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'My head...' in a daze, Kain slowly opened his emerald green eyes. A sky of darkness was revealed to him, with only the illumination from three full moons to provide vision. He looked to his left, then his right. He grasped fistfuls of coarse sand and pebbles. Eventually, his mind managed to grasp what had happened. The fall, the bright bolt surrounding him, the landing inside a body of water... The rest still had yet to come to Kain's memories. In fact, most of his mind felt blank for the most part. For reasons he cannot recall, he felt emotionally drained in comparison to his natural state. It was frustrating the anthropologist to no end. However, being in foreign territory was something he was vaguely familiar with, and he knew he had to be alert and fast.

Kain quickly stood up and observed his surroundings. The body of water he vaguely recalled was a huge lake. A familiar leather jacket laid limply along the shore. He picked it up and flapped it in attempts to dry it, flying out a small black floating spirit. Kain's eyes widened in surprise at the sight. The imp had an orb-ish body with black horns and a mouth half the size of its body. While is appeared cute by nature, once it furrowed its brows and opened its mouth to reveal razor-sharp teeth, it was anything but cute in Kain's eyes. He quickly dashed in a different direction from its attack, noticing hat seemed to be a mausoleum in the distance. He dashed for it, the spirit following him.

Quickly, Kain arrived to the broken down building, which seemed to be more of a closed shrine. The architecture was in ill-repair, and the only thing keeping the building from falling apart altogether seemed to be the sturdy build of the four pillars holding it up. The door was ajar, giving him the perfect opportunity to dive inside the building with a quick somersault. Unfortunately, as he attempted to close the door behind him, it would not budge. With a sigh of resignation, he sought for an alternative. In the back of the mausoleum appeared to be a tomb of the sorts. A humanoid body was holding what appeared very familiar to him--a bow staff. Kain managed to easily slide the bo staff out of the humanoid's hands. In his years as a field anthropologist, the bo staff was one of the weapons he became familiar with. It had the ability to carry force all while being non-lethal, which he appreciated above all else. Upon placing it in both of his hands, words whispered through his mind.

"Save the gem dragons, defeat the demons...then you may return home." he voice seemed to ring a bell, but above that he now had an idea on what his goal was now. As he firmly grasped the bo staff, the small spirit slid into the mausoleum. As its razor sharp mouth darted towards Kain, his eyes glinted and pushed the bo staff forward, putting it directly into the spirit's throat and using the momentum to throw the spirit into the farther back of the mausoleum. While the spirit took time to recuperate, Kain had already made it out the door, using the adrenaline running through his body to shut the door, locking the spirit inside. It was more than enough to make Kain certain it would stop bothering him.

Walking aimlessly, Kain put into thought the words that came through his mind. 'Gem dragons...' the idea sounded foreign to him, but he had an idea of what to look for. He just had to find a huge dragon--perhaps with a gem imbedded in its body or with an appearance mirroring gem, save it, and defeat a questionable amount of enemies in order to return back to his life as an anthropologist. It was all off-putting how quickly he's willing to accept it, but with no social barriers such as another human around him, he didn't contemplate too much on it. Instead he was focused on the task at hand, finding a dragon.

'Dragons are...cave dwelling by nature in myth,' he figured, twisting his face in confusion, unaware of his surrounding as he loses his footing, unaware that he walked right into a huge hole open to a cavern. As he was free-falling, the adrenaline rushing through him from the sudden situation he was tossed into caused him to let out a small gasp, trying to quickly shape his body into a proper dive as his body crashed yet again into water. Several yards into the cavern water, he braced his eyes open to see a huge serpent dart towards him. He let go of his breath in anxiety, quickly realizing the mistake he made. In a heat of emotions, Kain didn't realize that he had an electric glow quickly surging from his body, electrifying the water and easily frying the serpent. One problem was solved, but now with his need for oxygen clouding his sight, Kain swam as fast as he could to the surface. It was then that he noticed just how fast he was moving. It was faster than he thought he could go, making it to the surface before even gulping water in a struggle. With a big gasp for air, Kain looked around the cavern, seeing a small shore and a cave. He managed to quickly swim towards it and braced himself as he entered the cave.

