Altered Tundra

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

As Emiri spoke and as Grigori left them with all of these vague allusions, a lot of uncertainty came to Wesley’s mind. He had no doubt the others had similar doubts. He imagined that Jaakuna and Savayna, and everyone else who hadn’t encountered the Creature had doubts regarding Grigori’s claims. This being a man, if he could pass for that, who claimed to have a warning for the Ascendants, and said they weren’t to worry about Venat nor Zodiark(and Levi by association). They didn’t know him. He was practically a stranger, yet he had an air of familiarity about him.

And then, as Nadeline would speak about their encounter with the Creature, Wesley found himself conflicted. There was a part of him that wanted to agree with her., but something beckoned him to doubt those words. While it was true that the Creature essentially embodied the essence of rotting corpses and the mist that came from it was like experiencing Venat and Zodiark’s mist - just intensified several times over. He remembered how it felt to be in the presence of that thing and how it seemed to enjoy toying with the lives of anyone who opposed him. There was no doubt in Wesley’s mind that he was a vile creature that posed an immediate threat, but was he a greater threat than all of those who came before him?

“I’m not entirely sure.” Wesley admitted after a long moment of silence. “Grigori wasn’t specific about much of anything. The evil he spoke of could be the Creature, sure, but it’s also possible that Grigori is setting a trap for us.”

“Never thought of you as one to be so negative, Wesley.” Jaakuna commented.

“I believe in anticipating all possible outcomes. Could he be referring to the Creature? It’s possible, but it’s also possible that Grigori might be leading us into a false sense of security so we take our eyes off of Venat and Zodiark.” Wesley didn't like it, but someone had to consider the possibilities. There was also a slight hint of fear in Wesley’s voice about someone worse than Venat and Zodiark being at large.

“So, what do you suggest we do?” Savayna asked, “that monk didn’t give us any real clues about where this ‘so-called’ evil was at. All he said was follow the winds of the sea. If anything, he’s staying true to his monk visage. Honestly, what did he--” Savayna was interrupted by Wesley’s sudden gasp. “What?”

“It could be nothing, but what if the ‘the winds of the sea’ are referring to the Sandsea? It’s constantly windy there.” Wesley turned to Nadeline, “darling, does your tome say anything about that about the Sandsea?”

“It’s with the rest of my belongings,” She lamented.

Emiri stared at Nadeline, causing the blonde to stare right back at her in confusion. Without breaking eye contact, she reached into her bag, pulling out Nadeline’s tome. She held it out for the princess to take back.

“That’s--is this some form of new spell?” Nadeline asked, actually surprised as she would take her tome back.

“Actually...I stole it,” She admitted.

There was a small moment of silence, interrupted only by Grant’s rather awkward cough. Nadeline let out a sigh as she opened the great book, flipping through its pages.

“No reply?” Emiri asked, surprised.

The princess looked up at her for a moment. “Your boyfriend is infecting you with his recklessness. I’d advise you to take something for it, but I fear it’s incurable,” She told her simply as she returned to the book. “The Sandsea...well, it does refer to a location to the west of it, a gorge referred to as the Valley of the Dead.”

“Coincidence?” Grant asked.

“I THINK NOT!” Jaakuna suddenly stated as a matter-of-factly, his arm raised with his index finger pointed up, and a ponderous expression on his face.

“Hopefully you don’t catch his stupid as well,” Nadeline warned Emiri.

“Don’t hate because I’m beautiful~” Jaakuna flipped his hair, emulating a certain Viera that everyone knew and loved.

Michel and just about everyone gave a scowl, though it was Wesley who would push this back into the direction the matter about the Sandsea. “The Valley of the Dead - that’s where King Raithwall’s tomb is located.” Wesley recalled, nearly forgetting such a crucial detail.

“No wonder Grigori was so on your case, considering it’s connected directly to your lineage, so that explains his frustration,” Emiri said, earning a sigh from Wesley. “Does that mean we should go there?”

“Go and do what?” Grant asked.

