Wilderness



An area on Earth with a very diverse environment. Divided into Rural and Urban for the most part, there are some areas which fit the criteria of neither and remain here.

The Memorial Lost at Sea
Nanashi arrives at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, a somber expression on his face. He flies forward, moving towards the ocean's center. Once he reaches a certain point his flight abruptly ends, resulting in him landing on a platform of light that rose from the sea. He nods to himself. Yep, this is the right direction...

He continues, walking on platforms of light as they appear, for hours. Finally, the platforms stop forming, leaving Nanashi standing over a particularly dark part of the ocean. He closes his eyes, remembering some of his life as a human, before performing a quick, small cut his wrist and releasing several drops of blood into the eerily calm water.

Initially nothing happens, until the wind kicks up. The clouds darken and gather overhead into a nearly black ring that spans for miles. It begins to rain heavily as the ocean starts to toil violently, the beginning of a whirlpool forming. Lightning strikes in almost continuous streams around the rapidly developing whirlpool. The forming storm only intensifies as a maelstrom forms, pulling in all but Nanashi and the platform he stands on. The wind becomes sharper than the sharpest blades as it rips through the air into the center of the widening funnel within the sea.

Mere moments later a beam of green energy erupts from the maelstrom's center followed by eight others around the storm's outer reaches, forming an octogon around the central beam. The light illuminates the sky for leagues and grows stronger as time passes, until finally metal begins to peek up from the center of the massive vortex.

Slowly and steadily a large dome like structure with eight smaller structures connected to it emerges from the depths of the ocean like an anchor being drawn back onto a ship. The structure, while pristine and futuristic in appearance, is ancient, having sank over nine thousand years ago. Nanashi sighs.

"Home, I'm finally back..." He floats towards the central structure as the dome protecting it dissipates, revealing a futuristic city co-existing with nature. He lands on a smoothly paved walkway in front of spiraling building with a polished silver glint to it. He enters the building and makes his way to an elevator that takes him to the top floor of the building, a floor housing a large metallic sphere.

"Atlantis System, Start Up," he says, "Code Phrase: Ark Carrier." The moment the words leave his mouth, the machinery within the room whirs to life as green and blue energy slithers around the building and into the city in circuits of light. The sphere before him opens into a large console with a pad for a hand to be placed. Nanashi places his hand on the pad and waits until he is addressed by the system.

''''

Nanashi clears his throat before he gives his answer.

"I am of legends, born of the Saint -And of the Dragon, returning I am to gather, to restore, to return I am of the Ark, one to ferry the departed -One to return them home."

The machinery glows white.

''''

"Command: Gather and refine Galtite and Adamantite into alloy form," he says, "Command: Duplicate and Minimize Barrier."



"Lastly, bequeath me the Saturnus and Plutonian Systems," Nanashi states.

''''

"Yes." A moment later, a cylinder closes around Nanashi and fills with liquid that converts his form into that of the same liquid while leaving his conscious and mind in tact. Surprised, he initially tries to escape the cylinder, but stops when his sight of a rapidly feeling tube is replaced by the sight of the majority of his family.

Huh?

''Thou hast finally returned, Angelius. We have been waiting thou and thy brother, Legna... We must tell you much in the short time we have.''

What seem like hours pass before Nanashi reawakens. The first thing he notices is the change to his bracelet, which now sports two additional links and golden diamond extensions. The next thing he notices is his overall more human appearance, with the exception of elongated canine teeth, a thin, almost invisible layer of interlocking scales and circular symbols that extend from the back of his fingers up to his elbows. His sword is now closer to an estoc in shape. His clothing have remained largely untouched, but the metallic colors have become more noticible.

The cylinder drains itself and dries Nanashi before rising into the ceiling, allowing him to see two large canisters sitting beside a technological sword and staff. Near these sits a small sphere.

''''

"Hm, has the Ark been utilized yet?"



"I see. Command: Encrypt the Ark. Command: Soft Shutdown."



Nanashi collects the items exiting the building via elevator and flying out of the area before the dome around the area reforms and the city sinks back into the Atlantic Ocean. He watches the city's descent before he returns to the fortress.

The Living Ruins
Nanashi and Nageki appear above the Atlantic Ocean. Nanashi raises a hand and waits as a massive whirlpool forms.

"Wh-wh-what is this? Where are we?" He stammers, alarmed by the whirlpool.

"Please calm down, we're at a place where I can train you in peace and take you sight seeing." As Nanashi says this, the first signs of the lost city surface from within the whirlpool.

"What is that? Is... is that a... city?"

"Yes, my old home." The city slowly surpasses the waves and a green beacon explodes from the center of it.

"Wh-whoa...." He gasps.

"Let's go," Nanashi says, "Hold on." He floats towards the city with Nageki in tow, the dome shielding it dissipating as they get closer.

Nageki looks on in wonder at the strange sight. "....What is this place.......?" His mind cannot comprehend what he's seeing.

"Humans call it Atlantis," Nanashi explains, landing in front of one of the larger gardens, "It sank over ten thousand years ago, but not for the reason most theorize."

Nageki looks around in awe, still overwhelmed.

