{"sf1_id":845916,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Arc 3 Chapter 1: The Spawn","author":"Volcan MacAingeal","words":19594,"posted_at":"2015-04-10T02:31:00.000Z","tags":["Doppleganger","Dragoness","Gore","Implied rape","Os-Nadarra Sentinels","Phoenix","blood","darkness"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/845916-arc-3-chapter-1-the-spawn","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/845916","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=845916\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nThe Os-Nàdarra Sentinels\nARC Three:\nThe Overlords\n \nChapter 1: The Spawn\n \n-Unknown location in Egypt, Midnight of August 15th, 2010,\nEastern time-\n \n            The moans that echoed through the\nhalls of the ancient city would send chills down the spine of even the most\nstalwart man. Souls of the dead making their way to an unknown location as they\nwandered through the darkness of the corridors, visible to the red gleaming\neyes of a figure cloaked in shadow, seated in a throne with energies of dark\nviolet flowing around him as he weaved a spell to open the gateway to the realm\nof Duat; the Egyptian land of the Dead.\n            Darkness, emptiness, silence except\nfor the wails of the dead greeted him as he opened the way. The souls descended\ninto the infinite black pit stretched out before him, vanishing as the way\nbecame clear. The red eyes watched them as they descended; normally he would\nnot need to handle so many, but an incident in the deserts in a nearby land had\ncaused quite a number of fatalities, leaving the wayward souls in need of a\nguide to the afterlife, and this dark being was that guide, sending the souls\nto Osiris' Hall of Judgement.\n            The guide was Izrail, the Servant of\nAnubis.\n            Created in the likeness of the\nEgyptian Lord of the Dead, Izrail was the guide of the souls of the afterlife,\nand the defender of the Underworld Passage in the city of the dead known as\nHamunaptra, hidden within the vast deserts of Egypt by the forces of nature...\nand a little sorcery. Of course the city hid more than just the passage to the\nunderworld; it also hid vast riches of wealth and knowledge -trivial things a\nbeing such as Izrail had no interest in. His only concern was the passage to\nDuat.\n            Of course, to some, the interest of\nHamunaptra was academic. Like the white, eight-tailed fox standing at his side,\ngarbed in a golden kimono. Despite all the dirt and grime of the ancient halls,\nthe fox and his clothes were untouched, as if nothing more than an illusion. A\npair of gleaming, pupil-less and white-less golden eyes gazed from under a head\nof silver scalp hair, grown very long -almost down to his waist, and his\nperfect, ageless features only further strengthened any assumption as to what\nthis fox really was; a Kitsune.\n            Or rather, a Nogitsune; the fox was\nknown under the name of Yaiba Akatsuki -in Japan, although in the west his name\nwould be the other way. Translated in English, his name literally meant 'Blade\nof Dawn'; appropriate, as he was a Celestial Kitsune, a being of Light, born of\nthe Goddess of Harvest, Inari. Although, being a Nogitsune meant Akatsuki had\nleft behind any allegiance he bore to Inari, and now he served Izrail as a\nfellow protector of Hamunaptra; payment for his pursuit of the knowledge within\nthe walls of the city.\n            \"A most grim task, my master,\"\nAkatsuki said to Izrail, glancing at the jackal-headed demigod. \"To watch the\nsouls of the dead enter the afterlife realm.\"\n            \"It tends to lose its grimness after\ntwenty millennia,\" Izrail replied plainly as the last of the spirits vanished\ninto the darkness. \"And it is what I was created to do.\"\n            \"Of course,\" returned Akatsuki,\nturning and stepping away from the pit. \"I shall return to my studies.\"\n            Izrail turned around shortly after\nAkatsuki did, and began to make his way towards the corridor as he had, intent\non going to check the protective shield around Hamunaptra, to ensure it was\nstill functional after such an influx; sometimes countless souls passing into\nthe underworld all it once could cause disruption of the protective barrier\nthat hid the city from all kinds of eyes, including the machinations of mortals\ncalled 'satellites'.\n            The city had to remain hidden;\noutsiders could not come here.\n            But just as he stepped away from the\npit, a sensation washed over him; a feeling of dread and that of imminent\ndisaster, so strong and so vast it was like he'd been struck by a tsunami... a\ntsunami made of fear. He froze dead in his tracks as that sensation found him,\nand he saw, ahead of him, Akatsuki stopping in place as well; clearly Izrail\nwas not the only one who had sensed that anomaly.\n            It carried on for some time; when it\nbecame clear that it was not simply going to go away, Izrail began walking\nagain, faster this time, driven by the need to find out what that strange\nenergy he had just felt was. When he sprinted past Akatsuki, the eight-tailed\nfox suddenly became alert and watched as his host fled down the corridor. \"Lord\nIzrail, what was that just now?!\" He called after him, but Izrail did not heed\nhis voice; he broke into a run as well, following Izrail to find out what\ndistressed him so.\n            Izrail strode down the hall for what\nfelt like a hundred kilometers before he finally came to the room he was\nseeking, making a sharp turn through the door and striding to a strange diagram\nin the middle of a large circle, drawn in chalk in the middle of the floor.\nSitting next to the circle was a basin full of clear water, which remained\nstill even as Izrail entered the room, passed the basin and made for the\ncircle. He stood at the very center of the circle, his feet upon the eye-like\ndrawing in the chalk, and the moment his feet were placed there, the white\nchalk suddenly glowed, becoming a pale, pinkish colour, and glittering spheres\nof matching colour rose up from the circle, ascending to the ceiling where they\nseemed to vanish into the stone above.\n            Izrail turned to face the water\nbasin, putting his palms together, and began to chant strange words in an\nunusual language; Akatsuki arrived in the room just as the demigod began to\nspeak the strange words, unable to decipher them; although he could read\nAncient Egyptian, the language was something else entirely, and only a few\nwords rang clear in his ears -too few to know what it was Izrail was trying to\ndo with the spell circle and ancient words.\n            Then, as the kitsune watched, the\npool of water in the basin began to stir; his golden eyes averted to the pool\nas it swirled about like a whirlpool, suddenly rising out of the basin as a narrow,\nswirling stream that arched towards Izrail, stopping inches from his face\nbefore it began to widen, becoming a thin wall of water before his very eyes.\nIt expanded until it appeared wide enough to swallow him whole, and became as\ndark as ink, save a single white slit from the tip to the bottom in the very\ncenter.\n            The slit widened as well, opening\nlike an eye, and within it, a blanket of white that soon became swirled with\ncolour. The longer he watched, the colour began to form a picture, like an\nanimate painting, blurry and unclear until his chanting continued. In moments,\nit was then like he was watching a mortal's 'motion picture' or 'movie',\nshowing him a place far from his home, on the other side of the world; a modern\ncity with buildings of iron and glass, streets of liquefied stone hardened and\nworn from the use of automobile transports... and a scene of destruction.\n            A battle was underway within the\ncity; a giant wyvern of steel, battling a host of elementals and mortals alike,\nclashing over and among the buildings. Among the ones who battled this\niron-clad beast was a green and blue avian, launching flames of chaotic fire,\nwhile the beast fired beams of pure electronic energy. Izrail watched as the\nbattle continued, raging on for several moments, until a titan-sized spike of\nsolid ice was brought down upon the creature, impaling it and staking it into\nthe ground, ending its existence. Izrail zeroed in on the green and blue avian\nonce again; he was certain that he was the source, but who was he? The spell\nwas still too unclear for him to identify the winged boy...\n            Suddenly, just as instantly as it\nappeared, the sensation of infinite fear ended; within the window, the boy's\ncolours suddenly changed, becoming bright red and gold colour scheme common among\nphoenixes of the Fire Element. Izrail's lost track of the very energy he'd been\nsensing, as if it had just vanished from that very plane of existence. With no\nreason to continue watching, he manipulated the water back into the basin and\nlet it fall flat, returning to its boring, unassuming state.\n            Izrail let his hands part, letting\nthem fall back to his sides as he spread his stance to retain his balance.\nAkatsuki stepped forward to help him, but a raised hand from the demigod\nstopped him in his tracks, and he dared not advance. Izrail stood perfectly\nstill, eyes on the floor for a moment, but drawing no breath -his body was\nmerely a construct and did not require breath- and contemplating everything he\nhad just witnessed in that vision.\n            \"My Lord... what did you see?\"\nAkatsuki asked. \"What was that horrid sensation?\"\n            \"A phoenix,\" replied Izrail.\n\"Young... impulsive... but strong of will and body, battling this giant,\nmechanical beast; they were in a city, far away in the west. That boy is\ncarrying something within him; something I thought vanished centuries ago...\nbut it was reawakened temporarily.\"\n            \"What was it?\"\n            Izrail turned, looking at Akatsuki.\n\"The essence of the one who brought destruction to the known world over five\nthousand two hundred years ago,\" he replied. \"The one the ancients named\n'Lucarinai'.\"\n            Akatsuki's solid golden eyes widened\nto the roundness of dinner plates, tails stiffening as those words sunk in.\n\"But... that is impossible. He was destroyed by The Great Four; the Necroslayer,\nthe Demon Hunter, the Spirit Dragon and the Orphan -they eradicated him! How\ncould he still be alive?\"\n            \"He isn't,\" replied Izrail. \"But\neven death cannot always claim those whose power surpasses even that of the\ngods; Lucarinai is not alive, but his essence was so strong, it appears a\nfragment of it lingers in this world still, and that unfortunate youth now\ncarries it within him, and it sleeps, waiting to be awakened.\" Izrail stepped\ndown from the circle, passing Akatsuki to exit out to the corridor and walked\ndown the hall. \"Somehow, he awakened that power only briefly, but enough of it\nfor its mighty backlash to reach even here, on the other side of the world.\"\n            Akatsuki eyed Izrail quizzically.\n\"Other side?\" He repeated. \"Where did it originate?\"\n            \"The north-western most continent of\nthe world, known to most as 'North America',\" replied Izrail. \"But it was too\nbrief for me to sense its exact location; I do not know which of the two\nnations there it came from. Even if I did, both of those countries are vast...\nit could take us many months to find it, assuming it were to remain there.\"\n            \"What will you do then, Lord\nIzrail?\" Akatsuki asked. \"Shall I go west for you and seek this youth?\"\n            Izrail did not take long to answer.\n\"No... not yet,\" he replied. \"This essence has hidden from me for eight hundred\nyears; if it could remain concealed for that long it will not be so easily\nfound; we know it's out there, but it will not stay in one place for long. We\ncan only wait until it awakens again, and then when it does... we will seek it\nout, and purge it from this plane of existence indefinitely.\"\n            \"What of its host?\" Akatsuki asked.\n            \"One life, given to guarantee the\ncontinuation of all life in this plane of existence,\" Izrail replied plainly\nand without hesitation. \"It is not a difficult decision to make.\"\n \n \n~~~~~\n \n \n-Unknown-\n            Darkness...\n            Laughter...\n            It was everywhere around him; Volcan stood -or rather\nfloated- without the use of his wings, in a void of infinite nothing. He could\nsee no heat, no light, no sign of anything in this darkness with him; just him,\nand the feeling of a cold grip around him. No limb or hand held his body that\nhe could see, but it still felt like something was trying to crush him, and\nevery cry of pain he elicited only intensified the pressure, followed more by\nthat sadistic laugh that was haunting his ears.\n            \"Where are you?! Where is this place?!\" He cried, his\nvoice seeming to echo endlessly into the dark. \"What do you want from me?!\"\n            Out of the darkness, a white shape appeared; light? No;\nit was smooth and glassy, and it was not purely white. In its very center was a\ncircle of rippling shades of purple, and in its center, a smaller black circle.\nIt didn't take Volcan long to know what this was; it wasn't a light of any\nkind, it was an eye, belonging to an unknown entity. A purple eye starting at\nhim, larger than he was and carrying his own reflection within it, void of any\nemotion and chilling Volcan down to his very soul. The appearance of the eye\nwas soon followed by a voice that sounded so much like Volcan's, but filled\nwith a mad thirst he couldn't comprehend.\n            \"I'm coming out...\"\n \n~~~~~\n \n \n-Early morning of January 4th\n2011, Unity Falls, AB-\n \n            Beams fired from Volcan's eyes as he\nsat up, filling the room with red light as the rays of concentrated heat\nerupted from both orbs and scorched into the wall in front of him. By the time\nhe realized he was not attacking his intended target, he shut his eyes,\nclapping a hand over them to contain the rays of heat until they abated,\nkeeping them back until he got them back under control.\n            Uncovering his hands from his eyes,\nhe looked around the room, seeing familiar surroundings and forcing himself to\ncalm down; using several breathing exercises, he managed to ease his tension\nand calm his troubled mind enough that he didn't accidentally fire off another\nelemental projectile at the next shadow that twitched in that room.