued

to mock him. 'Especially not with all the

fear rampaging in your mind.'

            "Fear of what?! I'm not afraid of you!"

            'You

don't have to be, because you're afraid of what I'll do when I come out,' the

voice carried on. 'Your family, your

friends, the people of Unity Falls; it terrifies you what I'll do when I am

free. But the one you fear for most is Obsidian, isn't it?'

            Volcan's eyes widened in horror as

he knew what his other side was implying. "No... you stay the hell away from

her, or I'll end my life right now!" He warned, his anger rising. "Even if I

can't stop you by will I can by force; if I die, so do you!"

            'Nice

bluff. But you don't have your sword, nor do you have the gall to kill

yourself,' the voice carried on. Suddenly, to Volcan's horror, he felt his

beak moving involuntarily, and his vocal cords vibrating as he spoke, but it

was not of his own volition, realizing too late that his rising emotions were

only worsening his situation -it had always been his anger, fear and sadness

that had unleashed this demonic presence before, and now it was allowing it to

seize control of the phoenix.

            "Don't worry," the strange voice

said... with Volcan's own vocals. "I'll take good care of your city... and

especially her."

            Volcan, regaining control of his

voice, could only grab his head and scream to the sky, flames erupting from his

wings and igniting the land around him as he lost control...

~~~~~

            Izrail jolted as he felt it... the

same sensation that had struck him six months ago was back again, this time

with a vengeance. Sitting up in his sandstone throne, the demigod let the

feeling sink in for a moment before he rose from the seat and strode down the

hall to the scrying chamber, making for the magic circle in the middle and

casting his spell on the basin of water, letting it rise up to form a window in

front of him.

            Upon the watery wall appeared a

forested area, with a phoenix lying in the middle of clearing, seemingly

battling with himself as he rolled, tumbled and thrashed about on the ground,

flames erupting from his body as he battled with whatever demons were causing

him such distress. Izrail watched for a moment; besides his unusual behavior

the boy appeared normal, but there was something off about him...

            And then, he saw it. Peering closely

he saw an image, like a projection appear around the boy -a projection only his

eyes would see, of the face of a horrifying creature with a skeletal face, almost

human but not, with a mouthful of scythe-like fangs, wild tangled hair and

blank yellow eyes, laughing in right in Izrail's face as if the strange entity

could see him, before it suddenly changed form, becoming an avianic face. This

face was similar to that of the boy he was watching through the scrying

spell... but different. Different colours -black feathers replacing red, and

violet replacing gold, along with matching violet eyes that glowed like stars.

            The sudden change disrupted Izrail's

concentration, sending the water splashing to the floor and soaking his feet.

He paid it no heed as he sprinted down from the dais, stepping out into the

corridor and calling out at the top of his lungs -if he actually had any.

            "AKATSUKI!" He roared.

            In a matter of seconds, the

eight-tailed fox was sprinting into view, turning a corner and running up to

Izrail, garbed in Japanese lamellar armour and carrying a nodachi sword as if

he was expecting a fight. "My lord, what troubles you?" He asked.

            "That presence we sensed months ago;

it's back," replied Izrail. "And now I know where it's coming from; it's in

Canada, near the city known to mortals as 'Unity Falls'." He held out his hand,

and with a flash of red light, a curved, ebony-coloured scimitar materialized into

his grasp. "It is trying to escape from its host; we must go and prevent the

demon beast from running free, else the world shall be destroyed just as it was

in his first coming." He turned away from nogitsune, unexpectedly slashing at

the air.

            A line of crimson formed in midair

along the path the sword slashed along, glowing brightly and illuminating the

gloom of the hallway, before it widened, opening like an eye until it was wide

enough for a person to fit into. In the eye was an infinite sea of red, nothing

else within, filling the dark corridor with its light.

            "My lord," Akatsuki stated, boldly.

"I may know another way."

            "Another way to what?" Izrail

inquired.

            "To destroy Lucarinai's essence

without killing its host," replied Akatsuki. "I believe I have found a way to

exorcize it. We can purge it from the host body without that host having to die

in the process."

            "It would be swifter to simply kill

the host," Izrail pointed out.

            "I understand that, master, but I

have considered that," Akatsuki stated. "If death was not enough to stop

Lucarinai once, killing a host it is possessing may still not kill it."

            Izrail eyed Akatsuki expectantly.

"So you're saying that we would not eliminate the problem by slaying

Lucarinai's host?" He asked, a stern look on his face.

            Akatsuki nodded. "I fear that

Lucarinai is still too powerful to simply be killed. Like myself he can only

die if his core essence is eradicated, and the best way to do that as he is now

is through exorcism."

            Izrail considered Akatsuki's words,

a ring of truth in them; Izrail was so hasty in his choice to kill the phoenix,

he did not consider that the heroes of the ancient world had tried doing just

that once before, and yet Lucarinai was still out there despite being slain by

four of the most legendary heroes on the endless sea of time, their names known

across the ages. But if even they had not truly killed Lucarinai, how would

Izrail's life-leeching sword accomplish any more than they had? Demigod or not,

it had been proven that such primitive means, however effective they remained,

would not work.

            Izrail looked at Akatsuki again.

"Very well," he agreed. "We shall try it your way. Though I cannot help but

question your motives for spending all this time studying this method?"

            "The host is young; he has barely

had a chance to live," replied Akatsuki. "You have lived for thousands of

years, I have lived for seven centuries. I have seen the world, and it

continues to change, making me want to live through the ages to see it

continue, which is exactly why I left the side of Inari and her loyalists; I do

not wish to become a guardian of my own world, I wish to see how this one

continues to evolve." His gaze became more determined. "And that youth -any

youth, deserve to see how it continues as well."

            Izrail actually allowed a wry smirk

to appear on his face at Akatsuki's words. "Well said, Akatsuki," he returned.

"Your sentiment is what separates you and I, and it is a worthy belief. Lord of

Death I may be, but life belongs to all." He turned back to the eye of red

before him. "Now come; time may be against us. Let's go."

~~~~~

            Vinge sprinted through the trees as

he heard the scream; he didn't know who or what had been the source of it, but

he knew it meant trouble. A deep feeling in his heart told him it was Volcan,

but survival instinct was telling him it was something he did not want to see.

He believed both feelings, but he continued to press on, hand on his sword but

not drawing it, eyes forward and focused so that whatever he was heading

towards, he'd see it first.

            And then, he reached the clearing,

stepping out of the shadow of the trees to see the burning grass and

surrounding pines ablaze as a figure rolled and tumbled all over the clearing,

the flames spewing out from their body. Vinge knew the figure was Volcan; the

fires spilled forth from his wings and arms, even from his beak when he opened

it to scream again.