Jaakuna formed a magnifying glass out of mist and put it up to his eye. “WE INVESTIGATE, OF COURSE!” He spoke enthusiastically, stroking his beardless chin, and gave everyone a dramatic look.

Nadeline gave him a glance, though ignored him as she continued, “I’m more concerned to what awaits us if we choose to go. It can’t be something we can take on so lightly,” She said.

“Hmm...it’ll likely have a welcoming party awaiting us.” Grant seemed to agree.

“Bah humbug!” Jaakuna let out a scowl, “whatever happened to your sense of adventure!? Last time we went to the tomb, it went great. Killed a few monsters, scored some loot from that moving wall of death, and I got Belias.” Jaakuna casually noted to Emiri and Nadeline, “though, we did hit a bad patch there when GRant kidnapped us.” He glared at Grant for a moment.

Grant shrugged. “Sorry, bro,” He replied.

Nadeline rolled her eyes. “Sense of adventure--can you take this seriously?” She couldn’t help but get annoyed. “We’ve enemies at nearly every corner and now this! We haven’t even been able to deal with anyone, and now suddenly another enemy pops up! Need I remind you that two out of those three want your girlfriend?”

“Hakuna Matata.”

“I’m officially ignoring you for the rest of the conversation.”

Emiri shook her head, though she seemed troubled. “It does seem a bit overwhelming. First Venat, then Levi, now this...how are we supposed to handle any of them?” She asked.

“I’ll repeat myself,” Jaakuna cleared his throat, “Ha-ku-na Ma-ta-ta.”

“And what does that even mean?”

“It’s something I heard from an old Garif pal of mine. He was one of the more interesting fellows I met from there. It’s apparently something that was said long ago before they got all uptight about everything.” Jaakuna said to Savayna, “his meaning of it was a little too complex for me to understand, but essentially it means not to worry. No matter how dire a situation, if you stress too much about it, then it’ll only drive you insane like Nuttiline here.” Jaakuna gave Nadeline a glare, non-vocally telling her that’s what she gets for ignoring him.

“Okay, then what do you propose we do next?” Grant asked.

Jaakuna put his hand on Grant’s shoulder, smiling, then looked to Savayna, “good thing he’s pretty, huh?” He laughed, though collected himself a moment later. “I’m suggesting we go to the Sandsea, go to the Valley of the Dead, and check that shit out. And if shit goes sideways, then we have our handy, dandy Espers to help us out.”

“Not exactly a foolproof plan.” Savayna couldn’t help but state the obvious.

“When have we ever had a foolproof plan, huh?”

Espers. Emiri shifted her weight from one foot to the other, wondering. Mitron had helpfully shut Chaos up, though admittedly she wondered if that was a good thing. “I don’t know,” She ended up speaking up. “Just...waltz on over? I feel like…”

“Like?”

She fell silent.

“What’s up?” Jaakuna looked at Emiri with curious eyes.

“Like...this is what it wants,” She said slowly. “Sort of like it’s daring us to go and try to challenge it. Something like that.”

“You seem certain.” Nadeline raised an eyebrow at her.

She shook her head. “Just a feeling.”

“Even if it is, we’re much stronger than we were before. We survived Zodiark and Venat, so honestly, why all the negativity?”

“Not that I’m one to agree with Jaakuna, but he’s right,” Savayna said, shrugging. “Instead of wasting time worrying about what might happen, we should just go there and do what we do best.”

“But even he said it--we survived, we didn’t beat them.” Grant couldn’t help but point out.

“What didn’t kill us made us stronger.” Jaakuna professed proudly.

“...we didn’t kill them either…”

Jaakuna scowled, glaring at Grant. “I liked you better when you sounded like a woman.”

“I don’t think that will ever stop you from taking jabs at me,” He rolled his eyes.

Though Jaakuna was going to open his mouth, Michel would beat him to the punch. “I believe we’re getting off-course again,” Michel gave Jaakuna a glare, which prompted the blonde to let out a huff, but he seemed to understand. “Bottom line is we have a location and something to investigate. I, for one, don’t doubt what Grigori said to be the truth. I can’t say why, but I feel like I can trust him. Even if it turns out to be false, maybe you six should go to the Tomb of Raithwall.”