Nanashi gives Nageki a few moments to gather his bearings.

Nageki eventually begins to settle down, and looks up at Nanashi. "...So... ...what are we going to do now?" He asks hesitantly.

"One, mental training and meditation, two, sightseeing, three, power refining," answers Nanashi, "Not necessarily in that order."

Nageki nods, flexing his two extra arms experimentally, still not used to the extra limbs.

"Oh right, hang tight for a minute, I need to register you into the system," says Nanashi. "I'll be back in five minutes or less. Until then, don't experiment with your powers or touch anything shiny or that looks like a scanner. The security here will boot you if you do so without in recognizing you." With that, he flies towards an exceptionally tall building.

Nageki blinks, and merely sits down on the ground, waiting for him to return, not wanting to wander alone.

Several minutes later, Nanashi returns.

"Alright, you're in the clear," he says, "So, what do you want to do first?"

Nageki stands up, an unsure expression on his face. "I... don't know. Power refinement...?" He asks.

"Alright. First off, what do you think you can do?"

"....I don't know... ...I just feel... ...strange. The wings, the tail, the extra arms... ....I'm trying to... figure myself out..."

"Hm... What do you want to be able to do?"

"Arrgh, I told you I don't know!" He says, with more frustration, when suddenly he clutches his head for a few moments, in some form of agony, when he slowly looks up at Nanashi and jumps, moving away from him. "W-W-Why can I see your bones?!" He all but shrieks. The eye symbol on his forehead is glowing, and his eyes seem glossed over.

"Hm, the symbol on your forehead is active... Calm down, take deep breaths. Getting freaked out only worsens issues." Nanashi is calm despite what's going on.

Nageki shudders for a while, and eventually calms down. The eye symbol dims, and his eyes return to their normal appearance.

"W-what just h-happened to me?" He gasps.

"You tapped into a latent ability of yours. It's full effects and capability aren't known, at least by me... White knows, but I'm not very keen on asking her anything," says Nanashi, "Hm, I really shouldn't have expected you to simply dive into this new ability thing. My apologizes. We'll start when you're ready."

Nageki lets out a breath. "...Can... can we... just do something basic for now?" He stammers.

"Try to focus your energy and create a fire. It's much easier than it sounds, just imagine fire really intensely, to the point of visualizing it. I'll make sure that the flames don't go out of control... Do you need an example?"

Nageki shakes his head, instead begins focusing on what he was told, and surprisingly takes only a minute to manifest a ball of fire.

"Very good... Now try Lightning, but be careful not to shock yourself."

Once again, Nageki shows very little needed effort to summon lightning, and maintain it, the ease starting to unnerve the boy.

Nanashi nods.

"I see. Now before you grow worried, let's try Earth."

He is again, able to master it with relative ease. "It feels so... ...natural to me..." Nageki murmurs.

"Hm, the elements appear to come easily to you as they do with me," notes Nanashi, "I want you, now, to manifest both Darkness and Light at once, but be careful, Darkness feeds off of negativity."

He nods, and begins to draw upon both, taking a bit longer than the others, but manages to accomplish it well enough.

"Good, good. Now, Wind and Ice in a similar fashion."

Nageki manages to do so with relative ease.

"Good, lastly try. Water, then we'll move on."

He nods, and also manages to do water with little effort needed. "...How am I able to do this...? It feels... ...so natural... like it's just flowing out of me..." He says in wonder.

"I could explain, but... Well you'll see."

Nageki nods quietly. "Alright..."

"Anyways, now to teach you how to Blink," says Nanashi.

Nageki looks at him funny. "You mean like this?" He blinks, showing his confusion.

"No, like this," answers Nanashi as he blinks, vanishing into thin air without a trace.

"What the...? ...Though I guess how we got here, I shouldn't be surprised..."

"Actually, that was a Warp," says Nanashi, appearing right beside Nageki, "More reliable when crossing dimensions and planes with multiple people. So, how did I do it?"

"...I... don't... know?" Nageki says, confused.

"Kiddo, you have a brain with the capacity to analyze just about anything and break it down. Stop giving up before you start and use your head."

"I don't know, maybe you thought about a location you wanted to go and just willed it, or maybe you turned invisible for a moment," He replies.

"The first thing you said is closer to it. I don't turn invisible, I cross into the four the dimension to avoid detection."

"So I think about a location and do what then? I'm sorry it's just... ...it's hard to imagine myself able to do these things when..." He trails off.

"For a beginner, you don't think about the location, you have to see it in front of you the concentrate on being there, but the range is limited to a small area based on your standards. Just thinking that an area is small will not increase the range of a Blink. Understand?"

He nods, trying to concentrate at being near the doorway to one of the nearby buildings.

"Remember to breathe. Take a deep breath before you try it."

Nageki does as he says, taking a deep breath, then tries to Blink.

Nageki arrives at the door, albeit somewhat dizzy and slightly stomach sick.

"They never mention these things before you do them..." He groans.

"Something up," asks Nanashi, confused.

"I'm just... a little dizzy."

"Oh. Close your eyes and take several deep breaths. That normally worked when I used to get dizzy."

"I.. I see. I'll take that into account next time... I'll try again in a minute."

