Act 1 - Chapter 4

Chapter 9: Ajal; Shauran 20th, 344SR; 05:50

'If you don't kill them... They'll just come back!'

"Peace... Requires sacrifice..." Ajal murmured under his breath.

'Even worlds outside of Imperion are cursed by sin…'Ajal glanced back at Jack, he was a just a few steps behind, but he held his head low. The two hadn't exchanged words for a while. It was dark, the wind rustled the leaves of the trees above. They made their way through the lush forest, accompanied by the ambience of nature. 'He probably thought I sounded pretentious when I said that… If I was in his position, I'd think the same…'

Jack had short brown hair, his light skin was dry and darkened by dirt and dust. He wore dirty beige pants, and a stained white shirt. Ajal could feel his skin crawling at the touch of the unwashed clothes he received from him. 'They don't have showers... Bathing must be a pain…' Ajal pulled his collar up and sniffed it, the scent reminding him of dirty socks. 'Grelt… I can barely remember what happened before I passed out after… After that…' Ajal shook his head as he sighed. 'I thought I told the autopilot to take me to the nearest place I could lay low… But instead I ended up somewhere much more interesting... I guess this confirms whether imperial ships can handle a trip between planets…' As they reached the eastern edge of the forest, the number of trees around them dwindled, and the path lead upward between a series of hills.

"I sense people…" Ajal pointed to the top of the highest hill. "Give me a second, I'll check out the other side…"

The hill was roughly over fifty feet high, Ajal crouched down as he inhaled. Jack tilted his head, Ajal focused his spirit on his foot. He exhaled as he took kicked off the dirt, ascending halfway up the hill. He effortlessly ran up the rest in four steps, the stray leaves around him were scooped up by the air. As he reached the top in a few seconds, the wind brushing past his face softened. He looked back down, Jack was still at the bottom of the hill, dumbfounded by the quantity of leaves slowly falling around him.

Ajal walked past the trees, but stayed behind one as he noticed movement. To the left down the hill, the trail continued out of the forest towards a large building near the cliffside. 'Seems like they brought it here...' The building was surrounded by a gate at least twice Ajal's height. Several people stood by the front gate in white robes, all of them armed with metal polearms. The gate ran from the face of the mountain to the cliff side. Ajal scanned the edges of the building for an entrance, then noticed what appeared to be pipes on top of it. 'A factory? No… It seems too small… And I don't see any smoke…' Ajal sensed four people move closer to his position. 'Hm, they have people patrolling up here too? I'd prefer that they don't alert the others…' Ajal stepped backward through the trees, then slid down the hill. Leaves rustled behind him as he reached the bottom, he shifted his weight, stopping himself in front of Jack.

"They definitely brought my ship through here. There's a building at the top of the hill, a lot of people in white robes guarding it..." said Ajal.

"Guards… The ones in white robes are angels…" Jack nodded. "How many did you see?"

"Sensed about ten or twelve," Ajal sighed in disappointment . "I really thought they'd have wings…"

"Twelve?! We're outnumbered! How will… Uh…" Jack watched in disbelief as Ajal didn't even turn, he just kept walking. "Are you not worried? At all?!"

As they got around the bend, they found themselves at the bottom of a wide hill. At the top was the building Ajal had spotted earlier. 'My ship better not be damaged…' The path was extremely dark, the only light was from two torches at the front gate.

"I only see two… I thought you said twelve?" Jack asked.

"I said I sensed them… That includes people in the building… My spirit sense is always on point even if I don't activate it, don't worry…"

"You sensed them? What does that even mean… If there's that many, shouldn't we like… Make a plan?" Jack stressed, continuing to glance toward the hilltop.

"It's fine, don't worry, best case scenario we get in and out without anyone… Get down," Ajal immediately crouched down.

The tall grass brushed against Ajal's face, Jack hesitated for a second, then squatted down as well. At the top of the hill Ajal stood upon earlier, there were four dark silhouettes. 'I assumed those were angels… But… They aren't wearing the same outfits…' The four of them charged down the hill and spread out, one ran directly towards the front gate. They scattered in multiple directions as they all ran low, blending into the patches of darkness cast by the torches.

"Why are we hiding?" Jack whispered.

"We're not alone," Ajal said as he pointed to the dark figures running down the hill.

"Stop right there!" the angel near the gate shouted, however, the mysterious group continued forward without hesitation. "I said stop!"