\n            When he was steady enough to turn to\nlook at his wall, he eyed the fresh new burn marks left by his concentrated\nheat beams, seeing them smolder alongside the six more that he'd put into the\nwall already. \"Kim is going to freaking kill me when she sees that,\" he said,\nfully accepting that he was probably facing the loss of his entire damage\ndeposit and then some - including but not limited to eviction if he didn't fix\nthose burns as soon as possible.\n            To no great surprise, his smoke\nalarm in the hallway outside of his bedroom began to sound off as the smoke\nfrom the smoldering paint reached it, filling his ears with that horrible,\nhigh-pitched beeping noise that had sounded off every night for the past week\nwhenever this had happened. Irritated he jumped out of bed, storming out into\nthe hallway to reach up and shut it off by tapping the battery slot, popping it\nopen and silencing the device.\n            \"Fucking piece of...\" grumbled\nVolcan, ears ringing from the smoke detector. He peered into the guest room,\nchecking for Vinge -only to mentally kick himself when he remembered the Ice\nPhoenix had been released from his custody and moved back home almost two\nmonths ago. Good timing, thought\nVolcan; he'd hate to see how Vinge would react if the Ice Phoenix walked into\nVolcan's room one morning to check on him while he was having a nightmare and\nend up roasted by his eyes.\n            But what was wrong with him? He had to try something -anything, to get\nanswers. But he didn't want everyone else to know about this; something like\nthis would only terrify them.\n            Well... maybe one could know... one\nwho might be able to help him find an answer.\n            Turning and going back into his\nroom, Volcan headed over to his dresser, not even bothering grabbing a pair of\njeans as he put on a shirt and grabbed a winter cloak, keeping his wings tight\nagainst his back as he wrapped it around himself and left the bedroom, picking\nhis keys and wallet from the basket and keyhanger in the foyer and headed out\nthe door, locking it behind him before he turned and headed for the stairs,\nbriskly descending them and running outside into the winter night...\n \n \n~~~~~\n \n \n            Bapbapbapbapbap!\n            Obsidian's ear twitched as she heard the tapping, turning a little in\nher sleep but choosing to ignore it, believing it to just be part of her dream\nas she lay comfortably in her bed, warm underneath the covers of her soft\nblankets...\n            Bapbapbapbapbap!\n            She stirred again, one eye opening slightly as the second knock\nsounded. Rolling that eye to look at the clock, she let out a low moan at the\ntime it displayed and tried to hide her head under her pillow. \"God, don't let\nthat be a homicide call...\" She pleaded, voice muffled by the pillow over her\nface. \"Just go away, please...\"\n            BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!\n            \"Alright, alright!\" She cried in defeat, throwing the pillow aside and\nsitting up, rubbing her eyes as she threw her legs over the side of the bed and\nstood up from the bedside. Picking a bathrobe that was hanging on the back of\nher bedroom door and wrapping it around herself to use as a cover, she stormed\nout of her bedroom and into the hallway.\n            BAMBAMBAM!\n            \"Keep your shirt on, I'm coming already!\" She called scornfully as she\napproached the door. Someone better be\ndying or someone's going to get a kick right where it hurts! The\namethyst-scaled dragoness growled in her mind.\n            Approaching the door, she looked through\nthe peephole, and was shocked to see Volcan standing outside. Eyes narrowing\nwith curiosity, she unlatched the chain lock and the deadbolt before she opened\nthe door, letting in the cool night air as she stepped into the doorway to\naddress the phoenix. \"Volcan? What're you doing here this time of night?\"\n            \"Hey 'Sid,\" returned the phoenix;\nhis voice sounded weak, and tired... now that Obsidian considered it, his eyes\nlooked kind of... dark. Or was that shadows from the porch light? \"I'm sorry to\njust drop by like this.\"\n            \"Well, Volc; you know I'm always\nhappy to see you,\" returned Obsidian, but despite her reassuring voice, she\ncouldn't stop looking at his eyes. \"But...\" She paused, unable to look away\nanymore. \"Volcan... tilt your head back.\"\n            Slowly, he did, letting the porch\nlight illuminate his entire face; Obsidian nearly gasped with shock as she saw\nhow dark the sockets of the phoenix's eyes were, and the whites of his eyes\nwere pink with irritation, the dark bags making them stand out even more.\n            \"Oh my god, Volcan; haven't you been\nsleeping?\"\n            \"Not really...\" The phoenix replied.\n\"'Sid... can we talk?\"\n            \"Of course,\" replied the dragoness,\nstepping aside and pulling the door open wide to allow him in. \"Come in.\"\n            Volcan carefully stepped into the room\nhis shoulder bumping the doorway as he did, but the phoenix barely acknowledged\nit, passing through the entry hall before making a turn into the living room.\nAt Obsidian's insistence, he took a seat on the couch, and she seated herself\nright next to him, her eyes never leaving him. Volcan ran a hand down his face,\ngroaning and leaning back against the back of the couch.\n            \"I'm so tired...\"\n            \"Volcan, why haven't you been\nsleeping?\" Obsidian asked.\n            He looked at her weakly, reading her\nface for a moment; she was clearly concerned, maybe even afraid for him, and\nprobably wasn't going to let him leave without giving an answer... not that he\nintended to. He'd come there for her help, after all. With only brief\nhesitation, he began to fill her in on what was happening.\n            \"I've been having these... horrible\nnightmares lately,\" Volcan began. \"In it, I'm floating in this infinite\ndarkness; I can see nothing in it, except for this... eye, I guess is what I'd\ncall it, which appears in front of me. I don't know who it's supposed to be,\nbut every time it appears, I suddenly hear a voice saying 'I'm coming out' and then I wake up... for the past week shooting\nPyro Glare from my eyes, and I've scorched my wall in several places. It's a\nmiracle I haven't burned the whole complex down.\"\n            Obsidian studied his face as he\nexplained the situation to her. \"So these nightmares are throwing your powers\ninto flux?\"\n            \"No, I think it's more than that;\nthey feel so real that I keep waking up feeling like I'm being attacked,\"\nreplied Volcan. \"At the same time though I've had nights like that before; it\nalso feels like someone else is trying to use them.\"\n            \"That doesn't make any sense; who?\"\n            \"I don't know, but those Pyro Glares\nare going off involuntarily, not because of my reflexes,\" Volcan explained. \"I\nneed to focus my elemental essence into my eyes to use them, like creating a\ncircuit with some wires and a battery, only I can control if something is using\nthat circuit; it's not so simple as just staring straight ahead, it takes\nfocus, and with my mind so scattered while dreaming I shouldn't be able to use\nthem.\"\n            \"I don't understand, Volcan; what're\nyou saying?\"\n            Volcan looked at her, a serious\nexpression on his face. \"I think someone is in my mind, trying to control me,\"\nhe replied. \"And I think it may be that 'other side' of me. That's why I'm\nhere; I need you to look inside my mind, try and find out what's causing it.\"\n            Obsidian regarded him for a moment,\nclearly considering his request, but she didn't take long in coming to a\ndecision. \"Okay,\" she said. \"But what do I do if I find it?\"\n            Volcan hesitated with the answer,\neventually having to admit he didn't know... regardless, Obsidian turned more\nto face him, reaching up with both hands to place her fingers on his temples,\nboth of them shutting their eyes. Volcan opened his mind to the dragoness, and\nshe telepathically projected her conscious into his mind, feeling herself\nentering Volcan's mind as it left her own; in a way it almost felt like diving\ninto a swimming pool, only without the splash or sudden rush of cold from the\nwater.\n            Renewing her concentration, she\ncontinued through his thoughts, seeing within the confines of his mind,\ncontaining windows of memories and thought patterns seen as projected ideas -it\namused her how somewhat cartoonish some of Volcan's thoughts appeared to be\nsometimes, imagining all kinds of different scenario's he could encounter, but\nthey were moving very slowly this time -probably a side-effect of his fatigue,\nhaving not slept properly in days or even weeks.\n            Continuing her trek through Volcan's\nmind, she entered a new area; something was different about this one. It seemed\nlike some pieces were missing; glancing around and remembering other times she\nhad entered someone's mind, she remembered that this area was where emotions\nwere centered, spread out like a mural of colours. There was a lot of bright\nred in Volcan's mind, differing in shades only slightly -remembering her\npsychology classes in high school, red was considered a colour of passion,\ncourage, or rage, depending on its shade; the darkest red was the emotion of\nlust, the next shade being the emotion of hatred, and there was very little of\nthat in here; Volcan's mind was dominated by the brightest red, the colour of\nPassion in abundance, seconded only by the colour of Courage, which was just a\nslightly darker red -roughly the colour of a red apple, while the colour of\npassion was like the colour of a strawberry.\n            There was also a great deal of\nsky-blue, which was a colour to symbolize loyalty, and there was very little\ndark blue -the colour of sorrow. However, she found a surprising about of\nyellow; the colour of fear was surprisingly vast in Volcan's mind, and it\nseemed to actually be... widening, among the mural of emotional colours she\ncould see. \n            \"Now what could this mean?\" She\nasked.\n            And then, she saw it... a dark spot,\non the yellow area, lingering like a wart amidst the yellow, and completely\nstill. Looking closer, she saw it was a deep gray, darker than charcoal, and\nthough it was unmoving she knew it didn't below there; Black was not a colour,\nbut a shade, serving as the symbol for emptiness, the hue of space -an empty\nvoid, which is why so many associated it with evil, because when referring to\nsomeone to have a 'black heart' they essentially are saying there's no heart at\nall, which wasn't far off; usually people with this much 'black' in their minds\nhad no emotions at all, or had suppressed them to the point where...\n            She mentally slapped herself in the\nhead before shaking it. \"Now's not the time to be playing analyst, 'Sid; your\nfriend needs your help,\" she said, and continued on, wanting to get a closer\nlook at that dark spot.\n            Floating through Volcan's mind, she\nslowly approached the blackness, seeing it scurry across the yellow, leaving a\ntrail of more black behind it, almost like it was feeding on the yellow...\nCuriosity was becoming increasingly hard to suppress as she followed the black\nspot further, watching it continue to consume the yellow. It didn't make sense;\nemotions didn't consume each other like some cannibalistic feeding frenzy...\nwhich probably meant that inky ball was not an emotion at all, but Obsidian's\nintended target.\n            \"Found you,\" she said with a firm\nvoice, before she chased down the blackness. It tried to scurry away from her,\nbut she headed it off, sending it left towards the blue area. \n            Continuing to pursue, she prevented\nit from veering off, but didn't want it to reach the blue area. Unfortunately,\nshe wasn't quick enough; consuming much of the yellow before reaching the blue.\nUnlike the yellow though, this inky sphere did not seem to feed on it, but\nrather absorb some of it, not taking it away. It caught a fair chunk of it\nbefore veering off towards the green -another area which wasn't exactly in\nabundance, meaning Volcan wasn't the envious type. Obsidian continued to try\nand pursue the darkness, chasing it across the green before it suddenly halted\nand went back, right at her!\n            She instinctively avoided it, seeing\nit trail back down across the blue area before trying to make a beeline right\nfor the yellow again. \"Oh no you don't!\" She growled ferally before chasing it\nagain, faster this time. She cut it off from continuing across the yellow, and\nto avoid her, it veered off in another direction, still leading her on a merry\nchase.\n            This time, however, it ended up in\nthe darkest red area, shooting across it and to its slightly brighter\ncounterpart, but it stopped before the second-brightest red -the courage, and\ndropped away, falling towards another area. Obsidian watched as it dropped,\nseeing it fly through the openness of the mind, sprouting a pair of deformed\nwings as it once more made a beeline for the yellow once more.\n            \"You've got a one-track mind!\"\nObsidian scorned the greed of the strange, invasive conscience as she once more\nmoved to intercept it, delivering a telekinetic bolt that knocked it off\ncourse, and it crashed down into the Gray area at the very bottom of the\nemotional sphere. \"Good; colour of neutrality. Nothing to take down...\" She\npaused.\n            Gray wasn't just the colour of\nneutrality; it was also the colour of traditionalism and intelligence, varied\nin shades like many other emotions were. She'd seen this thing was actually\ndevouring the fear in Volcan's mind but it seemed disinterested with anything\nelse, only absorbing small amounts of it, like a sponge would absorb water. Now\nshe'd just knocked it into the gray area; what was going to happen?\n            Suddenly, the blob of darkness began\nto move again, spreading itself out over the gray and consuming some of it. But\njust as Obsidian rushed towards the blob to try and stop it, it suddenly\ncondensed again and launched itself off of the gray area, flying right at her!