Never truly alone. (2.1 War)

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

I recognized that determination. I'd seen it on hundreds of faces before, but the ones I knew best had all been those who had been, at one point, close to me.

Even more, it was a determination that I myself had worn.

"Then let me help. I'm a bit stronger than you and I wasn't hurt as badly, thanks to your spellcasting," I told him. "We'll look for them together, you and I."

[annabelle]

"Indeed, if we're going to find them it's best to stay together for now," Annabelle said calmly, glancing around, "my eyes aren't as good as you young ones, but at least if we were to encounter anything horrific like that again, I can pummel them all for you! Heeeheeeheeee..."

She really didn't like to admit that her eyesight wasn't great. She liked to believe she was as agile and strong as the younger warriors were but it wasn't the truth at all.
Though, she could still brew up a nasty spell when she needed to. Annabelle was an old woman indeed not to be reckoned with.

"You need to give yourself a little more time to rest anyway. Let me know how you are feeling, if there is any pain that just won't leave," she said to Enizo specifically, "I have things for that."

[Enizo]

A couple tears began to stream down Enizo's face, which he quickly wiped away, "It's these damn ashes... they're irritating my eyes." He closed his eyes before nodding to his friend, "Let's get to work, Vash."

Together Enizo and Vash began removing rubble in search of their lost friends. With every block removed Enizo hoped and prayed that they would be able to find everyone.

[King Roxa Hiaten]

Eventually, removing one of those blocks would reveal a single armoured helmet which sat in pure silence, the rest of the body completely buried in the rest of the rubble. The dark pits of the helmets visor seemed to just stare into nothingness whilst it was dug up from the ground.

'Note to self... Don't stand in the center of explosions...'

A soft clinking sound as the head moved slowly.

'Note to self #2... Figure out why you're wearing armour...'

A tinny and wracking cough suddenly sounded within the helmet, before it looked around itself slowly. A small groan before it talked. The voice was muffled and sounded less organic thanks to the steel around the mouth, but it was still distinctively Roxa's.

"What happened..?" He asked simply.

[A.B.A.]

While most had suffered harshly at the hands of Duo's powerful explosion, A.B.A. had already had the fortune of being protected by a powerfully dense tower of minerals erected earlier. While the blast had left her shaken and dizzy, the four hours since the battle hadn't elapsed in unconsciousness, but rather in inner conflict.

How did you do that? Her thoughts screamed in anger, her hands gesturing at the tower that encased her.

A thank you would suffice.[/b] Seigmand retorted calmly, his smugness echoing in her head.

Don't you bloody start that crap with me. I asked how you took control from me, now ANSWER ME!

I just did. Your mind was weak, and you were just going to let us die, so I stepped in. Why is that surprising? You've let me have control hundreds of times, sometimes for months on end.

I didn't let you have control. You can't just take over, that's not how it works!

So, you've never had this happen before is what you're saying. Interesting...

A.B.A. gasped, realizing she'd given him too much information. It was true, none of her forms had ever been able to do anything without her allowance. Then again, she'd also never assumed any form as long as she had Seigmand's. She'd spent the better part of two years under his guise, and for months she'd given him complete control during any public encounter so as not to draw suspicion towards her. Was this the result of such over-dependance on Seigmand?

You. Try and take control from me. She needed to know if he could. She needed to know how bad it had gotten.

Don't you think there are more important things we could be doing? That explosion felt enormous, don't you want to see what happened out there?

I said now. Do it you stupid, smug bastard- CRACK! The sound of flesh striking flesh echoed in the stone chamber as A.B.A.'s hand swung across her face with a sharp slap, leaving Seigmand's cheek with a ripe red handprint on it.

There. Satisfied?[/b] He replied, unable to help but feel a little bit of joy in giving the girl some payback for how she'd disrespected him all these years. Yet there was no quick reply. No sharp words came from A.B.A. as she ruminated on the slap and what it meant for her. Her body was no longer her own, and her forms were no longer under her complete control. What would it mean for her if she kept using Seigmand? Maybe with someone like Velestia she could stay dominant in her mind, but Seigmand was clever. Devious. His mind was certainly stronger than hers, and if push came to shove he might even be able to-

No. She'd never let it get that bad. She shifted back to her original form and palmed the key that jutted out from her temple. Her fingers wrapped slowly around it's handle, her breaths deep and slow as she reassured herself of what needed to be done. She'd never lose control. She'd sooner lose his power forever than fade away, not when she had so much left to do.