"Shit! There are more of them! Ifrin call for backup!" another angel frantically shouted in the distance.

'They sound scared despite being the ones with weapons…' One of the mysterious assailants charged at the two angels in front of the entrance. He was big, charging in bare handed. He swung his clenched fists into the guards. From that distance, Ajal could barely hear the distant grunts and groans of their struggle.

"Do you know who they are?" Ajal whispered to Jack.

"N-No… This is the first time I've ever seen anyone else fight back against the angels... Who could they be?" Jack pondered.

Ajal observed one of the smaller assailants, it looked like a short woman. She ran towards the left of the gate, while the other two went in the other direction. The two angels drew metal staffs, one of them swinging his staff and striking the assailant in the head. A red mist lingered around his head, Ajal watched the man use his spirit to mitigate some damage. 'Huh- He…' The man's hood fell, revealing his bright red hair, he ran forward with a battle cry and tackled the angel to the ground. His fist struck the angel's stomach, then his face. He continued to relentlessly clobber the angel while grunting ferociously.

"Hey that guy can use spirit arts? Why can't you?" Ajal tilted his head at Jack.

"That's what you did to the boulder right? He can do that? Wait- I can do that?" Jack whispered in shock and surprise.

"You should be able to... Forget that for now, let's follow that one," Ajal pointed to the woman.

The woman made her way up towards the wall before she seemed to disappear over the hill. Ajal darted forward in the darkness and tall grass, laying low and quickly climbing the steep hill. Jack struggled to match his speed, instead, he ran out of breath a quarter of the way up the hill as he tried to keep pace. As Ajal reached the top of the hill, he saw the woman walk up the wall while holding a rope hooked on the other side. As she reached the top, she jumped over. Ajal turned to see Jack struggle up the hill, he raised his eyebrow and scratched his head as he made his way up. Ajal turned toward the entrance, the red haired man was gone, and the other two assailants were fighting the two guards at the entrance. Jack reached the top, he curled forward and held his knees, huffing repeatedly as he caught his breath.

"I am not waiting for you to climb the rope," Ajal grabbed the back of Jack's collar.

"Huh?" Jack looked confused, but gasped as Ajal suddenly jumped over the twelve foot gate.

Ajal soared right over it, then landed on the other side of the gate while holding Jack. A door into the building was left wide open, orange light spilling out. Ajal let go of Jack, he immediately fell to his knees, grabbed his mouth, then threw up. Ajal looked away awkwardly as he pursed his lips. 'I probably could have warned him…'

"Warn me before you do something like that!" Jack shouted with tears in the corner of his eyes.

Ajal scanned the area. The stone building was about three stories high. The front gate down the path to the right was wide open. There were training dummies made from sticks and straw arranged along the wall. Wagons full of dirt or stone. Baskets full of weaponry and tools.

"What is this place?" Jack pondered.

"I thought it was a factory… But it seems like a depot…" Ajal lifted a wooden sword out of a barrel, then dropped it. "Let's keep going…"

Ajal and Jack proceeded through the open door, only to see a small corridor leading further into the building. A lantern screwed to the wall is where the light came from, a small flame flickered within it. Another door in front of them was left open, they walked into the large room and found themselves on a stone catwalk that stretched along the left side of the room. At the other end of the catwalk was an open door to another section of the building, the woman from earlier was up ahead.

Below a large metal door was being guarded by angels who fought against the intruders. There were mixed grunts and wails from the commotion down below. Jack and Ajal looked over the edge to see the one who charged the front gate, he was fighting three angels at once.

"Holy crap that guy is intense!" Jack held the rails tightly as he watched them fight.

'That's intense? These guards are pushovers… Why were they even hired to be guards…' Ajal shook his head, turning away and continuing down the catwalk. The man let out a roar as he dodged a staff, stepped forward, and planted his fist into the angel's stomach. The other two each swung their staff, the smack echoing against through the room. But the red haired man didn't budge.

"Come on!" the red haired man hollered as Ajal entered the other room down the catwalk.

Ajal saw the girl from earlier, she was tinkering with the lock on a door at the other end of the catwalk. She was just shorter than Jack, her hair was tucked under a black cap. Ajal looked at her leg and noticed a secured knife, she wore black camo pants with a black turtleneck and gloves. Her hair slipped out the back of her hat and she had multiple extra pockets for utility. The lock on the door clicked and she opened it, only to be met with a wall of stone in front of her. She made a fist, Ajal noticed an aura surrounding her hand. 'So they are using spirit arts... just...' She swung her fist forward and made a small dent in the stone wall 'Very badly… She didn't even control it right…'

"Ah… Damn!" she winced in pain.

