Arc 4: What families entail
Forty Seven Years ago, Athens held their yearly Warriors Games. Where you would travel to the coliseum of the west city, the fourth and last of Athens only real cities. Named the Coliseum city as such, it was small, with a massive coliseum within the center. While all the many large homes, expensive shops, and tall office towers surrounded it. While stone tall buildings with statues, vines and other greenery growing around, and so many columns you couldn't count them. The most "Athens" City you could find, however, it was also because this was before their Great Fall from grace.
Wannabe Soldiers and Warriors all around, from the slums to the royalty, watched over by thousands in the stands, thousands of Warriors, and the Valentine family. That's where the young, short, thick, spikey brown haired boy first locked his thin eyes with the princess of Athens. Lilith Valentine. Leaving him blushing and completely distracted, while a massive woman glared with immense rage at his presence.
{I can't believe that slum rat is ogling at the princess! I hope he's killed, or I get to kill him.}
Raylice, feeling her first spark of hatred toward Lincoln. Lilith never noticed them for a second, and her brother Stern shouted to all hell as the games started. Challenges with Spirit Beast, group and one on one duels, tests of all kinds of weapons races and powers, to see who really deserved to remain. Anybody standing by the time the massive magical bells tolled were allowed into the ranks. All covered in blood, half dead, and stepping through the sands to deafening roars, were hundreds of Athenians, and most importantly, Lincoln and Raylice. Raylice was the champion of the games and instantly made a Warrior at fourteen, one of the youngest in history, while the thirteen year old Lincoln was flat on his face and barely alive. Counted as victorious for even surviving. Allowed to dawn the thick light leather armor of Athens soldiers, and stand red blushing and ogling toward the princess yet again.
This time however, she saw him, and couldn't feel more grossed out. She kept her hair tightly braided, wore a glimmering green dress with thick white wool around the cuffs and neck. She was only fourteen, and she hated knowing it, covering her face with thick make up that made Lincoln only feel bad for her. The dragon stone tiara of Athens shining as bright as a green as her eyes, staring toward her father as he spoke to the new recruits. Where Raylice, with far shorter hair and height, blushed, staring at the princess along with Lincoln. Leading to the shaggy haired, constantly smirking prince to grimace with his own rage. Without his crown, as he lost it when he was a kid. A prize possession of Athens passed down throughout history somehow forever lost in Athens. Hopefully not having been stolen, sold, or destroyed through the decades it's been gone.
Lincoln {Man is she pretty, STOP BEING WEIRD LINCOLN! STRENGTH! YOU MADE IT! THAT'S ALL WE CARE ABOUT! FOR MOMMA AND PAPA! FOR ATHENS!}
And he did just that. Breaking himself with his vicious training methods in Spirit Biomes and alley ways while the Athens army tested him, before he was sent to war at just thirteen. Battling the Demi-human army with Walgonia and the Warriors. He got to see Lilith and Stern every once and a while, but it was Raylice that he got to really know. Forced to be stationed under her from day one. Screamed at, berated, beaten, made a fool, giving useless disgusting jobs around the camps, with a massive smile on his face. As he was accomplishing his dream. And working toward his real one.
Raylice: "You'll never do it y'know. You're a street rat. You might have gotten in here by sheer luck, but you'll leave it the same way. Lost forever. I'll only remember you because of how much I hated you."
Those words hit him when he was thirteen. When he was fourteen, in battle field after battlefield killing who knows how many Demi-human, Ravorian, and even Valatrocities soldiers. When he was fifteen, starting to throw in jabs at him not wanting to drink with the rest of them. Growing out her hair so spikey it looked like it could cut you. With eyes large and stern. A nose thick and hog like. A stature rising quickly from five foot five to six foot one in two years. And the name of the Gurace family, and their city of Panzer pushing her forward.
Until it was almost his sixteen birthday, his third on the battlefield since leaving Athens, and their camp was ambushed in the dead of night by Corrupted Demi-humans. Melting, taking, eroding, absorbing, and mutilating almost every Athens soldier around. Leaving only Lincoln, holding Raylice Blade of Athens, covered in blood and bits. Protected a shattered half dead Raylice. Until the sun rose, and they left. Finally letting him be taken home, to Athens very castle, to rest. Sixteen when he awoke, looking up at a beautiful face he had never forgotten. A strange light in his devotion toward strength and only strength.
Lilith: "Well aren't you ugly."
"Lilith! That's no way to speak to a Hero! He saved the Guraces' daughter, leaving them sole survivors of the Raylice camp massacre. Give him a break please."
Lilith: "Hey you can't talk to the princess like that!"
Stern: "Don't try it Lilly, promise me."
The woman was a Demi-human, a mid-tier Stone Lion, in her twenties. The first Demi-human of the Warriors, and one of Athens most promising fighters. Her skin a dark red, her eyes yellow, her short wavy hair a dark grey, and her teeth incredibly sharp. She had even left a bruise on Stern's face, leaving him rubbing a few of his patchy mustache hairs she pulled as well, as he was mocking Lincoln moments before he awoke. Until a massive figure stomped into the room, causing everybody to go quiet. The king, seven feet tall, filled to the brim with muscles so large and dense his custom made dark green coat, pants, and brown boots barely held together. Only his large Dragon stone, six earth crystal, enchanted crown fitting perfectly atop his bald head.