Kain saw how useless his attack was with a small electric ball. While it could have rendered an entire group of imps unconscious, this demon simply seemed distracted by what could paralyze a mere human. It was slightly infuriating but all the more terrifying. For such a creature to exist was still immeasurable in Kain's mind, uncertain of how his friends even managed to focus on simply battling these demons. For a simple anthropologist, it was lot to process. However, he attempted to remain focused on the situation at hand, knowing that getting lost in his own flurry of thoughts could easily get him killed.

As the demon turned to face Kain, Gray had taken the opportunity to ensue the fight with a slight advantage now that he was no longer working alone. "Now taste the flames of my rebellion you ugly freak!" Gray exclaimed as he managedto throw fire into the demon's face. Kain took this moment to mentally note that Gray also seemed to have gained powers. As the demon almost towered over Kain, who was ready to dash and bulldoze on of the demon's legs with all his might, Gray yet again managed to beat him to the punch and incapacitated the creature with his extendable sword. "Good to see you Kain and thanks for the help now lets knock this thing out with a one, two punch." his friend exclaimed, Kain giving him a nonchalant thumbs up as he used his speed to appear almost instantaneously next to his friend's side. In the next moment, Gray managed to use an unbearable scream to send the demon flying to the ceiling causing the cave to shift and crack, small boulders dropping from the ceiling to the wall. Kain almost wanted to make a joke considering that Gray, who he saw as one of the most verbal of the group, has a power involving raising his voice is almost too ironic. However, he refrained considering now was not the time or place. "Okay I like that scream power but any ideas on what to do when i pull it down cause it seems stuck right now but still awake and annoyed." Gray asked, leaving Kain to wonder. While his own passive streak left him thinking they should just run and block off the cave, he knew that may not be enough for his friends or even the demons if they remained conscious and free to rampage about. However, he did manage to come up with a solution.

"Collapse the cave," he spoke quietly but decisively to Gray so he wouldn't have to repeat himself. Being the eldest--beating Cirian by two months--and perhaps some might argue most educated of the group (with Lysander's medical education making it quite the toss-up), a part of him felt like if he had something to say or a plan, his friends would follow through and agree with him since it's so rare for him to take action of all people in the strong personality type of fiends he was involved with. Kain's natural voice was deep and intense, perhaps almost the most masculine part of himself, and yet he rarely uses it aside from when verbal communication is necessary. Kain even learned ASL so that way he could simply sign if he didn't want to talk. He recalls having learned in a partner class, but with who he cannot quite remember as well. For this rare instance that he used his voice--and as usual accompanying it with the sign language variant of his words--he knew what had to be done. Collapsing the cave and having everyone safely leave while the demons remained in incapacitated states was an easier solution than attempting to kill or even render unconscious these seemingly difficult beings. He quickly went to work with his own plan, shooting larger electric bolts across the ceiling on the farther end of the tunnel to start, watching as parts of it collapsed and hoping the others would quickly catch onto what he was planning.

He dashed quickly inside of the cage through one of the openings, grabbing an unconscious girl and lifting her limp body over his shoulder before seeing a conscious girl with pink hair still inside, as well. Her eyes felt kind, and he mirrored her kindness with a softer expression of his own as he extended is free hand out towards her in an attempt to help her out and be a courteous savior--even if a part of him felt like these girl might be able to manage to fend for themselves. His hand was large, but it seemed generally soft and perhaps not as calloused as most men his age. Even when doing field research in foreign lands, he never had to do difficult physical labor aside from some heavy lifting and gardening. Kain knew he wasn't very strong physically, but he hoped his speed might be able to help him in his endeavors to save these girls, especially now as he felt the ground shake more and more from the cracks in the ceiling caused by hiself and Gray's little attack against the demon. He looked around at his friends, hoping they may also be willing to help save whatever girls were left sleeping.