“You will not join us?” Nadeline asked.

“I feel he’s interested in actually living,” Meli smirked.

“Living? I assumed he had something else to do,” Grant said blankly, missing her sarcastic remark entirely.

“Yeah...it’s a really good thing you’re pretty,” Meli shook her head, much to his confusion.

Jaakuna snickered, though said nothing.

Ignoring him, Michel focused on Nadeline. “I have my own purpose in all of this,” Michel stated, grabbing Meli’s hand, “I mean we do. While you lot will be handling things on the Creature front, Utena will organize. Of course, I will need to get our mistress’ permission, so if you’ll excuse us.” Michel held out his hand and one of his portals appeared. He guided Meli with him as they had stepped through it.

“Try your best not to die!” Meli cheerfully told them, giving a half-hearted wave.

“Gee, thanks…”

And as the portal closed, they were left with the big issue of getting to the Sandsea the quickest. Most of Jaakuna’s fastest unsafe vehicles were in Rabanastre. Given the severity of their situation, haste was recommended. “So, how shall we get there the quickest?” Savayna asked, looking around to the group.

Emiri’s eyes light up as she raised her hand, waving it around. “Oh! I could try that dark teleporting again!” She volunteered, somewhat excited.

“You...know teleportation magicks…?” Nadeline asked, uncertain. “You’d have to be at Aloa’s level to pull it off successfully, you know.”

“We’re going to the Sandsea, right? I’m sure I can do it,” She said, motivated.

“Ah...what about the Ifrit?” Grant asked.

Thank you, Grant. Jaakuna didn’t want to be the one to say it because Emiri seemed psyched to use her teleportation magick, but he remembered what it felt like the last time she used that magick. Suffice to say, it wasn’t a feeling he’d welcome with arms wide open.

“Last I heard it was undergoing repairs,” Savayna stated, “though that was when we left for Rabanastre a few days ago. Roman did promise it would be fixed by the time we returned.”

“Oh, my baby - my true love!” Jaakuna said lovingly, thinking fondly of his Ifrit. “I miss her so much; I hope my brother has been treating her with care.”

Savayna rolled her eyes, though that did bring up a more...secure solution than Emiri’s questionable mastery over whatever teleportation magick she had. “I think it’s a safe bet. No offense to you, of course, but who knows what’ll happen to us if we leave our transportation in your hands. For all we know, we could end up sliced in half. If that happened, Ivalice would be domed, and it’ll be because you almost had it.” She bluntly stated, shrugging one shoulder.

She understood, but it still sucked to hear it. Emiri hung her head in defeat as Grant patted her back. “There, there, I’m sure you’ll get your chance someday,” He assured her.

“Let us go to see Roman, then.” Nadeline suggested.

”A wonderful suggestion!”

---

Deep within the Tomb of Raithwall, the shadows surrounded a relic in the middle of a circular room. Their mist surrounded their bodies, all ranging from different colors of the spectrum. It swirled and twirled around to form a single tornado of mist, both of transparency and solidified forms, the collective mist would pour into the relic which had a more dominant shadow hovering over it, its body seeming to absorb the mist through the relic.

Whatever it was -this relic that was ancient in design - was shaking. FOr a few minutes, it had been doing that, in the last ten seconds, it was starting to tremble at a more frequent rate than before.

And when it shot up, the shadow phased through it, but the relic stopped above it.

For a moment, time seemed to freeze. This relick, which had previously been gold and pure in its make, had been robbed of all life and light, and had been rendered into nothingness. It lost its color and had been sucked into the hovering shadow.

As it would touch the ground, a huge shake throughout the entire tomb - not just the room - would be felt. All of that mist that had been gathered and sucked into the shadow had been sent through the tomb, shaking it inches from its foundation, causing it to tip just slightly, and sand flowing in from the sandsea itself through the cracked walls of the tomb. In doing so, all of that corrupted, putrid, vile mist throughout Ivalice.