"That's fine, regain your bearings before you do anything," says Nanashi, "You don't want to hurt yourself."

After a minute, he tries again, keeping in mind what Nanashi told him.

This time Nageki does not feel any side effects from Blinking.

"I feel better than last time... I guess I did it properly this time," He remarks.

"That's good. Now lets work on your awareness," says Nanashi, "Close your eyes and try to envision your surroundings as best you can."

Nageki blinks, confused, and wearily just does as he is said, trying to somehow sense his surroundings.

"Stop, stop. Your expression told me you didn't understand my meaning in the slightest." Nanashi sighs. "Use your senses to determine your location or to get a fair grasp of it. What do you hear? What can you feel? What do you smell? Are your nerves on end? Those are the things you need to thing about, not necessarily seeing your surroundings, your eyes can be fooled, as can your mind's eye."

"Oh, oh, okay..." He tries to focus on the environment more, seeing if he can pick up anything.

Nageki gets a fair grasp of the immediate area,  knowing that the ground rises and dips in area and that the gentle breeze rustling some of the plants in the area is stifled by the buildings in his proximity. The air has the smell of salt and several faint floral fragrances, but also a very faint metallic scent.

Nageki reflects on it for a moment. "I can smell some kind of... ...flowers? Also salt, I'm gonna go on a limb and say sea salt. Also the area isn't completely flat. Also a bit of metal..."

"Yep, we are in the middle of an ocean. The flowers you smell come from the garden of fruit bearing plants, the scent indicating that they are about to produce fruits. The metal is from the iron rich soil around a large ore deposits to the far east," explains Nanashi, "The ground itself is actually flat, but the walkways aren't. Several sets of staircases create artificial hills. Good job, Nageki. Take a quick break, then I'll answer any questions you have."

Nageki nods, sitting down to then experiment with his four arms, trying to get a feel for the new set of limbs.

Nanashi meditates in the mean time.

Nageki watches him curiously, not sure of what he is doing.

Nanashi takes several deep breaths as he sits with his eyes closed. Light of all colors begins to gather around him and his hair and clothes begins to levitate as a serene aura emanates from him.

Nageki decides to watch him out of curiosity, his breath caught in his throat.

Nanashi's clothes slowly change into that of those befitting a monk and the elements swirl around him in eight identical spheres. A ninth sphere appears above his while a tenth appears above his left hand, an eleventh above his right hand and a twelfth forms behind him. He begins to float as the spheres start to spin around him.

The boy continues to watch, fascinated.

Nanashi floats higher as the spheres spin faster and faster until a cloud falls from the heavens and forms a sphere around him.

''What is he doing? ''Nageki wonders to himself.

Several minutes pass before the sphere disperses and Nanashi's clothes return to normal.

"Well that was most enlightening."

"What was that?" The young Lambda asks inquisitively.

"What was what?" Nanashi looks genuinely confused by the question.

"Your appearance changed and there were these spheres... you even floated for a while."

"Huh, so that's what happens when I reach that plane... Interesting," notes Nanashi, "I did not realize that my meditation had such an effect."

"Oh... so you were unaware...? How odd... what exactly were you doing though?" He asks curiously.

"Meditating," answers Nanashi simply, "It's actually something I enjoy doing."

"Hmmm.... interesting... could you show me some time?" He asks, a hint of eagerness in his voice.

"I planned to eventually, just not at this very moment."

"Awww ok." He says, mildly disappointed.

"Don't get all depressed about it, we'll go over it a little later, after I do a couple of things here and there."

"Oh? Like what?" He asks.

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you. It's against the rules at this point."

".....Rules suck..." Nageki grunts.

"Rules prevent the onset of absolute chaos and strife," replies Nanashi, "When they are kept and maintained anyways. Besides, these rules are very important to me... Following them nets me a greater reward than breaking them. Maybe I'll entrust them to you one day."

He looks down for a moment.

"What exactly are we?" He asks after a moment.

"Blunt answer or softened answer?"

"Just be honest...." He says wearily.

"We're essentially a melting pot of various different races in conjunction with machines, me more so than you and the others because of things that happened recently. The machine part of us is both crucial and not, but I am prohibited from removing it from you to show you why it isn't, mainly because you'd be off the grid if I did and I'm not in a position where I can be hunted down yet. I have yet to accomplish my goals, so I can't do anything that reckless yet, not before I see them reborn..."

"...Can you keep teaching me?" He asks.

"Of course I can! I could teach you just about anything... Except how to kill. You've lived a life of hardship and strife, but I will not train a weapon, only a scholar or explorer. Besides, the world doesn't need more beings like me or the others..."

He nods. "What's next? You taught me elements. ...Also, what do you think is next, as in, for all of us... ...whatever we are."

"Hm... Can you fly?"

"I don't know..." He experiments with his wings awkwardly.

Nanashi watches to see if Nageki can right himself in the air.

Nageki appears to be having trouble with the wings, attempting to sync the wings to flap around the same time.

"Focus your breathing and calm yourself and your heart," advises Nanashi.

Nageki calms down a little, and tries a little more carefully, managing to get some lift.