            "Volcan!" Vinge cried, trying to run

to the side of his friend, only to nearly swoon from the heat and force himself

against his judgement to back away. "I... I can feel the heat?" He asked,

quizzically; Volcan, like all phoenixes, had a passive innate ability that was

triggered psychologically -people Volcan considered friends or loved ones could

not be hurt by his flames even if engulfed them in an inferno, yet at that very

moment Vinge could feel the heat as if he were standing near a blast furnace,

making him pour sweat...

No, not sweat; his feathers, more ice than organic,

had started to melt from the heat. Five seconds in there, and the Ice Phoenix

would have fallen into a coma! He forced himself to  keep backing away to the trees, unable to

handle the intensity, despite his ever-present desire to help his friend.

            Vinge reached into his pocket and

produced his cell phone, trying to tune out Volcan's cries of agony as he

continued to flail across the ground. He lifted the phone to his ear until he

heard his expected recipient answer; Pavan's voice spoke through the earpiece. "Hello?"

            "Pavan, it's Vinge; I found Volcan!"

Vinge informed.

            "I

think I did too; I can see fire in the forest. Is that his doing?"

            "Yes; he's fighting for control of his body with that other side of

himself, and he's setting the whole forest ablaze! Find Lighris and Obsidian,

hurry!" Vinge ordered.

            "On

it!"

            Vinge felt more heat coming up alongside him as flames brushed against

the tree he was ducking behind for cover. Immediately he strode away from it,

getting behind another before the previous tree went ablaze. "Dammit, if we

don't stop this now the whole forest will be burned down!" He could already

picture fire-fighting crews in his mind, on their way to the forest and using

an aerial sweep to spray over the woods. If Volcan was caught in that, it

wouldn't matter even if his dark half took over; the air-sweep would kill him

once they dropped their payload of extinguishers over the area.

            Perhaps that was just what the

phoenix was counting on...

            Minutes passed, and Vinge felt a

rush of air forcing its way through the trees. He looked up to see Pavan and

Lighris, with Obsidian carried on his back, dropping down from the air above

the canopies. They landed a few feet away from Vinge, who stepped over to greet

them. "Glad you guys got here so fast."

            "Thank Pavan for that," said

Lighris. "Made a heck of a tailwind for me to fly on."

            "Where's Volcan?" Obsidian asked.

            Vinge looked over his shoulder and

pointed towards the clearing where the flames were at their thickest. "Over

there," he stated.

            "Whoa! Is that Volcan or is that a

freakin' thermal bomb going off?" Pavan asked. "How do we get near him?"

            Without even answering the question,

Obsidian tried to run towards the fire, but Lighris seized her by the shoulders

and held her back. "'Sid, are you insane?!" He demanded. "Dragon or not those

flames will turn you into charred meat if you go in there!"

            "I have to try something; it's only

because of me he's in this state!" Obsidian retorted.

            "This is not your fault!" Lighris snapped at her, turning her to face him.

"The only one to blame here is that monstrosity that lives inside of Volcan; it attacked you, not him! But Volcan

can't see the difference; that's the only reason he feels so guilty about it!"

            "Then what're we supposed to do;

can't you hear him?" She inquired as Volcan's screams reached her. "He's

suffering in there!"

            "That's why I'm going in," stated

Lighris.

            "Did you hit your head or

something?" Pavan asked. "You can't survive those flames!"

            "I'm the only one who can survive in there, because I'm a

hybrid," returned Lighris. "Volcan and I are brothers in blood; I have my

mother's blood in me, and that hybrid blood gives me natural resistance to

fire." He turned to Pavan. "Those flames are too intense for me to get through

fast enough though; can you create a wind strong enough to blow some of it

away?"

            "Not without blasting you too,"

Pavan warned.

            "I'll handle that part," stated

Obsidian. "I'll use my telekinesis to hold Lighris in place against the wind

and divert some of it off of him."

            "And I'll throw some snow into the

wind; when it melts in the heat it might be able to sprinkle the flames enough

to put some of them out," added Vinge.

            "Can you do that without hitting

Volcan?" Pavan asked.

            "They won't be enough to hurt him."

            Lighris nodded. "Then let's get

started. I'm going in!" He said urgently, turning and sprinting towards the

inferno.

            Obsidian faced Lighris' back,

holding out her hands and casting a telekinetic barrier around him, the

semi-transparent shield forming around him, deliberately forming a cone-shape

with the point aimed behind him for what came next; Pavan waved his arms around

slightly before thrusting both palms forward, sending a gale-force wind towards

the flames; the wind rushed around Lighris, Obsidian's barrier successfully

protecting him from being swept right into the fire. When Vinge mixed in some

snow generated from his wings into the wind, the fires died quicker, creating a

path through the flames.

            With his opening made, Lighris

charged; Obsidian continued to generate the barrier to protect him as he ran

through the fire; though he could still feel the heat through the barrier the

flames themselves harmed him little, especially as they were pushed aside by

more wind. Grinding the edges of his beak together against the pain as he

continued to push through with an arm over his eyes, blinking back the tears

induced by the heat.

            And there he was. Lighris saw Volcan

straight ahead, and his eyes widened with horror as he saw the state of his

brother. The phoenix had rolled around so much his body was covered in dirt,

burnt grass and bruises from hitting hard objects, but that was not the worst

of it; the left half of Volcan's body was already in the process of

transformation, the feathers as black as ink and his left eye already turning

violet. The dark half known only as 'Black Volcan' was nearly in control.

            Lighris pushed forward with greater

determination, yelling out to his brother. "Volcan! I'm here, bro!" He shouted,

not sure if Volcan could hear him or not, but he carried on. "You have to keep

it together, man; don't let that monster take hold of you!"

            Volcan continued to thrash around,

the heat radiating from him enough to make even Lighris swoon, despite being

highly tolerant to this. Lighris put up both arms protectively as more flames

spewed forth from his brother's body, forcing him to step back. Dammit, I can't get any closer! He thought,

angrily.

            And then, over Volcan's screams,

Lighris heard a sound more horrifying than anything else happening at that

moment. The sound of a plane, approaching fast and flying low over the forest

and coming closer by the second. At that second, Lighris felt a sharp yank

around him, and went flying backward out of the flames as they intensified

again, feeling himself in cooler air and hitting the ground with a bump as he

was pulled away from his brother, grunting as the impact with the ground knocked

the wind out of him.

            He wasn't down for long; he flipped

over onto his front and pushed himself up on his hands, leering at Obsidian.

"Why'd you pull me out? I was almost to him!"

            "Because there's a fire fighter

plane coming!" Obsidian replied. "Those chemicals they use will suffocate you

too!"

            "But if they drop those chemicals

now, they'll kill Volcan!" Lighris bellowed. "Can't you call them off?!"