Kain finally felt like her could relax upon saving as many girls as he could, a wave of exhaustion slowly dreading over him from the consistent amount of running he had just experienced. He looked at the girls he now had practically in a row, still very confused as to why so many were trapped in a cage surrounded by demons within what he could only describe as an underworld in his mind. Nonetheless, he was glad they were able to be saved from whatever future awaited them. While he recalled there being words of devouring the, he highly doubted that they would be appetizing, especially to such large demons. Most of these girls were light and petite, so their muscle and fat tissues wouldn't exactly add to one's taste buds very nicely.

The rambling thoughts of confusing cannibalism were cut off as he saw the girl with pink hair approach him, seemingly relieved by the fact that he was able to save so many of her friends. "Thank you for saving me and my friends. You and your friends are truly amazing humans," she spoke gentle before closing her eyes and kissing him on the corner of his mouth. Immediately, the generally laid-back in appearance Kain felt his body temperature rise in his face, his tan turning into a rosy red. He swore for a moment that he felt an electric shock hit it brain, causing him to lose focus. For a man such as himself, who was not raised in a touchy feely household and never held a relationship, he didn't know how to react to such an event. He could only stare in an embarrassing state of shock at the girl as his lips pursed in shyness.

Luckily for Kain, he was in for a bit of a wake up call as Gray finally came out of the cave. His state of silent embarrassment turned into silent concern at the sight of Gray bloody and injured, having not previously noticed the leg injury his friend must have sustained from the demon attack. "Kain next time you have a idea to bring a cave down on top of us lets make sure we are all out.... Xion better hurry or he maybe crushed under the rocks." The expected sound of being chewed out for his plan didn't faze him, and instead his still vaguely reddened face turned ore monotone, realizing even through his injuries Gray could still be Gray. Unlike his friend, he wasn't as concerned. Kain had an uncannily immense amount of faith in his friends, especially in the dependable Xion, who came out of the cave shortly thereafter, covered in ice and with the final damsel.

"Good to see we all made it out alive and next time someone wants to bring a cave down on us say it next time so we are all on the save page cause that little stunt could have killed us." Xion spoke diplomatically. Kain shrugged his shoulders and looked away, as though it was his own way to say "Fair enough" without actually saying anything, something his friends had eventually become accustomed to. While Kain's plan initially involved Gray being his speaker, things don't always go as planned when you're fighting demons in a hellscape. Kain also didn't want to make a huge scene about revealing his plan, knowing that at the very least, the strongest of the demons had the intelligence to understand his words and would very likely had attempted to foil his plot. As his own thoughts went on to defend his actions, his body acted with resignation to his fate for being picked on over this in the distant future when the "lives were risked" factor no longer seems as serious. They'll be laughing about it over tea in a fancy garden while Kain does what he does best--stay nonverbal and nonchalant. In the meantime, he looked at Xion for the next plan of action, knowing fully well that he is the man with the plan for most occasions. Had Xion made a plan before Kain, he would have followed through with indefinite subordination for the younger man.

"Okay lets get all the meet and greet going and then set up camp we all need to rest after that and get some food. So let try hunting something and gathering some wood for a fire. Also, I'm Xion Hiyama by the way." And as predicted, Xion had a plan for them. Kain nodded and decided to gather wood. However, before he did, he all too quickly remembered the mark of gratitude which he still faintly felt tingle upon his skin, turning to the pink haired girl before quickly averting his gaze. If there was a time to do the meet-and-greet Xion planned, now was that time.

"...I'm Kain," he spoke directly, using ASL alongside his words now that his hands were free. In ASL, names are not given direct signs, so for himself he simply made his name the sign for a walking cane. While he knew his friends very well couldn't understand a lot--if any--sign language, it was a comfort for Kain to know that he can still use it while talking to perhaps slowly teach them.