She tried to punch the wall again and made a small dent, the impact echoing through the room. She sighed, then shook her head and turned around to walk back across the balcony. However, her shoulders tensed up when she saw Ajal.

"Woah! Who are you! When did-" she looked at him from head to toe. "A miner... From Logos? What are you doing here?"

"Miner?" Ajal raised an eyebrow.

Ajal looked down at his clothes. 'Oh... Right…' But as he looked down, a purple light shining on the floor below caught his eye. As he looked to it's source, his eyebrows furled, and his nose twitched in disgust. 'You have got to be kidding…' Children no more than a few months old were on the lower level. Their skin colors varied, but they all seemed to be of similar age. They were all asleep in strange stone cradles with glass tops, bathing in purple fumes. Tubes ran from the cradles to a strange pillar-like device in the center of the room. A large chunk of voyistus was embedded into the pillar, the purple crystal that grew from Ajal's blood. Bright purple liquid from the central machine was being channeled into the cradles, radiating the air around the children. 'They know what my blood is capable of? But… What the hell are they doing with it? If they aren't directly having them make contact with it… They are clearly aware that its radiation is harmful…" Ajal's fists clenched, he felt a familiar rage course through him. Jack ran through the door to the larger room and saw what Ajal was staring at.

"Who are you? You two shouldn't be here!" the short woman tried to warn Jack and Ajal.

"Those kids are... They were taken yesterday by members of House Rael... But... They shouldn't have been brought here?" said Jack.

"I'm serious!" the woman shouted.

"Ajal... That girl's got a knife," Jack mentioned.

"Those pieces of shit..." Ajal quietly seethed as he jumped over the rail, dropping to the lower level.

"Ajal? What are you doing?!" Jack shouted.

"Why would he jump from this height, is he insane?!" the woman yelled.

Ajal landed on one knee, the impact felt like nothing to him. The grey cement floor was cold, Ajal could see his breath in the air in front of him. He looked around, two stair cases to large stone doors were on both sides of the room. One went further into the building, the other lead back toward the entrance. 'They even know the ideal temperature… They may not have technology as advanced… But they know what they are doing…' Ajal stretched his hand up into the sky, the girl and Jack were surprised to see a black shadow spill from his hand, extending into a pole. He spun it quickly as he took a stance, and a black blade stretched out of the end. The shadow took the form of a long black scythe. 'The central device looks like some sort of extractor… And it has to also be controlling the reaction steadily if its not blowing up… They have the technology, and the knowledge of how to harness it… They've done this before, haven't they…'

"Is that a scythe? Does he have a gift? Then... Who are you two?!" the girl turned to Jack and put her fists up. "You can't be non-unified, you're angels in disguise! Aren't you!"

"Wait! I'm non-unified! He's not from here, calm down!" Jack cowered.

"What do you me-" she was cut off by the sound of air swishing around rapidly below.

Ajal spun his scythe even faster, dust and pebbles got picked up around him. 'Spirit…' He gripped both hands on the scythe and swung through the air. 'Ignition!' The scythe didn't reach, but the smoke in front of him split in two horizontally. The pillar at the center of all the children split in two as well, separating the purple crystal from the pillar-shaped device. It fell slowly towards Ajal as a purple light radiated off his head.

"What in the..." Jack whispered.

Ajal tossed the scythe to the side, but as it hit the floor it dissipated into a shadow. At the same time, he raised both hands and caught the massive chunk of voyistus. Ajal leaned back as he looked up, his third eye opened and began to pulse with purple light. He leaned forward and threw the crystal to the ceiling. Jack and the woman watched in disbelief as Ajal fired a condensed purple beam from his forehead. The beam engulfed the voyistus, breaking straight through the wall of the building, and crashing into the cliff face outside. An explosion bursted outward as it collided, the building shook violently, pebbles fell from above. The air sizzled as the beam burned through it, the entire room was smothered in purple light and intense heat. The shockwave slowly dissipated. Ajal's closed his third eye and stopped firing the beam. Purple flames remained along the edge of the hole in the roof. The woman from earlier held the rail with her jaw and eyes wide open.

"What... What is he..." the girl uttered in disbelief.