            "I'm a police sergeant, not chief of

the Fire Brigade," Obsidian returned, her expression pained. "I can't stop

them..."

            Vinge looked towards Volcan one

more, his expression hurt but intrigued at the same time. "I may be reaching

here... but think Volcan planned this from the start."

~~~~~

            'Ah...

I can hear now, too. Your screams are getting annoying though; why don't you

stop this now and...' A pause. 'Wait...

what is that sound?'

            That would be the local Air Spray team, Volcan returned in thought,

knowing now that his adversary could hear his thoughts if he direct them at it.

They're coming to put out the fire we've

started. Any second now they'll carpet this clearing with potent chemicals

that'll rob the air around us of oxygen and completely choke the fires, and us.

            'Are you grinning?! You actually planned this, didn't

you! But how did I not know?!'

            Sharing a body doesn't mean we share a mind; if I don't

aim my thoughts at you, then you can't hear them. And you thought I didn't have

the will to end my own life.

            'You idiot! Those chemicals will do such harm to our body

you won't even be able to come back to life; you'll die indefinitely!'

            That's the idea... you'll never hurt anyone again.

            'I will not let this happen!' Volcan felt his dark half

already doubling his effort to seize control, desperately clawing his way

towards his goal.

            You're

too late. Now this all comes to an end.

            'No... no! Not now!'

            FLASH!

            A crimson light appeared in front of

Volcan; both he and his dark side froze in place, looking up at the light in front

of them; until something stepped out of the glow. A figure, dressed in ancient

egyptian garbs of the like a Pharaoh might wear, with a skirt-like leg wrap and

a golden mantle worn on the shoulders and collar. He had the head of a jackal,

glowing eyes of bright red, but he was not an anthro; his body from the neck

down was human in appearance, with the legs and arms of a human man, with

strong bodily features, and a wicked Arabic-style scimitar slung through a loop

in a silk belt he wore.

            At the side of this stranger stood a

white fox -not white like an Arctic fox, but white like a cloud, with eyes of

solid gold, glowing like small lamps. He had silvery hair, worn long and combed

straight as it hung around his shoulders. He was garbed in Samurai-era Japanese

lamellar armour, painted blue and polished to a shiny luster. On his back

rested a nodachi -a long sword resembling a Katana, but far longer than one,

measuring easily four and a half feet in length if not more. He stood a hair

shorter than the jackal-headed figure, but was no less imposing.

            "Who... who are you?" Volcan asked.

(Play 'He who brings the

Night' by Two Steps from Hell')

            The plane swept overhead; Vinge,

Pavan, Lighris and Obsidian ducked under the canopies for cover as the plane

dropped its payload, spraying the harsh extinguisher chemicals over the fires.

Obsidian hid her face in Vinge's chest, unable to look at what would surely be

Volcan's death, suppressing the urge to scream out to him as the sizzling fluid

blanketed the area, and the fires rapidly died.

            The sizzling was loud, and seemed to

drag on for much longer than it should have, but before too long it stopped,

and the four slowly stepped out of hiding to peer out into the clearing, which

was still full of smoke from the extinguished flames, obscuring their vision.

Though none of them felt even a speck of hope, still they watched, until it

finally began to clear enough for them to see.

            They saw a glowing blue sphere,

around where Volcan had been prior to the carpeting by the Air Spray. The harsh

chemicals ran like water around the sphere, which upon closer inspection was

actually transparent, and inside of it, the group could see Volcan and two

others standing in the middle of the clearing, completely unharmed by the

extinguisher.

            "What the... who the hell are those

guys?" Lighris asked.

            "I don't know but it looks like they

just saved Volcan," replied Vinge.

            Suddenly, the darker one of the two

pointed his left index finger at Volcan, and seemingly out of nowhere chains

appeared around the young phoenix, surprising him with their unexpected

appearance and the sudden tightness around his body. Volcan struggled against

the chains, trying to break them to no avail, until the white-furred fox

touched Volcan on the forehead, and he went still.

            "Hey!" Lighris bellowed, taking to

the air and flying out into the clearing. "Get away from my brother!"

            Ignoring him, the barrier was

dropped, and as the white fox picked up Volcan and slung him over his shoulder

as if he were weightless, the other slashed at the air with a sword he drew

from his belt. With that, a crimson opening appeared in midair, both of them

stepping into it with Volcan in tow. Lighris, despite not knowing where the

portal would be going, pursued, and right on his tail were Pavan and Vinge, who

had Obsidian on his back, and the three dove into the strange portal,

surrounded by infinite red for a few seconds before passing through another

opening.

            They fell into a gloomy hallway

that, upon exiting, turned out to be too narrow for wings. The tips of their

outstretched limbs scraped against stone, and in pained reflex the avians

folded their wings, falling to the floor painfully and tumbling in a heap. Obsidian

was thrown clear off of Vinge in the tangle, and hurriedly used telekinesis on

herself to levitate to safety, although was still caught off guard by the

sudden change and bumped her nose painfully against a column, holding it with a

mild whimper.

            "Get off me!" Lighris growled as he

pushed himself up with his hands, throwing both Vinge and Pavan off of his

back.

            Pavan fell onto his back, Vinge

tucked in his limbs and rolled, grunting as some pressure was put on his

wingjoints before he hand-sprang back up to his feet. Lighris stood up quickly,

his eyes glowing bright white as he surveyed the hallway. "Where are those two

sons of bitches; I swear if they harm one feather on my bro's head I'm going

turn both of them inside out!"

            "That way, tiger," Pavan remarked,

pointing down the hallway with his toe.

            Straight ahead were the two

strangers, still carrying Volcan with them, into another chamber; the white fox

had glanced back at the group, noticing them, and looked back at the other. "It

appears we have stowaways, my lord."

            "Leave them; we'll deal with them

later," the second replied, both of them speaking in English but with voices

heavily accented. "Lucarinai is the main concern here, not those mortals."

            "As you say," the fox returned as

they entered the next room.

            "Get back here!" Lighris hollered, breaking into a run.

            Vinge and Obsidian were quick to

follow, ignoring that they were in a strange place and focusing on the matter

at hand, which was rescuing their friend from this dark, creepy place. Pavan

sprang back to his feet and ran ahead, using a wind tunnel around himself to

increase his speed, dodging around the others as he made a beeline right for

the chamber entrance.

            "Here I come, to save the day!" He chimed as he neared

the doorway...

            He hit something... an invisible

wall that seemed to cave somewhat under his impact before snapping back in the

direction he'd come from, launching the wind phoenix through the air. He

babbled random nonsense, mixed in with several yelps of surprise, as he was

sent soaring backward through the air. The others ducked under the wind phoenix

reflexively, sending him back-flipping over their heads, until Vinge turned

back and cast a wave of snow down the hallway from his hands, forming into a

thick drift where Pavan fell into a landing, the snow successfully breaking his

fall -although still leaving him somewhat winded.

            "Ow... what the hell was that?"

