Ruli felt completely unbothered by the warmth of their surroundings. He thrived in it, really. Even though the air here was different, tangible, almost ... aromatic. Not because of the forest, but something else. Ruli turned his head to glance at Ysaryn, just as she looked his way, the same question written on her countenance. Do you smell that?
They both nodded to one another, then moved forward, following Kire, swords drawn, just in case.
Just as Kire saw, Ruli was enveloped in a shadow that rumbled the sand beneath him. He bent his knees, looking upwards to a desert he knew, dunes he had memorized. Ziad. Above was a glittering view of golden scales, wings of flame and heat, and an aura that shook the air. "What the-" He began straightening again. He turned to see if anyone else had seen it, but found himself alone.
"Kire?" He shouted, turning in place. "Ysaryn? Daryll? My-"
He froze, turning in place to find a figure standing in the sand before him. Gold and fire. Brilliant red eyes, brighter and more alive than Scindere's or even Envy's. Her golden hair moved behind her as if caught under water, pulled slowly by the slightest shift in the air. She was tall, her rounded nose peering down at Ruli, who stood at least two feet shorter.
He swallowed, afraid to look away, to break their eye contact.
Good. A voice said. Don't give her the chance.
Ruli inhaled, fighting the urge to blink.
"So you are the one." The figure said, rather than asked. Ruli didn't move, waiting. "The scion."
"Scion of what?"
Do not engage! The voice hissed again. Ruli finally blinked. It was a woman's voice that spoke in his head, though one he did not know.
The golden figure smiled. It was similar to Akuma's, cold, but there was life there, too. "You knew what you were supposed to become."
Ruli felt the temperature drop around him despite the desert sand that stretched for miles. "I did not wish for it." He could Walk back to Kire. back to the Tower.
No.
Ruli swallowed again. No?
Not yet.
The red-eyed woman smiled once more. "But you had let it begin." One of her long, powerful legs stepped forward, the sand hissing and steaming beneath her fiery feet. Ruli took an involuntary step back. "The blood in your body, the magic flowing, belongs to me. Your mothers soiled it by breeding with your fathers. With your kind."
Wait. Wait.
Another step back, just as she stepped forward again, closing the distance between them with her long legs. "But, in their mistake, you were born. A gift I never foresaw. I have a desire to take you back."
A little longer.
Why?
Wait and see-
As she raised an arm, the red-gold wing behind her stretched like a canvas. Within it, Ruli could see images, clear and vivid, as if he were looking through a window. Himself standing at an altar, a scar-less Envy standing happily beside him as they watched someone walk down the aisle. Kire. Ruli inhaled. The flames shifted, and the vision showed him a pyre lit, like a beacon in the dark sky. The pit in his stomach told him who lay upon it before his eyes could see it. Then, in his arms, a wriggling infant, red hair matted to his sweating head; beyond him, just out of view, a redhaired woman smiling at them. She bore no scars, but there was something so familiar about her face.
"You were to give birth to a new power." The giant woman said, her wing folding again as she lowered her arm. Ruli looked up, meeting her gaze again. "Fire of Amria meeting the Fire of Persis to create an heir so powerful both worlds would covet him."
See him! Hold him! The voice urged, her tone desperate.
The baby. Ruli couldn't see the vision anymore, but tried to keep the image in his head.
He did not like the smile on the fiery woman's face. "You will sire the child. But on a woman of worth. On the Fire of Persis. And the other world will fall to its knees."
Now! The voice said, and Ruli didn't need a second order. He turned and fled, feet digging into the hot sand, his shoes gone, his clothing no longer the mutes tans but the suffocating black of his old life. His old skin. He could hear the thing roar behind him, the heat growing as she gave chase. Run! Run! Run!
"OOf-!" Ruli hit someone, bounding off of them as they both clattered to the ground. He heard a hiss, the familiar, viscous tone of Ysaryn, and he flipped around quickly. He wore his muted tones again, his boots, his sword still in his hand. There was no sand. No fire-engulfed giantess threatening him with a smile. Exhaling, he dropped his head on the ground. "Fuck."
Ysaryn said nothing. He'd knocked her off her feet, but she sat up on her knees, looking forward as if she were searching, as if she, too, had seen something, and was still searching.
"Tell me you saw something." Ruli said, still sprawled on his back. Despite his comfort in the heat, he was sweating. When ysaryn didn't answer, he raised his head. "Ysaryn? Did you see something?"
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. "I d-don't know."
Her uncertainty made Ruli sit up, leaning to the side to peer at her face. She looked ... not frightened, but confused. Contemplative.
"Kire?" Ruli shouted, deciding to focus on regrouping. They could debrief later. "Daryll?"
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