"Garly is right. You were a great kid. I wanna make sure you're not forgotten. You are incredible. Strong, resilient, and you hold Athens at your heart. A real Warrior. So get to know my son and daughter well, they wish to go into battle, and I'd like for you all to go in together."
Lincoln got to see, speak, and fight with them all. Lincoln was able to find a family amidst his own delusions. But his wife was gone. Stern, murdered. And Raylice, bound in Dragon stone chains and mana dampening crystals, under the prison tower of Panzer. The streets were thick with Warriors, all cheering and shouting in a Ravorian style as Bearguard stepped through. Getting closer and closer to who used to be the strongest in Athens. Before Lincoln surpassed her, and the entire world. Standing at the top until Kioshi appeared, but now that she has passed, he once again reins as the world's very best. In terms of a fight at least. Because if you had nothing else, you could always bet on Lincoln Valentine to win.
"Ugmh?"
Her throat was broken. Her nose was broken and flattened forever. Her pride and soul shattered to bits and left to rot for the past thirty four years. Athens once strongest family, Athens once greatest sword and shield, their most powerful warrior. Still guarded even if the entire country fell, as it mattered more to keep her away from the world than stay alive. Not because she was so powerful, but because of what she did to Athens. But Beauregard, knowing that better than anybody, still walked proudly and sternly to the looming tower. Square with massive columns going up all the sides, filled with iron and Dragon stone walls. Now holding any criminals, Spartans, or Red Arrows they could get their hands on. Along with mostly falsey accused citizens, and any Demi-humans who didn't leave during the exile period. Housing some of Athens best Warriors even now. Those that tried to fight Beauregard changed instead of leaving like the others, those that managed to survive the Ravorian and Valatroctius purges of the past.
Beauregard: "Athens needs your help against Raylice. You can finally prove you're better than my father. By saving Athens when he ran away."
Beauregard went down an elevator made by Valor himself, to stand in front of a thick dragon stone door. Allowing his voice to echo into the chamber through a small slit in the wall, letting in a smell of rot.
"You don't want to get too close sir, you know her kind."
But Beauregard didn't care, putting fear into the guard's eyes with a snake-like glance before motioning for the door to be opened. The first to step into her cell since Lincoln stopped visiting. Only him. Letting the door shut behind, and seal shut. So he could get on his knees and look up at the prison Raylice was locked in. A shell of Dragon stone armor, chains holding her arms back and her neck down. Even her face was covered, to her own request. So she couldn't look at herself ever again.
Beauregard: "I don't believe you were wrong y'know. I hate my father as much as you do. I hate the Half-Beasts as much as you do. I understand what a pain it is to have your family ruin your life, to have the universe flip upside its head for you alone so you can't live the life you want. I can't live up to what you've experienced, not to what Athens did to -
Raylice: "If you agree, why did you leave me like this?"
Her voice was broken, scratchy, but incredibly deep. Oozing blood from her mouth through the mask down into the dried blood covered drain below. It caused Beauregard's heart to quake, like talking to a wild animal, like talking to a devil.
Beauregard: "Because…I was too weak. For four years I've fought with my brother, and it's been child's play. Wasted lives. No matter how much I despise the Demi-humans, I know I can use them."
Raylice: "So you believe you can use me like some Beast Slave!?"
Her body shook violently with pain while more blood flooded down, forcing Beauregard to slant and pull the rusted lever against the wall. Letting the chains loosen, and finally dropping Raylice from her captivity.
Beauregard: "So I can save you from your enslavement."
Raylice: "...You're convinced…your hatred…it's all a lie isn't it? You don't truly hate…my kind…"
Raylice Gurace. Daughter of the noble family's leader, her mother. But her father was an unknown Demi-human man in the Warriors ranks. Slaughtered and erased for sleeping with a noble woman. A relationship thought non-existent. Until Raylice looked in the mirror when she was twenty eight, and saw her teeth had sharpened. It caused her rage to consume, and burn the world. Targeting Lincoln for getting Lilith pregnant with Beauregard. For everything he stole from her. Leaving her face shattered, and her life thrown away to this cell.
Beauregard: "I don't understand my own hatred. But I know my love for Athens. And I'd do anything to save it, even look past my own morals. When it's all over, you will be free, and Athens will be set back to how it was before my father ever joined the Warriors."
She stood for the first time in over three decades, almost instantly collapsing, but she managed to stand just for a moment. And bow to her king. Beauregard had done it. He had brought the second strongest person in Athens history into his forces. While Leo walked nearby, underneath the city in the mining tunnels, to reach a false wall. Uncovering a massive cavern, filled with stalagmites and stalactites, underground rivers, and about three thousand Red Arrows all gathering their things. His auntie in the middle, running to give Leo a hug so hard it almost shattered his back.
Leo: "For an old lady you're still so mighty!"
Garly: "Sixty six ain't old!"
The connections of Athens families, their wealth and strength, control and ownership of the land were grand of course. But in those families, in those connections, bread so much chaos Athens couldn't handle it. A small country, closely knit, broken by rotting bonds. Yet Rosemary still focused and trained, chained and beaten under the guise of an Athens born Demi-human. Edward fought like hell under Lincoln's watch. And Toll couldn't help but have a soft spot for Soku and Peter, trying to observe over them amidst all the rushing Red Arrows. That left Beauregards forces; Irsa walked back to the capital with her family's best, and their armies best aside from herself, and Calgary gambled with Crevasse awaiting Beauregards arrival with the Warriors best. Leo could untie his forces, he could bring all the Red Arrows he had together, but it was starting to become blindingly clear. They were going to lose. They were never going to live up to the might of Athens King. But five souls could change it.