To the naked eye, this was simply a natural occurence. To those who didn’t have the Eye of Ivalice, it was her natural wrath causing a shift in weather. However, to those who were gifted, they knew. To those who were connected to the Wood knew exactly what this was.

“The Reckoning has begun.”

And it would be so fitting that it happened just as Aloa and Emette walked through the entrance of the Chamber of First Light, a point in the tomb that was just one room away from where Raithwall, the Dynast-King rested.

“Welcome, Viera and Angel of Truth. I feared you wouldn’t make it in time.”

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Even though the growing anticipation about this Grigori and what he had to say to all of them was definitely something that everyone should be putting at the top of their priority list, there was something more short-term, and by an extension, more important: Grant sounded like a man again. That, if nothing else, was worth talking about.

“You’ve never been one to be masculine, Grant. So, I don’t know about everyone here, but I, for one, am glad for you to gain some of your man card back. You have no idea how hilarious, not to mention fitting, it was to hear a teenaged girl’s voice coming from your mouth.” Jaakuna told him, giving Grant a smile, though it seemed he didn’t really appreciate his words all that much.

After a brief moment of silence, Savayna eyed Grant. “I, for one, am grateful. I don’t know how long I could’ve handled your pussy voice.” She grunted, her arms across her chest.

Michel found himself wanting to add something to the conversation, but his eyes went to Grigori, and he noticed an unusually high amount of anger coming from the monk. It only took the intuitive Michel a short moment to understand where it was coming from, so that’s when Michel let out an interrupting cough. “Perhaps you guys should save this for later on.”

“Huh? Why?” Jaakuna absentmindedly asked.

Savayna hit him in the head, whispering to him, “remember? He’s here to warn us.”

“OH!” He shouted aloud, laughing shortly thereafter.

“Michel, who is this man?” Wesley asked curiously, sizing up the monk from head to toe.

“I cannot answer that with confidence. All I know is that he bears a warning for all of us. He wouldn’t inform us until everyone was present.”

“What do you mean?”

“He knows that each and every one of us are Scions and that we are what they call Ascendants.”

“I see,” Wesley faced Grigori, trying to gauge the monk to the best he could. “There aren’t a lot who know about this. Only ones who know are, of course, us, the Viera, and the members of Utena. So, then how does he know? Is he one of Shion’s followers?”

“I have no allegiance to the Blue Rose.” Grigori retorted defensively as if insulted by what Wesley said.

“While it settles that matter, it doesn’t explain why you were waiting for us.”

Grigori didn’t bother addressing Wesley specifically. Instead, his head moved from left to right, examining all of those who were present. With the exception of Meli, who he sensed was just as invested in hearing what he had to say as the others did, simply ignored her. He knelt down to one knee, letting his staff rest gently on the ground, though as it did, he twirled around, gathering mist around him. Almost as if like a tornado, Mist gathered and surrounded not only him but those close to him - with the exception of Meli. The mist tornado he created expelled her out so it was only the Ascendants.

“What did you do that for!?” Michel asked, uncharacteristically demanded to know.

“She is not an Ascendant.” He offered only a variation of the same thing he had been saying.

“Just get on with it.”

Grigori nodded, taking off this hood from his face. As he did, everyone would see the face, not of a man, but something far more ancient. His face was of hume origin, that much couldn’t be denied, but upon closer inspection, one could see that his features were evolved - almost godly. His jaw wasn’t smooth but rather it was sharp. His cheeks had no flesh; they were a combo of muscle, bone, and mist pouring from it. The area around his eyes had swirling colors and actual magicite woven into it, giving his face a radiating, iridescent colors showing on the clear surface of his face due to the light. His actual eyes were crystallized and had all elements that were possible to tame in Ivalice dancing in them, producing various amounts of images in his eyes.

None of them were expecting that, though based off of the reactions that they had on their faces, it was safe to assume that they didn’t seem to have a problem with it.

“Well, aren’t you flashy.” Savayna commented, seemingly approving of Grigori’s face.

“I admit, you are somewhat of a surprise, Grigori.” Michel stated. He wasn’t expecting that.