Pavan asked, rubbing and shaking his head, trying to clear it. He looked

towards the door he'd tried to go through, and repeated his question with a

southern U.S accent. "I mean, what the hell

was that?!" He asked, the 'I' sounding like 'Ah' and the 'Hell' like 'Hail'

with the imitated accent.

            "Pavan, you're from Britain, not

Texas," Vinge stated.

            "It seems they don't want us

interfering with whatever they're doing," Obsidian stated.

            "Tough titty; I'm going in there!"

Lighris barked as he returned to his sprint, charging at the door armed only

with his fists, crackling with lightning as he drew back one to punch at the

unseen barrier.

            His arm hit, the lightning

discharged, and his own hand bounced back hard enough to nearly dislocate his

shoulder and throw him off balance. Stubbornly he refused to fall off of his

feet, and proceeded to pound on the barrier with both fists, rage driving him

on. But it held strong, seemingly no damage being done to it.

            Within the room beyond the barrier,

the intruders could see Izrail and Akatsuki placing the young phoenix onto what

appeared to be an altar. As soon as he was placed upon it, the chains around

his body vanished, and his limbs were suddenly pulled by forces unknown to

parts of the altar; his legs were pulled together towards the right, his arms

towards the corners at the left, and his wings simply held down at his sides,

and just like that the fire phoenix could not move another inch, except for his

head.

            More of the blackness had spread

over the phoenix by this point; some of his bright yellow feathers had begun

turning purple, and both of his eyes by this point were violet. Even his beak

had begun to change from orange to gray, showing he was even closer to losing

himself to the darkness within him.

            "We must act quickly," stated

Izrail, his palms locking together. "I will keep him restrained and the barrier

up to keep the intruders out; you must perform your exorcism quickly. Purge

Lucarinai from this boy!"

            "I shall," returned Akatsuki, his

armour vanishing an being replaced by a sky blue kimono as he circled the

altar. "My lord, do we know this boy's name?"

            "This form's name is Volcanoran

Skilerain," replied Izrail. "Descendant of the ancient MacAingeal Clan of

Scotland."

            "Truly an honorable lineage," said

Akatsuki, the name of the Scottish clan being known even to him, stepping over

to the front of the altar. "Volcan, I promise on my honor that I will rid you

of the curse, and you shall have the life you deserve," he stated. Volcan made

no response, too focused on fighting back the evil that tried to claim him, to

even hear what it was that Akatsuki said to him.

            The eight-tailed Nogitsune put his

hands together, and began to chant in a language older than even himself, his

voice echoing through the halls as he spoke the incantation, stepping around

Volcan and placing his pawed hands upon Volcan's lower back. His paws began to

glow, and the light flowed from his paws in the form of small tendrils, sliding

across the body of the phoenix and entering his flesh like leeches.

            Immediately, Volcan started screaming,

feeling the magic cast by the strange fox filling his body and battling with

the darkness that was already trying to claim him. He struggled against his

unseen bonds, though it was unclear which side was in control and doing the

struggling at that moment; the bonds held firm, but Izrail was forced to divert

most of his focus to keeping the phoenix restrained, else he harm himself

attempting to break free of the binding spell.

            Outside the room, Lighris had

stopped hammering on the door after running out of breath. Vinge, Pavan and

Obsidian all stood at his sides, staring into the room as the strange

eight-tailed fox began to recite the strange spell, none of them able to

understand what he was saying -although Vinge knew what language he was

speaking. It was some form of Egyptian, not a form he recognized -not that even

he could speak the language, perhaps older than all of them combined, older

than even the one speaking it, perhaps.

            But Volcan's scream spurred Vinge

from his curiosity, and he drew his sword and tried to stab it through the

barrier stopping them from gaining entry. He pressured it with all of his

strength, pushing and pushing until it almost seemed like steel would triumph

where lightning and speed had already failed.

            Until...

            SNAP!

            The blade broke; three inches of

metal broke away from the sword and the small metal fragment shot back, cutting

across Vinge's arm and making him recoil, looking at his broken ropera with

shock while also holding where the tip had cut him, hearing it clatter into the

hallway behind him. Cursing angrily he sheathed his sword and held out his

arms, forming two ice spikes around his fists and punching at the barrier with

them.

            Inside the chamber, Akatsuki

continued the spell, and it seemed to be working. The blackness spreading over

Volcan was beginning to recede, returning his colours to normal as they seemed

drawn towards where Akatsuki's paws were placed. At first, the nogitsune

thought maybe the darkness was trying to gather where it could claim him as its

new host, but it was making no such attempt. Before he could ponder it further,

he felt the purging magics beginning to fail; the darkness wasn't becoming

weaker, and the phoenix on the altar suddenly jerked as if something had hit

him from the belly, his back arching slightly.

            "Akatsuki, what is happening?!"

Izrail demanded.

            "Something's wrong; the darkness is

not dying!" Akatsuki returned. "It's too powerful for me to purge!"

            Volcan screamed again as his body

was involuntarily pulled up by something, his skin visibly pulsing from it,

making both Akatsuki and Izrail freeze, eyes on the spot where Volcan's flesh

had seemed to move on its own, around where the blackness was concentrated. His

friends outside, seeing this as well, all stood in stunned silence as they saw

the involuntarily actions of the phoenix, Obsidian gasping as she saw it happen

again, that center of blackness actually rising up from Volcan's back.

            "Oh my God," Obsidian whispered,

covering her muzzle with both hands.

            "What the hell is happening to him?"

Lighris demanded.

            "I have no idea," returned Vinge,

equally shocked by what he was witnessing.

            A shower of blood exploded from

Volcan's back, and from his flesh, a hand consisting of pure, dark energy,

erupted from his flesh.

            The phoenixes' scream could have

shattered windows...

            Pavan felt his stomach churn,

covering his beak before he turned to a corner and started throwing up; a

perfectly understandable thing to do. Lighris and Vinge both stared in horror

as that hand reached out of Volcan's back, and Obsidian clenched her eyes shut

and covered her ears as Volcan's horrific scream of agony echoed through the

halls of the strange building. The arm grew in length, reaching out from the

back of the fire phoenix, grasping for whatever hold it could find before more

of it began to emerge; every portion of the darkness that climbed out expanded

until it was roughly the size of an average person, and still more emerged.

(Play 'Black Blade' by Two

Steps from Hell)

            Izrail and Akatsuki, awestricken by

what they were witnessing, stood frozen as they watched the darkness continue

to emerge, until finally it stopped, falling to the floor and propping itself

up on two hands that emerged from its mass. It was like a shadow -an inky,

black shadow with violet eyes, and every second after its emergence from

Volcan, its body was becoming more and more humanoid; legs were growing from

its lower mass, and from its back two more masses were growing, like wings in a

newborn state before the feathers grew.

            "By Odin, what the hell is that?!"

Vinge questioned, his mind unable to fathom what he was witnessing.