\nShe halted in midair, but it was too close; it burst into a swarm of tentacles\nthat immediately grabbed for her; she tried to swat them away with her\ntelekinesis, but her projected form was quickly entrapped by them, and she\ncould swear she felt them physically as the bound her legs and arms, choking as\nshe felt one on her neck as well.\n            The blackness closed around her;\nstill she could feel her bonds but now she could no longer see the other\ncolours of the emotional sphere as the darkness formed a new sphere around her.\nShe nearly panicked as she realized she could not call back her telepathic\nprojection back to her own mind; it was trapped! She was trapped! Struggling to break free, she fought the darkness,\ndemanding with her mind's voice \"Who are you?! What're you doing to Volcan?!\"\n            As if to answer her question,\nsomething began to take shape in front of her; she looked straight ahead as she\nsaw something forming out of the darkness, seeing what appeared to be the head\nof an avian materializing in a form of grey matter like a swarm of a billion\ninsects around the head of a statue -or even the head of a person, as this\nshape was animate, releasing a moan that made Obsidian's heart stop as it\nformed and peering at her with a pair of violet eyes that made her blood run\ncold -even here, in her telepathic projected form, she could feel her body\ntrembling.\n            \"It's not polite to interrupt my\nmeal,\" a voice that sounded oddly like Volcan's, but more distorted and\nalmost... spirtual, in a way, spoke from the beak of the hideous shape in front\nof her. \"Even as I am now... I still must feed, my sweet.\"\n            \"What in the hell are you?\" Obsidian\nasked, almost forgetting she was bound by this thing inside of Volcan's mind.\n            The avianic face grinned back at\nher. \"I'm the one who'll claim this one's body... soon as I am strong enough to\ndo so,\" he...she...it, replied to the dragoness, seeming to actually move\ncloser to her. \"And when I am done... there is one more thing I shall claim\nbefore this day is out!\"\n            Obsidian felt her body being\nattacked; something was grabbing it and pushing it against a hard surface! She\nhad to break free, but this thing had her in its grasp, and she could not get\nloose. She felt physical pain coming from her body, and mental pain as she\ncontinued to try and get free but the bindings were becoming stronger, refusing\nto let her go.\n            With no other choice, she tuned out\nthe pain coming from her body and focused everything into her mind, and with\none mighty telepathic blast, she attacked the strange entity; all around her it\nexpanded, stretched so thin it looked like a bubble, before it suddenly burst\nopen, and she went flying through the confines of Volcan's mind, out of control\nas she was launched from the sphere of emotion. Regaining control, she steered\nherself back to the frontal portion of Volcan's mind, where she'd made her\nentry, and hurriedly returned to protect her body.\n \n            Someone was on top of her. Someone\nhad her pinned to the floor; a large heavy figure with powerful arms pinned her\ndown against the hardwood floor and were pulling open her bathrobe, exposing\nher half-clothed form underneath, before grabbing onto her shirt, trying to\ntear it off...\n            She gasped as she realized what was\nhappening; whoever was attacking her was trying to molest her!\n            The police training kicked in at\nthat moment; not knowing or caring who it was attacking her, she thrust her\nknee up into the scrotum, making them grunt with pain and tense up, arching\ntheir back towards the ceiling. With them stunned by the attack on their\ncrotch, she pulled both legs up to her chest, placing her feet on the torso of\nher attacker and pushing hard, launching them off of her with all the strength\nher dragonic legs could muster. They flew through the air a short distance,\nhitting the wall between the living room and the entry hall and nearly going through it as they smashed the wood and\ndrywall with their weight.\n            Obsidian was on her feet in a\nsecond, putting up her fists as she prepared for what was undoubtedly about to\nbe a fight... until she saw who it was she'd just kicked away, and she froze\ndead in place, eyes becoming as round as dinner plates as she recognized the\nperson. Volcan was standing popped up against the wall, holding his head where\nit had hit the wood, and groaning as he opened his eyes and looked at the\nDragoness, utterly confused.\n            \"'Sid... what just happened? How'd I\nget over here from there?\" He asked, looking at the couch, which was a good\nthree meters away, but he only recalled being there; he didn't remember\nstanding up...\n            Adrenaline and horror were still\ngripping Obsidian as she replied however. \"What the hell is the matter with\nyou; why'd you attack me?!\" She screamed at him, her brow furrowing with rage.\n            \"Attack you?\" Volcan asked, shocked.\n\"But I'd never...!\" He stopped, eyes widening in horrid realization as it\ndawned on him just what he'd been doing, especially when he saw Obsidian's\nshirt was torn over her belly, and some of the fabric was caught on the talons\nof his left hand. He stared at that hand for a moment as if it wasn't his, his\nbreathing intensifying as he turned back to Obsidian with realization.\n\"Obsidian...\" Without another word he turned and ran for the door, knocking\nover a vase with his wing in the process. \"I'm sorry!\" He called back as he ran\ninto the door, adrenaline-backed superhumanoid strength causing it to go flying\noff of its hinges.\n            He regretted the damage, but not as\nmuch as he regretted what he'd just tried to do! Something was wrong with him;\nhe wasn't in control of his actions, and now they had just endangered someone\nhe cared deeply about. He had to get away from there, away from the city -away\nfrom everyone! He wasn't safe; he was a threat to them all!\n            Obsidian, snapping out of her\nadrenal-induced trance, ran for the front door. \"Volcan, wait!\" She cried,\nrealizing it was not his fault now that she'd managed to get her second wind,\nbut the phoenix was already airborne, flying off through the howling cold wind\n-that alone was a sign he wasn't himself, as that wind could cause him permanent\nharm if he flew through it, but he wasn't going to stop; nothing would stop\nhim, and he'd never forgive himself for what he'd just tried to do to her.\n            Turning and running back into the\nhouse, Obsidian strode to her room, finding her cellphone on the nightstand and\nlooking at the numbers in her contact list, able to think of only one person\nshe could call about this. She found the number, pressed 'Call' and held it to\nher ear. \"Come on, pick up, please...!\" She begged.\n \n            Lighris turned over in bed as his\nphone started ringing, letting out a long groan as he rubbed his eyes, followed\nby a pained yelp as he accidentally rolled onto his wing and compressed it. Now\ncranky, he sat up and spun around in bed, throwing off the blankets as he\nreached for his cell phone on his nightstand, looking at the caller ID but\nbarely able to read it through sleepy eyes, so he simply hit the 'accept'\nprompt and held it to his ear.\n            \"This better be good,\" he groaned.\n            \"Thank\nGod! Lighris, quickyouhavetogetup; something'sgonewrongwith...!\"\n            \"Hey, whoa! Slow down; who is this?\"\nHe asked, somewhat sharply. \"I'm still waking up here.\"\n            \"It's\nObsidian!\" The caller replied.\n            \"Obsidian?\" Lighris repeated.\n\"You've never phoned me before; you didn't write me a parking ticket or\nanything, did you? Or seatbelt; I get one more and...\"\n            \"Will\nyou shut up and listen?!\" She snapped through the phone. \"I'm calling about Volcan!\"\n            Lighris froze. It was never a good\nsign when a cop was calling you about a family member, he knew. \"What happened\nto my brother?\" He asked, a low growl in his voice.\n            \"Something\nis happening to him; I don't know what it is but, he was just over here, and...\nugh! Nothing makes sense!\" He practically heard claws grinding against\nscales as Obsidian was most likely scratching her head in frustration.\n            \"Okay, calm down, officer,\" stated\nLighris. \"If it's easier to explain in person, what's your address? I'll come\nthere.\"\n            \"No;\nit'd take too long. You'd have to go across the border gates and there's only\ntwo open this time of night. Meet me at C-Plaza; it's about halfway.\"\n            \"Okay, I'll meet you there. Just\nkeep your head cool when I arrive, alright?\"\n            \"I'll\ntry... thank you.\"\n            With that, both sides hung up.\nLighris got to his feet and walked out to the living room of his house, heading\nover to the window and peering off in the direction of the city. \"Shit, bro...\nwhat've you got yourself into now?\" He asked, deep concern in his voice...\n \n~~~~~\n \n            Obsidian stood, uneasily, in the\nmiddle of C-Plaza, in the park located next to the parking lot of the night\nclub, 'Casa 'Del Gato', which was nearing closing time; customers were being\ngiven their last call for the night and were coming out in droves, those sober\nenough to drive heading for their cars -and some not, but of course there were\na couple of cruisers driving by looking for just that, so Obsidian didn't need\nto be concerned about them... not that she was. Most of her thoughts were only\non Volcan, fearing for his life and his sanity as she impatiently fidgeted,\nwaiting for the others.\n            After phoning Lighris she had\ncontacted Rikyuu, Pavan and Vinge as well; Rik wasn't even bothering with the\nmeeting, and was already out looking for the Fire Phoenix. The other avians\nhadn't arrived yet though, Tsume and Brent hadn't answered their phones and\nObsidian didn't dare call the police -not yet... not until she could be sure of\nwhat they were dealing with, and what was happening to her friend.\n            As she sat on the park bench,\nwaiting, she felt the wind picking up, and heard a pair of feet touching\nground, followed shortly after by a second pair. She turned in the direction of\nthe sounds, and saw two avians, one pale white and the other a light brown, immediately\nrecognizing them as Vinge and Pavan respectively.\n            The dragoness leapt to her feet,\nwalking over to them. \"Thank you both so much for coming,\" she bade as the\nhugged the two phoenixes.\n            \"Like we'd do any less for my\nbuddy?\" Pavan asked, patting Obsidian on the back.\n            Vinge held her gently with one arm\nfor a moment until she stepped back from him, keeping a hand on her shoulder as\nhe asked. \"'Sid, are you okay?\" He asked. \"On the phone you sounded\nhysterical.\"\n            \"I'll explain when Lighris gets\nhere,\" Obsidian promised.\n            A rumbling, mechanical roar was\nheard up the street, almost as if on cue, and the three turned to see a blue\npickup racing into the plaza, narrowly beating the red light of a corner\nintersection, before making a beeline for a parking stall on the street,\nskidding to a stop -clearly double-parked, but the driver, Lighris, leapt out\nafter barely taking time to activate the parking brake and cut the engine.\n            \"There he is,\" Pavan jested.\n            \"Not now,\" Vinge whispered sternly.\n\"He looks ready to blow a gasket.\"\n            Lighris strode over to the three,\nhis wings barely tucked in as he sprinted down the sidewalk towards them,\ncoming to a stop with his eyes fixed on Obsidian; his face was hard, clearly\nholding back anger, but it was clear in his voice. \"Obsidian, what happened?\"\nHe asked, his voice a little shaky. \"Where's my brother?\"\n            \"He came to my house a little while\nago; just under an hour,\" Obsidian explained, trying to keep it short. \"He said\nthat he'd been having trouble sleeping and that his powers were being set off\ninvoluntarily, so he came to me for help.\"\n            Pavan looked at Vinge. \"Aren't you\nstill living with Volcan? Court order or something?\"\n            \"They revoked it after the Cyber\nWyvern attack,\" returned Vinge. \"Allowed me to go home after a five-month term;\nI moved back home two weeks ago, just before Christmas.\"\n            \"Did you see him behaving strangely\nat all, prior to you moving?\" Obsidian asked.\n            \"A month ago, he started distancing\nhimself from me, always coming up with some excuse to head out, and staying in\nhis room whenever he was home,\" replied Vinge. \"A few times I confronted him\nabout it, wondering what was wrong but he never gave me a straight answer, and\nseemed in a big hurry to get me back to my place when the term ended. Since\nthen, I've barely seen him.\"\n            \"Same here; barely answers his phone\neither,\" added Pavan.\n            \"So what else happened?\" Lighris\nasked. \"If he was just having sleep issues he should've gone to a clinic.\"\n            \"It was more than just sleep\nissues,\" replied Obsidian. \"He said something about feeling this... other mind\ninside of his own, speaking to him. He asked me to scan his mind, to try and\nfind it.\" The dragoness shuddered. \"God, I found it alright...\"\n            \"You're speaking of that dark half\nof his?\" Vinge asked. \"But it's mindless -pure primal instinct. How can it be\ntaking him over when he has a clear mind?\"\n            \"Because this wasn't some primal\nintelligence,\" Obsidian returned, her voice breaking as she held back tears.\n\"It was sentient, alive; it spoke to\nme, in words! It attacked me in Volcan's mind, trying to hold me back and...\"\n            \"What; did he hurt you?\" Pavan\nasked.\n            \"Volcan... He tried to molest me,\"\nreplied Obsidian, almost losing control there.\n            \"Impossible!\" Lighris shouted, all\ntoo loudly. The volume and tone of his voice as he pointed an accusing finger\nat Obsidian made her recoil, while Vinge turned about and put both hands on\nLighris' chest, holding him back; the very thought of someone claiming his\nbrother would try to rape someone was the final straw for him. \"My brother\nwould never do that to anyone! Not in\na million years!