"Good, now try not to get too excited or else you'll probably lose air," directs the elder Lambda.

He carefully tries to control his emotions and wild adrenaline from the experience. "I-I'm flying?!" He squeaks as he flaps higher up.

Nanashi nods.

"You are. Now be smart and do not try any maneuvers or fancy things. Focus on keeping yourself within the air."

Nageki nods a bit, trying to maintain his flight, experimenting a little bit with directions.

"Remember to breathe, you're a fledgling, not an old crow," cautions Nanashi, "Take things as slowly as you are now."

"...Alright..." Nageki groans.

"Don't complain, we don't need another Icarus because you rushed through the basics."

"...Icarus?" The boy asks.

"A boy who did not heed the advice of his uncle and perished because he flew too close to the sun."

"....Right..." After a while, he lands, a bit tired.

"Rest for a bit, eat if you need to."

"What is there to eat?" He asks, interested.

"Did you eat all of the food you brought?"

He blinks. "Oh, I forgot..." He reaches into a bag and begins eating some fruits and sandwiches he brought. The boy seems to be slowly developing a air that suggests he is welcoming his modification, his movements with his four arms seem natural now. Nanashi can also sense a desire to learn more growing within the child, in fact he seems very eager.

Nanashi lays back and looks at the sky, smiling nostalgically. His smile then becomes a frown.

"Is something wrong?" Nageki notices the frown quickly.

"..." He makes an irritated noise then sighs. "My brother was an idiot..."

"Hmmm? Why?"

"There was the dress incident, the soup incident, the tea incident and the laboratory explosion incident..."

"....That's a lot of incidents... it seems like he got himself in trouble a lot?"

"It certainly made my life tedious..."

Nageki looks away, and curiously experiments with elements, thinking for a moment before blowing air out of his mouth and creates large bubbles of water, which the boy sends at Nanashi with an amused laugh.

The bubbles swirl into a globe before flowing into him.

"Hm? Experimenting are we?"

He nods, before attempting to create steam.

"Don't burn yourself, steam can cause terrible scarring."

Nageki nods, and carefully releases a cloud of steam from his mouth, smiling as he watches it drift off.

Nanashi creates an interface of sorts in front of himself and begins adjusting values.

"What are you doing?" He asks in curiosity.

"Adjusting a thing or two, nothing too important."

"Oh..." Above them, a violent storm of red lightning begins violently rumbling.

"..." The dome reforms around Atlantis with a glance from Nanashi. "Well, until that's over and done with, no sightseeing."

Nageki seems bothered by the energy of the lightning. "...Before you put the barrier up, it felt like someone was really angry..."

"Indeed, best be safe rather than sorry."

The energy fades after some time.

"Hmm, it should be safe now," Nanashi says, dispelling the barrier.

"What do you think that was?" Nageki asks, spooked by the sensation the lightning gave off.

"I have an idea or two."

Nageki begins trying to fly, this time flying with much greater ease than before.

"Good Progress, but don't get too fancy just yet."

"I'm not gonna do any tricks..." Nageki groans. "I just want to get used to this more. Anything new you can teach me?"

"Evasive movements."

"Ah okay... can we start?"

Nanashi takes to the sky without making his wings appear. "Catch me."

Nageki flies after him as best as he can.

Nanashijets backwards, keeping his eyes trained on Nageki before he flickers and vanishes.

Nageki looks around wildly.

"Technique number one: Flicker Step," says Nanashi, tapping Nageki on the shoulder. "Essentially you move faster than the eye can properly perceive, allowing you to 'disappear'. If done on a human, it would appear as if you vanished instantly and without a inkling of you truly being there."

Nageki blinks. "Coooool..."

"The next technique comes from a certain insect that many dislike. Care to take a guess?"

"Mosquito?"

"Try again."

"Hornet?"

"Think less dangerous and more annoying."

"A gnat? A fly?"

"Bingo," says Nanashi, "One of the reasons many find them so annoying is because of how hard they are to hit when in motion."

"And so this has to do with moving really fast and also mocking them by sounding like a fly?" Nageki asks, injecting a minor sense of humor at the end of his question.

"That tends to get people shot out of the sky, so I don't recommend that last part..." Warns Nanashi, "Anyways, yes moving really, really fast and shifting directions, excuse me, on the fly or without impairment to speed."

"I understand, is there a specific way I should try to do this?"

"Basically, you've got to balance extreme precision with extreme speed, which is more difficult than it sounds, especially based on your size and the size of your wings. Try moving in direction extremely quickly, then darting in any other direction without curving your trail."

Nageki begins trying to move like Nanashi said.

"Oh and beware the aerial shock fields..."

"Shock fields?!"

"Oh, just avoid the multicolored lights that are sort of homing in on you, they hurt quite a bit... Not lethal or harmful beyond that though..."

"Tell me sooner!" He yelps, barely dodging one of the lights in alarm.

"I could have done that, yes. I'll do better next time, possibly when I get the Xhaos Engine operational." Several lights rocket after Nageki. "You only have to dodge them for five minutes, I think. Do that."

"You think?!" Nageki panics, still trying to evade the lights.

