((Collab Post between Letter Bee and Lucek))

[B][I]Flashback[/i][/b]

It took all Nine Sages to defeat the Riders, but now, said Nine Sages were scattered, reduced to nothing more than rumors. While they have not given up their powers, many have lost interest in the affairs of humanity, or gone to Outer Space to serve as a vanguard for the expansion of the human race. A few, such as Balthazar 'Thaz' Carlton, had risen to high positions; Thaz was the new head of the Agency. 

And Thaz had warned him of a new threat, a threat rising from the Immortals, once the leaders in the fight against the Communists who had ruled China up to the Coming of Magic*, now the black ops of a secret war to take back territories deemed to be the birthright of the new Chinese Democratic Republic...or so people had thought. 

"The truth is more complex than that," Thaz had spoken. "We have recieved grave news from the President of the CDR itself: The Immortals have [i]gone rogue[/i], and taken several of the country's assets with them. They are now independent of China, and now work for a mysterious goal, one that revovles around [i]you[/i], Ascot." No longer was Thaz calling him a brat; she had grown beyond that, Ascot thought.

And so, the boy had begun preparations for the coming battle. In the period of time before the [i]Alfred Nobel[/i] began its voyage, the boy had gone through the meditation rooms, supposedly to meditate. In fact, however, he was going to do more than that; he was going to travel to the Spirit World bodily, so that he can talk to someone who could help him, one of the few Sages that had left a line for him to call on.

He was going to call upon Omega.

Opening his Spirit Portal, Ascot stepped through, finding himself in a wild world of, well, spirits. Then, he spoke:

"My name is Ascot Harper, and I ask for parley!" 

Nothingness… a deep slumber… Omega slept… recuperated… gathered his strength as he knew he’d be called… He trusted a person with this task… a dear friend he fought with… one he opened his mind to… Something stirred inside him, his consciousness slowly waking, his body coming to life. The time he spent in the realm of souls or shadows cannot be measured in mortal numbers. It might have been only a few seconds or minutes… or centuries… The time of the realm of man was detached from this one, unsynchronized. Omega didn’t care for that… the call… he must heed the call…

“I am Omega and I answer the call…” His last thoughts, before he faded into nothing once more.

The room Ascot was in would grow darker, the light shrieking as if running from something or, if one looked closely, being devoured by the shadows. The room grew dark, but there were no traces of magic. Though as fast as the light vanished it reappeared just the same, as if nothing happened. Ascot would feel a familiar presence and scent behind him. Omega would sit there, in a large, comfortable armchair gently stroking the fur of his familiars. A slight smile on his face. One could see that the man wore his usual attire, however the mask that usually hid his face was moved to his chest, though it looked just right there, as if it was there from time immemorial, there was no hood on this coat but if one looked closely, it seemed alive somehow, small ripples appearing and moving through the fabric.

“Hello… my friend…” His voice quiet and slightly strained, as if unused for decades.

"Omega - Lucius!" Ascot then ran up to the man and hugged him, rare tears of joy streaming from his eyes. As he embraced his fellow Sage, Ascot let out his inner pain, his inner trauma, venting all the suffering he had gone through, and witnessed. Here was someone he had opened himself to, one who had opened his own feelings to Ascot, and, of course, one who had played with both him and Amelia in the rare periods of peace during the Rider War.

"I missed you..." Ascot said fondly, still the crybaby.

“Still.. so overly… emotional…” Omega gave a light chuckle, his voice sounding better, as if just being close to Ascot healed him. “I’m glad to.. see you too…” He took a deep breath and petted the boy’s head gently while his other arm wrapped around Ascot’s back in a slight hug. Omega smiled fondly, but he knew that if he was called it wasn’t for fun and games… or was it.. it would be good if it was. “How is everyone?” His voice now as it was before, full of energy, though there was a slight bit of magic as he spoke. Something he couldn’t control it seemed. “I gather there is a reason you called me.” He continued smiling at Ascot. Happy he can see his friend again.

Ascot smiled too, before his face turned slightly grim, but mostly calm.

"Amelia and I are all right, but she spends most of her time in the [i]Alfred Nobel[/i] consoling lost souls, and, well, there's a slight seperation between us. However, I think that said seperation will end soon; it's pretty minor. The other Sages, they're scattered across the world, doing their own thing. Joshua and Amaya, meanwhile, are together, wandering the world - although of course, I could be wrong. As for Uncle..." Heinz Harper, the Sage of Fate and the former head of The Agency, and also the one who had caused Ascot so much pain before repenting of it. "Uncle's fine; trying to atone for what he's done the best way he knows how." The boy then turned towards Omega, and finally got to the meat of the matter:

"And, there's a new threat coming. Thaz warned me of it, and my Timespace abilities, as well as a message from Uncle, filled me in more. Apparently, the Immortals, the Chinese Equivalent to the Agency, has turned Rogue. This is bad, because, well, there are indications that they have a plot, a plot comparable with Vladimir and the Riders'. Since the other Sages are scattered, you're one of the few I can turn to."

Omega was glad that everyone was doing more or less all right. However if there was a threat similar in magnitude as Vladimir… Lucius leaned back in his chair… “Well I’d have preferred to be called in less dire circumstances… but I need to get back on my feet. I slept too long… way too long.” He got up slowly, as he did his two familiars jumped to his shoulders and stuck there, though they were roughly the size of really young animals, way smaller than their regular size. The chair he sat on also vanished, as if assimilating into his coat. “What’s the plan?” He smiled at Ascot.

"Well, you can literally hide in my shadow..." Ascot only half-joked. "Right now, though, that might be for the best; the Magical Peace Corps would probably not want the presence of a former assassin. There, you can watch, and wait, while at the same time, act as a brake on me whenever I prove reckless. Not merely that, but you can counsel me whenever...certain experiences prove too painful for myself to tackle alone."

“Well that is doable, still don’t expect me to just sit there and do nothing if stuff happens. I can just move through shadows if there is a need for it. Still you might be right, though they don’t have to know what I did for a living.” He chuckled and slowly sank into Ascot’s shadow, after he was done Ascot could feel him there but no one else would. [i]”Your shadow is roomy.”[/i] The boy would hear inside of his head.[i]”No worries about detection technically I’m in another plane of existence, just connected to you through your shadow. Also only you can hear me, after all I’m using our connection as a line and the shadow as the medium. Though I can hear and see everything around you and more. I have a few more tricks but I’ll leave them for later.”[/i] A chuckle and the familiar presence was all that was left before the silence.

Ascot smiled, and then, his happy mood continuing, went back through the portal to the real world...

*Originally, the fall of Communist China was supposed to have occured earlier, but, well, I decided not to provoke controversy.

[B]End of Flashback[/b]