\"\n            \"I know he wouldn't; that's why I know it wasn't really him,\" Obsidian\nreplied, defensively. \"I pushed him off, and when he realized what happened he\nran out of my house; I tried to stop him but he took off before I could catch\nhim... and now he's out there somewhere -I don't even know where to look!\" She\nfinally lost control, the tears forcing themselves to her eyes. Pavan stepped\nforward and held her as she began to tremble and sob, her tail curling around\nher legs as her body shook like the tail of a rattlesnake, leaning into the\nWind Phoenix.\n            Vinge allowed Lighris to calm down,\nwhile Pavan comforted Obsidian, and then turned to face the lightning hawk, his\nice blue eyes meeting the bright yellow gaze of Lighris. \"You know what this\nmeans, don't you?\" He asked. When Lighris couldn't come up with a response, the\nIce Phoenix continued. \"We both know Volcan is not a schizophrenic -not in the\nconventional manner. This can only mean that other presence inside of him, that\n'Black Volcan', is trying to take control. It must've done so when he was at\nObsidian's.\"\n            \"But how?\" Lighris asked. \"Volcan's\nhad that evil inside of him for eighteen and a half years; how could it be\ntaking control of him now when it couldn't before?\"\n            \"I don't know,\" Vinge admitted. \"But\nhowever it's happening, we need to find Volcan and try to find some way to stop\nit.\" Vinge raised his left hand to the tip of his beak, biting his index finger\never so slightly as he paced around. \"After what happened at Obsidian's, no\ndoubt guilt will be driving him now; he won't want to be found. You're his\nbrother; do you have some idea as to where he might go?\"\n            Lighris tightened his fists\nsomewhat, his frustration making him want to yell at Vinge, although he didn't\nreally have any reason to do so; maintaining his composure he considered the\nquestion for a moment. \"Unfortunately I don't,\" replied the lightning hawk.\n\"Overwatch is always where he'd go to clear his head or just relax but he knows\nthat's the first place we'd look for him. There's no shortage of places to hide\noutside of the city; this side of the border there's nothing but wilderness from\nhere to Calgary or Lethbridge.\"\n            \"And he knows this area pretty darn\nwell,\" Pavan added, resting a hand on Obsidian's back as she managed to stop\nher crying and step back from him. \"And he might not even be on the Canadian\nside if he left from 'Sid's house.\"\n            Vinge looked at Pavan. \"You've known\nVolcan the longest, and you know the area around the city. Go to every place\nyou can think of he would go -start with Overwatch, and work in the surrounding\narea first; those who are running from something will not usually linger far\nfrom anywhere they feel safe.\"\n            \"How could you possibly know that?\"\nLighris asked, unconvinced.\n            \"Basic psychology,\" replied Vinge. \"Now,\nLighris; you and Obsidian look through the city, dividing between the Canadian\nand American halves. Check everywhere you can.\"\n            \"Hey, who died and made you captain,\nfrosty?\" Lighris growled.\n            Vinge leered at him with such a look\nthat it actually made Lighris flinch. \"Do you want to massage your ego or do\nyou want to find your brother?\"\n            Lighris made no retort.\n            \"Where are you going to look?\"\nObsidian asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her arm as she looked at\nVinge.\n            \"I'm going to go look in the\nforest,\" replied Vinge. \"Volcan could hide somewhere down low too; somewhere\nwith lots of cover, and I know a few places out there he could try.\" He took in\na deep breath as he continued. \"Now... I know most of you will not want to hear\nthis, but remember; Volcan is not himself right now, and he could be dangerous\nif that other side of him takes control. If you find him, do not try to\nconfront him without the rest of us.\" He looked between each one of them,\nstudying their expressions as they let sink in what he said. \"Understood?\"\n            Obsidian and Pavan nodded\nimmediately. Lighris did too, with some hesitation.\n            \"Alright; let's go!\" Vinge\ncommanded. \n            The group scattered. Lighris went\nback to his truck and Obsidian to her car while Pavan and Vinge took to the\nskies; Pavan was the first above the city buildings, turning to  the north-west and flying as fast as the wind\ncould carry him. Vinge cleared the buildings in time to see Pavan fade out of\nsight, and peered to the east to see the sun beginning to creep over the\nhorizon, signalling the approaching dawn.\n            \"Volcan... wherever you are, hang\non; we'll find you.\" He silently promised.\n \n~~~~~\n \n(Play 'Fight Inside' by RED'\n \n            Volcan stumbled into the clearing,\nhis vision blurred behind tears and his confused mind, barely navigating where\nhe was going. He'd lost control mid-flight and nearly crashed in the forest as\na searing pain shot through his whole body; he hugged himself with one arm,\ntrying to dull the pain with no success. He walked across the clearing, making\nit only halfway before another jolt of pain sent him dropping to his knees,\nwings hanging slack him and propping himself up on his hands to keep himself\nfrom face-planting into the ground.\n            \"Urgh! Fuck; what is happening to\nme?!\" He demanded, despite knowing there was nobody around to hear him, or give\nhim an answer to his question.\n            Volcan felt sick... sick down to his\nbones as he recalled what happened back at Obsidian's place. One moment he's\nseated on the couch next to her, letting her read his mind to try and find the\nsource of his nightmares, and the next thing he knew she'd kicked him off of\nher, finding out that he'd tried to force himself on her... how could he do that?!\nTo her of all people; why would he do something so horrid? Once more he found\nhimself crying in guilt, a sting in his heart as he silently apologized to the\ndragoness again and again.\n            'Yes...\nkeep that guilt, and all that sadness. Makes it easier for me...'\n            A voice! Not his but eerily similar; he sprang back to his feet,\nputting up his fists as he turned about, searching the clearing for any sign of\nthe owner of the voice, grinding his beak through another moment of pain.\n\"Grgh...! Who said that? Where are you?\"\n            A chuckle... 'You can't see me with your eyes, idiot. I'm already behind them.'\n            \"Be... behind them?\" Volcan asked.\n            'Still\nhaven't figured it out yet? I'm peering through your own eyes right now... or\nwhat will soon be my own eyes.'\n            It was him...\n            \"You...\" Volcan whispered.\n            'He\ncan be taught,' the evil voice\nsaid, sarcastically. 'I just wanted to\nsay, before I take over, I really appreciate all the time we've spent together;\nyou've been a good vessel, and your body will make a fine one for me when it's\nin more deserving hands.'\n            Another jolt of pain, and once again Volcan was doubling over, barely\ncatching himself on his hands before he hit the ground. \"H-How is this even\nhappening?!\" Volcan demanded. \"For all of my life you've been nothing more than\na mindless monster; you could never do this before!\n            'Don't\nyou remember six months back, when we merged into one against that wyvern? The\nvoice asked. This all began back then;\nback on that day when you and I became one. Our minds, our spirits, our\nessence; all of it joined. Ever since then, I've learned some interesting\nthings, including how to free myself from the confines of your mind.'\n            \"Like hell you will!\" Volcan returned. \"You're staying right in there\nwhere you belong, you bastard; I won't let you come out! I've held you back for\neighteen years; I'll keep holding on for the rest of my life!\"\n            'Even\nyou do not have the will to contain me for that long,' the voice continued\nto mock him. 'Especially not with all the\nfear rampaging in your mind.'\n            \"Fear of what?! I'm not afraid of you!\"\n            'You\ndon't have to be, because you're afraid of what I'll do when I come out,' the\nvoice carried on. 'Your family, your\nfriends, the people of Unity Falls; it terrifies you what I'll do when I am\nfree. But the one you fear for most is Obsidian, isn't it?' \n            Volcan's eyes widened in horror as\nhe knew what his other side was implying. \"No... you stay the hell away from\nher, or I'll end my life right now!\" He warned, his anger rising. \"Even if I\ncan't stop you by will I can by force; if I die, so do you!\"\n            'Nice\nbluff. But you don't have your sword, nor do you have the gall to kill\nyourself,' the voice carried on. Suddenly, to Volcan's horror, he felt his\nbeak moving involuntarily, and his vocal cords vibrating as he spoke, but it\nwas not of his own volition, realizing too late that his rising emotions were\nonly worsening his situation -it had always been his anger, fear and sadness\nthat had unleashed this demonic presence before, and now it was allowing it to\nseize control of the phoenix.\n            \"Don't worry,\" the strange voice\nsaid... with Volcan's own vocals. \"I'll take good care of your city... and\nespecially her.\"\n            Volcan, regaining control of his\nvoice, could only grab his head and scream to the sky, flames erupting from his\nwings and igniting the land around him as he lost control...\n \n~~~~~\n \n            Izrail jolted as he felt it... the\nsame sensation that had struck him six months ago was back again, this time\nwith a vengeance. Sitting up in his sandstone throne, the demigod let the\nfeeling sink in for a moment before he rose from the seat and strode down the\nhall to the scrying chamber, making for the magic circle in the middle and\ncasting his spell on the basin of water, letting it rise up to form a window in\nfront of him.\n            Upon the watery wall appeared a\nforested area, with a phoenix lying in the middle of clearing, seemingly\nbattling with himself as he rolled, tumbled and thrashed about on the ground,\nflames erupting from his body as he battled with whatever demons were causing\nhim such distress. Izrail watched for a moment; besides his unusual behavior\nthe boy appeared normal, but there was something off about him...\n            And then, he saw it. Peering closely\nhe saw an image, like a projection appear around the boy -a projection only his\neyes would see, of the face of a horrifying creature with a skeletal face, almost\nhuman but not, with a mouthful of scythe-like fangs, wild tangled hair and\nblank yellow eyes, laughing in right in Izrail's face as if the strange entity\ncould see him, before it suddenly changed form, becoming an avianic face. This\nface was similar to that of the boy he was watching through the scrying\nspell... but different. Different colours -black feathers replacing red, and\nviolet replacing gold, along with matching violet eyes that glowed like stars.\n            The sudden change disrupted Izrail's\nconcentration, sending the water splashing to the floor and soaking his feet.\nHe paid it no heed as he sprinted down from the dais, stepping out into the\ncorridor and calling out at the top of his lungs -if he actually had any.\n            \"AKATSUKI!\" He roared.\n            In a matter of seconds, the\neight-tailed fox was sprinting into view, turning a corner and running up to\nIzrail, garbed in Japanese lamellar armour and carrying a nodachi sword as if\nhe was expecting a fight. \"My lord, what troubles you?\" He asked.\n            \"That presence we sensed months ago;\nit's back,\" replied Izrail. \"And now I know where it's coming from; it's in\nCanada, near the city known to mortals as 'Unity Falls'.\" He held out his hand,\nand with a flash of red light, a curved, ebony-coloured scimitar materialized into\nhis grasp. \"It is trying to escape from its host; we must go and prevent the\ndemon beast from running free, else the world shall be destroyed just as it was\nin his first coming.\" He turned away from nogitsune, unexpectedly slashing at\nthe air.\n            A line of crimson formed in midair\nalong the path the sword slashed along, glowing brightly and illuminating the\ngloom of the hallway, before it widened, opening like an eye until it was wide\nenough for a person to fit into. In the eye was an infinite sea of red, nothing\nelse within, filling the dark corridor with its light.\n            \"My lord,\" Akatsuki stated, boldly.\n\"I may know another way.\"\n            \"Another way to what?\" Izrail\ninquired.\n            \"To destroy Lucarinai's essence\nwithout killing its host,\" replied Akatsuki. \"I believe I have found a way to\nexorcize it. We can purge it from the host body without that host having to die\nin the process.\"\n            \"It would be swifter to simply kill\nthe host,\" Izrail pointed out.\n            \"I understand that, master, but I\nhave considered that,\" Akatsuki stated. \"If death was not enough to stop\nLucarinai once, killing a host it is possessing may still not kill it.\"\n            Izrail eyed Akatsuki expectantly.\n\"So you're saying that we would not eliminate the problem by slaying\nLucarinai's host?\" He asked, a stern look on his face.\n            Akatsuki nodded. \"I fear that\nLucarinai is still too powerful to simply be killed. Like myself he can only\ndie if his core essence is eradicated, and the best way to do that as he is now\nis through exorcism.\"\n            Izrail considered Akatsuki's words,\na ring of truth in them; Izrail was so hasty in his choice to kill the phoenix,\nhe did not consider that the heroes of the ancient world had tried doing just\nthat once before, and yet Lucarinai was still out there despite being slain by\nfour of the most legendary heroes on the endless sea of time, their names known\nacross the ages. But if even they had not truly killed Lucarinai, how would\nIzrail's life-leeching sword accomplish any more than they had? Demigod or not,\nit had been proven that such primitive means, however effective they remained,\nwould not work.\n            Izrail looked at Akatsuki again.\n\"Very well,\" he agreed. \"We shall try it your way. Though I cannot help but\nquestion your motives for spending all this time studying this method?