"The settings were a little rusty and clunky, but I'm rather certain that I set it to five minutes and not five hours..." Nanashi casually avoids a different set of the lights, dodging them with less than an inch between them. "I'll check." The lights flying after Nageki scatter and fly at him from different directions.

"You think this is funny, don't you?!" He says, trying his best to keep up the pace and avoid the lights.

"Not really," says Nanashi, dodging the second set once more before bringing up a digital interface. "Let's see... Ah, here we are." The lights get larger and begin to fly faster.

"AHHHH! You made it worse! Whhhhhy?!" Nageki tries to avoid the lights desperately.

"Working on it..." The lights lose any sense of coordination and pattern. "Give a few minutes to adjust the settings."

"OW! Dang it!" He yelps as one grazes him.

"Okay, override setting and... That's odd, I have to turn off all of the security limiters before I can reset and disable everything..."

"WHO DOES THAT?!" Nageki briefly blinks to evade one of the orbs, managing to pull off the move with less effects than his last attempt.

"I didn't create the system, I only used it," he answers, defending himself. "Anyways, get ready, things are going to get rather hectic once the laser and arc inhibitors go off..."

Yggdrasil Siege: Abyssal Zone
Yggdrasil, the World Tree. Eight such trees dot the earth, disrupting the natural ecosystems of the areas they inhabit. The monolithic trees that tower above the world and reach into the heavens seem to act as sentinels for the world, protecting it from harm as a natural defense system... Or are they?

Shinwa follows close behind Volmond as best as she can, once checking the longsword he gave her out.

"That's Caladbolg. Use her well." The doctor flies through a particularly cloudy area. "Almost there."

Shinwa nods quietly, her eyes changing to that of a dragon combined with her shapeshifter heritage to reduce the darkness she seems to neglible.

After passing through the clouds Shinwa notices that Volmond is gone.

"Legna...?" She calls out.

"I'm here, I'm here," he says, though his voice sounds younger by several years.

"I don't see you..." Shinwa begins scanning the area with her spiritual power.

"Your back left," he says in return, "I lagged behind for a moment while in the clouds."

She looks where he said, uneasy.

Where the doctor directed is a young girl with long flowing blonde hair wearing a white sundress with piercing blue eyes narrowed in the same fashion as the doctor's usually are. The girl looks to be about twelve years old, though her eyes appear to be far older in comparison, both orbs glinting with centuries of knowledge.

Shinwa's expression looks flat out stupified. "Ummm...."

"What's wrong? Something on my face?"

Shinwa's eyes widen a bit. "Umm... ummm..." She summons a mirror and points it at her.

The doctor squints at the mirror.

"Monochrome Mist... I've regressed in physical age, great."

"...Oh... ....wait that's what you used to look like?!" She says in slight alarm. She then covers her mouth with a hand and restrains a laugh.

"I don't know what you find amusing, but I'll have you know that I do not take kindly to it."

"...I'm sorry, it just wasn't what I was expecting," She says hurriedly. "Please don't take it the wrong way. I was just... ...surprised. It was a one time thing. I promise." She holds her hands up in surrender.

"Hmph." The doctor flies ahead until he reaches a large dome of sorts with massive tree roots growing from it.

She flies after him. "What is this?

"For I am the heir of the... I command thee to open..." Some of what Volmond says is lost or garbled in another language. His words command some sort of power as the dome groans and a small holes forms in it, just large enough for a few people to pass through.

"We go in, I assume?"

The doctor nods and quietly drops into the dome.

Shinwa quickly drops in after him.

The hole in the dome closes behind her as they both descend into the darkened city. A single structure has power in the pitch black city, a towering building shining with neon bright lights.

"I imagine that is the target location?"

"That's where Angelius is."

"Alright then..."

The top of the building has a pad of sorts and a door not far from it. When the doctor lands he inputs several numbers into the door, opening it quickly.

She follows him quickly, taking a moment to look around.

The building's interior has very little lighting other than the faint blue glow that fills its halls. Few details can be seen, but the faint outline of doors and windows can be seen.

"So where to?"

"This room," answers the doctor, opening the door to a brightly lit round room with a large sphere in its center. Dozens of monitors dot the walls, each displaying different diagrams or charts with various statistics ptesented. The far side of the room has several panels extending from its wall, each with virtual screens and keyboards.

Working between the panels is a young man clad mostly in white, with blonde hair strewn with black and faint green highlights and several floating sword shaped objects interacting with as many monitors. His hands are more of a blur than his overall movements, the sound of tapping akin to a soft drone in the background.

"Find a seat you two," he says, not turning around, "The PC for ABYSS was running in the background before I was able to do anything, meaning that the system had been activated prior to my arrival. I've been slowing it down since it started, but at most we have two months before things really kick off and all life is exterminated outside of the trees."

"...I've not seen you... ...but I'm pretty sure you're Nanashi, right...?" Shinwa asks quietly, sitting down. "Yes... the other White was the one who actually saw the Lambdas..."

"Eh, closer to Mu at this point," he says offhandedly, continuing to interact with the panels.

"I see..." She looks away. "I'm sorry for the behavior of my other half. ...And for my own crimes against you."