"Now- I didn't know he could do that… We're not angels, don't worry... Uhm... My name's Jack, that's Ajal," he tried to explain to her, but when she heard his name her eyes seemed to become wider.

"You're- You're Jack... Jack Eldritch? No way..." She froze for a moment, and then ran past Jack to the previous room in a hurry. "Yo! Reinhardt!"

"Huh?" Jack uttered in confusion.

Jack watched as the girl stopped, she hesitated for a moment, then jumped over the railing. Ajal jumped up from the lower floor and grabbed the rail, pulling himself up effortlessly. His calm and nonchalant demeanor had been replaced with one of anger.

"After we find the ship, we're getting those kids out of here," Ajal said with a serious tone as he continued down the catwalk.

"I-I've got no problem with that," said Jack. "So uh... You really don't have a gift?"

"Again… I'm a divine being… I don't get a Celestial gift, never needed one really…"

"Then… Why did I just see you fire a laser… From your head… And you made black scythes out of thin air?"

Ajal approached the open door with a wall of stone behind it. He focused his spirit into his foot, then dashed forward and kicked the wall. Another large room was revealed on the other side, the faint flames flickering on wax candles violently shook as air flooded into the room once sealed shut. Chunks of rock hit the ground below, or rattled against the metal grates of the catwalk.

"Who'd put a wall behind a door…" Jack asked as he poked his head into the hidden room.

"Someone trying to hide something…" Ajal looked down.

This room was a bit smaller than the others, the catwalk extended all the way around and lead back to the previous rooms. On the ground level, pieces of technology Ajal could recognize were scattered around the lower level of the room.

"Dammit," Ajal kissed his teeth.

The ship had been torn piece by piece and scattered around the room along with some other mechanical junk. Around the walls of the room were pieces of glossy white armor, and strange weaponry Ajal didn't recognize. 'A lot of it is missing… Did they only use specific parts?' Ajal could see the inside of the exposed hanger, a skeleton of the ship's hull was all that remained. The entire engine was missing, and only one of the thrusters remained. Scraps of torn steel and blue plates were littered over the messy room. 'They made sure to take the weaponry off… I don't have the tools... Even if I did… I'm no engineer…'

"What is this?" Jack asked, confused as to what he was looking at.

"My ship…" Ajal sighed.

"Wow… What did they do to it?" Jack pondered.

"They didn't break it... They scrapped it of its parts… And whoever did knows what they're doing. All the important stuff is gone…" Ajal turned and walked back the way they came. "Those kids take priority for now..."

Jack gulped as he looked at Ajal. "Are you okay? That was… Your way home right?"

"These people… These… Angels… They've managed to annoy the hell out of me today… Twice, in record time too, that's impressive," he chuckled with grit teeth.

"Yeah... They're good at that," Jack muttered.

Ajal and Jack made their way back to the first room, but returned to a very different scene. The girl on the catwalk from earlier was on the lower floor, unconscious. The knife she held was a few feet away from her, snapped in half. The two other people who wore similar attire to her were trapped in stone and appeared to be knocked out. The red haired man was the last one standing, but in combat with someone that looked different.

This angel had a wide frame, a large stomach and well-defined muscles. He viciously swung fists clad in stone gauntlets at the red-haired man. His white dress shirt was opaque from sweat, Ajal's eyes locked onto a green insignia of a fist on his chest. He wore armor made from stone which covered his arms, and his sides. 'That's not normal armor... That's a gift… One that uses stone? That's rare…' The red-haired man channeled spirit into his fist and swung as hard as he could. The angel tucked his arms in and blocked the punched. His fist pressed into the stone armor, and an audible crack echoed through the room.

"Ah!" The red haired man curled forward, gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes.

"That's Bruno! One of Alexander Rael's lieutenants?! Why is he here?" Jack stressed, he looked more worried than usual.

Ajal continued to calmly observe. "That angel has a gift which uses stone... However, that red-haired guy he's fighting knows a thing or two about spirit arts... This should be interesting…"

The red-haired man dodged Bruno's fist, then aimed low and slammed his fist into the angel's knee. Bruno stumbled as he lost balance, the man roared as he tackled Bruno's leg and pushed him onto his back. He pinned the angel to the ground, and then started punching him in the face.

"I won't let you take my team!" the red-haired man spat, his beard seemed darker around his mouth.

"You fools chose this life! You chose to attack this outpost!" Bruno blocked the fist with his arms. "Whatever happens to your team, is on you!"

