Back to Fragments

June and Jefferson had carved it out of their blood, but even so, with their gifts, should it steam the way it did? Maybe it was an effect of the painted runes, glowing that blood red, the white-haired young woman couldn't help but remember her older brother. Turning his head so he could make out that dejected expression spread across her features, Darrell gave her a motivating slap on the arm, leading for her head to turn toward his own, their sight matching, despite their height differences.

"Don't think about it. Focus on the present, alright?" He advised the girl, one arm leaning over to pat the top of her head, but as she chuckled, she couldn't help but feel their gazing eyes infiltrating her soul's lone presence.

Azazel with Katie and Natalia by his side just outside the warp circle the other duo painted so easily, arms crossed and over this chest, a smile appeared over his lips. Saluting the two off with but two fingers against his temples, Katie waved on over to her Agent partner, while Natalia stood idle, just silent, watching as a ball of fire burnt alight below their feet.

The chants enhanced the sounds of their voices, mimicking that of a demonic cry resounding within the widespread forest, leaves shaking as if a tremor were occurring… all June and Jefferson had to do was simply say the words to the reason in the world that composed their anatomies to start to disintegrate.

And just as the invocation was brought into reality with a minuscule slur of those words, their souls had decomposed to the slightest ember, whisked away by the winds of spring, slamming them down onto the rocky lands of their destination. Dwindling cry of spirits distant reminding her of a past assumed forgotten while reminding her of a time she'd rather let fade, Jefferson couldn't help but grimace at the distant sighting of the facility's flickering lights pointed upward at the sky, alerting everyone to such a bewildering presence. A huff of this tainted air sent trickles of remembrance through his brain, both arms by his sides, one leg propping him up higher on piled-up debris as June stood lower.

It was akin to spotting someone you'd rather not, their face belonging to such horrendous memories that should stay locked behind a vault, he could feel himself gagging at the thought. Or rather, maybe those were the thoughts surging back, the way their peeled-apart bodies sat so idly at his feet, revealing innards that spilled out so gradually with disgusting sounds accompanying the disgusting way they detached from the insides. There was no mistaking what laid ahead of him; this unforgettable presence, that neverending purple sky that seemed to share a stronger tint of red than usual, the stench of burning flesh lingering into their nostrils. Without a shadow of a doubt, here it was...

The Remnant World, in all its horrifying glory, stretched out before them, a wasteland carved from the desire of one man, Jefferson thought back to a time when he could stand in this very spot and watch as those lights turned on to illuminate the night sky. Tips so sharp that it was hard to believe they hardly scraped the clouds on rainy days, just barely peeking in from the grey to stare upon the vastness of the heavens' grace from below.

"This is the same as ever... I hate it just as much as I did back then."

Whether Jeff or June had said that, the statement remained the same, it didn't matter, for their vocals, no matter how distinguishable they were, mattered not in the face of the lurking evil stalking their every move. As Darnell's dark hand brushed against a broken monument, raised to praise whatever dead gods formerly existed, there it was. Another presence; one he'd sensed before, but despite this familiarity, he wouldn't have been able to place the name, if not for the way the duo turned in unison. This time, without the signature trench coat symbolizing the evolution of the human species, allowing his abs to bathe in the hidden sun, looming behind the distorted sky's purple clouds, Icarus held his knee to his face...

"Nice to see you two, don't believe we've been formerly acquainted with one another. Icarus Chrollo, the Jester, former leader of the Jester's Deck."

"So, you're the new member of Rivers' group, huh? What was it again... 'the Mankind Evolution Frontier'? I'm surprised someone as selfish as you is teamed up with them!" Cried Jeff with the swipe of his hands, leading Chrollo to shrug as he turned his head away, disregarding eye contact, allowing the silence to reign.

June's pupils moved at lightspeed, attempting to search for the source of that bone-chilling audio, for however creepy it may sound, without a doubt, it was familiar.

"I'm surprised you know about them! If I were any of the other members, I woulda killed ya on the spot... but I'm nice like that," Icarus felt his jacket attach over his shoulders, hiding both sides but revealing the front of his chest, long strands of dark moving with the apocalyptic wind, he stared down at the two of them, "The Founder and I remain within a silent tug-of-war with one another. I intend to win, and doing so means sabotaging the Frontier at every possible chance I get. I have zero intention of fighting you both, currently."

June couldn't help but feel her teeth grit at the mention of a fight, for her eyes flared in the center with an uncontainable rage. Like puddles of shadow pouring out from her sneaker's bottoms, a blinding light prohibited Jeff's vision as he stood at her side. Erratically snapping from her skin to point out her back, growls akin to a bloodthirsty predator stalking their prey exiting her lips, that green glow from her eyes had not only spread to her spine… but it no longer remained the same color it was known as.

The second the tendrils aimed at where he formerly stood, they simply penetrated the afterimage he left behind, for now, he stood behind her, facing the opposite direction, but with one hand gripping her shirt's back. The air as clean as Heaven's rays encasing his soul with a glistening golden glow, Icarus smiled at the touch of the winds soothing his lengthy locks to the core.

"As I said, there's no intention within my soul that indicates a fight between you two and I will occur. However, I'm not so kind to leave you breathing, and so, with just a singular fist to enter your organs…"

Icarus vocalized a chilling promise, resounding a menacing quiver down the spines of his victims, for June's face was perspiring at a speed equivalent to light. The presence to her back was unlike any she's ever felt before, like the devil's horns were piercing through her back, and she could only look down in shock of the blades exiting her chest, bloodied at the tips.

But even so, that illusion faded like the winter's super chilled winds, wished away with a gentle fade, for the second June turned back, there was only the faint whisper of the damned souls pleading out from the prison… of his heart.

They were left with the cruelty of the world laid out plainly before them like freedom stretched widespread like a virus infecting viable hosts deemed worthy. Snarls of the Jester's minions echoed further to send bumps over her skin, a simple touch to her shoulder sent a warm chill to counteract those frightening urges, her head turning to meet his galaxy-themed eyes, a smile just barely peeling over her lips.

"Let's go."

But as the suggestion to continue their journey reached her ears, she had to hold it in as she walked forward, not only the sweat begging to leak out her face's pores- but the aching nervousness caused by the crack in Jefferson's voice.

Even so, despite the weary threat of the Jester's madness looming over their heads, they moved forward without hesitation. For the more they walked, the sun had hidden behind the purple clouds, reigning the darkness more than ever before, but even so, the emerald Eternal Sight peered through the curtain of the night to spot their first obstacle.

A group of hoarder remnants surrounding a monument to a specific artifact laid carelessly against the ground, to which June and Darnell stared from the mountain overlooking the smaller landmark. From that moment on, as tendrils contorted out like crazy bones snapping out the spine of the Wilder sister, it was clear to them both- from the moment they jumped down:

Their mission had begun.

To Be Continued.