“So, what? Do you have some kind of obsession with body modification?” Jaakuna couldn’t help but ask.

Grigori scowled, refusing to answer such an idiotic question.

“Please, Grigori, can you tell us exactly why you wanted to speak with us and why such secrecy?”

“You are all in great danger.”

“We’re always in danger, but we manage,” Jaakuna shrugged.

“Do not inturrupt me again, Lohgrif!” Grigori snapped, scowling even worse than before.

His sudden outburst made Jaakuna let out a low yelp.

“You all have ascended, but not one of you have the faintest idea of what this actually means for Ivalice. You think you were chosen just to inherit powers and defeat the Keeper?”

“What is it that you are trying to say?”

Grigori eyed Wesley now. “Fandaniel, you, who has transcended more than anyone here, still don't understand. Truly, how could Raithwall’s descendent not realize what’s been happening.” Grigori displayed great disappointment in everyone. “Honestly, how could none of you see it?”

“See what?”

“The Fallen Occuria Venat nor the Keeper pose you no threat. The one you need to truly find true worry in is he who bears the Calling of Death.”

“Could you be a bit more specific?”

“Follow the Winds of the Sea, Ascendants. Go to where the dead rests and seek out the true darkness.”

As Grigori left them with that, in a single moment, as the tornado he had created had withered away into nothingness, so was Grigori. And as he was away from Archadia’s soils, there was an air of mystery within the minds of the Ascendants. What did Grigori mean? Who was this true darkness? Who was it that posed a greater threat than Venat and Zodiark?

“What the actual fuck.”

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Both Savayna and Michel found it beneficial to their own sanity to ignore whatever had been going through Jaakuna’s mind. Savayna had glanced over at him with his cheeky grin, while Michel could only shake his head. Knowing him, he was thinking of something worse to say than what he had before to make Emiri blush like a tomato. So, instead they would focus on what Emiri had said about this Sophia person. It, if nothing else, was more interesting than Jaakuna at the moment.

“How strange..”

Michel bit his thumb, pondering on what Emiri told them. He sincerely wished he could offer up more information in retort to what Emiri just told them. She seemed to know more about Sophia than Michel, someone who was under Shion’s tutelage for three years now, had. Additionally, he seemed bothered by something she said.

“I think we should--” Michel spoke, though he sensed a presence that made him alert. Immediately, his mist surrounded not only himself but the others as well. Michel’s mist, unlike most, was somewhat protective in its essence. It came in varying colors and effects, but right now, it was acting as both a magick and physical prowess boost and a protective, shell-protect combo. “--show yourself! You cannot hide from me!”

“It seems not.”

Everyone would hear the voice of what sounded like a man, but something about it was peculiar. It was layered with obvious tells of magick woven to hide their real voice. Truth be told, it wa shard for anyone to gauge if it was a man or woman speaking to them. However, as shadows would fade away, in front of them, was a figure wrapped in cloths of summer colors: red, white, gold, orange, bronze - all of it was spread throughout the monk-like visage this person had. In their left hand were praying beads and in the left, a wooden staff. This monk wore a hood that was silver and had markings of an ancient language that Michel didn’t recognize. IT was hard to see who this person was, but as it lifted its head up, eyes shown from across the way, a shade of the brightest summer colors, all swirling around, dancing in those two irises.

“Who are you?” Savayna asked. She was on-edge. Whoever this person was, something about him or her made her suspicious.

“Who I am matter not, Scions.” The figure spoke, this time their voice simmering down to that of a deep, echoed male.

“Fine, then what do you want?”

“I come bearing a warning to those who have Ascended.”

“A warning?”

The monk nodded.

“What kind of warning?”

“Not yet. All of the Ascended have yet to arrive.”

In light of this not-so-speedy development, Savayna scratched her head, looking to the others for some kind of direction. Michel didn’t like that this perosn was here, though he couldn’t shake the feeling that the two of them have met at some point. Jaakuna, on the other hand, seemed as relaxed as he could be.

“I guess we wait.” Jaakuna spoke, hands behind his back as he planted his rear firmly on the ground.