\"\n            \"The host is young; he has barely\nhad a chance to live,\" replied Akatsuki. \"You have lived for thousands of\nyears, I have lived for seven centuries. I have seen the world, and it\ncontinues to change, making me want to live through the ages to see it\ncontinue, which is exactly why I left the side of Inari and her loyalists; I do\nnot wish to become a guardian of my own world, I wish to see how this one\ncontinues to evolve.\" His gaze became more determined. \"And that youth -any\nyouth, deserve to see how it continues as well.\"\n            Izrail actually allowed a wry smirk\nto appear on his face at Akatsuki's words. \"Well said, Akatsuki,\" he returned.\n\"Your sentiment is what separates you and I, and it is a worthy belief. Lord of\nDeath I may be, but life belongs to all.\" He turned back to the eye of red\nbefore him. \"Now come; time may be against us. Let's go.\"\n \n~~~~~\n \n            Vinge sprinted through the trees as\nhe heard the scream; he didn't know who or what had been the source of it, but\nhe knew it meant trouble. A deep feeling in his heart told him it was Volcan,\nbut survival instinct was telling him it was something he did not want to see.\nHe believed both feelings, but he continued to press on, hand on his sword but\nnot drawing it, eyes forward and focused so that whatever he was heading\ntowards, he'd see it first.\n            And then, he reached the clearing,\nstepping out of the shadow of the trees to see the burning grass and\nsurrounding pines ablaze as a figure rolled and tumbled all over the clearing,\nthe flames spewing out from their body. Vinge knew the figure was Volcan; the\nfires spilled forth from his wings and arms, even from his beak when he opened\nit to scream again.\n            \"Volcan!\" Vinge cried, trying to run\nto the side of his friend, only to nearly swoon from the heat and force himself\nagainst his judgement to back away. \"I... I can feel the heat?\" He asked,\nquizzically; Volcan, like all phoenixes, had a passive innate ability that was\ntriggered psychologically -people Volcan considered friends or loved ones could\nnot be hurt by his flames even if engulfed them in an inferno, yet at that very\nmoment Vinge could feel the heat as if he were standing near a blast furnace,\nmaking him pour sweat...\nNo, not sweat; his feathers, more ice than organic,\nhad started to melt from the heat. Five seconds in there, and the Ice Phoenix\nwould have fallen into a coma! He forced himself to  keep backing away to the trees, unable to\nhandle the intensity, despite his ever-present desire to help his friend. \n            Vinge reached into his pocket and\nproduced his cell phone, trying to tune out Volcan's cries of agony as he\ncontinued to flail across the ground. He lifted the phone to his ear until he\nheard his expected recipient answer; Pavan's voice spoke through the earpiece. \"Hello?\"\n            \"Pavan, it's Vinge; I found Volcan!\"\nVinge informed.\n            \"I\nthink I did too; I can see fire in the forest. Is that his doing?\"\n            \"Yes; he's fighting for control of his body with that other side of\nhimself, and he's setting the whole forest ablaze! Find Lighris and Obsidian,\nhurry!\" Vinge ordered.\n            \"On\nit!\"\n            Vinge felt more heat coming up alongside him as flames brushed against\nthe tree he was ducking behind for cover. Immediately he strode away from it,\ngetting behind another before the previous tree went ablaze. \"Dammit, if we\ndon't stop this now the whole forest will be burned down!\" He could already\npicture fire-fighting crews in his mind, on their way to the forest and using\nan aerial sweep to spray over the woods. If Volcan was caught in that, it\nwouldn't matter even if his dark half took over; the air-sweep would kill him\nonce they dropped their payload of extinguishers over the area.\n            Perhaps that was just what the\nphoenix was counting on...\n            Minutes passed, and Vinge felt a\nrush of air forcing its way through the trees. He looked up to see Pavan and\nLighris, with Obsidian carried on his back, dropping down from the air above\nthe canopies. They landed a few feet away from Vinge, who stepped over to greet\nthem. \"Glad you guys got here so fast.\"\n            \"Thank Pavan for that,\" said\nLighris. \"Made a heck of a tailwind for me to fly on.\"\n            \"Where's Volcan?\" Obsidian asked.\n            Vinge looked over his shoulder and\npointed towards the clearing where the flames were at their thickest. \"Over\nthere,\" he stated.\n            \"Whoa! Is that Volcan or is that a\nfreakin' thermal bomb going off?\" Pavan asked. \"How do we get near him?\"\n            Without even answering the question,\nObsidian tried to run towards the fire, but Lighris seized her by the shoulders\nand held her back. \"'Sid, are you insane?!\" He demanded. \"Dragon or not those\nflames will turn you into charred meat if you go in there!\"\n            \"I have to try something; it's only\nbecause of me he's in this state!\" Obsidian retorted.\n            \"This is not your fault!\" Lighris snapped at her, turning her to face him.\n\"The only one to blame here is that monstrosity that lives inside of Volcan; it attacked you, not him! But Volcan\ncan't see the difference; that's the only reason he feels so guilty about it!\"\n            \"Then what're we supposed to do;\ncan't you hear him?\" She inquired as Volcan's screams reached her. \"He's\nsuffering in there!\"\n            \"That's why I'm going in,\" stated\nLighris.\n            \"Did you hit your head or\nsomething?\" Pavan asked. \"You can't survive those flames!\"\n            \"I'm the only one who can survive in there, because I'm a\nhybrid,\" returned Lighris. \"Volcan and I are brothers in blood; I have my\nmother's blood in me, and that hybrid blood gives me natural resistance to\nfire.\" He turned to Pavan. \"Those flames are too intense for me to get through\nfast enough though; can you create a wind strong enough to blow some of it\naway?\"\n            \"Not without blasting you too,\"\nPavan warned.\n            \"I'll handle that part,\" stated\nObsidian. \"I'll use my telekinesis to hold Lighris in place against the wind\nand divert some of it off of him.\"\n            \"And I'll throw some snow into the\nwind; when it melts in the heat it might be able to sprinkle the flames enough\nto put some of them out,\" added Vinge.\n            \"Can you do that without hitting\nVolcan?\" Pavan asked.\n            \"They won't be enough to hurt him.\"\n            Lighris nodded. \"Then let's get\nstarted. I'm going in!\" He said urgently, turning and sprinting towards the\ninferno.\n            Obsidian faced Lighris' back,\nholding out her hands and casting a telekinetic barrier around him, the\nsemi-transparent shield forming around him, deliberately forming a cone-shape\nwith the point aimed behind him for what came next; Pavan waved his arms around\nslightly before thrusting both palms forward, sending a gale-force wind towards\nthe flames; the wind rushed around Lighris, Obsidian's barrier successfully\nprotecting him from being swept right into the fire. When Vinge mixed in some\nsnow generated from his wings into the wind, the fires died quicker, creating a\npath through the flames.\n            With his opening made, Lighris\ncharged; Obsidian continued to generate the barrier to protect him as he ran\nthrough the fire; though he could still feel the heat through the barrier the\nflames themselves harmed him little, especially as they were pushed aside by\nmore wind. Grinding the edges of his beak together against the pain as he\ncontinued to push through with an arm over his eyes, blinking back the tears\ninduced by the heat.\n            And there he was. Lighris saw Volcan\nstraight ahead, and his eyes widened with horror as he saw the state of his\nbrother. The phoenix had rolled around so much his body was covered in dirt,\nburnt grass and bruises from hitting hard objects, but that was not the worst\nof it; the left half of Volcan's body was already in the process of\ntransformation, the feathers as black as ink and his left eye already turning\nviolet. The dark half known only as 'Black Volcan' was nearly in control.\n            Lighris pushed forward with greater\ndetermination, yelling out to his brother. \"Volcan! I'm here, bro!\" He shouted,\nnot sure if Volcan could hear him or not, but he carried on. \"You have to keep\nit together, man; don't let that monster take hold of you!\"\n            Volcan continued to thrash around,\nthe heat radiating from him enough to make even Lighris swoon, despite being\nhighly tolerant to this. Lighris put up both arms protectively as more flames\nspewed forth from his brother's body, forcing him to step back. Dammit, I can't get any closer! He thought,\nangrily. \n            And then, over Volcan's screams,\nLighris heard a sound more horrifying than anything else happening at that\nmoment. The sound of a plane, approaching fast and flying low over the forest\nand coming closer by the second. At that second, Lighris felt a sharp yank\naround him, and went flying backward out of the flames as they intensified\nagain, feeling himself in cooler air and hitting the ground with a bump as he\nwas pulled away from his brother, grunting as the impact with the ground knocked\nthe wind out of him.\n            He wasn't down for long; he flipped\nover onto his front and pushed himself up on his hands, leering at Obsidian.\n\"Why'd you pull me out? I was almost to him!\"\n            \"Because there's a fire fighter\nplane coming!\" Obsidian replied. \"Those chemicals they use will suffocate you\ntoo!\"\n            \"But if they drop those chemicals\nnow, they'll kill Volcan!\" Lighris bellowed. \"Can't you call them off?!\"\n            \"I'm a police sergeant, not chief of\nthe Fire Brigade,\" Obsidian returned, her expression pained. \"I can't stop\nthem...\"\n            Vinge looked towards Volcan one\nmore, his expression hurt but intrigued at the same time. \"I may be reaching\nhere... but think Volcan planned this from the start.\"\n \n~~~~~\n \n            'Ah...\nI can hear now, too. Your screams are getting annoying though; why don't you\nstop this now and...' A pause. 'Wait...\nwhat is that sound?'\n            That would be the local Air Spray team, Volcan returned in thought,\nknowing now that his adversary could hear his thoughts if he direct them at it.\nThey're coming to put out the fire we've\nstarted. Any second now they'll carpet this clearing with potent chemicals\nthat'll rob the air around us of oxygen and completely choke the fires, and us.\n            'Are you grinning?! You actually planned this, didn't\nyou! But how did I not know?!'\n            Sharing a body doesn't mean we share a mind; if I don't\naim my thoughts at you, then you can't hear them. And you thought I didn't have\nthe will to end my own life.\n            'You idiot! Those chemicals will do such harm to our body\nyou won't even be able to come back to life; you'll die indefinitely!'\n            That's the idea... you'll never hurt anyone again.\n            'I will not let this happen!' Volcan felt his dark half\nalready doubling his effort to seize control, desperately clawing his way\ntowards his goal.\n            You're\ntoo late. Now this all comes to an end.\n            'No... no! Not now!'\n            FLASH!\n            A crimson light appeared in front of\nVolcan; both he and his dark side froze in place, looking up at the light in front\nof them; until something stepped out of the glow. A figure, dressed in ancient\negyptian garbs of the like a Pharaoh might wear, with a skirt-like leg wrap and\na golden mantle worn on the shoulders and collar. He had the head of a jackal,\nglowing eyes of bright red, but he was not an anthro; his body from the neck\ndown was human in appearance, with the legs and arms of a human man, with\nstrong bodily features, and a wicked Arabic-style scimitar slung through a loop\nin a silk belt he wore.\n            At the side of this stranger stood a\nwhite fox -not white like an Arctic fox, but white like a cloud, with eyes of\nsolid gold, glowing like small lamps. He had silvery hair, worn long and combed\nstraight as it hung around his shoulders. He was garbed in Samurai-era Japanese\nlamellar armour, painted blue and polished to a shiny luster. On his back\nrested a nodachi -a long sword resembling a Katana, but far longer than one,\nmeasuring easily four and a half feet in length if not more. He stood a hair\nshorter than the jackal-headed figure, but was no less imposing.\n            \"Who... who are you?\" Volcan asked.\n \n(Play 'He who brings the\nNight' by Two Steps from Hell')\n \n            The plane swept overhead; Vinge,\nPavan, Lighris and Obsidian ducked under the canopies for cover as the plane\ndropped its payload, spraying the harsh extinguisher chemicals over the fires.\nObsidian hid her face in Vinge's chest, unable to look at what would surely be\nVolcan's death, suppressing the urge to scream out to him as the sizzling fluid\nblanketed the area, and the fires rapidly died.\n            The sizzling was loud, and seemed to\ndrag on for much longer than it should have, but before too long it stopped,\nand the four slowly stepped out of hiding to peer out into the clearing, which\nwas still full of smoke from the extinguished flames, obscuring their vision.\nThough none of them felt even a speck of hope, still they watched, until it\nfinally began to clear enough for them to see.\n            They saw a glowing blue sphere,\naround where Volcan had been prior to the carpeting by the Air Spray. The harsh\nchemicals ran like water around the sphere, which upon closer inspection was\nactually transparent, and inside of it, the group could see Volcan and two\nothers standing in the middle of the clearing, completely unharmed by the\nextinguisher.\n            \"What the... who the hell are those\nguys?\" Lighris asked.\n            \"I don't know but it looks like they\njust saved Volcan,\" replied Vinge.\n            Suddenly, the darker one of the two\npointed his left index finger at Volcan, and seemingly out of nowhere chains\nappeared around the young phoenix, surprising him with their unexpected\nappearance and the sudden tightness around his body. Volcan struggled against\nthe chains, trying to break them to no avail, until the white-furred fox\ntouched Volcan on the forehead, and he went still.