Julius, having been planning and observing Beauregards from his captivity the second he got captured. Rosemary, training and pushing her mind to overcome her mental hurdles along with her physical ones. Edward was breaking himself to find the strength he's always had, instead of reaching toward a dream he might never achieve. Soku, finally pushing herself to pull out her full potential and become a true fighter. Lincoln Valentine, aggressively trying to repress the growing pain of Athens inside his chest, while he stared back every second of every slowly passing day.
And Gray Kyojin, who has been training like hell to keep up with his powerful friends, currently fighting for his life against one of Walgonia's greatest threats. Squealing, frozen, looking at Zhao as all hell broke loose in the wide street around them. The memory of Edwards might he had to live up to, Soku and the friendship he didn't know he'd formed, and Rosemary, the greatest light of his life pushing him forward with just her memory. Ophelia pushed him, Al, Kisohi, Musashi, and he bit his lip so hard it bled even if he shouldn't have, and screamed to overpower his fear.
Gray: "LET'S GET THIS STARTED!"
Soku broke herself to be strong enough to save Rosemary as she saved her time and time again. Edward did the same to avenge his family, and prove why he is alive. Rosemary along with them to finally rise above her worldly shackles, and grow into the Golden Knight of Legend. But they were used to this life. Gray couldn't help but try and not piss his pants from fear even now, after everything, but unlike most of those times, he didn't freeze. For more than a few seconds at least. And took off running after drawing all eyes to himself.
Gray: "IF YOU WANNA PIECE OF GRAY KYOJIN THAN COME ON! GET VENGEANCE ON YOUR PILLARS, OR SNAG A SPOT FOR YOURSELF!"
Donte flared with rage watching from above, about to jump down before Gray leapt through the street. Leaving Jong and his knights to try and attack Crimson Zhao. Yet he vanished, with only shattered cobble and dust left, to appear right beside Gray and kick him down the street to the left. He spun, yelling and yelling, before snagging hold of a tower with his Cloak and spun like a yo-yo. Round and round before letting go to try and fly away without any idea of how he was gonna land, instead he tried to glide. The Stretched Cloak impaled with arrows right after it extended, to let him scrape across a slanted building right toward the edge.
Gray: "Woah woah!"
Barley holding on, all the chaos shaking the city pushed him right over, tensing in great pain as he landed two floors down right on his feet. Before looking up at Zhao, cloaked, his chains blowing in the light snow, watching over in silence.
Gray {Good. I can't beat him, but I can run like hell, and make sure Jong gets out safely. Even If I need to get to know my friends, their lives here are far greater than my life anywhere.}
Yet his head sparked with danger, unable to react to a wire thrown through a boarded up window that pulled him right into the tower Zhao stood atop of. Gray instantly jumped not knowing what to do, hitting the hallways roof and the wood floor, before rolling to his feet to lock masked eyes with a Potential Pillar.
Gray: "Didn't know the Sect had ninjas."
Tight dark clothing, long and bunched into his purple rope bound hands and two toed shoes. Protecting the entirety of his lower arms and lower legs, while the rest was protected in thick dark chainmail. His mask tied with a headband dawning the Sects crest, its long ends flowing in the breeze of the broken window.
"I'm not from The Frozen North, nor am I a Half-Elf! If you were smarter than a Spirit Rat you'd know I'm from a Warrior Clan in Valatroctius, inspired by the Shinobi of Oni-mas!"
Gray: "Bro that's basically the same thing, kinda.."
Gray tried his best to mask his beating heart, constant sweat, screaming bones, and melting muscles, but the elite fighter sniffed the air like a starving shark in a barren ocean. The hairs on Gray's entire body stood on end when he saw all the kuni, shurkien, vault drops, razor wire, bolas, sai's, and even two tantos across his entire body.
"There! The Phantom!"
"That stupid brat!"
Elites charged from behind, to the anger of the fake shinobi, but Gray only used it as a chance to bail.
Gray {Can't use Cenic unless I have to, can't use mana unless I have to, so I'll use my brain!}
Letting out some of the Spirit mana in his body while pulling in Spirit mana from the air, he caused his blade to burst with bright blue mana, allowing him to strike the wood with a slamming slash and erupt the floor. Giving way to jump down, landing on the head of another elite, and charged. Head over head before he was smacked away, only for Gray to throw himself with his hands and fall through a door. Barley dodged and kicked the face of an Archer before leaping out the window he was using.
Gray {And swing release!}
But his legs were snagged with an iron bola, thrown from the perched Fake in a window a floor up, chucking as Gray fell five stories down. Filled with fear and screaming like a baby, he pushed his flow to Half-power, breaking the chains to barely glide across the street right into more anarchists. Punching them in the face a few times to make them stay down in his panic before running down through the alley. Jong tried his best to call out for him but Gray was too focused on surviving. So Jong swung his Enchanted Guandao through the head of an Anarchists, into the heart of a large scaled Demi-human ahead, and pulled water spirit mana into the seals around it.