“How can you be so damn calm?”

“You heard the monk. He’s not going to say anything until the others arrive, so might as well wait.” He shrugged.

“You’re utterly useless.” Savayna let out a huff of annoyance as she walked closer to where Emiri stood. She couldn’t stand to breathe the same air as Jaakuna right now.

Michel shrugged as well, propping himself where he stood, and took a seat. “Jaakuna, though often foolhardy, does have a point.” The sounds of gasps were heard from the collective. In that same moment, Michel suspended his mist from before, feeling the need no longer to keep it active. However, he would keep it centered to him just in case this monk gave him a reason.

After about a moment, Michel looked at the monk. “I suppose we wait, though if you don’t mind me asking, Monk, is there a name we can call you instead of ‘he’ or ‘they’?”

“Grigori.”

“A pleasure, Grigori. I am--”

“I know who you are, Michel Sicarius, as do I know who the rest of you are.”

“You’ll forgive my surprise, but I would’ve remembered if we had met.”

Grigori said nothing in retort, he simply stood there as still as it was humeanly possible. To be honest, it was a bit off-putting, especially considering how he knew about them being Ascendants. Moreover, he had a warning. What sort of warning could he have…

And then, as if some kind of divine intervention, Michel looked up and saw a welcoming sight. “Well, it’s about time the three of you arrived.” Michel said, a wide smile as he saw Grant, Wesley, and Nadeline fly in from an aircab.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

"I got something else you can ride," Jaakuna muttered, doing his best not to catch the attention of the others.

But he failed. They heard him loud and clear. While it seemed Meli and Michel simply shook their head in disappointment and Savayna had muttered something less-neutral, Jaakuna feared what Emiri would do. On one hand, he knew that, on some level, she found the comment hilarious. She had always been the type to see the humor in what he said and how he joked around, but she was already visibly annoyed with him as it was, so perhaps not.

"Who was that woman that came flying from the tower?" Savayna asked curiously, "I don't recognize her."

"Her name is Sophia. Admittedly, I don't know much other than she's connected to my Mistress somehow." Michel noted, answering Savayna's inquiry.

"Well, whoever she is, you sure got her good, didn't ya, Emiri?"

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

As soon as Jaakuna had declared that he'd protect Emiri from the influence of Zodiark(or so he thought it was because of the sight of the swords), she had quickly rendered that notion useless. It became obvious to him that, instead of Emiri being possessed by whatever influence Zodiark would have over her, she was actually fine. There was no sign of his essence around her. It only took a moment, but Jaakuna saw it; this was all her. Whatever had happened to her, Emiri wasn't under anyone's influence other than her own. This was all her doing, which brought Jaakuna to a confusing thought: what the hell happened to her?

And amidst his own confusion, he just noticed that Igeyorhm was gone. "Goddamn it!" He roared, almost in a complaining tone, "I almost had him!" He was now whining.

Savayna ignored Jaakuna, "so, I'm guessing this is you ascending?" She guessed, though based off of Emiri's appearance and increase in power, it was the best guess anyone could offer up.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Once it had all been said and done, Jaakuna had landed not far from where Savayna and Michel were. Of course, they had gone to elevated grounds, so Jaakuna had landed where he was before he decided to crush Igeyorhm's perceptions that he could insult Emiri without there being consequences. And As Jaakuna felt pride in how he defended Emiri's honor, he powered down(in a manner of speaking). In reality, Jaakuna had used up the lightning he took in from Igeyorhm's one attack, which caused his flame-lightning aura to fade into nothing but mist in the air.

He let out a deep breath as he turned around to face the others. Only, as Jaakuna did, he saw something - or rather, someone - fly past him at such speeds that Jaakuna had only moments to duck and cover. He had no idea who that was, but she was female. The only thing he had on his mind at that very moment was not getting smacked in the ass like Igeyorhm had been when that same person crashed into him just as he was coming down himself. A bad day for him, indeed.

"What the hell?" Jaakuna scratched his head out of confusion and how he somehow got a nasty scrape on his arm from doing that in-the-moment dodge.