When Hanako had giggled at his question, he couldn't help but excessively blink in amusement. It seemed familiar, but above all else it seemed cute. While he remained focused on the question at hand, he couldn't help but take an odd comfort in the exotic familiarities of the pink haired woman. "I know all about them. My friends and I are gem dragons. I am a Rose Quartz dragon." She signed, making his eyes widen, childishly amused as he observed her for wings or some sign of non-human features. "We can take two forms; this form and our dragon form. This form is much more manageable." She continued with a smile, making his face fluster in embarrassment. However, for the ever stoic Kain, he simply hid this by turning his face away from her direction, though perhaps a tint of red on his tanned face could be seen at an angle.

"...Oh," Was all the man could muster, his gaze still averted as his voice escaped his lips. With an averted gaze, he continued to sign. "The way to escape from this...hell is to save the gem dragons and defeat the 'demons'." He signed roughly, having difficulty coming up with a good sign to use for explaining the place they were at. it was an odd group of tasks, but he figured that now the dragons were safe (to an extent), things might fall into place. He glanced over at Hanako as he noticed she was going to sign.

"Do we need to get food or firewood? I know a lot about gardening and wild plants, so maybe we can collect food?"

"Food I can assist with," Kain signed, watching as the others in their large party are already following through helping with various tasks. Raven even going so far already as to kill a charging boar. Another girl who simply woke up made enough firewood to last them some time, and Oswald appeared just in time to help kinder the fire. However, considering how many of them there are, they could always do with plenty more food. His experience with scavenging is lackluster in demonic hellscapes, but having been in enough foreign land to tell the difference between poisonous and edible, as well as being familiar with gardening to an extent, it was a decent plan. He led Hanako to a specific area of wetland around the lake that appeared to have some form of edible plants. Something mirroring cattail caught his interest. It exhilarated him at the comfortable sight.

"We can make soup with the rootstock. The leaves can be boiled to be eaten. Even the flower can be cooked to taste like corn. It's a great food supplement that many native tribes take to for food," He spoke unknowingly aloud in a vaguely enthusiastic manner. Few things bring the man into a state of word vomit, and one of those things happens to be anything involving anthropological information. He started to dig through the dirt to get to the base root of the cattails to carefully scoop them out. "The best part is the base, so the more white the better. I believe Emory can season it nicely enough to everyone's tastes," His deep voice was indistinguishably sounding enthusiastic in an unwitting manner. Despite their troubling position, he was having fun reliving the adrenaline of being lost in the wild.

ϟ xxxA silence emitted from the large group for a short time until finally Hanako made the decision to speak up, even if it was just to herself for a moment. "My soul," she whispered within his earshot, before looking up to him, her vibrant pink eyes twinkling from the bright night. "the rest of that phrase is 'my soul'." The strong conviction of her words sunk into Kain's mind, piecing it all together. It was then he began to recall a hazy dream--or perhaps it was reality he had long since forgotten.


Sweat dripped from Kain's face as though he had been drenched in the rain. However, the day was cloudless and bright. His hands appeared bruised and calloused from hard labor, something he was not used to from years of shoving his head into books to study and then years further shoving his head into journals to write the very studies a child will have to read in the future much like himself. Kain quietly escorted...someone to the back of his home, closing their eyes and guiding them. He couldn't remember the face, only the expression of curiosity.

"Open your eyes," He declared quietly, his voice at a gentle whisper that he used to be much more comfortable with. The person had obliged his request, opening their eyes to see Kain's hard work--a handmade greenhouse.

"I know...I'm difficult to understand...but I want to change that..." He placed the shadowy figures hand upon his chest where his heart beats. "I promise you my heart, even if you already have my soul..." the world began to slowly melt in his memory to go from the day to the night.