\n            \"Hey!\" Lighris bellowed, taking to\nthe air and flying out into the clearing. \"Get away from my brother!\"\n            Ignoring him, the barrier was\ndropped, and as the white fox picked up Volcan and slung him over his shoulder\nas if he were weightless, the other slashed at the air with a sword he drew\nfrom his belt. With that, a crimson opening appeared in midair, both of them\nstepping into it with Volcan in tow. Lighris, despite not knowing where the\nportal would be going, pursued, and right on his tail were Pavan and Vinge, who\nhad Obsidian on his back, and the three dove into the strange portal,\nsurrounded by infinite red for a few seconds before passing through another\nopening.\n            They fell into a gloomy hallway\nthat, upon exiting, turned out to be too narrow for wings. The tips of their\noutstretched limbs scraped against stone, and in pained reflex the avians\nfolded their wings, falling to the floor painfully and tumbling in a heap. Obsidian\nwas thrown clear off of Vinge in the tangle, and hurriedly used telekinesis on\nherself to levitate to safety, although was still caught off guard by the\nsudden change and bumped her nose painfully against a column, holding it with a\nmild whimper.\n            \"Get off me!\" Lighris growled as he\npushed himself up with his hands, throwing both Vinge and Pavan off of his\nback.\n            Pavan fell onto his back, Vinge\ntucked in his limbs and rolled, grunting as some pressure was put on his\nwingjoints before he hand-sprang back up to his feet. Lighris stood up quickly,\nhis eyes glowing bright white as he surveyed the hallway. \"Where are those two\nsons of bitches; I swear if they harm one feather on my bro's head I'm going\nturn both of them inside out!\"\n            \"That way, tiger,\" Pavan remarked,\npointing down the hallway with his toe.\n            Straight ahead were the two\nstrangers, still carrying Volcan with them, into another chamber; the white fox\nhad glanced back at the group, noticing them, and looked back at the other. \"It\nappears we have stowaways, my lord.\"\n            \"Leave them; we'll deal with them\nlater,\" the second replied, both of them speaking in English but with voices\nheavily accented. \"Lucarinai is the main concern here, not those mortals.\"\n            \"As you say,\" the fox returned as\nthey entered the next room.\n            \"Get back here!\" Lighris hollered, breaking into a run.\n            Vinge and Obsidian were quick to\nfollow, ignoring that they were in a strange place and focusing on the matter\nat hand, which was rescuing their friend from this dark, creepy place. Pavan\nsprang back to his feet and ran ahead, using a wind tunnel around himself to\nincrease his speed, dodging around the others as he made a beeline right for\nthe chamber entrance.\n            \"Here I come, to save the day!\" He chimed as he neared\nthe doorway...\n            He hit something... an invisible\nwall that seemed to cave somewhat under his impact before snapping back in the\ndirection he'd come from, launching the wind phoenix through the air. He\nbabbled random nonsense, mixed in with several yelps of surprise, as he was\nsent soaring backward through the air. The others ducked under the wind phoenix\nreflexively, sending him back-flipping over their heads, until Vinge turned\nback and cast a wave of snow down the hallway from his hands, forming into a\nthick drift where Pavan fell into a landing, the snow successfully breaking his\nfall -although still leaving him somewhat winded.\n            \"Ow... what the hell was that?\"\nPavan asked, rubbing and shaking his head, trying to clear it. He looked\ntowards the door he'd tried to go through, and repeated his question with a\nsouthern U.S accent. \"I mean, what the hell\nwas that?!\" He asked, the 'I' sounding like 'Ah' and the 'Hell' like 'Hail'\nwith the imitated accent.\n            \"Pavan, you're from Britain, not\nTexas,\" Vinge stated.\n            \"It seems they don't want us\ninterfering with whatever they're doing,\" Obsidian stated.\n            \"Tough titty; I'm going in there!\"\nLighris barked as he returned to his sprint, charging at the door armed only\nwith his fists, crackling with lightning as he drew back one to punch at the\nunseen barrier.\n            His arm hit, the lightning\ndischarged, and his own hand bounced back hard enough to nearly dislocate his\nshoulder and throw him off balance. Stubbornly he refused to fall off of his\nfeet, and proceeded to pound on the barrier with both fists, rage driving him\non. But it held strong, seemingly no damage being done to it.\n \n \n            Within the room beyond the barrier,\nthe intruders could see Izrail and Akatsuki placing the young phoenix onto what\nappeared to be an altar. As soon as he was placed upon it, the chains around\nhis body vanished, and his limbs were suddenly pulled by forces unknown to\nparts of the altar; his legs were pulled together towards the right, his arms\ntowards the corners at the left, and his wings simply held down at his sides,\nand just like that the fire phoenix could not move another inch, except for his\nhead.\n            More of the blackness had spread\nover the phoenix by this point; some of his bright yellow feathers had begun\nturning purple, and both of his eyes by this point were violet. Even his beak\nhad begun to change from orange to gray, showing he was even closer to losing\nhimself to the darkness within him.\n            \"We must act quickly,\" stated\nIzrail, his palms locking together. \"I will keep him restrained and the barrier\nup to keep the intruders out; you must perform your exorcism quickly. Purge\nLucarinai from this boy!\"\n            \"I shall,\" returned Akatsuki, his\narmour vanishing an being replaced by a sky blue kimono as he circled the\naltar. \"My lord, do we know this boy's name?\"\n            \"This form's name is Volcanoran\nSkilerain,\" replied Izrail. \"Descendant of the ancient MacAingeal Clan of\nScotland.\"\n            \"Truly an honorable lineage,\" said\nAkatsuki, the name of the Scottish clan being known even to him, stepping over\nto the front of the altar. \"Volcan, I promise on my honor that I will rid you\nof the curse, and you shall have the life you deserve,\" he stated. Volcan made\nno response, too focused on fighting back the evil that tried to claim him, to\neven hear what it was that Akatsuki said to him.\n            The eight-tailed Nogitsune put his\nhands together, and began to chant in a language older than even himself, his\nvoice echoing through the halls as he spoke the incantation, stepping around\nVolcan and placing his pawed hands upon Volcan's lower back. His paws began to\nglow, and the light flowed from his paws in the form of small tendrils, sliding\nacross the body of the phoenix and entering his flesh like leeches.\n            Immediately, Volcan started screaming,\nfeeling the magic cast by the strange fox filling his body and battling with\nthe darkness that was already trying to claim him. He struggled against his\nunseen bonds, though it was unclear which side was in control and doing the\nstruggling at that moment; the bonds held firm, but Izrail was forced to divert\nmost of his focus to keeping the phoenix restrained, else he harm himself\nattempting to break free of the binding spell.\n            \n            Outside the room, Lighris had\nstopped hammering on the door after running out of breath. Vinge, Pavan and\nObsidian all stood at his sides, staring into the room as the strange\neight-tailed fox began to recite the strange spell, none of them able to\nunderstand what he was saying -although Vinge knew what language he was\nspeaking. It was some form of Egyptian, not a form he recognized -not that even\nhe could speak the language, perhaps older than all of them combined, older\nthan even the one speaking it, perhaps.\n            But Volcan's scream spurred Vinge\nfrom his curiosity, and he drew his sword and tried to stab it through the\nbarrier stopping them from gaining entry. He pressured it with all of his\nstrength, pushing and pushing until it almost seemed like steel would triumph\nwhere lightning and speed had already failed.\n            Until...\n            SNAP!\n            The blade broke; three inches of\nmetal broke away from the sword and the small metal fragment shot back, cutting\nacross Vinge's arm and making him recoil, looking at his broken ropera with\nshock while also holding where the tip had cut him, hearing it clatter into the\nhallway behind him. Cursing angrily he sheathed his sword and held out his\narms, forming two ice spikes around his fists and punching at the barrier with\nthem.\n            \n            Inside the chamber, Akatsuki\ncontinued the spell, and it seemed to be working. The blackness spreading over\nVolcan was beginning to recede, returning his colours to normal as they seemed\ndrawn towards where Akatsuki's paws were placed. At first, the nogitsune\nthought maybe the darkness was trying to gather where it could claim him as its\nnew host, but it was making no such attempt. Before he could ponder it further,\nhe felt the purging magics beginning to fail; the darkness wasn't becoming\nweaker, and the phoenix on the altar suddenly jerked as if something had hit\nhim from the belly, his back arching slightly.\n            \"Akatsuki, what is happening?!\"\nIzrail demanded.\n            \"Something's wrong; the darkness is\nnot dying!\" Akatsuki returned. \"It's too powerful for me to purge!\"\n            Volcan screamed again as his body\nwas involuntarily pulled up by something, his skin visibly pulsing from it,\nmaking both Akatsuki and Izrail freeze, eyes on the spot where Volcan's flesh\nhad seemed to move on its own, around where the blackness was concentrated. His\nfriends outside, seeing this as well, all stood in stunned silence as they saw\nthe involuntarily actions of the phoenix, Obsidian gasping as she saw it happen\nagain, that center of blackness actually rising up from Volcan's back.\n            \"Oh my God,\" Obsidian whispered,\ncovering her muzzle with both hands.\n            \"What the hell is happening to him?\"\nLighris demanded.\n            \"I have no idea,\" returned Vinge,\nequally shocked by what he was witnessing.\n            A shower of blood exploded from\nVolcan's back, and from his flesh, a hand consisting of pure, dark energy,\nerupted from his flesh.\n            The phoenixes' scream could have\nshattered windows...\n            Pavan felt his stomach churn,\ncovering his beak before he turned to a corner and started throwing up; a\nperfectly understandable thing to do. Lighris and Vinge both stared in horror\nas that hand reached out of Volcan's back, and Obsidian clenched her eyes shut\nand covered her ears as Volcan's horrific scream of agony echoed through the\nhalls of the strange building. The arm grew in length, reaching out from the\nback of the fire phoenix, grasping for whatever hold it could find before more\nof it began to emerge; every portion of the darkness that climbed out expanded\nuntil it was roughly the size of an average person, and still more emerged.\n \n(Play 'Black Blade' by Two\nSteps from Hell)\n \n            Izrail and Akatsuki, awestricken by\nwhat they were witnessing, stood frozen as they watched the darkness continue\nto emerge, until finally it stopped, falling to the floor and propping itself\nup on two hands that emerged from its mass. It was like a shadow -an inky,\nblack shadow with violet eyes, and every second after its emergence from\nVolcan, its body was becoming more and more humanoid; legs were growing from\nits lower mass, and from its back two more masses were growing, like wings in a\nnewborn state before the feathers grew.\n            \"By Odin, what the hell is that?!\"\nVinge questioned, his mind unable to fathom what he was witnessing.\n            \"Did that thing just come out of my brother's body?!\" Lighris demanded.\n            The creature of dark matter turned\nto face Akatsuki, and then Izrail, and then towards the exit, which was still\nprotected by Izrail's barrier. That did not seem to hinder it, however, as it\nmade a beeline right for the exit, sprinting down from the altar and trailing a\ndark fog behind it as it ran.\n            \"Akatsuki, kill it!\" Izrail\ncommanded, focusing all of his attention on the barrier to contain the\ncreature.\n            The eight-tailed fox reached for his\nweapon, but as his hand grasped the sword, it transformed; raising it from his\nback, the weapon was revealed to have been changed to a Yumi -a Japanese long\nbow that stood taller than its wielder, which Akatsuki aimed at the dark\ncreature, pulling back the string. No arrow was notched in the bow, however...\nat least not until, in a flash of light, an arrow materialized against the\npulled string, and with its appearance, Akatsuki released the string, sending\nthe arrow flying straight for the back of the inky-black mass.\n            The creature spun around, a golden\nlight appearing in its hand as it turned. The light extended, forming a long\nstaff-like shape, before its two ends began to form separate shapes; the base\nformed into a leaf-shaped spearhead, sharpened on all sides, while the tip\nformed into what resembled a four-pointed cross, except for the loop on its\ntip. Vinge recongized the shape as an Ankh, an Egyptian symbol of immortality\npre-dating the Christian Bible, used by the Pharaoh's of old, and on old\ncarvings it was often held or worn by one of the Egyptian Gods as well, as a\ntestament to their eternal life.\n            The arrow struck the staff, and\ncompletely disintegrated as if it were made of powder. With the attack blocked,\nthe creature turned back towards the door, leaping towards the\nbarrier-protected exit and jabbing its staff into the shield. A sound, like the\nshattering of glass, filled the corridor; the Os-Nadarra members beyond the\nshield hurriedly leapt out of the way as the creature smashed through the\nbarrier, flying past them with a mighty leap.\n            As it passed, the four of them got a\nlook at its face -dark as night and void of expression, but its shape... that\nshape, all too familiar to them. Even though the features were largely\nuntraceable, the form of the creature's head was identical to Volcan, even in\nthe way it moved -it sprinted the same way that the fire phoenix did, with long\nstrides and wings tucked in tightly to its body to increase aerodynamics.