Only a moment later, in came Emiri...flying? And with swords. Wait...swords...And it just hit up. "OH NO, IT'S ZODIARK AGAIN!" JAakuna rose up. "Don't worry, Emiri! I'll save you from that bastard Zodi!"

Crooked Young - An Altered Lies Production

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You mean she didn’t know? Oh, this is just too perfect.

Eli tried to hide his amused laughter, but honestly, that was something Alex would do; that wasn’t how Elijah Mossos rolled, so he made it known to her that he found this entire situation, from her being rendered utterly speechless to the awkward “uh, um, so” bit. Some may call it being a dick, but hey! The Mossos men were well-endowed, so if she was expecting some prince charming like Alex, then best park it at the gate, sweetie.

But as for her question, how did he answer that? The easy route(not to mention less-complicated) would be to say he was Alexandros’ brother. It was a believable answer, especially considering how Eli arrived with them at this gathering, but that wasn’t necessarily the truth, now was it? At least, according to what Baltazar and Adrianna told Eli to say, it wasn’t. So, then what? What could he possibly say? Should Eli save face and go with what Audrey assumes or should he cause trouble once more?

Don’t embarrass the family.

Those words echoed throughout his mind. Adrianna sure didn’t want people to know the dirty little secret. She didn’t want it to be known that the great and almighty Baltazar who had pledged himself to Adrianna DiVale was, as they all thought he was, a cheating scumbag. But Eli wasn’t that vindictive, was he? Maybe not, but entertaining the thought was worth leaving poor Audrey in suspense.

He leaned back in his seat, eyes somewhat locked on Audrey, though he occasionally glanced around to see if his family was anywhere nearby. When he didn't spot them, he gave Audrey the rest of his attention. “I am what you call a distant relative.” Well, that wasn’t a lie, at the least. “Or at least that’s what they told me to say whenever asked.” Eli sneakily placed his fingers on Audrey’s lips, “so mum’s the word, got it?”

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

“Fire versus Lightning, huh?” Savayna chuckled, looking at Michel, “we may want to stand back.”

Michel nodded and both he and Savayna, through their own means, took to higher ground as the two would simply watch as Jaakuna took the lightning bolt like a man. He made no attempt to dodge or put up countermeasures to ensure less damage was taken. He just stood there. The sudden strike of lightning caused a wave of debris to surround both he and Igeyorhm in a cloud of smoke. This smoke was naturally colored the same as the exterior of Archadia.

Michel had ascended powers that allowed extrasensory abilities, so using it in unison with Shemhazai’s Void Vision, he saw what Savayna could not. And as he did, he couldn’t believe it.

“What? This can’t be possible.”

“What is it?”

“Jaakuna, he--he..”

Inside the cloud of smoke, what may have seemed like the obvious was, in fact, Jaakuna had the lightning bolt in his hand and it hadn’t struck his body at all. In fact, it seemed as though Jaakuna was not only holding it at bay, but as Igeyorhm found out in a matter of moments, he was converting the manifested plasma into the fire, and adding it to his own.

Wait, no that’s not entirely accurate. Michel saw only the base of things, but the reality was.

Jaakuna was absorbing it into his body to fuse with his fire, creating some kind of hybrid of lightning and fire. And as the entirety of the bolt was absorbed, Jaakuna’s fire aura had the additional property of crackling lightning, to which he used to enhance his speed and before Igeyorhm knew what hit him, Jaakuna did with all the fury of an exploding volcano and one-thousand lightning bolts. It would happen so fast and at such blinding speeds that Igeyorhm was flying back as soon as he saw Jaakuna disappear, but that wasn’t the end of it. Jaakuna followed suit. Whilst mid-air, Jaakuna grabbed Igeyorhm by his hair and hurled him up. As the Martyr’s body was airborn, Jaakuna followed him into the sky and proceeded to bounce him back and forth as if he was trapped in a loop of onslaughts. It would conclude with Jaakuna delivering a double-fisted ax slam, sending Igeyorhm down to the ground.

