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Fully turning around, Lucind took some more seconds to let her look wander over the boy's form.

"Hmm... So you can suppress this ability?"
It was just the next question to start a conversation - she could've asked anything.

"And no, you don't have to stop. I don't mind. Or well...if it is of any use for you, you can 'activate' it without letting me know anyway, right?" She smiled softly, then removed the cowl with both hands.

Tellus whimpered in her restless slumber as she was carried. Whatever it was, wasn't making for pleasant dreams so hopefully the sleep would at least still be healing.

"......... It's begun."

Ezekiel turned his eyes away from the scenery and looked back towards Lucind. He held her within his gaze, even as he stuffed both hands into the pockets of his pants.

Judging from his tone and mannerisms, he apparently wasn't much for personal conversation, completly avoiding all sarcasm and form of joking.


".......Hey... does he really excite her that much?"

He could see by her eyes, that she would probaly be confused.

"Vahn. Right now he's risking his life for... her. What a guy."

He turned his head to the side, staring to where Ra'kar was.

"That's not like Victor at all. It's hard to believe that they're even brothers."

" 'gainst us? Or against you?" Sun blinked suddenly. "Vahn, can you put Tellus down for a second? I need to have a word..."

If Vahn put Tellus down, he'd hook an arm around the other mans neck and drag him off to the side.

If not he'd sigh, following along with the rest.

"Huh?"

Ezekiel stared at Lucind, rather genuinely surprised. "Wow, you really are clueless."

Standing where he was, his eyes looked over Lucind's body, before simply closing and turning his head to the side.

"He's really close, you know. They might even be the next evolution of "mankind"."

Eyes once more on Lucind, he could see feel the questions floating around within her mind. He could see the apprehension in her eyes.

"How interesting. Alright. This'll be kinda fun."

Ezekiel took several steps towards Lucind, his left hand raising over his left eye. "I'll tell you history of those brothers... And all that's happened here before."



As Raven tapped the rune, it seemed to faintly glow; apparently responding the sensation of touch.

"Eh?"

He didn't really feel like placing the girl down was for the best... but it was also doubly strange that Sunstrike would ask to speak with him in private.

Bending down to the ground, he placed the younger female down and wrapped her body with his mantle, keeping her relatively safe for the moment.

Stabbing his Fang into the ground near her, he got up and was pulled off to the side by the red-head.

"What's--- going on...??"

"1 NOW it came to pass in the thirtieth year,
in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the
month, as I was among the captives by the river
of Che'bar, that the heavens were opened, and I
saw visions of God."

Taking hold of his left eye within his fingertips, he began pulling it free, straight from it's socket with a sickening pop. Holding it between his fingers, he crushed it just as suddenly, letting the shattered pieces drift in the air, even as his memories would begin to pour into her.

"This is the book of the prophet Ezekiel."



Northernlands

The lands that stretched out were wasted, and barren. The arid air made things all the more unbearable, as if nothing living could possibly be in this region. The images pulled back, and a hand obstructed the view momentarily.

"It's been 6 months." The voice was familiar, as the view shifted onto a young man upon a horse, yellowed eyes staring with a soft kindness not long seen since then. It was Victor...with noticeably shorter hair. "We lost -it- across this wasteland when we were making our escape."

"That kind of stuff really pisses you off." The voice was gruff and deep as they come, belonging to a burly form that rode another horse. Tyrus....

"We humans can't detect it." A slightly more slender form came trotting up beside the hulking Tyrus, his hair flaring to one side....Junzo

"Is that why....you still need me here?" A feminine voice spoke out.

"Yes....you can search for it." Another male voice replied. "From a far away past to a distant location, to worlds of the dead.... The princess whose eyes can see everything...."

The voice by now, should have registered within Lucind's mind. If not, the close up of a particulary younger looking man, secured atop a horse should have rung the bells. "The Preistess of Ava...."

It was none other than Vahn.

"Ashe, you can find it." Vahn stared forward towards the blasted landscape, surveying what was ahead, with everyone else. Ashe sat securely behind Vahn, both legs together as she sat sideways upon the horse.

We had been on the run for over 6 months now.... These were the blasted lands forsaken by him. However fights against his would be followers were waiting for us day after day. Our dream of freedom was very much still far away... Even after defeating him.

"I guess the risk of having her with us is worth it in the end." Junzo said softly, watching from the side, as bright flashes of light continued to pour out along the ground.

"It wasn't a mistake to take her back, don't you think?" Tyrus asked rhetorically.

".....Zelandria had a good reason for "protecting" her." Victor spoke softly. "This power far surpasses that of a human..."

Ashe laid knelt upon the ground, as if in prayer-- creating an aura of arts that swirled about her form and bled outwards, creating the frail shapes of wings upon her back. Within her mind, miles upon miles of ground was covered, as if staring through the eyes of a telescope-- the landscape became more and more enhanced, something glowing.

"Just a little more...." Her hands wiped away at her tears, the strain from using the strange ability draining much of her stamina. "There's.....a tiny bit of movement.....50 miles to the Northwest."

Victor grinned as he looked up from his map. "The area has been narrowed from 1/100 in just 3 days. The discovery is only a step away... let's continue on." He folded the faded map away, making his way back towards his horse.

"Victor!!" The shout made him stop mid-step, craning his head to look behind him.

"We...got to let her rest first." Vahn was knelt by Ashe, supporting her body up.

"We really can't afford to wait around, kid." Junzo stared at the woman, and then back to Vahn.