"Don't worry about it, I was the odd one out of them. The control organ was destroyed by Leg, so that sort of scrapped any revenge against him by White. Then there was the attempted smelting, but I'm harder to kill than I look. Afterwards, any programming I had was scraped and my frame went back to being wholly organic when I got access to a few systems and summoned Neptis. Oh right, Leg .... ... ..... ..."

"I'll see what I can do. I'm heading down to the lab, so be quick about it."

"Fair enough. Nageki, come greet our allies."

Nageki comes in a hurry, but screeches to a halt when he sees Shinwa, frozen in fear at the sight of her.

"This this the good half, not the one who requested your transformation. Speaking of which..." Nageki feels a swift breeze to the base of his neck for a fraction of a second.

"There was a bug," says Volmond casually, having severed the mechanical organ in a so little time that it felt like it was still there. He then passes into another connected corridor.

Nageki still looks at Shinwa timidly.

"I'm sure she won't bite without a valid reason, don't be so timid," admonishes Angelius.

"Did you need... anything from me?" Nageki asks in a quiet voice.

"Leg'll probably need an assistant in the lab for whatever he's making. Check on him and make sure he doesn't hurt himsel- Oh and tell him that the Key is here."

"O-ok." He scampers off, not looking at Shinwa.

"Scars do not heal so easily, you'll have to work hard to earn the forgiveness of many."

"....I know. I imagine some may never forgive me. ...And I accept that too."

"All you can do is try... Hm, the Phylogenetic Trees are updating?...! That's a possibility? Haa, that'll be a problem."

"...I'm not quite familiar with what is actually happening... is there anything I can do, or should I simply wait?" Shinwa asks.

"If one more person was here, I'd send you out to inspect the Deep Yggdrasil."

"The... Deep... Yggdrasil? I'm sorry, but can you explain that to me?"

"The World Tree that has its roots surrounding this place. That's the Deep Yggdrasil. There are seven others: Infernal, Celestial Mount, Fortress, Frigid, Wild, Automata and Perfect Yggdrasil. Each has a Phylogenetic Tree within it and a different defense mechanism to protect their cores. Each one also has some sort of odd property about them," he says.

"I see. So what is Yggdrasil?"

"The World Tree. It contains all information on all worlds within its branches, life forms included, and connects all of then. It is a metaphysical existence that transcends commonality and reason and very few can make actual contact with it. The original Yggdrasil was destroyed long, long ago in the Twilight of the Gods, but several seeds were scattered during that time. These Yggdrasils are synthetic copies made from the remains of the bark and branches, but they pale compared to the original."

"I see. So why have they appeared now?"

"Well, to be honest I don't know beyond what Nana's said and that's pretty vague in itself. From what I've gathered it was something set to run after certain conditions were met, but those are about as clear as the Marianna Trench. One thing is certain, the world will be 'saved' but who and what survive depend on who and what are within the trees and who survives their internal biospheres."

"Huh... a strange situation indeed..."

"Yeah... I'm currently slowing the process, else the trees would be fully grown and beginning their purification process, which would be very, very bad."

"...Purification..." She seems to be in thought.

"Run tertiary process I34-B. Scan outer perimeter and send feedback to monitor four." Angelius appears to be speaking to the machines rather than Shinwa. "Huh, no surface activity yet... That's good for now."

Shinwa appears to grow more somber, but says nothing.

"If something's on your mind, voice it."

"...Azula... ...do you know how she is doing?"

"Not entirely, I didn't establish a mental link like I did with Abeni because I was basically excommunicated to not interfere with White's plans... Despite the fact that my barrier is keeping unwanted things out of the fortress and that I upgraded the soldier weaponry before I left.. Too bad I didn't give her the best weaponry, armor and shielding, that would have brought a tear to my eyes if I cared about that in the slightest. Tangent aside, I can find out if you need me to do so."

"...Before I created the Lambdas, I designed special Chaos Drives, built in mind to utilize the power of a Lambda. ...You, Gurin, Azula, and Abeni were each given one of those unique Chaos Drives. ...And each CE inplant was given special commands should 'I' die...."

"I see, care to share? I've silenced this place's quazi-dimensional connection to space and time, so Yellow and co are out of the loop for another five days."

"Eien isn't going to care if I speak up about it anyway. He has other plans. Gurin's would have made her nature generation explode out of control, causing the formation of a entire planet upon the same space as Earth, Abeni's would cause an eruption of warfare among all of humanity, and Azula's..."

She pauses.

"Complete and total destruction of a celestial body, likely Earth, or am I off a bit," says Angelius, "Oh, the barrier was for something else, something compromising to Legna. If anyone else knew it, it would be very, very bad all around. Worse than the Yggdrasil purifying the Earth of all life outside their branches and the building tension within the Great Creator faction.

"....In a nutshell, yes. Azula would be set to self activate her World Cannon and systematically consume and detonate all of the matter on Earth. The full scale explosion, I could only guess how strong of a blast it would be. It's been ranged from simply destroying Earth to creating a supermassive black hole, or destroying the whole solar system. ...I am just... feeling guilty. That I put her and everyone else through hell, and even more so that it's not even over yet."