Jong: "El-Wignums!"
His spear instantly shot out ten blasts of icy water. Eviscerating the anarchists it hit, before tearing through their body and going through the one behind them, finally erupting in small sharp gusts of sharp shards and water. The on looking Sect trying to get to Gray had to react, but the heart was shaking heavily. Gabby charged on, casting spell after spell with her group of Earth mages to disable the entire facility, and every other building in the tight space. Her hard smashes with her mace, the Demi-humans using their strength, acid, webs, sonic blasts, or small elemental effects to crash through walls, pull them down, or erase them from sight. Shatter break destroy stomp nullify and erase. Whatever it took, all the mana you had, whatever Mark, affinity, or beastly traits you were born with, to destroy what used to be the best place in Walgonia for armor and weapons. Outside of Rick's armor and Vargass' weapons of course.
Gabby: "PUSH ON! KIOSHIS INCREDIBLE STRENGTH LIVES ON IN US ALL! CAN'T YOU FEEL IT!? MUSASHIS STRENGTH AND KIOSHIS LOVE PUSHING US FORWARD!? CHEERING US ON! CAUSE I DO! AND THERE'S SCREAMING! SO SCREAM YOUR LUNGS OUT! AND BEAT THESE'S INSANE FREAKS!"
Covered in wounds, pools of blood, her own blood and over a hundred others, and her smile shined brighter than it all. Every second the walls, floors, and roofs crumbled. Pipes bursts, vats and chambers erupted, sending magma, charcoal, flame crystals, molten steel, and sheer flames everywhere in constant fireworks. In the front of the town Chris yelled just as hard for victory, his brothers and sisters in war throwing their lives away so he could survive the pure mountain of strength rampaging forward. Walter jabbed the massive Snapping turtle so hard his jaw broke, the pressure collapsing multiple buildings around him. Venyet sent dragons, snakes, waves, and blasts of fire to cook the Sect alive. Muther managed to clear street after street with his own speed, skill, and pinball throat slitting pressure. Even if he was a tiny old rabbit. Even Carlos, scared out of his mind and trying his best to think of a time he can sleep in his hammock back in Walgonia's castle, firing arrows like a minigun as he ran like hell across the Sect filled rooftops; they were all fighting fighting fighting. Clearing, burning, killing, brutally and not so heroically, destroying the Sects complete hold of Guren. And Guren itself. Before the Sect did it themselves.
Chris: "WHEN THE SUN RISES, I'LL BE OVER A SAFER WALGONIA! WE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR THAT TOMORROW! ALL WE HAVE IS OUR TOMORROW!"
The Knights in the streets, barely standing, forcing through pain wounds and hefty armor, fighting like hell with their lives on the line for that damn tomorrow. Using what little mana, resources, skill, or strength they had left to see that sunrise.
Gray had to be just like them. Stand, fight, and exist in the same world as them. Charging down an alley, punching multiple anarchists across the face to take them down in a single Half-power hit, before leaping to the third story tall building's flat roof at the end of the alley. Only to look up at a tall spire behind, and see Zhao waiting, watching, silent and slowly covered with snow. His eyes always looked through the boy to see what he, and Walgonia, was really made of.
Gray: "When there's smoke there's fire right?"
Gray turned, speaking to Donte, who was filled with anger and hardly able to stand.
Donte: "What are you mumbling about in a time like this!?"
Taller, physically bigger, more skilled, more to lose, more to live for. But there was a core difference Donte could never overcome. Not Gray's far larger mana supply, outward strength, or ingenuity. It was his heart. The fact that Donte was willing to die if it meant destroying Gray, but Gray was not. He wouldn't kill himself. He wouldn't break himself. He would win, and he would stand strong enough to keep fighting. To see that sunrise.
Gray {Like Chris and Azalea said, I can't keep getting knocked out all the time. Apart from the major CTE I've probably got or something, I can't fall. I'll show Walgonia I'm really trying! For you, Rosemary!}
Donte: "Before I fought too hard. I got overwhelmed, and I underestimated you. I assume Jeremiah did the same. I won't be making that mistake. I don't care if I have to hide it from Prometheus. I'll take ending your life, as the biggest step toward becoming the strongest Pillar to ever live!"
Gray {Everybody else is trying so damn hard, I need to stop screaming and scraping by, I need to prove I'm ready! That everything hasn't been a massive fluke!}
Donte: "Don't you understand Kyojin!? Your actions have only made more rage, more Anarchists! Even your actions mirror our own! All of yours do! Destroying Guren, pulling together whoever you can, doing whatever you can to win! Walgonia is just becoming the Sect! EVEN IF YOU DEFEAT US THE SECT WILL ALWAYS LIVE ON!"
Gray: "JESUS DUDE FIGURE OUT WHEN SOMEBODY CARES OR NOT, YOU'RE SOME HOW MORE ANNOYING THAN JEREMIAH, AND WAY LESS MEMORABLE!"
Donte: "UGAH!"
Gray: "See, your siblings would have had a way more original response! At least they were fun, kind of crazy, you're just crazy!"
Donte forced his transparent purple sphere to take hold, before any anarchists could get inside. Leaving Charlie, banging and screaming for his brother to stop, outside and completely deafened by the barrier. Like they were in a completely different world now. Dante's world. Where he ran desperately trying to hold onto his thoughts, even when he saw his brothers and sisters cheering him on, pulling out his despair. But Gray pulled in mass amounts of spirit mana while pushing his flow to Half-Power, leaping right toward his barrage of spear strikes.