"Come on....she just percepted everything within a 100 miles-- of course she would be exhausted!"

Tyrus grunted, as he twisted the reigns of his horse. "We just have to head Northwest, right?"

"Alright...seems like we'll manage the rest on our own." Victor said with a smile. "We'll leave her to you, brother." Vahn stared, ready to protest, when Victor raised a finger. "You're the one who suggested it, so make sure that you look after her properly. We'll be back by tomorrow."

Vahn watched as the three men rode off briskly, turning his head to look back at the woman now in his apparent care.

Time passed on.

".....Uh...." Ashe slowly stirred in her slumber, the soft crackling of the fire casting shadows that danced every which way. Vahn glanced in her direction, raven locks framing his unshaven face. "...Did...everyone go ahead....?" She asked sleepily, as she made an effort to sit up.

"Yeah....they're searching as best as they can, so it's going to take them a while. It's okay, just keep resting for now."

Ashe succumbed, laying back down as she closed her eyes. "...I'm sorry....I'll do that."

.....Enigmatic woman, wasn't she? From the time we first met, she hadn't been nervous at all.... As if there was no difference from the fact that we kidnapped her....or not.....

The night waned.... with Vahn experiencing a disturbing dream, in which the body he held close to his chest began to fade away from existence.

Daylight soon approached, with Vahn staring wide-eyed into the sunlit skies. Sitting up, he found himself alone, only the bubbling sounds of the nearby river and the grazing of the horse to accompany him.

"....Ashe?"

"Vahn~? I'm here, I'm here!" The voice drifted out from behidn several outcroppings of rock and raised earth, near the bend of the river. Standing up, Vahn slowly made his way on over, the flowing cloak dragging on its ends along the floor.

".....Are you alright...?" He moved down the small shoreline, and felt a flush crawl across his cheeks.

"Yes, I'm completely fine." There in the river, bent forward Ashe stood in nothing but her bodice and bloomers, her hair wavering and falling down her shoulder, with as much glint as sunlight itself. "Good morning." The softest smile ever seen on a woman, her beauty literally radiated outwards.

And Vahn could only stand watching stunned.

"Too bad!" Ashe said with a small laugh, as she looked to Vahn. "I just finished bathing."

".....What do you mean by too bad?" He turned his head to the side, embaressment showing through his demeanor. "Anyway, what are you....?"

"I'm doing laundry. These clothes are the only ones I have." She said, wringing out the water from her dress.

"....What is laundry?" Vahn piped up, not quite knowing what the term was. He had been so used to always having servants prep his clothes for him... seemed like such a lifetime ago.

Ashe was surprised when she heard the query, and felt a slight twinge of embarassment, before turning and splashing on over to him.

"?"

"....Can you excuse me for a moment?" Her hands gripped the front of his cloak, as well as his shirt, before lifting it up and over his head suddenly.

"W,Wait, what are you doing!?"

"It's alright, just take it off!"

"GAH!"

A large splash was ehard as he fell backwards into the river.

The sun continued shining, the skies without a hint of any clouds at all.

".........I already said I don't really care..."

"No, I won't let it be so worn out."

Vahn sat upon the ground, slightly raised, looking on as Ashe resumed her sewing, patching up his cloak.

"You'll never be popular with women, no matter how wonderful you are." She said chuckling all the while, which just elicited another flush across Vahn's cheeks, much to his annoyance.

"My, my, he's getting embarrased." Ashe let out another burst of laughter.

"Don't get carried away!" Vahn shouted out, huffing as he turned his head to the side. "Until the search is over, I cannot harm you. Those were Victor's orders. But understand the situation a little... Once the time comes..."

He gestured with his left hand, even as Ashe's hands suddenly cupped his face.

"Once that time comes, you will have to... kill me, right?"

There a stretch of silence, as Ashe stared into Vahn's eyes, her gaze making the latter uncomfortable to the point that he pulled away.

".....Victor's my brother. If those are his orders, I will have to obey them."

"Is that what your role is?"

".......That's what you asked the first time we met, wasn't it?"

He stood up, staring down at her.

"Why did you choose to come with me?"

((sorry guys, going a little out of order, if anyones got a problem I'll erase it 3nodding ))

His arm still curled around the other man's shoulders he leaned down talking low so as not to bother the girls.

"Look, Vahn...there are too many things coming together for it to be chance. You must have been here before....I'm starting to have an uneasy feeling you're not the only one either. I mean hell, how do you explain Antharas just sitting there? You and I both have things locked away for a reason."

Those strange eyes slanted up to the edifaces, carved with likeness's that seemed like ghosts of the past.

"I'm worried that we might be walking into something deeper then a simple trap...Regardless of how this tower might be fighting us, they seem more like tests, each building to gauge our strength before going onto the next."

His teeth suddenly gritted together in irritation. Sun was close enough to Vahn now that their heads were almost touching. "Battle to battle, this isn't like Henry, it shows tinges of a kind of desperation that strikes cords within that I don't want to think about. What about Samuel and Ezekiel? Don't you think they would have shown up if Victor wanted to get straight to the point?"

He was thinking out loud almost...knowing a lot of the questions Vahn wouldn't be able to answer, anymore then he could. But maybe, if he let his feelings be known out loud, Vahn might be more prepared for...

What? Damnit...I'm floundering in the dark... His arm slipped from the other mans shoulder and he straightened, staring upwards at nothing.

"I feel so...unbalanced..." It was a strange statement to come from someone like Sun, who never failed to keep his footing, except under extreme duress.