            "Did that thing just come out of my brother's body?!" Lighris demanded.

            The creature of dark matter turned

to face Akatsuki, and then Izrail, and then towards the exit, which was still

protected by Izrail's barrier. That did not seem to hinder it, however, as it

made a beeline right for the exit, sprinting down from the altar and trailing a

dark fog behind it as it ran.

            "Akatsuki, kill it!" Izrail

commanded, focusing all of his attention on the barrier to contain the

creature.

            The eight-tailed fox reached for his

weapon, but as his hand grasped the sword, it transformed; raising it from his

back, the weapon was revealed to have been changed to a Yumi -a Japanese long

bow that stood taller than its wielder, which Akatsuki aimed at the dark

creature, pulling back the string. No arrow was notched in the bow, however...

at least not until, in a flash of light, an arrow materialized against the

pulled string, and with its appearance, Akatsuki released the string, sending

the arrow flying straight for the back of the inky-black mass.

            The creature spun around, a golden

light appearing in its hand as it turned. The light extended, forming a long

staff-like shape, before its two ends began to form separate shapes; the base

formed into a leaf-shaped spearhead, sharpened on all sides, while the tip

formed into what resembled a four-pointed cross, except for the loop on its

tip. Vinge recongized the shape as an Ankh, an Egyptian symbol of immortality

pre-dating the Christian Bible, used by the Pharaoh's of old, and on old

carvings it was often held or worn by one of the Egyptian Gods as well, as a

testament to their eternal life.

            The arrow struck the staff, and

completely disintegrated as if it were made of powder. With the attack blocked,

the creature turned back towards the door, leaping towards the

barrier-protected exit and jabbing its staff into the shield. A sound, like the

shattering of glass, filled the corridor; the Os-Nadarra members beyond the

shield hurriedly leapt out of the way as the creature smashed through the

barrier, flying past them with a mighty leap.

            As it passed, the four of them got a

look at its face -dark as night and void of expression, but its shape... that

shape, all too familiar to them. Even though the features were largely

untraceable, the form of the creature's head was identical to Volcan, even in

the way it moved -it sprinted the same way that the fire phoenix did, with long

strides and wings tucked in tightly to its body to increase aerodynamics.

            Izrail suddenly appeared in front of

the creature, blade drawn, and swung at it. Sword met staff, and the two were

in a stalemate, until the creature opened its mouth and breathed fire -violet

coloured fire with black outline, right in Izrail's face. The anubite recoiled,

and the dark creature leapt for the ceiling, driving its staff into the stone

and smashing into it to expose the daylight beyond. With that it soared out

into the open air, spreading its stubby wings and taking flight; despite the

wings clearly not being completely grown, somehow it managed, and fled from the

city.

            Akatsuki, the shock of the recent

events finally passing, turned to Volcan. The phoenix was lying prone, unmoving

and unresponsive on the altar, his blood staining the stone slab around him and

his eyes, half-lidded, stared off into nothing, but not yet faded. He was still

alive, but was barely clinging to life. Quickly, Akatsuki rushed to his side,

placing both paws over the wound in his back -a grotesque opening in his body

that although did not seem as deep as it looked, bled like a stuck pig, the

muscles beneath shredded and twisted in ways they should not have been.

            Light poured forth from Akatsuki's

paws, shining over Volcan's wound as he poured all of his energy into the

phoenix. "I promised you the life you deserved; I shall not let you die now,

until you have lived that life!" He growled. "My word is my bond!" The light

around his paws intensified with that, tendrils of light as big around as his

forearm entering Volcan's body and encircling the inside of the wound on his

back, making it and the blood flowing from it glow brightly.

            Slowly, the blood receded, returning

to its host body -not all of it, just that which had not already begun to dry,

and the wound began to close...

            "YOU!!"

            Akatsuki looked up with a start, barely in time to see the electric

blue figure leaping at him, seizing him by the throat and dragging him across

the room from the altar until they reached the wall. The enraged lightning hawk

slammed Akatsuki against the wall heavily; had his body been real and not

merely a shell hosting his spirit, it would have knocked the wind out of him,

but the ribs -real enough, as it were, groaned dangerously under the impact.

            "You are not going to lay another hand on my brother!!" Lighris bellowed as

he drew back his left fist, charged with electricity and ready to smash in

Akatsuki's skull.

            A powerful hand gripped the back of

Lighris' neck; that touch somehow released the tension of all of his muscles,

forcing him to let go of Akatsuki as he was pulled back from him. "Begone!"

Izrail bellowed as he hurled Lighris across the chamber, sending him flying

over the altar, onto the stairs of the dais and tumbling down to the far wall.

            A flash of silvery-white across his

eyes, and Izrail suddenly felt the cold sting of a sword edge at his neck.

Slowly, he followed to blade to the hand holding it, then gazed over the hand

into a pair of ice-blue eyes that eyed him with contempt. Izrail showed no

concern at the blade, briefly glancing up to see the dragoness and wind phoenix

running over to Volcan's side, cringing as they saw the gaping wound in his

back.

            "If I were you, boy," Izrail began.

"I would not interfere."

            "You owe us an explaination," Vinge

stated firmly. "Who are you, what did you do to Volcan; start talking!"

            "Or what?" Izrail asked. "You will

kill me? You do not understand who it is you threaten, mortal."

            "I know that an Anubite can only be

killed by decapitation," Vinge returned, pressing his broken sword harder into

Izrail's neck. "And my ropera is still sharp enough to do the job even with a

few inches missing."

            Izrail's hard stare turned to one of

intrigue as he continued to stare into Vinge's eyes, seeing no bluff or

hesitation in his stare; the Ice Phoenix was fully prepared to kill him, even

if he really could not do so. Not permanently anyway. It was beneath the

demigod to bequeath to the wishes of a mortal, but there was truth in Vinge's

words; they had grabbed Volcan without warning, so it was only natural his

friends would be concerned.

            "Well played, young one," Izrail

complimented. "But I think you should demand the explanation after Akatsuki has

stabilized your friend."

            "That eight-tailed freak isn't

laying another hand on my brother!" Lighris yelled, back on his feet.

            "Then Volcan will die," stated

Izrail. "In his current state, the phoenix cannot be moved, and no mortal

doctors can treat him; even the healing tears of another phoenix cannot heal

him now. Only Akatsuki's mighty Light powers can save him. So let him pass, or

say your farewells; this damage is too extensive for even a phoenix to come

back from."

            Vinge watched Izrail for a moment

before he dared a look over his shoulder to Lighris, nodding to him. "Let him,"

he stated.

            "You actually trust this bastard?"

Lighris demanded. "After what he just did to Volcan?!"

            "We have no choice! He's dying!"

Vinge reminded, looking at Akatsuki. "Do it!"

            Akatsuki nodded to him, and stepped

over to Volcan. Pavan and Obsidian stepped aside to give him space, and the

eight-tailed fox held his paws over Volcan's back, re-casting his previous

healing incantation, filling Volcan's open wound with his light; it had begun