As the red-haired man viciously clobbered the angel, Ajal noticed something silently glide into the garage. It flew upwards, revealing a slim woman with black wings. She wore similar clothes to Bruno. 'Another angel?' Two of the feathers on her wings bent towards the red-haired man and shot forward. 'Huh- Wait… Is that a gift or are they real? What kind of element could make that?'

"At least it was a choice we made! Not you! We'd rather die than spend another day taking orders from-"

"Look out!" Jack shouted as the two sharp black feathers zipped through the room.

"Huh?!" the red-haired man looked up at the catwalk, but was struck in the right leg by the feathers. "Ah!"

'He's going to lose…' The red-haired man cried in pain, he lost focus for a moment. Bruno kicked him in the chest and knocked him off. The red-haired man fell on his back, but quickly tried to stand as Bruno got up. However, his right foot wobbled and he stumbled. An orange light glowed off Bruno's right hand, he pressed his fist against the ground, causing a rock to quickly move underneath the red-haired man's right foot. It pushed him forward, causing him to stumble off balance. Bruno took a stance with his right arm tucked in for a finishing blow.

"Fool…" said Bruno.

Stones floated towards Bruno's fist and encased it. Ajal grasped the rail and jumped over, he leaned off the edge and kicked off towards the two. Bruno swung his fist of rock. Ajal slid against the ground, then dashed straight for the angel. Before Bruno's fist could connect, Ajal's entire foot pressed into his right side.

"Rgh!" Bruno gasped in shock.

Ajal's foot crashed through the stone armor. An audible crack in Bruno's ribs echoed through the room. He exchanged a glance for a brief second before Ajal pushed his foot forward, launching the large man out of the front entrance of the building. Bruno flew backward and bounced off the ground, flying right past his fellow comrade in similar uniform.

"Huh-" the other angel with black wings uttered in shock.

Bruno tumbled and slid against the dirt until he collided with the wall of the outer gate. A metallic thud echoed through the are. Bruno gritted his teeth, writhing from the sudden shock of pain, he grasped his side and tried to steady his breath. 'Ah crap, did I hit him too hard? I thought his stone would be stronger… But he didn't use any spirit to defend…'

"Bruno!" the other angel cried.

Her wings disappeared, and she ran to his side. She also had the green insignia of a fist above her chest. 'Their gifts are very different… Does hers even have an element? Or are those just plain wings? Come to think of it… He controlled the stone with the ring... Do gifts work differently on this planet?'

"Agh!" Bruno coughed up blood.

"Bruno! Are you alright!" she knelt next to him.

"That's Vivian! She's also a member of House Rael!" Jack shouted from the catwalk.

"Who are you? How'd you do that?" the red-haired man asked curiously.

Ajal ignored him and walked toward the two lieutenants. Vivian turned back to the warehouse as she pulled Bruno's arm over her shoulder. She grit her teeth at Ajal, but then looked at him from head to toe. As Vivian took in how tall he was, she stepped back hesitantly.

"Are you the ones in charge of this place," Ajal asked, his intense gaze terrified Vivian.

"You're... A demon? No... But those clothes? State your name heathen!" Vivian shouted.

Vivian stood up and one of her wings extended outwards. 'That again...' The wing was at least twice the length of her arms. Ajal noticed two feathers on her wings bend. Ajal moved his body as she shot the feathers at a high speed. He weaved between the two of them effortlessly, then kept walking forward.

"What!" Vivian skipped a breath as he dodged the high-speed projectiles.

"Heathen? The name is Ajal," he said calmly.

"How did he dodge that so easily…" Vivian whispered to herself with wide eyes.

"Vivian... don't fight hi-" Bruno wheezed as blood spilled out of his mouth. "He's far stronger than us!"

Bruno took a deep breath and clenched his teeth, then put his palm on the ground. The ring on his hand glowed orange, and a pillar of stone beneath the two erupted. The two angels were carried upward on an extending pillar of rock. When they were high enough, Vivian jumped off with Bruno's arm over her shoulder. Her wings spread and flapped rapidly as she tried to fly away. Ajal ran toward the pillar and his third eye flashed purple. His body was engulfed in a black-and-white flame. He slipped into the shadow cast by the pillar as if it was liquid, entering the world within the shadows.