"Given the fact that converting something the size of a bus to pure energy could permanently scar the planet if reactive enough, the explosion of a planet would be as far reaching as maybe Neptune or Uranus, but not enough to elicit a supernova type event on even a small scale or a suoermassive black hole for that matter, the reason being there isn't enough mass, gravity or energy to cause such a thing. At Least by my calculations."

"...regardless, I feel guilty about what I've done. I wish I knew how I could make it up to those I've wronged..."

"With that sort of attitude, you'll make it up to no one. It's fine to feel bad for your actions, but if this is the level of your resolution, you'll get less than nothing done, less than nothing. The only way to make things up with the people you've wronged is to get them to accept that you are not yourself from the past and that you are working to prove that. Wallowing as you are now will only make those who despite you despise you more. You can't ask for their forgiveness, you must show your repentence. It's that simple. Try and you'll succeed even if you fail hundreds of thousands of times before you do." Angelius continues to work. "By the way, what was my Chaos Drive Command? You mentioned the drives of the other three, but not mine."

"...to terminate any trace of Phoenix's existence. Doubtless my other half would have altered it, but the intention was to prevent a repeat of history. To end the cycle so that Eien and... ...and the rest of them couldn't continue the cycle."

"Ah, I could handle that. I'd have to progress to Boddhavistava, but I could."

"Thank you for the words of wisdom. It's just hard to accept the reality I have made for myself. I shall endure it, but it is a heavy weight on me. Legna has helped me beyond words... ...if it weren't for him I would not be here now."

"He's better with words than I am... That and he has a heart."

"...That boy, who was he?"

"Naki's younger brother. I'm contemplating turning him back into a human and sending him to a safe zone."

"...Naki... ...how has he dealt with the change?"

"It could go both ways, really."

"Like... being a Lambda? Has he been coping well with it? Or is he still in denial?"

"Both."

"Oh..." She has a saddened expression. "It must be hard... living like that..."

"I wonder."

Shinwa quietly contemplates the past couple of years, looking at her hands, as though imagining all of the blood from her victims.

"If you're going to wash your hands, be thorough and make sure that whatever dirt you're removing doesn't make a mess somewhere else. If another place gets dirty and a Sweeper comes cruisins through, I'm going to lose it."

"Somehow I imagine that with the utmost glee. Your brother made a rather annoying habbit of driving me crazy."

"Did you have to teqch him that fifteen year old boys don't wear dresses- Scratch that, that boys in general don't wear dresses and that you don't accept candy from strangers clad in all black or than Sword Demons are not Djinn, so they will not grant wishes no matter how much you bribe them and that the clouds are not edible by normal people or that because something looks a certain way it doesn't mean its edible or that you aren't supposed to eat solid metal, something that people shouldn't do regardless of taste or texture? If not, you really have no reason to complain."

"Well if it counts, I had to bring back a completely animalized Kitsune girl from being feral, which involved many a bite and or mauling, then I had to basically teach a ten year old girl with the mind of a baby how to walk, talk, wipe her own ass, and all of the general actions you would expect a mother to do. Then I had to teach her self defense and martial arts, which was not easy considering her nature. I don't know if that equates to anything in your books, but I consider it my only defense on the record."

"Younger Sibling types are handfuls... Sometimes being the oldest is a royal pain, but you have grin and bear it until they can take care of themselves without burning the house down with a cup of water," remarks Angelius.

"Naomi could do that and more, with her unstable kitsune power. She's still damaged goods, even after all the time that's passed."

"So by pouring water into a cup, she was able cause all of the atoms within to spontaneously combust as if it were a flamable fluid? That's what all of my siblings did when I went through the war that was teaching them how to cook. Until Legna finally caught onto the 'secret' to cooking, anyone entering the kitchen besides me or mother was more of a tabboo than playing with the environmental settings within the estate. At least she's still with you, judging by the wording of your statement. I would trade my talent in the arts to have Nana and co. back."

Meanwhile Nageki accompanies Volmond. "H-he sent me to keep an eye on you. And to tell you apparently the Key is here or something..." Nageki mumbles.

"Oi, oi. Drop the attitude," retorts the doctor, opening a hidden passage within a wall and entering it. "Speak up and make your intentions clear."

"S-sorry, he wanted me to check up on you and tell you about a Key or something..." He says again, shrinking back a little.

"Ah... How do you like being as you are now?"

"It's uhhh... ummm... still kind of weird...? I mean... I'm getting used to it, but I forget I have a second pair of arms and smack myself sometimes... ...the learning and flying is amazing though."

"I meant are you content with it."

"I don't know how I feel right now... I don't really have an answer. Would I have to lose what I've learned...?"

"Gain and loss, loss and gain... It all depends on the person. Maybe you'll lose something, maybe you'll gain something. The future is undecided even when preset."

"...I don't honestly have an answer though. Going back to what was I... ....well, I never had anything to begin with. Not anything at least, except my family. ...And they'll all but gone... ...at least... except for sister. ...I miss her."