bleeding again, and the damage was still extensive and deep, but surely it was

healing with Akatsuki's power, the might of the Light Element sharing its life

with the phoenix.

            "Your friend is strong," he stated

to the other Os-Nadarra. "The fact he is even still alive after that experience

is a miracle, but he will never be the same as he was before."

            "What do you mean?" Obsidian asked.

            "With the separation of that entity,

he will not be the same person anymore. He'll remain coherent and, after some

time to recover, he will eventually be as strong as ever, but his mind, his

thoughts, and his personality; all of it may be changed," explained Akatsuki.

"He could be the bravest being on earth, or the biggest coward, a genius or a

fool; it is hard to say. This was not merely a cancer he has been cured of; an

entire second entity he was bound with, body and soul, has now parted, and the

damage it has left behind will be deeper than this wound."

            "Will he ever recover?" Pavan asked.

            "Time never fails to heal all

wounds," Akatsuki replied. "But it shall be quite a while before this phoenix

returns to full strength. At the very best, I can say a year."

            "A year?" Lighris repeated. "You

mean he has to stay bedridden for an entire year?!"

            "Not bedridden... but he must not

fight until he returns to his full strength," returned Akatsuki. "Even then, he

may not be exactly as he was before."

            There was a long silence throughout

the chamber as Akatsuki continued to heal Volcan. Nobody said anything for a

while, until Pavan suddenly fidgeted and turned to Izrail. "So... what is it

exactly you guys did here?" He asked. "And who the heck are you guys anyway?"

            Izrail turned to the Wind Phoenix,

looking at him with an expressionless gaze, saying nothing for a moment as he

considered how best to answer the question. The eyes of the intruders were on

him, now, waiting expectantly. "So be it," he stated. "First, allow me to

introduce myself. I am Izrail, Sultan of Hamunaptra and Keeper of the entrance

to Duat, the realm of the dead. I serve the God of the Dead, Anubis, and the

God of Judgement, Osiris, as their agent, the keeper of their secrets, and the

guide of those whose time has come."

            Vinge's eyes widened. "You're... a

demigod?" He asked, surprised. "An avatar of Anubis himself?"

            "Wait, that means the Egyptian Gods

are real?"

            "Yes," returned Izrail, before

gesturing to Akatsuki. "And this is Yaiba Akatsuki from Japan, the scholarly

Swordsmaster of the Rising Sun."

            "A Samurai?" Pavan asked.

            "An actual Samurai," Vinge added.

"And, judging by his many tails... I'm guessing he is a kitsune?"

            "Nogitsune," corrected Akatsuki. "I

have left the order of Inari to pursue my own curiosities. I serve Izrail now,

not the Goddess of Harvest."

            "Akatsuki assists me in protecting

this city," explained Izrail. "And he researches the secrets of the city at my

behest."

            "I see," returned Vinge, turning back

to Izrail. "Now... why did you come after Volcan; what was your interest in

him."

            "Not he," returned Izrail, shaking

his head. "My interest was on that entity dwelling within him."

            "You were after Black Volcan?"

Lighris asked.

            Izrail scoffed. "A poor title to

describe the thing your brother contained. Within him was the essence of a

demonic beast known as Lucarinai."

            "Luca-whozzits??" Pavan asked.

            "Lucarinai," Vinge corrected. "But I

thought Lucarinai was a myth."

            Izrail shook his head. "No. He is

very real. Or was, until his death eight centuries ago."

            "Wait, hold up," Obsidian

intervened. "You just said Volcan was carrying the essence of... Lucarinai, but

now you just said he was killed eight hundred years ago?"

            "He was, but Lucarinai is such a

powerful demon, that didn't stop him," returned Izrail. "A fragment of his

essence somehow has been wandering the world for the last eight centuries,

searching for a new host, and it appears that he found it within your friend,

and has been harbored inside of him for his entire life."

            "So that thing we saw," Pavan asked.

"That was this demon you're talking about."

            "It was... and yet at the same time,

it was not," replied Izrail.

            Lighris scowled. "Please don't start

talking in riddles; they annoy me."

            Izrail leered. "I am speaking very

clearly; only those of limited intellect would not understand my meaning."

            Lighris' eye twitched. "Limited...

intellect?" He repeated.

            "Let it go, Lighris!" Pavan pleaded,

patting the lightning hawk's shoulders.

            Vinge stepped in before things could

escalate. "So that thing we saw was Lucarinai's essence, embodied, and now

somehow sentient; is that what you're telling us?"

            "Precisely," returned Izrail.

"Lucarinai was very primal, driven only by basic motor functions due to events

pre-dating recorded history. To give the short of it, he is nothing more than a

wild animal, bent on destroying everything in sight."

            Lighris, having now calmed down,

frowned at that. "So Black Volcan was running off of Lucarinai's mindset."

            "Yes," returned Izrail. "However,

now the essence has somehow become sentient, intelligent, and now is running

wild out there in sands of Egypt."

            "Do you want us to help you catch

him?" Vinge offered.

            Izrail shook his head. "He can do no

harm here. Akatsuki shall seek him out, and deal with him accordingly,"

returned the demigod, glancing over at the nogitsune. "After he has rested some."

            The eight-tailed nogitsune was

sitting down by the altar, having finished his work on Volcan. The phoenixes'

back was sealed, but no feathers were re-forming on his back where the dark

essence had emerged. In place of those feathers was a lump of flesh, warped and

twisted as if churned in a mixing machine. Obsidian walked over to the

unconscious phoenix, and gingerly touched that spot on his back; it felt dry

and lumpy, like dead flesh; Volcan made no movement to her touch, but he was

breathing albeit labored.

            "He shall carry that scar for the

rest of his life," stated Akatsuki. "But he shall live."

            Obsidian looked at Akatsuki, and

allowed herself to smile at him, tears in her eyes. "Thank you," she stated.

            Akatsuki acknowledged her gratitude

with a nod.

            Vinge was standing in silence, his

head lowered and eyes narrowed, biting the tip of his left index finger in deep

thought. After a moment of this, he turned to Lighris. "There's one thing I

don't understand," he stated. "How did this essence even land within Volcan?

And why; why him?"

            Lighris shook his head. "I don't

know, Vinge," he admitted. "I've known that darkness was in my brother since we

were kids... but I never found out how he received it. The only one who might

be able to answer that is my mother."

            "I would suggest you go to see her

then," stated Izrail. "And Volcan will need to be left in someone's care until

he is able to get up and walk on his own again." He drew his sword and slashed

at the air, opening a new portal. "Now it is time for all of you to leave.

Akatsuki and I have done our parts to help your friend; the rest is up to you."

            Lighris looked ready to protest, no

doubt wanting more answers from the demigod, but Vinge put his hand, shaking

his head, before pointing at Volcan and starting to walk over to him. Lighris

grunted, but followed the Ice Phoenix to the altar, where the two of them,

slowly and carefully, hoisted Volcan up with his arms slung over their

shoulders, and gently dragged him to the portal. Pavan and Obsidian followed

closely behind, both of them glancing at Izrail and Akatsuki once more before

they followed Vinge and Lighris through. With that, Izrail held up his open

palm, closing that hand into a fist, and the portal shut behind them.