Crooked Young - An Altered Lies Production

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She said she knew what he was doing and that she had no problem with it. Either this chick was way more petty than Elijah gave her credit for, or he was missing something between the lines. It didn’t matter either way. To him, it didn’t matter if she was going along with whatever was happening just to spite his brother(much like he was doing) or if she was genuine in getting to know him. Honestly, his reasons, though similar to hers, wasn’t just to spite Alexandros. Despite what people thought about him, he wasn’t that heartless. That being said, it was a bonus to get under his brother’s skin, so why not?

“You want my name, huh?” Elijah took a sip of his drink, looking around the room. He saw Alexandros give him a subtle glare from across the room. He also saw Ava give him a not-so-subtle glare. Though he clearly saw them see how he was cozying to Audrey, they had no idea what was happening. For all they knew, he could’ve said something to her. “I’ll do you one better.”

Elijah, though he refused to give his name, would instead plant one on Audrey’s lips, not at all giving two rats ass about what it’d make her look like. After about ten seconds passed, he slowly broke the kiss, and he looked over to Alexandros, who would simply walk off in a direction with Ava not far behind.

Cocking a satisfied smirk, Eli’s cold, steel blue eyes met with Audrey’s chocolate-coated orbs. “Contrary to what everyone might tell you, my parents gave me the godawful name of Elias, but you may just call me Eli.” He informed her simply.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

When he had rushed forward, jolting into Igeyorhm with his body horizontal and fists set ablaze right into his abdomen area, Jaakuna felt confident about how this was going. He felt a surge of power flow through him. He had made a direct hit, not only that but the False Scion appeared to have a rather noticeable burn on his stomach, so for a moment, he thought it was going to be a smooth ride of him pounding this guy into the pavement, and everyone could stop worrying.

But, of course like all things, Jaakuna misread the situation. On top of him appearing to be fine, this idiot had the nerve to speak about Emiri again. This fired up Jaakuna so much, his entire body manipulated the natural mist in the air, and his entire body was surrounded by a flame-like aura of mist, he gave Igeyorhm a nasty expression. “You will not speak about her--” Jaakuna was suddenly interrupted by Emiri taking to the sky, aiming for the Emperor’s Tower. “--wait, where is she going? I’m trying to defend her!”

“It doesn’t look like she needs your protection.” Savayna noted, laughing at Jaakuna’s expense as she noticed how quick Emiri was flying off.

“She’s always full of surprises,” Michel mused aloud.

After that moment of shock, Jaakuna shook it off and turned to face Igeyorhm. No matter if she was present or not, Jaakuna still had most of his mind decided that he was going to fight on behalf of his darling Emiri. “Let’s do this!” Jaakuna let out a battle cry, stepping forward as fire trailed behind him. He extended his right arm forward and fire magick was expelled from it, covering Igeyorhm in a stream of crimson flame. If that didn’t work, Jaakuna would simply use his other arm to double the magickal output.

---

Deep inside the Tomb of Raithwall where he rested, shadows within shadows gathered above and below it, cracking the walls of stone until they broke from the pressure. However, as the blocks had started to threaten to cave in, these shadows seemed to activate some kind of ancient magick that not only froze them but it reversed their destruction to set them back in place. Then, from the cracks, the shadows took a semi-solid shape that looked almost humanoid. They approached the tomb and gave each other a glance.

Their hands locked with one another, beckoning other shadows to appear. It had gotten to the point where over one-hundred shadows filled the room. They were on the ground, on the walls, on the ceiling, some where hovering - but all of them had their skinny arms locked. After a while, it seemed like nothing was happening, but that wasn’t the case. In actuality, there was something vile at work. And for those who had just entered the tomb, they were walking right into it without even being aware of what it was.

“It’s time,” one of the shadows said, stepping away from the others. Its form became slightly visible. It was a male of some sort, his face still covered in shadows, but medium-length hair was seen and the sight of distorted eyes made through the light emanating from the entrance to where the Tomb of Raithwall - the actual tomb - rested. “Our guests approach. Prepare the Reckoning.”