Ajal soared up the pillar of rock, leaving the shadows and pulling himself to the top. He crouched and focused his spirit into his foot, then jumped high into the sky. Higher than Vivian and Bruno, the top of the pillar broke from the force of his step. He descended toward the angels. 'It's a good thing that guy is heavy!' Ajal grinned as he descended from above, while a scythe formed in his hand. More wisps of black-and-white flame shrouded the tip of his blade. He spun his scythe and held it overhead. Vivian turned to see Ajal right above her, but it was too late. The air swished as he cleaved one of her wings off, then descended back to the ground as he fell.

"Aaah!" Vivian screamed.

Vivian lost control of her flight, the black-and-white flame burned on the severed wing. Vivian flailed helplessly. Her wing stretched outwards, attempting to flap, but unable to generate the force or balance to stay in the air. 'Dark Passage!' Ajal descended back down and his body was engulfed in the black and white aura once more. As he hit the ground and fell into the shadow, he reappeared at the severed wing still above Vivian and Bruno. Vivian desperately flapped her wing to slow her fall, while Ajal flipped his scythe in hand and channeled his spirit into the back of his scythe. 'Spirit Ignition!' Ajal swung the back of his scythe down, slamming the two of them straight down.

"Agh!" Vivian gasped.

Vivian let go of Bruno and the two of them crashed into the hill not too far from the building. Ajal landed on the grass, and slid down the slope. Vivian's last wing dissipated before she mustered all her strength to conjure them again.

"Vivian... Run..." Bruno coughed up more blood, he was barely conscious. "You can't escape with me... Just… Get... Alexander!"

"But- Bruno! He'll kill-"

"Go!" Bruno shouted over Vivian.

Vivian grimaced, she shut her eyes and nodded with a look of fear as Ajal approached. She wasted no time, spreading her wings, running a short distance down the hill, and taking flight. She wobbled slightly in the air from the pain, but she reached a high speed quickly. 'Shoot… There's no way I can get her if she's moving that fast...'

"Damn," said Ajal.

"Serves you right... Damn... Demon..." Bruno uttered.

"Demon?" Ajal turned to Bruno.

The angel was already unconscious. 'I might have gone overboard... I think I broke his ribs... Shit, I hope he isn't dying...' Ajal lifted Bruno by the collar and dragged him back into the building, Jack came around the side.

"Dude..." Jack looked like he had a lot to say, but was speechless as he looked down and saw the first lieutenant of House Rael, unconscious. and being dragged by the collar.

"Holy shit, he's dead… I thought you didn't want to kill anyone?" said Jack.

"He's not dead... That girl with the wings got away," said Ajal.

"He looks de- Wait what... She's gonna get Alexander Rael! And the other nobles!" Jack shouted in terror.

"Yeah, that sucks," Ajal replied nonchalantly and dropped Bruno. "Tie him up or something… There's some rope by the wall we jumped over…"

"Oh no… We're doomed…" Jack's put his palms on his forehead in distress.

The red-haired man who fought Bruno tried to wake up the girl from earlier. He looked up at Ajal in shock as he walked past them towards the large stone door. He grasped the narrow opening of the stone door, channeled his spirit into his fingertips, then pried it open with his bare hands. He effortlessly threw it open, revealing the room with the slumbering children.

"That was... What Arken taught us, but so refined..." Reinhardt commented on Ajal's use of spirit arts with a shocked look in his face. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

"My name is Ajal and that's Jack over there, we came here looking for my ship, and I found it, it was torn apart and stripped. So now I'm here to help these kids. Who are you and why are you here?" Ajal returned the question.

"We're part of the non-unified resistance- Jack... Did you say Jack?!" The man's jaw dropped as he turned and looked toward him. "Him!? You!? You're... You're Jack Eldritch!"

"Uh... Yeah?" Jack replied awkwardly.

He stood up quickly despite his injuries, his feet wobbled slightly. "You're... You're the one... Who stood up to the angels, you brought Alexander Rael to his knees…"

"Uh…"

"But... You're just a child..." The man continued with a strange passion. "My name is Reinhardt Yojic, you... If it wasn't for you... The resistance would never have regained hope…"

Ajal raised an eyebrow. 'Regained hope?' He looked at Jack, but he had a similar expression. Jack looked back at Ajal and shrugged, but it was at that moment that Ajal took notice of the change in the sky behind him. A blue gradient brightened from east to west, the soft light descended over Jack. His red eyes squinted slightly as he himself from the light. His hair was a little short and spiky, a greasy dark brown. His white skin was covered in asphalt and dirt. Jack scratched his head awkwardly as he looked down at Reinhardt.