A genuine smile crept upon his lips, talking passionately to the same figure as they cuddle up on the couch next to the fireplace. His long strings of dialogue were about his travels and cultural studies, information about lands far away from their own. Beyond this one memory, Kain had never experienced anything similar to the physical affection he had towards the person in his arms, and yet it felt more natural than anything else. As the smaller person fell asleep, he cradled them gently and lifted them to bed, where he would kiss their forehead and whisper sweet words into their sleeping ears.


Kain's face began to glow a soft red, whether it was from the memories he recalled or the illumination from the campfire was left for those around him to contemplate themselves. Staring into the campfire, Kain's thoughts focused as Hanako continued.

"I remember that I lived in a woodland area with wetlands near it. There was a garden next to my home as well.. I also guess that I had learned sign language before coming here since I seem to be able to sign and read signs." Piece by piece, it all sounded like it could connect. Why he got into gardening, how she knew sign language, the timing of his purchase of a cabin for a home. Maybe they all did know each other, but ho could he forget someone that would be so important to him? Kain attempted to beat himself up for what he wanted to consider as his own negligence, but his efforts were quickly ended by a small diversion

"Salad is ready. It will take me longer for the boar but I'm working on it. I wanted everyone able to eat something as its going to take me time. Only one guy." Kain took this momentary distraction as a reason to get up and move towards Emory, giving a small smile and patting the younger man on his back before looking around for something they perhaps should have considered a bit ago--plates.

"Ah...plates..." He spoke softly to Emory, so as to not disturb the flow of the conversation. He wasn't even sure the man would have any, but Kain considered the black haired teenager as his only salvation. Kain hadn't noticed until no just how hungry he had been, but he remained a proper child, preparing to serve the women and those younger than himself first--so everyone.

"Now or before....just waking from a coma it doesn't feel different to me. The only change is I remember less than before we came here." As Emory quietly added to the conversation, Kain nodded in understanding. Kain always saw a little of himself in the young Emory, with both of them being very soft spoken but for different reasons.

"Everyone you all need to see this now!!!!" A familiar lovable loud mouth spoke up, turning Kain's attention to what needed to be seen. "Your not wrong Raven but you all need to see this now cause this is freaky but it clear shows each outline of the missing woman in the picture is clearly the gem dragons...... So we all do have a connections here but why can't we remember why Raven?"

"Bullshit."

Immediately, the the previously distracted Toya took the spotlight.

“It’s all crap…How can we actually know that the picture is even real? That’s it's not some trick from the so called “Demons” that supposedly run this world…or wherever we are? Besides…if this was true how come we don’t have any memories of them?” Kain bit his lip, deeply questioning if perhaps the demons had a plot in this, after all. It would be excessive, but would it ultimately be worth it for their plans? Recollections of the demon's plans to eat the girls came to mind. If the men lost memories of people they knew prior to this situation, then they wouldn't have the motivation to save random strangers that they obviously felt chemistry towards.

'Not to mention the voice...' Kain contemplated, remembering the benevolent voice of a female telling them precisely what to do to escape. Without that voice, they wouldn't have had the guidance they needed for this foreign hellscape.

“And besides why are even saving them? They seem more than capable of saving themselves?” Kain pursed his lips for a brief moment, agitated from the even more agitated Toya, before finally taking a look at the picture. In it, everyone seemed...so happy, it was almost strange. Kain barely recognized his own face with teeth showing in a smile. In his arms was a much smaller figure, and at the center of their shadowy physique...

"Rose quartz..." Kain whispered to himself, before looking at Hanako, remembering her mentioning she was the rose quartz dragon.

"...I trust them," He spoke up, turning to the fuming Toya. "Even if we didn't know them...I trust them, and we need to stick together. The more of us against these demons, the better...agh, stop making me step up and talk here, guys. I'm not the only one who sees this, right? Xion?" His voice went from serious and determined back to a lazier tone as he tried to give the floor away to Xion, a man he trusted to be tactful above the others if he was being honest with himself. While a part of him had become frustrated with how excessive he has used his voice, he felt the odd strength to speak.xxx ϟ