Gray {He's moving just like before!}
Instead of running, jumping back, and reacting like last time, he had already leaped overhead. Smashing his foot against the roof the moment he could, and erupted with mana.
Gray {Now end it all in one single blow! Just for a second! OVERDRIVE!}
His left arm erupted in a mass wave of bright purple mana, putting pressure on his vambrace while the arm began to scream and cry. But he threw that arm forward and -
Donte: "You're right, I'm acting far too simple. I'm not fighting like myself."
Gray {NO!}
Donte slithered around his arm like a snake, kicking Gray right in the throat. His fist still threw a waft of pressurized wind against the dome, leaving his arm bursting with some blood and bruises, but looked far better than it would have if it landed. Stunned, surprised, choking, and holding tightly onto his arm with pain, allowed Donte to slash his shoulder guard. Push, slash his chest plate, push, jolt toward his foot, other foot, up toward his face to barely miss and cut his cheek, again again again. The stone beneath Gray's foot opened up like a mouth, missing with each rapid step Gray took to move away.
Gray {Since I didn't hit that punch -
Move back dodge duck push spear smack hit up try try try -
Gray {My arm didn't erupt like it usually did, but it still hurts like hell from just bursting!}
Until finally Gray managed to smash the head of the spear upward with a palm strike, breaking right through before grabbing hold of the blade and attempting to slice Donte like it was a dagger.
Gray: "Back back I say!"
From right down to left, left up to right, spin, and throw. Forcing Donte to smack it away and let Gray send the Cloak right around his head. Gray instantly twisted the Cloak around his arm, pulled tight, and slammed his head against the roof three times before Donte broke free.
Donte: "STOP IT SHUT UP SHUT UP DAMMIT!"
He leaked mana, oozing a bright purple while Gray pushed his aura back to Half-power. Still pulling in Spirit mana, past the Spirit sense, so far his black eyes began cracking from the white pupils. Ready, fast enough, and strong enough to jump faster than Donte. But Donte still pushed on, dodging a jab before hitting Gray across the face with an elbow, kept spinning and smashed Gray's foot, knee'd his gut, brought his fist down against his head, and grabbed hold of his throat as tightly as he could.
Gray {He's as skilled as Conroy!}
In Gray's moment of panic Donte pulled out a dagger, cutting through Gray's thick black Walgonian shirt. Grazing his waist while Gray pulled back, aiming to his left elbow, Gray moved up, slashed over his left knee, up under his right shoulder, pulling back and right toward Gray's head.
Gray {As deadly as Carla!}
Only for his mana flow to push it away with sheer force, as Gray sent out a small burst around his face no matter the deep trembling pain, before another knife to be trusted toward his open shoulder. This time it was the Cloak, instinctively slamming against Donte's face for Gray to jump and slam his elbow on his right shoulder, before smashing his right leg right into Donte's face. Gray pulled back, Donte stumbled, and the ground beneath Gray instantly broke open to chop him into a beast. So Gray ran right through before twisting around Donte, as arms made from the dark stone roof instantly shaped. Three claw-like fingers, just like Jeremiah's arms, crashing into each other as they barreled toward Gray.
Gray {As tricky as Jeremiah!}
So Gray jumped, only seeing his battle with Jeremiah in the castle. Like any argument or fight anybody has ever had, he always thought of better stuff he could have said or did to look better, or have won. So, with his boost in strength and skill, he did just that. Running alongside one of the arms while ducking another, jumping up to pinball off an airborne claw and run across another, round and round while pulling in more Spirit mana. Boosting his body, and causing his sword to burst with bright blue spirit mana. Strong enough for Gray to throw it right at Donte's head.
Donte: "BACK, OFF!"
So Donte roared, grabbing the very air with his domain control, to send out an indiscriminate burst of pure wind pressure.
Gray {And as smart as Anybis! This guy, he's the real deal!}
It surged, whipped, warped. Through Gray's Spirit Breaker, through his own stone arms, through Gray. Sending him tumbling across the floor, unable to hold his mana and leaking waves of Spirit mana, feeling so much pain he felt like he was gonna vomit his heart out at any second.
Gray {OOOOW! DAMN! IT FEELS LIKE MY BONES ARE SEPARATING WITH EVERY HARD HIT! FUCK FUCK! THAT NURSE, SHE SAID I MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO USE MY BODY IF I KEEP GOING LIKE THIS! DAMMIT, PLEASE! I HAVE TO WIN! I HAVE TO FIGURE OUT SOMETHING! BUT IT JUST HURSTS SO MUCH!}
Tears rushed down his face, he threw up in his mouth, parts were numb and others felt like they were on fire, but he still tackled Donte with a head full of adrenaline. Bursting from the floor, while Donte shook violently in an attempt to get mana around himself. But Gray threw a broken piece of stone eroding away with his powerful Spirit-mixed mana, popping like a rock fire cracker on his left shoulder just in time to pause him. It gave Gray the chance to smash his foot against the floor, pivot forward without any mana around his body, and pull back his arm.
