CHPT 469: Smells of Disaster, Memories of Torture….

Life is fickle— no, life is feeble. Constantly fading and crumbling like weathered stone. Like the scorched remains of a village. After seeing it lose— wither…. Fall, so many times over you realize that.

You begin to view it under a new lens. A lens uncorrupted by values born into and practices beyond their time.

Life is a like a weed. Easily uprooted….. even easier to burn. And with that burn, came rewards.

Men with a purpose reaped those rewards like a wolf once left to starve. He scarfed them down— he burned through one after the other to get to the next when he could.

He could feel Ronin take notice. He could feel his senses envelope him as they traveled inside their carriage.

The only source of light being the Runes drawn on the interior of the carriage's black metal walls, giving the inside a malicious rainbow wave glow. Even without it, he could make out Ronin's features well.

He looked the same— if only more tired. He wore his classic battle armor. A mix of European and Japanese styled yoroi. The plated portions of metal held together by magical thread and sinew bounced and jiggled every-time the horses dragged them over a stone or lump in the road. His deep hood deepened the shadows around him and made his inhumanely pale skin stand out much like his blue eyes. So perceptive. He truly was sensing him….

He wondered if he could feel the rage too…

"You look older, Samuel."

One of the Runes beside him sputtered out glowing blue cooling sparks, monitoring the temperature inside in response to his own heat rising.

"I do." Samuel agreed, his voice came out rough— wrong. He hadn't been in his human skin for months. He didn't enjoy it…. Being imperfect…. Choosing to be less than what he knew he was.

The Detective sitting beside him tried not to cough before digging his face deeper into his hood.

Samuel watched him. And his father watched that. The cooling Rune spit its sub zero magics at him once more and the curtains fluttered on the windows, showing the lands outside.

The Levant was beautiful. Second only to The Sunlands. The power held in its sands and snow topped mountains was like nothing he'd ever tasted. The average man there could turn the average man in SkyHaven to a liquid given enough time. The average monster….. well, no need to get into the gory details.

The same could be said for the place he left. Neo-Rema, The Reman Castrum. A world hidden in the world of The Levant. A world that would only grow with his addition to its ranks. He'd done their bidding, he'd played his role and risen up the ladder at Dolion and his Lupine handlers behest.

And then one night, he was kneeling— whining, before the Highest Alpha's. The Scorn of Remus. The Queen of Scorn. He could still remember her words so clearly— he could see Dolion in her. Especially in her rage. Her hate.

"YOU'RE WEAK! ALL OF YOU ARE SO FUCKING USELESS— I WANT TO EAT YOU!"

He shivered and shook off the memory only to find his father still watching. Watching as if he missed him.

"How did you get out here, Samuel? How did you travel from New Gloria to The Levant?" Ronin asked in his coldly smooth voice. Like a blade through unprotected skin.

"…..I was taken."

"Tell me by who and they'll be gone before their next blink."

"I don't want that, father." It felt so wrong to say. In his mind he had no father. He was his own man following The Scorn's directives as far as he was concerned.

Ronin's face twisted with surprise as he watched the being sitting across from him. The being that should've been his son….. but the longer he looked, the more he questioned.

"What do you mean, Samuel?"

The cooling Rune began spitting its cold magics again, snowflakes and blue particles of luminescence. It worked overtime as steam rose from his fingertips until shorting out completely for a moment as he looked up at the number one Hero.

"I don't want you to kill them. They became my friends…."

Maybe friends was an overstatement. Sure it was. He'd kill every one of his captors given the chance— maybe not Aiko or Bengal. But his fathers face in those moments was sweeter than fresh fear.

***

The rest of the ride went by in silence. Ronin found that all the questions he had went watery and leaked from his mind everytime he looked to Samuel. He was found, that's all that mattered. Maybe that's what was in his mind.

But to think he wouldn't even ask about Tai. Wouldn't even speak of him. Maybe dying as a malformed was good for him. He was nothing but Samuel's shadow.

After another hour or so of riding, they came to a stop, Samuel could hear the sands smacking against his windows— but still the sounds of the beautiful mainland city hammered away at his ears. They weren't far from it.

The doors opened, Detectives and Deployed Heroes from the Onslaught Guild lined the doorways like living sentinels.

Samuel stepped out, his father and the others followed.

"We rest here. It'll be easy for me to track and sense electrical signatures than in the city. I also need to make a call." Ronin ordered the others as they began setting up camp in the sands.