\n            Izrail suddenly appeared in front of\nthe creature, blade drawn, and swung at it. Sword met staff, and the two were\nin a stalemate, until the creature opened its mouth and breathed fire -violet\ncoloured fire with black outline, right in Izrail's face. The anubite recoiled,\nand the dark creature leapt for the ceiling, driving its staff into the stone\nand smashing into it to expose the daylight beyond. With that it soared out\ninto the open air, spreading its stubby wings and taking flight; despite the\nwings clearly not being completely grown, somehow it managed, and fled from the\ncity.\n            Akatsuki, the shock of the recent\nevents finally passing, turned to Volcan. The phoenix was lying prone, unmoving\nand unresponsive on the altar, his blood staining the stone slab around him and\nhis eyes, half-lidded, stared off into nothing, but not yet faded. He was still\nalive, but was barely clinging to life. Quickly, Akatsuki rushed to his side,\nplacing both paws over the wound in his back -a grotesque opening in his body\nthat although did not seem as deep as it looked, bled like a stuck pig, the\nmuscles beneath shredded and twisted in ways they should not have been.\n            Light poured forth from Akatsuki's\npaws, shining over Volcan's wound as he poured all of his energy into the\nphoenix. \"I promised you the life you deserved; I shall not let you die now,\nuntil you have lived that life!\" He growled. \"My word is my bond!\" The light\naround his paws intensified with that, tendrils of light as big around as his\nforearm entering Volcan's body and encircling the inside of the wound on his\nback, making it and the blood flowing from it glow brightly.\n            Slowly, the blood receded, returning\nto its host body -not all of it, just that which had not already begun to dry,\nand the wound began to close...\n            \"YOU!!\"\n            Akatsuki looked up with a start, barely in time to see the electric\nblue figure leaping at him, seizing him by the throat and dragging him across\nthe room from the altar until they reached the wall. The enraged lightning hawk\nslammed Akatsuki against the wall heavily; had his body been real and not\nmerely a shell hosting his spirit, it would have knocked the wind out of him,\nbut the ribs -real enough, as it were, groaned dangerously under the impact.\n            \"You are not going to lay another hand on my brother!!\" Lighris bellowed as\nhe drew back his left fist, charged with electricity and ready to smash in\nAkatsuki's skull.\n            A powerful hand gripped the back of\nLighris' neck; that touch somehow released the tension of all of his muscles,\nforcing him to let go of Akatsuki as he was pulled back from him. \"Begone!\"\nIzrail bellowed as he hurled Lighris across the chamber, sending him flying\nover the altar, onto the stairs of the dais and tumbling down to the far wall.\n            A flash of silvery-white across his\neyes, and Izrail suddenly felt the cold sting of a sword edge at his neck.\nSlowly, he followed to blade to the hand holding it, then gazed over the hand\ninto a pair of ice-blue eyes that eyed him with contempt. Izrail showed no\nconcern at the blade, briefly glancing up to see the dragoness and wind phoenix\nrunning over to Volcan's side, cringing as they saw the gaping wound in his\nback.\n            \"If I were you, boy,\" Izrail began.\n\"I would not interfere.\"\n            \"You owe us an explaination,\" Vinge\nstated firmly. \"Who are you, what did you do to Volcan; start talking!\"\n            \"Or what?\" Izrail asked. \"You will\nkill me? You do not understand who it is you threaten, mortal.\"\n            \"I know that an Anubite can only be\nkilled by decapitation,\" Vinge returned, pressing his broken sword harder into\nIzrail's neck. \"And my ropera is still sharp enough to do the job even with a\nfew inches missing.\"\n            Izrail's hard stare turned to one of\nintrigue as he continued to stare into Vinge's eyes, seeing no bluff or\nhesitation in his stare; the Ice Phoenix was fully prepared to kill him, even\nif he really could not do so. Not permanently anyway. It was beneath the\ndemigod to bequeath to the wishes of a mortal, but there was truth in Vinge's\nwords; they had grabbed Volcan without warning, so it was only natural his\nfriends would be concerned.\n            \"Well played, young one,\" Izrail\ncomplimented. \"But I think you should demand the explanation after Akatsuki has\nstabilized your friend.\"\n            \"That eight-tailed freak isn't\nlaying another hand on my brother!\" Lighris yelled, back on his feet.\n            \"Then Volcan will die,\" stated\nIzrail. \"In his current state, the phoenix cannot be moved, and no mortal\ndoctors can treat him; even the healing tears of another phoenix cannot heal\nhim now. Only Akatsuki's mighty Light powers can save him. So let him pass, or\nsay your farewells; this damage is too extensive for even a phoenix to come\nback from.\"\n            Vinge watched Izrail for a moment\nbefore he dared a look over his shoulder to Lighris, nodding to him. \"Let him,\"\nhe stated.\n            \"You actually trust this bastard?\"\nLighris demanded. \"After what he just did to Volcan?!\"\n            \"We have no choice! He's dying!\"\nVinge reminded, looking at Akatsuki. \"Do it!\"\n            Akatsuki nodded to him, and stepped\nover to Volcan. Pavan and Obsidian stepped aside to give him space, and the\neight-tailed fox held his paws over Volcan's back, re-casting his previous\nhealing incantation, filling Volcan's open wound with his light; it had begun\nbleeding again, and the damage was still extensive and deep, but surely it was\nhealing with Akatsuki's power, the might of the Light Element sharing its life\nwith the phoenix.\n            \"Your friend is strong,\" he stated\nto the other Os-Nadarra. \"The fact he is even still alive after that experience\nis a miracle, but he will never be the same as he was before.\"\n            \"What do you mean?\" Obsidian asked.\n            \"With the separation of that entity,\nhe will not be the same person anymore. He'll remain coherent and, after some\ntime to recover, he will eventually be as strong as ever, but his mind, his\nthoughts, and his personality; all of it may be changed,\" explained Akatsuki.\n\"He could be the bravest being on earth, or the biggest coward, a genius or a\nfool; it is hard to say. This was not merely a cancer he has been cured of; an\nentire second entity he was bound with, body and soul, has now parted, and the\ndamage it has left behind will be deeper than this wound.\"\n            \"Will he ever recover?\" Pavan asked.\n            \"Time never fails to heal all\nwounds,\" Akatsuki replied. \"But it shall be quite a while before this phoenix\nreturns to full strength. At the very best, I can say a year.\"\n            \"A year?\" Lighris repeated. \"You\nmean he has to stay bedridden for an entire year?!\"\n            \"Not bedridden... but he must not\nfight until he returns to his full strength,\" returned Akatsuki. \"Even then, he\nmay not be exactly as he was before.\"\n            There was a long silence throughout\nthe chamber as Akatsuki continued to heal Volcan. Nobody said anything for a\nwhile, until Pavan suddenly fidgeted and turned to Izrail. \"So... what is it\nexactly you guys did here?\" He asked. \"And who the heck are you guys anyway?\"\n            Izrail turned to the Wind Phoenix,\nlooking at him with an expressionless gaze, saying nothing for a moment as he\nconsidered how best to answer the question. The eyes of the intruders were on\nhim, now, waiting expectantly. \"So be it,\" he stated. \"First, allow me to\nintroduce myself. I am Izrail, Sultan of Hamunaptra and Keeper of the entrance\nto Duat, the realm of the dead. I serve the God of the Dead, Anubis, and the\nGod of Judgement, Osiris, as their agent, the keeper of their secrets, and the\nguide of those whose time has come.\"\n            Vinge's eyes widened. \"You're... a\ndemigod?\" He asked, surprised. \"An avatar of Anubis himself?\"\n            \"Wait, that means the Egyptian Gods\nare real?\"\n            \"Yes,\" returned Izrail, before\ngesturing to Akatsuki. \"And this is Yaiba Akatsuki from Japan, the scholarly\nSwordsmaster of the Rising Sun.\"\n            \"A Samurai?\" Pavan asked.\n            \"An actual Samurai,\" Vinge added.\n\"And, judging by his many tails... I'm guessing he is a kitsune?\"\n            \"Nogitsune,\" corrected Akatsuki. \"I\nhave left the order of Inari to pursue my own curiosities. I serve Izrail now,\nnot the Goddess of Harvest.\"\n            \"Akatsuki assists me in protecting\nthis city,\" explained Izrail. \"And he researches the secrets of the city at my\nbehest.\"\n            \"I see,\" returned Vinge, turning back\nto Izrail. \"Now... why did you come after Volcan; what was your interest in\nhim.\"\n            \"Not he,\" returned Izrail, shaking\nhis head. \"My interest was on that entity dwelling within him.\"\n            \"You were after Black Volcan?\"\nLighris asked.\n            Izrail scoffed. \"A poor title to\ndescribe the thing your brother contained. Within him was the essence of a\ndemonic beast known as Lucarinai.\"\n            \"Luca-whozzits??\" Pavan asked.\n            \"Lucarinai,\" Vinge corrected. \"But I\nthought Lucarinai was a myth.\"\n            Izrail shook his head. \"No. He is\nvery real. Or was, until his death eight centuries ago.\"\n            \"Wait, hold up,\" Obsidian\nintervened. \"You just said Volcan was carrying the essence of... Lucarinai, but\nnow you just said he was killed eight hundred years ago?\"\n            \"He was, but Lucarinai is such a\npowerful demon, that didn't stop him,\" returned Izrail. \"A fragment of his\nessence somehow has been wandering the world for the last eight centuries,\nsearching for a new host, and it appears that he found it within your friend,\nand has been harbored inside of him for his entire life.\"\n            \"So that thing we saw,\" Pavan asked.\n\"That was this demon you're talking about.\"\n            \"It was... and yet at the same time,\nit was not,\" replied Izrail.\n            Lighris scowled. \"Please don't start\ntalking in riddles; they annoy me.\"\n            Izrail leered. \"I am speaking very\nclearly; only those of limited intellect would not understand my meaning.\"\n            Lighris' eye twitched. \"Limited...\nintellect?\" He repeated.\n            \"Let it go, Lighris!\" Pavan pleaded,\npatting the lightning hawk's shoulders.\n            Vinge stepped in before things could\nescalate. \"So that thing we saw was Lucarinai's essence, embodied, and now\nsomehow sentient; is that what you're telling us?\"\n            \"Precisely,\" returned Izrail.\n\"Lucarinai was very primal, driven only by basic motor functions due to events\npre-dating recorded history. To give the short of it, he is nothing more than a\nwild animal, bent on destroying everything in sight.\"\n            Lighris, having now calmed down,\nfrowned at that. \"So Black Volcan was running off of Lucarinai's mindset.\"\n            \"Yes,\" returned Izrail. \"However,\nnow the essence has somehow become sentient, intelligent, and now is running\nwild out there in sands of Egypt.\"\n            \"Do you want us to help you catch\nhim?\" Vinge offered.\n            Izrail shook his head. \"He can do no\nharm here. Akatsuki shall seek him out, and deal with him accordingly,\"\nreturned the demigod, glancing over at the nogitsune. \"After he has rested some.\"\n            The eight-tailed nogitsune was\nsitting down by the altar, having finished his work on Volcan. The phoenixes'\nback was sealed, but no feathers were re-forming on his back where the dark\nessence had emerged. In place of those feathers was a lump of flesh, warped and\ntwisted as if churned in a mixing machine. Obsidian walked over to the\nunconscious phoenix, and gingerly touched that spot on his back; it felt dry\nand lumpy, like dead flesh; Volcan made no movement to her touch, but he was\nbreathing albeit labored.\n            \"He shall carry that scar for the\nrest of his life,\" stated Akatsuki. \"But he shall live.\"\n            Obsidian looked at Akatsuki, and\nallowed herself to smile at him, tears in her eyes. \"Thank you,\" she stated.\n            Akatsuki acknowledged her gratitude\nwith a nod.\n            Vinge was standing in silence, his\nhead lowered and eyes narrowed, biting the tip of his left index finger in deep\nthought. After a moment of this, he turned to Lighris. \"There's one thing I\ndon't understand,\" he stated. \"How did this essence even land within Volcan?\nAnd why; why him?\"\n            Lighris shook his head. \"I don't\nknow, Vinge,\" he admitted. \"I've known that darkness was in my brother since we\nwere kids... but I never found out how he received it. The only one who might\nbe able to answer that is my mother.\"\n            \"I would suggest you go to see her\nthen,\" stated Izrail. \"And Volcan will need to be left in someone's care until\nhe is able to get up and walk on his own again.\" He drew his sword and slashed\nat the air, opening a new portal. \"Now it is time for all of you to leave.\nAkatsuki and I have done our parts to help your friend; the rest is up to you.\"\n            Lighris looked ready to protest, no\ndoubt wanting more answers from the demigod, but Vinge put his hand, shaking\nhis head, before pointing at Volcan and starting to walk over to him. Lighris\ngrunted, but followed the Ice Phoenix to the altar, where the two of them,\nslowly and carefully, hoisted Volcan up with his arms slung over their\nshoulders, and gently dragged him to the portal. Pavan and Obsidian followed\nclosely behind, both of them glancing at Izrail and Akatsuki once more before\nthey followed Vinge and Lighris through. With that, Izrail held up his open\npalm, closing that hand into a fist, and the portal shut behind them.\n \n~~~~~\n \nHaving escaped from the city deep in the desert, the\ndark form had spent several hours fleeing across the sands, all the way to\nCairo. With the city in sight the figure plunged out of the sky, diving into\nthe darkness of an alley where nobody could see it, and hid behind some piled\ntrash, gasping for breath and propping itself up with its staff, exhausted by\nthe strenuous flight, and still growing accustomed to this new form.