Gray {Just like Rosemary, like what I did against Jeremiah! Use my BRAIN! AND WIN WITH ONE BLOW!}
Donte's right arm was out of socket, his face was swelling and drowning blood, and the rest of him was screaming to stop. But he still stood tall, for Gray to bring him down. He sent his mana out, through the smallest point he could manage. All of his right fingers, and his thumb, flared with small tornados of purple mana. Sizzling the skin, eating away at his muscles, and fracturing the bones. Only clenched to spurt blood, wind force, and punch Donte right in the face. Shattering his second mask, his nose, and his skull when his head hit the roof, before the stone around them burst in the resulting force. Along with Gray's fingers, causing him to cry out in anguish. Holding his hand and stumbling back. Curious that his barrier still stood.
Gray: "One good punch, just like Edward did to me."
Donte choked, his teeth fell out, his eyes and flattened nose gushed with blood coming from his head. And a scar opened from the left side of his head right to his right eye, as his skull was broken open.
Donte: "...I…!"
Gray's eyes sparked, trying to stand before he was swapped off his feet by the rushing winds. All the mana in the air, grabbed hold and now glowing purple with Donte's control, violently rushing into Donte's body. The nearby anarchists screamed, while Charlie cheered the loudest for his brother. The mana forced its way through his body, filling his wounds, his OD, his eyes. Causing him to explode with mana, before rising like a zombie.
Donte: "WOOON'T LOOOOSEEE TOOO YOUUUU!"
His eyes were blank, his voice scratchy and breaking, but still he screamed so loud it made Gray's ears hurt. Just as Donte sent out a powerful blast of wind pressure that hurt the rest of Gray's body, sending him tumbling right into the transparent barrier. The roof cracked, Donte shook and stumbled, but he just kept screaming. Wobbling, wheezing painful with each breath, his crushed nose bubbling with every exhale. His now shaggy spikey hair blowing in the wind over his shattered face covered in blood, swelling, cuts, bruises, and even more blood because of the large crack in his skull. Standing, existing through sheer will, sheer hatred alone. Growling, clenching his cracked teeth, like some kind of corrupted Spirit Beast.
Donte: "JEREMIAH! CARLA! ANYBIS! CONROY!! I KNOW YOU'RE WATCHING! I KNOW YOU'RE CHEERING ME ON WHILE I KIILL HIIIM!"
He sent out yet another burst, crushing the roof even more while even the barrier cracked like glass, while Gray's back smashed against the wall.
Gray: "You really are a Pillar of anarchy aren't yah!?"
Donte: "I AM NOTHING COMPARED TO THE OTHER PILLARS! EVEN THOSE FROM THE PAST WERE ABLE TO STALEMATE AND ALMOST DEFEAT MUSASHI VAN HELSING AND HIS FRIENDS TIME AFTER TIME! YOU'VE JUST FINALLY RAN OUTTA LUCK!"
Half-dead, shambling, creating a spear out of pure mana in the air. Before Gray stomped the ground with a burst of mana at full power, and like a frozen lake, the ground broke and they all fell under. But, about to hit the base of the sphere barrier, Gray threw the Cloak out with pure hope in his heart. Snagging onto Donte, flaring with mana, spinning and spinning, before he threw Donte against his own domain. Hard enough to break through, send Donte into the bar's wooden floor, and mark Gray's victory against another Pillar of Anarchy. Then, stumbling through the rubble, with only adrenaline in his heart, he held a rock over the bleeding broken twenty year old man, and dropped it. Right beside his head, while Gray dropped to his knees, drolling blood by Donte's feet. His mask dropped to the floor, his arms following, before he fell right on his back.
Gray {No…NO! DON'T PASS OUT! NO NO NO! I WON'T!}
The Knights pushed the elites back through every corner of this city. The heart of Guren began to completely collapse in on itself like enormous dominos. And the Pillar brought with Zhao was currently clashing fists with Walter. Using her immense strength to match the beast of a man, but in his absolute rage and state of PTSD induced panic, he managed to swing his enormous arm like a snake. Hitting her in the gut so hard more buildings fell around them, while she was launched into the air like a meteor. Venyet burned groups of the Sects last forces in single, massive blasts, before falling to her own knees without any juice left. And even Lanner began to walk through the streets, screaming for the Knights to fight on while he helped others to safety.
The sun was beginning to rise over Walgonia. Tomorrow is here. And Gray stood, grabbed his mask, and walked toward the door of the bar. A battlefield slowly etching its end.
Guren used to hold about ninety thousand people, one of the largest cities in Walgonia. After the Sect took hold, their residency dropped to fifteen thousand Elites, around twenty Potential Pillars sprouting within, and four Pillars to guard the City and its surroundings. Against the Alpha Camp, their group of a few thousand, had successfully chopped through their ranks. A thousand or so anarchists remained around the buildings and streets, mostly fleeing. Zhao was nowhere to be seen, Charlie was surly on his way, Donte was broken behind Gray, and the woman Walter sent flying broke through a few buildings like a crashing star. Taking hold and arming the force with skill to slide across the streets and instantly kill Knights with a single, hefty, screaming strike. Like rapid gun shots she shifted, vanished, appeared, struck, and did it again. Heads, stomachs, chests, anywhere she could, to send so much force through their body it didn't matter, and destroy them completely.
Charlie: "YOOOUUUU!"