He looked around while they worked. A few miles north, the city stood like a massive chandelier slammed into the earth.

Glowing… shimmering …. Glass and unique architecture. The place was spiked with skyscrapers, remodeled to fit the world of magic. Massive Runes written across the glass and built into the metal framework pulsed until they'd eventually weaken before recharge phases. Their lands even stretched out into the sea that ran alongside them all, lighting up the waters below for miles.

If he remembered his schooling well enough then he was right to assume they were in Old World Dubai…. Close at least. He didn't remember it's real name. Schools back in New Gloria tended to stick to Old World names as a means of sly propaganda— a way to make other places seem less advanced. He'd been around the world. It didn't take a genius to know New Gloria housed the weakest men and women of the current generation.

SHHHKKKOOM!!

A bolt of lightning fell from the perfectly clear skies. Samuel keeled over, covering his ears in pain as another ten assaulted the skies and dove into the waters.

Through his blurred vision, Samuel found his father standing at the shores with his hand raised, glowing as if he were a being made of pure energy.

It was then that Samuel noticed the lightning continued to fall from the sky in a tight line that ran for miles.

Then it ended. And Samuel found the Detectives watching him warily. He ran his hands over his head and recollected himself before walking away.

An hour or so passed and the camp was set up. Tents fortified by two Earth Users in the group surrounded Samuel and his father as they ate over a flame.

The rations tasted hideous. Foul and burnt monster flesh.

Humans were better. Fresh.

"Forgive me for the state of our meal. I came as soon as I heard word of you being here."

Samuel bit his finger until it bled. As his father watched, he let his blood drip over the fire, turning it to a dark purple flame. Less light, less smoke.

"That's fine. I had my fill before this…" Samuel scarfed down every bit of the food— aside from the vegetables he turned to ash in his left hand.

Ronin looked up at him, "Help from your friends?"

"No. Just me."

"Good. Those friends of yours made a huge mistake. I'm disappointed you didn't tell them this, Samuel. You understand they will die, don't you?"

Samuel shook his head. Ronin hadn't changed at all.

Ronin's jaw clenched and the sky crackled with light. "Don't forget who you belong to Samuel Leon— who's legacy YOU have the gift of carrying. Your name holds weight….. the actions people place on you set a precedent, boy. They sully my name and everything I've done to build this empire. You'll tell me about your friends…. You will. Or I'll scrub this region raw just like I did the Vada District in search of Claude!"

Samuel's ears perked up at the mention of his name. His mind played off the last memories he had of him.

The massive black furred monster. Eyes like the forest, stripes of midnight. Weak and emotional heap of rage and hatred. Alone. Hunted. Only winning by chance. Ruining his life… Jack made sure he knew that.

"What was Claude doing there?"

Ronin's icy fury subsided like a passing storm. Catastrophe just barely missed.

"He fled SkyHaven with a hostage. Missing for months… wars follow him. Yet you were nowhere near."

Samuel's interest skyrocketed— followed by worry. If he was gone, then he wouldn't be at the University.

"Who was the hostage?" Samuel was practically foaming at the mouth.

Ronin swallowed his last chunk of dried Lizardman meat, "U—"

His words were cut short something massive crashed into the sands from the ocean side.

They all turned to find a massive creature laying in the sands missing its head. Even so Samuel could make out the sparkling spots on its grey skin combined with its massive shape.

A Spotted Beast-Shark. An evolved species of Whale-Shark.

A woman rose from the waves, standing calmly as the waters splashed against her ankles.

"What is the Ocean Lord doing here?" He questioned, barely noticing Ronin rise to his feet and walk over to her.

The two spoke— quietly even for him as she kneeled before Ronin. Their relationship seemed odd. Most high ranking heroes had ego. You needed it to survive and get through that much murder. But the woman in the water had none as she faced him. Like a dog.

Even the more submissive Lupines of Remus had more fight in them.

He spat on the ground in disgust, his spit turned the sands beside his foot to black tinted glass as he watched.

He listened as best he could, but he didn't really hear much until she outright stood up and looked at him.

"—t your son, Ronin….."

It was then that Ronin turned to look back at him with her. For the first time, his eyes seemed as wild as Samuel's— same for the Ocean woman. It was bizarre. In those few seconds they all shared that similarity— that relation…..

And then the woman was diving back into the waters, moving beneath the waves like a torpedo.

"Don't fuck this up, blondie. We'll see you in a month." Dolion's voice entered his mind and slammed his vitals back to normal.

"A month….. you better be there…. You better."