\nHe placed a hand on the ground to steady himself as\nhe stood up, and saw in that hand some familiarity. Raising it to his face, he\nstudied it; it had become flesh, not pure dark matter, and besides having dark\ngrey skin, it closely resembled the hand of his host body from before. He\nstudied each finger and talon with interest, before looking at his other hand,\nthe one gripping his new staff as well, and found the hand was the same as his\nfirst, organic and strong.\nTurning to the trash pile, he stirred some of it\naside with his staff before finding a broken piece of mirror. He reached down\nand picked it up with his hand, holding it up to his face to see his\nreflection. In that broken glass, he saw the face of his former host, exactly\nthe same in everything except colour; as opposed to the red and gold of his\nhost, he had feathers as black as ink, and the streak running from the tip of\nhis crest, down his face and the front of his neck, was a bright purple. His\neyes were the colour of amethysts, and his beak was the same colour as his\nhands, a dark grey.\nHe stared at the picture for a moment, and then felt\nsomething... looking down, he noticed something else had appeared on his body;\na cuirass, inlaid with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, and even open at the\nback for his wings. He did not know when this had appeared on his body, but it\nappeared to be made of the same material as his staff -solid gold, and carrying\nsome form of enchantment no doubt. Besides that, he was still as nude as a\nhatchling fresh from the egg.\nThe creature grinned widely. \"How very fascinating,\"\nhe said, with a voice all-too familiar. \"I never imagined this would happen\nwhen I broke free.\" He began to chuckle sinisterly, the laugh steadily rising\nby the moment, until he heard a can being kicked around the corner. Flattening\nhimself against the wall, he stood in complete silence, waiting as a pair of\nfootsteps drew closer. A turban-wearing figure emerged around the corner,\nglancing about. He called out in Egyptian, questioningly, having evidently\nheard the dark phoenix and thought it may have been someone in trouble.\nHe turned towards the dark phoenix, and that is when\nhe struck, stabbing the butt-spear of his staff through the neck of the man\nbefore he could say anything; the eyes of the human went wide as blood spewed\nfrom his mouth, sputtering on the red liquid as he tried to call for help, to\nno avail. The phoenix lifted him up with the staff, carrying him the way he'd\nstruck him into the darkness of the alley before letting him drop to the\npavement, dead.\n\"Cannot risk detection just yet,\" he stated, looking\naround the corner to see if anyone had followed the man. Thankfully, no one\nhad; he was still safe for the moment.\nRealizing he needed some means to disguise himself,\nhe looked at the man he'd slain, studying the loose-fitting clothes he wore.\n\"Looks about my size,\" he muttered, and knelt down to begin removing the man's\nclothes. \"Once I'm done here, I'll be heading to the docks, to find a ship\nheading for North America.\"\n \n~~~~~\n \n            Degra ran for the door quickly after\nseeing the crowd approaching through her window -most especially her youngest\nson being carried between the lightning hawk and ice phoenix at the front.\nPulling it open she gave the three room to come inside, and gasped in horror\nwhen she saw the scar on Volcan's back, that twisted lump of flesh nearly\nmaking her sick at the mere sight of it. \nTurning to Pavan and Obsidian when they reached the\ndoor, she asked, firm-toned. \"What happened to him?\"\n            \"We'll explain, but do you have\nsomewhere we can put him?\" Obsidian asked.\n            \"Yes; his old room,\" replied Degra,\nturning to Vinge and Lighris. The latter nodded back to her and led the way\nover to the stairs, taking Volcan himself for a moment due to the stairs being\ntoo narrow for three to climb simultaneously, with Vinge bringing up the rear in\ncast Lighris lost his balance, and they carried the unconscious phoenix to his\nold bedroom, where they would lay him out on the single guest bed in that room.\n            Degra led the way into the living\nroom, accompanied by Pavan and Obsidian, who seated themselves on the couch as\nshe took a spot in the armchair, facing them and eyed them expectantly with her\nsharp blue eyes -the exact same colour as Volcan's and filled with just as much\nstrength, if not more, fixed on the two as she waited for the explanation.\n            \"I'll start from the beginning,\"\nObsidian opened, folding her hands in her lap.\n            \"'Sid, none of this is your fault,\"\nPavan reasoned.\n            \"I know... but at the same time I\ncan't help feeling I was somehow part of it,\" returned the dragoness. \"I'm the\none Volcan went to for help and I failed him.\" She looked at Degra, and began\nto fill her in on the details of what had happened to Volcan the night before,\nwhen he'd come to Obsidian's house to ask for her help.\n            From there, the story carried on to\nthe darker parts. Vinge came down to rejoin the group, even filling in some\nblanks on the events in the woods until the rest had arrived. The explanation\nthen carried on to the arrival of Izrail and Akatsuki -to which at first Degra\nseemed skeptical, but as the conversation carried on further, her attention to\nthe subject became much more focused. The explanation concluded with Obsidian\ntelling Degra of Izrail sending them back to Unity Falls, and when they brought\nVolcan to her door.\n            Degra's expression soured and she\nput her face in her hands, sobbing slightly. \"Oh my poor boy...\" she said. \"Why\ndid this have to happen to him?\"\n            \"Degra,\" Vinge stated, walking over\nto stand by the phoenix woman. \"I know this may be a touchy subject... but how\nis it Volcan came to possess that evil inside of him for so long? We're all\nhappy it's finally gone from him but it'd be easier to understand if we knew\nhow it came to be. Izrail told us the essence of his dark side came from a\ncreature known as Lucarinai; were you aware of that?\"\n            Degra shook her head. \"I didn't know\nwhere it came from,\" she replied. \"To this day it never mattered; I wanted only\nfor my son to be free of it...\" She let out a long sigh. \"I suppose that the\ntime has come I pass on the secret.\" She raised her gaze, meeting the eyes of\nthe others and beginning to speak. \"I was still carrying Volcan when it\nhappened; I had not lain his egg yet, but I was out for a walk one afternoon,\nin Lakeview Park. It was a normal, spring afternoon; I saw no reason I\nshouldn't try to keep fit, so I went out.\n            \"There were not many other people\naround that day so, I was enjoying that walk for the solitude, and let my mind\nwander. But that's when I walked into it; a strange... aura, I guess would be\nthe best word. I couldn't see, hear, smell or touch it, but I felt it was\nthere, and I got back out of it as fast as I could. Unfortunately... I was not\nquick enough to stop it from placing a part of itself upon my child.\" She\nsobbed again, placing her hand over her stomach. \"If I had only been quicker...\"\n            Vinge placed a hand on her shoulder,\neyeing her sympathetically and with some understanding as he spoke. \"Some\nthings are far beyond our control,\" he said. \"Elementals we are, Gods we are\nnot; our fates can be turned in another direction by the most unforeseeable of\nthings... something I know all too well.\"\n            Degra looked up at Vinge briefly,\nand then turned to Obsidian and Pavan. \"Thank you all for being there for my\nson,\" she stated. \"But I can't help but feel responsible for all of you having\nto g through this...\"\n            \"Hey, Volcan's my pal,\" Pavan\nstated. \"I'd go to hell and back for the guy.\"\n            \"I owe him just as much,\" added\nVinge.\n            \"And I couldn't really call myself a\ncop if I stood by and did nothing, could I?\" Obsidian added. \"Especially for\nsomeone I care about.\"\n            Degra smiled at them, and then\nlooked up as footsteps were heard at the stairway; the others followed her\ngaze, and spotted Lighris standing at the top of the steps. \"Hey guys,\" he\ncalled. \"Volc's awake.\"\n            At that, the entire group stood up\nfrom their chairs and made a beeline for the stairway. Joining Lighris at the\ntop they followed him down the hall to Volcan's room, where he shouldered open\nthe door an stepped inside, and revealed the inside. Volcan was lying prone on\nthe bed, on his stomach as most winged beings slept, his eyes half-lidded with\nfatigue. As the door opened he weakly turned to look at the others as they\nentered.\n            Degra was at his side in seconds,\nplacing a hand on Volcan's back and already starting to cry again. \"My poor\nson,\" she whispered.\n            \"Hi mom,\" the phoenix rasped.\n            \"Hello,\" returned Degra, smiling\nwryly.\n            \"Is everyone alright?\" The phoenix\nasked.\n            Vinge knelt down at Degra's side,\nletting Volcan see him without having to strain himself to look. \"We're all\nokay, Volcan,\" he assured the fire phoenix. \"This may be a dumb question but...\nhow are you feeling?\"\n            \"Like I'm made out of iron,\"\nreturned Volcan. \"Can't move...a muscle.\"\n            \"Don't,\" Vinge stated as he saw\nVolcan's wings twitch. \"Don't try to. You have been through an experience that\nshould have killed you, and still may if you aren't careful.\" He touched\nVolcan's shoulder. \"You need to rest. It may be quite a while before you can\nwalk again, but it has to be done.\"\n            \"Couldn't get up now even if I\nwanted to,\" Volcan returned.\n            \"You'll heal fast, buddy,\" Pavan\nremarked, appearing at Vinge's side and grinning at the fire phoenix. \"When\nyou're back up what say we shoot some hoops or something?\"\n            \"Happy to,\" returned Volcan, before\nlooking at both Pavan and Vinge sadly. \"Although... our band might suffer a bit\nif I can't play...\"\n            \"Let us worry about that,\" Vinge\nsemi-scolded. \"You just focus on healing.\"\n            \"Right...\" Volcan returned, and then\nhis eye rolled around, searching for something. \"Is Obsidian here?\"\n            \"She is,\" replied Vinge getting up\nand stepping back from Volcan, looking over at the dragoness.\n            Obsidian swallowed nervously, but\nstepped forward, taking Vinge's place at Volcan's side, and her gaze met that\nof the downed phoenix, both of their expressions turning guilty and remorseful.\nShe noticed the fingers of his hand twitch, and she gently grasped it with her\nown hand. It felt cool... not a feeling she expected from a fire phoenix, as\nVolcan's body temp was normally very high, but his palm felt no warmer than an\nordinary avian's palm would. Nevertheless she gripped it firmly with one hand,\nstroking the top of it with her other.\n            \"'Sid...\" Volcan rasped to her. \"I'm\nso sorry... that I hurt you...\"\n            She shook her head at him. \"You didn't,\" she stated, her tone\nassertive. \"I know you'd never do anything to hurt me; I never believed for a\nmoment it was you.\"\n            Volcan managed to crack a grateful\nsmile to the dragoness, and with that smile she silently swore his hand became\nwarmer. \"I'm glad...\" Was all he managed before his eyes started to close, and\nhis breathing slowed to low and labored, and entire body becoming limp as he\nslipped out of consciousness.\n            \"Blacked out,\" muttered Degra,\nstroking Volcan's back. \"Poor baby...\"\n            \"We should go now,\" said Vinge. \"We\nneed to tell everyone else what happened; I imagine Rikyuu is still out there\nlooking for Volcan.\"\n            \"I texted him,\" intervened Pavan,\nholding up his phone. \"He knows he's safe. Just the same, I'll head to see him\nwhen we're out.\"\n            Obsidian leaned toward Volcan,\nplanting a kiss on his forehead as she rested his hand at his side, a tear\ntrickling down her face as she pulled back. \"See you soon,\" she whispered to\nhim before she looked at Degra, who gave the dragoness a reassuring look before\nletting Obsidian use her for support and return to her feet.\n            \"I'm going to stay for a bit,\" said\nLighris. \"He's my kid brother, after all.\"\n            Vinge nodded. \"We'll see you soon,\"\nhe said, and slowly left the room. \nObsidian was the next to leave, rubbing her eyes and\nsniffing slightly. The last to go was Pavan, who clapped a hand on Lighris'\nshoulder and nodded to him appreciatively before he too left the room, stuffing\nhis hands into his pockets as he followed Vinge and Obsidian to the stairs and,\neventually, to the front door, where the three left in silence.\n \n~~~~~\n \n            The dark phoenix sat on the top of\nthe smokestack of the massive cargo ship bound for Japan, staring out to the\nocean as the massive vessel made its way to the East. Having been unable to\nfind a boat bound for Canada or the\nUnited States, he decided to make do with this, intent on finding passage back\nto Canada from Japan. Already, the gears were turning in his mind; what he\nwould do when he got back to Canada, and what should be done about his\nlook-alike, who assuming hadn't perished with their separation, was still out\nthere in the Western Hemisphere.\n            This could not be allowed... there\nhad to be only one of them.\n            But, his powers were still not at\nfull strength; if he were to confront the Os-Nadarra, even deprived of Volcan\nas they were, he would fall at the hands of the other members, who would no\ndoubt protect the phoenix -if he were still alive. Even if he wasn't, the mere\nsight of the dark phoenix would spur all of them into action. He knew this...\nhe knew them. All of them...\neverything his former host knew about his friends, this dark phoenix knew too.\nThey shared memories up to their final moments as one.\n            The dark phoenix chuckled. Maybe he\ncould make use of these memories. But for now, he wondered what he would find\nin the Land of the Rising Sun...\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/737921-arc-2-prologue-the-aftermath.json"}