But then there was Gray. Unable to head toward the Sects last pillar of strength, unable to help Walgonia, forced to stare on the second to last pillar. And gulp with panic. But his strange segmented eye, separated by a black line into four white squares, locked on his shattered brother in the rubble. Swelling with tears while his legs moved before he could think. Letting him hold his Brothers warm, injured, bloody hand.
Charlie: "What did you do!?"
Gray was about to scream and resist. To fight Charlie with his words, his exploding adrenaline. But when he looked at Charlie, all he saw was himself, standing over Jeremiah. Himself, looking at Al, Ophelia, Musashi, Kioshi. And he spoke, his voice coldly flowing out from his mask.
Gray: "You're Brother, lives. I don't want to take your family from you. Stay with him, get out of here, for both of your sakes."
Charlie dropped his mask while his eyes returned to a normal looking state. Sharing the purple eyes of his siblings, with round eyes like Carla, a stubby nose like Conroy, and close cut spikey wavey hair pushed up with the prominent sideburns Donte and Conroy had. He even had a mole on his right check like Jeremiah. Sobbing, gritting his teeth, unable to express the exploding pain from seeing his last sibling in such a state.
Charlie: "...What would my mother say….my father….if I let somebody like you live?"
His eyes sunk to white, crossed into four squares, and instantly pulled Gray forward with his left hand. Gray squeaked with fear while being sucked through the air, however it stopped like a short burst, letting Gray place his screaming bones on the ground. Jotting off into the immense rubble all around, since the entire wide roof had caved in with Gray's finish. Giving perfect protection from Charlie, shooting off blasts of pure force and pulling in anything he saw that moved. His eyes squares turned black as they charged with power, a single hold allowing him to pull in chunks of ruble before the other shot it out like a cannon.
Gray { I made them all this angry, I killed their brother…I've probably killed so many without knowing.}
Amidst the flashes of his actions, the rushing adrenaline, the blinding pain, he pulled in Spirit mana. He didn't care how sick it made him or how much his OD screamed at him to stop. He just needed the pain, the world to stop, and get the strength needed to finish this. His senses stretched so far it was useless. His ears heard so much they were deaf. So many smells, Spirit signatures and mana resadoo, all the surging corrupted mana coming from Charlie. It was all so much a boy couldn't exist. And the Phantom Knight he desired so much to be, to live up to the idea of a hero, could thrive in.
Gray {Just let it melt away…just for a second…so I can stop crying and screaming. Please. Just give me the strength I need, just for a second, even if I die, to live, and to stand strong for at least a second. So I can show the others I did it.}
His eyes blackened by the Spirit sense cracked and cracked as he ran, jotting ducking and thrusting to any ruble he could find while everything exploded pulled in or sent flying back. A chaos he just couldn't push his body through anymore, so the Spirits did. He pulled the mana into his body, his mana, his OD, more more more, until he finally broke the threshold.
Gray: "ANARCHIST!"
Charlie pulled in the rubble right from where Gray was shouting, revealing a bright surging aura of blue mana across his entire body. Cracking his armor, his sword, caused the Cloak to rise and stretch into segments, and his eyes to erupt with white mana through the black lenses of his mask.
Charlie: "I AM CHARLIE, NOTHING MORE AND NOTHING LESS! THE SON OF TWO GREAT PILLARS! THE SIBLING OF GREAT PILLARS! A GREAT PILLAR! I AM STRONG I AM I AM AND I'LL MAKE YOU BLEED I'LL MAKE YOU CRY I'LL MAKE YOU SCREAM SCREAM SCREAM FOR WHAT YOU DID TO US!"
Filled with tears, gritting his teeth, clenching every twitching bone and melting muscle in his body, while both of his eyes began to charge. Gray, consumed in the Spirit State, didn't waste a second. Blasting through the destroyed bar at top speed, moving like a flash of blue light, to stop right in front of Charlie. Held back by a surge of space. Force pulling and pushing in such a condensed manner that it all froze, before everything began to rise.
Charlie: "EVEN IF I'M THE SECOND YOUNGEST, I"M THE STRONGEST! SO DIE DIE DIE TEAR TO PEICES FUCKING DIE! YOU MONSTER!"
Instead of exploding and suidice bombing Gray, he pushed his built of power between his shaking palms. Trembling with the rest of his body, his swing tearing, his blood boiling, and his hands about to break, as a massive ball of corrupted space formed in his hands. Gray surged with Spirit mana, pushing away Charlie's effect to jump forward, and throw out a Breaker right into the attack. However it was instantly torn to shreds and eaten, just as Charlie sent it into the air. Pulling everything around like a violent tornado almost instantly. Rubble, the earth, the walls, and even the mana in the air round and round as it shredded into the Blackhole. Building and building until Charlie released his hold.
Charlie: "THIS IS FOR THE SECT DAMMIT! EVEN IF YOU TOOK GUREN, KILLED SO MANY OF MY FAMILY, THIS MEANS NOTHING! WE'LL TAKE IT AGAIN, WE HAVE EVERY CITY IN THE SOUTH TAKEN JUST LIKE THIS ONE, WE'VE BEATEN YOU! NOW WE'RE JUST CLEARING THE PARASITIES WHO THINK THEY CAN WIN!"