~~~~~

Having escaped from the city deep in the desert, the

dark form had spent several hours fleeing across the sands, all the way to

Cairo. With the city in sight the figure plunged out of the sky, diving into

the darkness of an alley where nobody could see it, and hid behind some piled

trash, gasping for breath and propping itself up with its staff, exhausted by

the strenuous flight, and still growing accustomed to this new form.

He placed a hand on the ground to steady himself as

he stood up, and saw in that hand some familiarity. Raising it to his face, he

studied it; it had become flesh, not pure dark matter, and besides having dark

grey skin, it closely resembled the hand of his host body from before. He

studied each finger and talon with interest, before looking at his other hand,

the one gripping his new staff as well, and found the hand was the same as his

first, organic and strong.

Turning to the trash pile, he stirred some of it

aside with his staff before finding a broken piece of mirror. He reached down

and picked it up with his hand, holding it up to his face to see his

reflection. In that broken glass, he saw the face of his former host, exactly

the same in everything except colour; as opposed to the red and gold of his

host, he had feathers as black as ink, and the streak running from the tip of

his crest, down his face and the front of his neck, was a bright purple. His

eyes were the colour of amethysts, and his beak was the same colour as his

hands, a dark grey.

He stared at the picture for a moment, and then felt

something... looking down, he noticed something else had appeared on his body;

a cuirass, inlaid with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, and even open at the

back for his wings. He did not know when this had appeared on his body, but it

appeared to be made of the same material as his staff -solid gold, and carrying

some form of enchantment no doubt. Besides that, he was still as nude as a

hatchling fresh from the egg.

The creature grinned widely. "How very fascinating,"

he said, with a voice all-too familiar. "I never imagined this would happen

when I broke free." He began to chuckle sinisterly, the laugh steadily rising

by the moment, until he heard a can being kicked around the corner. Flattening

himself against the wall, he stood in complete silence, waiting as a pair of

footsteps drew closer. A turban-wearing figure emerged around the corner,

glancing about. He called out in Egyptian, questioningly, having evidently

heard the dark phoenix and thought it may have been someone in trouble.

He turned towards the dark phoenix, and that is when

he struck, stabbing the butt-spear of his staff through the neck of the man

before he could say anything; the eyes of the human went wide as blood spewed

from his mouth, sputtering on the red liquid as he tried to call for help, to

no avail. The phoenix lifted him up with the staff, carrying him the way he'd

struck him into the darkness of the alley before letting him drop to the

pavement, dead.

"Cannot risk detection just yet," he stated, looking

around the corner to see if anyone had followed the man. Thankfully, no one

had; he was still safe for the moment.

Realizing he needed some means to disguise himself,

he looked at the man he'd slain, studying the loose-fitting clothes he wore.