"Toughen up. Crying and acting depressed will only make things worse. If you start with nothing, claim something as yours. All of the 'I'm alone and have nothing' BS will only grate on the nerves of others. With the current state of this world, pity is a luxury few will get and fewer will give. If you don't want to feel like an abandoned pet, make due with the cards you are given until you get a good hand. Complaining about the cards and how they're dealt won't solve anything and neither will taking your frustration out on others. To win, you need to know when to speak uo and when to remain silent, when to act and when to stand idle, when to be truthful and when to keep your intentions and goals to yourself. If you can't comprehend something as simple as that, you'll never get anything, no matter how hard you cry or how much work you put in."

The young Lambda lets out a small puff of blue fire from his mouth as he sighs. "...Adults and their high horses, you sound pathetic."

"Children and their naivety, you sound like a worrywart."

"I'm sorry, but you are naive. I did not cry, and I'm not depressed. I didn't complain, not even once. I said it like it is. Go lecture your own foot so it doesn't go up your mouth and make you look a fool." He says evenly.

"There is nothing wrong about feeling lonely and missing a loved one, ever think of that one, 'o wise footmuncher'?" Nageki's actual self confidence seems more lethal than his appearance would let on. The boy walks away from Volmond, his skin steaming from a increase in body temperature.

"That proves that he has the same fire as her somewhere at the very least, he's still a bit wet behind the ears if he thinks that a person can't read his body language," notes the doctor flippantly, disappearing down another corner then into a wall. "If that much stimulus results in that sort of reaction, then learning a fraction of what's going on around him will set off such a chain reaction... Well, that's my kind deed for the day. He can go sulk all he wants to if he didn't understand me in the slightest.

"If the Key is here then the old garden or the real tree should be awakening soon. The major question is how the Key is still alive. When the time comes, that will be explained, in one way or the other."

Removal from Service
Eien appears on a distant island, a young blonde girl with green eyes following him close behind.

There is a long silence.

"Eien, why are we all the way out here?" She asks.

Eien doesn't respond directly. "...Lots of resources here... ...this should be ok..." After a minute, he turns toward Ikania.

"I'm letting you go. Whatever you decide to do, this island will be the start of it. Your life. Until now, you've only existed to become a centerpiece for something I seek to make. When I first made you, I didn't plan on keeping you around. I didn't really even try to make you unique. You were just whipped up."

Ikania stares at him wide eyed.

"You're incomplete, and thanks to what happened, like I said, you'll never be able to become like the others. In some cases, I might just dissolve such a construct such as you. This just goes to show you Ikania, that I value you, you're smart, resourceful, and you don't define yourself as just a clone or a copy. The life you lived before was just a mirage, but now you will live for real. Don't come looking for me. You won't find me. Good luck, and maybe find a name for yourself that you will be proud of."

He pats her on the head, then begins to walk off.

"......." Ikania only stares after her master, as he begins to vanish, it is only after he disappears, that she full registers the weight of what he has done... ...he has abandoned her.

"EIEN! COME BACK HERE! I don't care what you think, I want to follow you anyway! I'm sorry I failed you before, it won't happen again! Come back here!" She screams after him, but he is long gone.

''Your loyal spirit... I wonder if you got that from her... ...that is exactly why I'm letting you go. You have the ability to think for yourself, and decide what you want to fight for, not be a puppet... you were not my puppet, but my ally... ...take this as a reward.''

Ikania, for the next couple of hours, screams after him, distraught, then bitter, then burning with rage. After a long time, she breaks and collapses on the white sand of the island Eien had left her on.

"...Eien... ...what is my purpose but to serve you...?"

"Huh, wasn't expecting to find you here." The voice is familiar and cold, one laced with annoyance.

A violent ring of obsidian spikes erupt from the ground around her, a defensive reaction, as she tilts her head in the direction of the voice, her eyes turned red.

"Relax, you'd have been shot if I was gonna attack, but Annie prefers children to not be killed and I'm not in the mood to kick a dead horse."

Her now dragon pupils thin to tiny slits, and black scales become visible on her skin.

"You.... what are you doing here....?"

"Vacation week for Annie's school." Alexian shrugs. "Drop the hostility, you'll get a single warning."

"Or what? Going to treat me like you did Naki? You don't have that kind of authority over me! You ruined me!" She says as her wings snap open and she soars to a different part of the beach, landing angrily.

"How Self-centered..." He shrugs and walks away. "Scion, watch the girl and give her space. Only intervene if she does something spiteful or utterly stupid." A faint glimmer of violet light is the response he gets.

Ikania's emotional state causes her to fully switch over to her Lambda form, a tail swishes with her pent up fury, and her aura dims the immediate area, despite the sun being directly overhead. Ikania appears to be jabbing fish with her claws, both as a way to vent, and a way to feed herself.

Apollos simply watches from afar, no expression on his face.

She finishes feeding, not having bothered to cook them, and wipes the blood off her face, washing it afterwards to get the last bits of blood clean. After this, she seems calm, or at least, calmed down enough to be reasonable in a conversation, though her tail still conveys a subtle anger.

She quietly after a few minutes, turns her head toward Apollos, her eyes now a emerald green, the dragonic pupils remain. Her face is a mask, making it difficult to read her current temperment.

"..."