Charlie held his brother down, his body lightly floating making all the wounds rest a bit easier. But Charlie could hardly keep it going, his mana draining every second it rose, while he watched Gray rush all the way around the tornado to his back. Leaping off the ruble, drug his blade forward with immense Spirit mana pouring forth. But when he saw the large, tear filled eyes of the fifteen year old boy in front of him, he only saw Soku. And what the Sect did to Ophelia. Causing his heart to seize, his eyes to break free of the blinding light, and his grip to fall.
Gray {If I don't want that to happen again -
But he tightened his hold, bit his lip so hard it bled, and aimed toward the ground right in front of Charlie. Slashing the ground with a large excess of Spirit mana tearing through with it. The mana, debris, and smoke got pulled into the cyclone of force in an instant. With Gray almost falling out front under himself because of it. But he pushed his flow to base-power, and managed to hold his ground. Jumping the second he felt the ground to appear right over Charlie.
Gray {With this thing active it seems like he can't use his powers! It means I have an opening!}
His right fingers were busted beyond use, his left arm was screaming in pain from just a regular output, and the doctor's words seemed to come right back. He couldn't use them, not if he wanted to keep using them, so like before his right leg flared with mana.
Gray: "MANA, FULL POWER!"
A swarm of tight purple mana coming through the air and right into Charlie's face. Gray threw all of his momentum forward, crashing atop the boy's body through the rubble. Before pivoting and stepping on his throat. The orb in the sky slowly pulling them back surged, before finally bursting like a small missile. Sending what was left of the anarchists running, knights, and triggering Charlie's panic. He instantly went to charge his eyes until Gray pushed harder on his throat. He didn't have anything left. Some mana he could force out, maybe a cenic, a Mana Surge call out, but his body was broken. Charlie had his will broken. Which was far more defeating. Only feeling fear, sadness, panic, and rage rage rage when he looked up at Gray's masked face. And under that mask, was a boy crying from pain full of swelling bruises, blood and scratches. Hardly conscious.
Gray: "Please…just give up. For your brother's sake. You can still get out of here, get out of the Sect, live a life free of all this."
Charlie: "...This…This is my life. I was lucky to be born. It doesn't matter when I die."
Charlie's skin began to float off his body, before his eyes sunk into pure blackness. Ready to explode, to half of Guren with him. And Gray still couldn't kill him. Until the figure always watching appeared, and turned Charlie into a burst of blood.
Zhao: "You are something else, kid. The Sect, Walgonia, you. You are what I'm striving for."
Gray tried to pull his arms up, he looked around for any reinforcements, but Zhao only removed his mask. Showing what looked like a forty year old man with shaggy short grey hair, long side burns, sharp teeth, and woven eyes. However he was human, cursed. And filled with regret.
Zhao: "You tried to save Donte and Charlie after all they did. After how many times they tried to kill you."
Gray attempted to take out his blade but he only fell to the ground. Unable to move anymore from the pain. Only able to growl, droll blood, and try desperately to pull in Spirit mana. Only for his OD to cry in resistance while canceling everything.
Zhao: "You and Walgonia, you really are the heroes here. Not in the world, not in general. But in this war. I foolishly thought the Sect would be a change in my life, a place I could use my strength for real good. But you're showing me I was obviously wrong. Thank you for finally clearing that fog. I can start to really help. And I'll do it by helping you."
Gray's mask fell, revealing the sobbing boy giving his life to hold a confident smile.
Zhao: "That pillar has been sent away. And I've stopped a Vessel trying to summon Lazarus. So go to the others, and get the hell outta here!"
Gray quickly grabbed his mask, but he still couldn't get himself to move. He couldn't really understand what Zhao was saying. Filled with fear, disbelief, and so much pain.
Zhao: "This isn't a dream kid. You did good. But I don't want you to forget why I've done what I've done you here me!?"
Zhao vanished, completely from the battlefield, but left Gray with one last thing. A sting of pain, as a new small crescent slash appeared on the left side of his lip, just before the end. Deep enough to leave a permanent scar.
Gray: "I…I won?"
He didn't know how he did it. But he walked. Walked past the destroyed Donte, out of what used to be a bar, and took in the bright warm sun with all of his burning wounds. Only to eventually fall in the middle of the street, trying so hard to stay standing. Before a hand helped him stand.
Chris: "You did it kid! And you're not knocked out!"
Muther, Gabby, Venyet, Walter, Carlos, and even Lanner all pulled themselves together. By Lanner's side was Dema, rushing to nuzzle her head against Gray while her tail protected him. But Gray looked around.. Staring on at the massive pile of flames and rubble that used to be the heart of Guren. Staring at the eradicated, burnt, collapsed city. One they destroyed.
Gray: "I know. We saved Guren. But…there is no Guren. If we save Walgonia. Will there be a Walgonia left after?"
Athens was facing the same fear. Gray was about to be walking into yet another war zone. But for Walgonia, that fate still had a lot of time to be changed. A fate that may be set in stone right now, the same one Gray fears as much as every other Walgonian. But still, Gray made it past the town with Prissy and saved their mayor, helped free Bruge and defeated Three Potential Pillars, and helped free Guren, while defeating two Pillars of Anarchy. He didn't want to admit it, he couldn't see it and might never really accept it, but he was strong. He was capable. Gray Kyojin was really going down the road to a Hero he got his third chance for. Fulfilling the pact at the core of his very being. To bring on the ever lasting tomorrow.