"Looks about my size," he muttered, and knelt down to begin removing the man's

clothes. "Once I'm done here, I'll be heading to the docks, to find a ship

heading for North America."

~~~~~

            Degra ran for the door quickly after

seeing the crowd approaching through her window -most especially her youngest

son being carried between the lightning hawk and ice phoenix at the front.

Pulling it open she gave the three room to come inside, and gasped in horror

when she saw the scar on Volcan's back, that twisted lump of flesh nearly

making her sick at the mere sight of it.

Turning to Pavan and Obsidian when they reached the

door, she asked, firm-toned. "What happened to him?"

            "We'll explain, but do you have

somewhere we can put him?" Obsidian asked.

            "Yes; his old room," replied Degra,

turning to Vinge and Lighris. The latter nodded back to her and led the way

over to the stairs, taking Volcan himself for a moment due to the stairs being

too narrow for three to climb simultaneously, with Vinge bringing up the rear in

cast Lighris lost his balance, and they carried the unconscious phoenix to his

old bedroom, where they would lay him out on the single guest bed in that room.

            Degra led the way into the living

room, accompanied by Pavan and Obsidian, who seated themselves on the couch as

she took a spot in the armchair, facing them and eyed them expectantly with her

sharp blue eyes -the exact same colour as Volcan's and filled with just as much

strength, if not more, fixed on the two as she waited for the explanation.

            "I'll start from the beginning,"

Obsidian opened, folding her hands in her lap.

            "'Sid, none of this is your fault,"

Pavan reasoned.

            "I know... but at the same time I

can't help feeling I was somehow part of it," returned the dragoness. "I'm the

one Volcan went to for help and I failed him." She looked at Degra, and began

to fill her in on the details of what had happened to Volcan the night before,

when he'd come to Obsidian's house to ask for her help.

            From there, the story carried on to

the darker parts. Vinge came down to rejoin the group, even filling in some

blanks on the events in the woods until the rest had arrived. The explanation

then carried on to the arrival of Izrail and Akatsuki -to which at first Degra

seemed skeptical, but as the conversation carried on further, her attention to

the subject became much more focused. The explanation concluded with Obsidian

telling Degra of Izrail sending them back to Unity Falls, and when they brought

Volcan to her door.

            Degra's expression soured and she

put her face in her hands, sobbing slightly. "Oh my poor boy..." she said. "Why

did this have to happen to him?"

            "Degra," Vinge stated, walking over

to stand by the phoenix woman. "I know this may be a touchy subject... but how

is it Volcan came to possess that evil inside of him for so long? We're all

happy it's finally gone from him but it'd be easier to understand if we knew

how it came to be. Izrail told us the essence of his dark side came from a

creature known as Lucarinai; were you aware of that?"

            Degra shook her head. "I didn't know

where it came from," she replied. "To this day it never mattered; I wanted only

for my son to be free of it..." She let out a long sigh. "I suppose that the

time has come I pass on the secret." She raised her gaze, meeting the eyes of

the others and beginning to speak. "I was still carrying Volcan when it

happened; I had not lain his egg yet, but I was out for a walk one afternoon,

in Lakeview Park. It was a normal, spring afternoon; I saw no reason I

shouldn't try to keep fit, so I went out.

            "There were not many other people

around that day so, I was enjoying that walk for the solitude, and let my mind

wander. But that's when I walked into it; a strange... aura, I guess would be

the best word. I couldn't see, hear, smell or touch it, but I felt it was

there, and I got back out of it as fast as I could. Unfortunately... I was not

quick enough to stop it from placing a part of itself upon my child." She

sobbed again, placing her hand over her stomach. "If I had only been quicker..."

            Vinge placed a hand on her shoulder,

eyeing her sympathetically and with some understanding as he spoke. "Some

things are far beyond our control," he said. "Elementals we are, Gods we are

not; our fates can be turned in another direction by the most unforeseeable of

things... something I know all too well."

            Degra looked up at Vinge briefly,

and then turned to Obsidian and Pavan. "Thank you all for being there for my

son," she stated. "But I can't help but feel responsible for all of you having

to g through this..."

            "Hey, Volcan's my pal," Pavan

stated. "I'd go to hell and back for the guy."

            "I owe him just as much," added

Vinge.

            "And I couldn't really call myself a

cop if I stood by and did nothing, could I?" Obsidian added. "Especially for

someone I care about."

            Degra smiled at them, and then

looked up as footsteps were heard at the stairway; the others followed her

gaze, and spotted Lighris standing at the top of the steps. "Hey guys," he

called. "Volc's awake."

            At that, the entire group stood up

from their chairs and made a beeline for the stairway. Joining Lighris at the

top they followed him down the hall to Volcan's room, where he shouldered open

the door an stepped inside, and revealed the inside. Volcan was lying prone on

the bed, on his stomach as most winged beings slept, his eyes half-lidded with

fatigue. As the door opened he weakly turned to look at the others as they

entered.

            Degra was at his side in seconds,

placing a hand on Volcan's back and already starting to cry again. "My poor

son," she whispered.

            "Hi mom," the phoenix rasped.

            "Hello," returned Degra, smiling

wryly.

            "Is everyone alright?" The phoenix

asked.

            Vinge knelt down at Degra's side,

letting Volcan see him without having to strain himself to look. "We're all

okay, Volcan," he assured the fire phoenix. "This may be a dumb question but...

how are you feeling?"

            "Like I'm made out of iron,"

returned Volcan. "Can't move...a muscle."

            "Don't," Vinge stated as he saw

Volcan's wings twitch. "Don't try to. You have been through an experience that

should have killed you, and still may if you aren't careful." He touched

Volcan's shoulder. "You need to rest. It may be quite a while before you can

walk again, but it has to be done."

            "Couldn't get up now even if I

wanted to," Volcan returned.

            "You'll heal fast, buddy," Pavan

remarked, appearing at Vinge's side and grinning at the fire phoenix. "When

you're back up what say we shoot some hoops or something?"

            "Happy to," returned Volcan, before

looking at both Pavan and Vinge sadly. "Although... our band might suffer a bit

if I can't play..."

            "Let us worry about that," Vinge

semi-scolded. "You just focus on healing."

            "Right..." Volcan returned, and then

his eye rolled around, searching for something. "Is Obsidian here?"

            "She is," replied Vinge getting up

and stepping back from Volcan, looking over at the dragoness.

            Obsidian swallowed nervously, but

stepped forward, taking Vinge's place at Volcan's side, and her gaze met that

of the downed phoenix, both of their expressions turning guilty and remorseful.

She noticed the fingers of his hand twitch, and she gently grasped it with her

own hand. It felt cool... not a feeling she expected from a fire phoenix, as

Volcan's body temp was normally very high, but his palm felt no warmer than an

ordinary avian's palm would. Nevertheless she gripped it firmly with one hand,

stroking the top of it with her other.

            "'Sid..." Volcan rasped to her. "I'm

so sorry... that I hurt you..."

            She shook her head at him. "You didn't," she stated, her tone

assertive. "I know you'd never do anything to hurt me; I never believed for a

moment it was you."

            Volcan managed to crack a grateful

smile to the dragoness, and with that smile she silently swore his hand became

warmer. "I'm glad..." Was all he managed before his eyes started to close, and

his breathing slowed to low and labored, and entire body becoming limp as he

slipped out of consciousness.

            "Blacked out," muttered Degra,

stroking Volcan's back. "Poor baby..."

            "We should go now," said Vinge. "We

need to tell everyone else what happened; I imagine Rikyuu is still out there

looking for Volcan."

            "I texted him," intervened Pavan,

holding up his phone. "He knows he's safe. Just the same, I'll head to see him

when we're out."

            Obsidian leaned toward Volcan,

planting a kiss on his forehead as she rested his hand at his side, a tear

trickling down her face as she pulled back. "See you soon," she whispered to

him before she looked at Degra, who gave the dragoness a reassuring look before

letting Obsidian use her for support and return to her feet.

            "I'm going to stay for a bit," said

Lighris. "He's my kid brother, after all."

            Vinge nodded. "We'll see you soon,"

he said, and slowly left the room.

Obsidian was the next to leave, rubbing her eyes and

sniffing slightly. The last to go was Pavan, who clapped a hand on Lighris'

shoulder and nodded to him appreciatively before he too left the room, stuffing

his hands into his pockets as he followed Vinge and Obsidian to the stairs and,

eventually, to the front door, where the three left in silence.

~~~~~

            The dark phoenix sat on the top of

the smokestack of the massive cargo ship bound for Japan, staring out to the

ocean as the massive vessel made its way to the East. Having been unable to

find a boat bound for Canada or the

United States, he decided to make do with this, intent on finding passage back

to Canada from Japan. Already, the gears were turning in his mind; what he

would do when he got back to Canada, and what should be done about his

look-alike, who assuming hadn't perished with their separation, was still out

there in the Western Hemisphere.

            This could not be allowed... there

had to be only one of them.

            But, his powers were still not at

full strength; if he were to confront the Os-Nadarra, even deprived of Volcan

as they were, he would fall at the hands of the other members, who would no

doubt protect the phoenix -if he were still alive. Even if he wasn't, the mere

sight of the dark phoenix would spur all of them into action. He knew this...

he knew them. All of them...

everything his former host knew about his friends, this dark phoenix knew too.

They shared memories up to their final moments as one.

            The dark phoenix chuckled. Maybe he

could make use of these memories. But for now, he wondered what he would find

in the Land of the Rising Sun...