What are you doing? No, no don't you dare! Stop it! I've got so much to offer you yet.[/b] Seigmand sensed what she was doing, dread filled his thoughts as he shouted in protest.

It doesn't matter, I'm doing this, and you can't stop me. A.B.A. focused on Seigmand and turned the key. The magics within it flashed awake, its dull golden colours bursting vibrantly with light and in that instant Seigmand's thoughts disappeared. His mind and soul were held in the key, and with a simple extraction of it from her head she would tear him from her body forever.

Hmmph, told you you couldn't stop me. A last smug thought to herself as she flicked her fingers across the key's grip. A last deep breath before- Wait, he couldn't stop me? The epiphany hit her like a ton of bricks. Snapping the key back in place her mind was once more filled with the desperate pleas of Seigmand.

You. Try and take control. Now. Her demands broke through his pleas, this time with a tinge of curiosity in her tone.

Silence. An awkward pause as she waited, then waited longer all the while her breath trapped in her lungs in anticipation. At last with relief she exhaled and let go of the key.

So it looks like there are some restrictions after all. Lucky you Seigmand Dezmar. It would seem your not dangerous enough to be worth getting rid of yet. Just remember this day, and remember that if you ever try and take control again, it'll be the last day you ever see.

No retort from him this time. His silence said it all.

The rest of the four hours were spent figuring out what to do next. She might have established that she was safe in any form but his, but for now it was to dangerous to spend anymore time as him. Seigmand would be kept only in emergencies, and unfortunately her other form would cause too many questions. That left Velestia, so Velestia is who she'd have to stay as.

At last revealing herself from the tower, A.B.A. surveyed the destruction, searching aimlessly in the hopes she'd find someone from her group.

[Sahir Masbrati]

On a pitch black night so long ago, the eastern winds cut sharp and bitterly through the vast fields of Tuono, and while she remembered how well the valley protected them from the winds, Sahir could still remember how terrible it howled that night. It was the night she woke with the feeling of cold hard stone pressing against her back and only the winds to wake her. It was why they stuck out in her mind so strongly, because there was nothing else to dampen its howl. No voices called out as she rose hesitantly to her feet to survey the area. No sound of fire, crackling and popping as it ate away at the freshly cut wood they'd chopped that day, nor the blaring cries of horns signifying the Boruto's warriors rushing from on high as she'd expected to hear.

"Hello?" It was the only word she was able to get out, her hands clutching at her stomach as if feeling for something. Her eyes widened in surprise when she pulled them back completely empty. "Why?"

Of course this was merely a vision that haunted Sahir as she laid unconscious in the ruins of Relinquo. A deep gash had marred her forehead in blood and left her hair thick with the sanguine liquid. Her body was pinned under the debris of the roof she'd fallen from, saved from it's crushing weight only by Dral's quick reflexes. Her faithful companion was nestled right beside her, his body wrapped around her protectively and unmoving save for his chest twitching as he gasped for breath. The two of them were surrounded by stones, shingles and shattered remnants of buildings almost completely, and would have been almost impossible to see were it not for Umbravox.

There was something unusual happening to the magic scythe that laid barely within Sahir's grasp. It's usual faint opaque glow had changed into something wild and vibrant. It's blade hummed with a mixture of reds and oranges that shone out from beyond the rubble, acting as a sort of beacon to light the way to their unconscious forms.

[Enizo]

Enizo was at first shocked by the fact that there was an armored man who sounded a great deal like Roxa. Enizo made a note to self to question Roxa about his new shiny armor, but first he had to clear all the rubble off of him.

Enizo moved quickly for about a minute clearing the massive rubble off before falling to his knees by his friend, "Do you need a potion...? Annabelle has some crazy shit but it works!"

He scanned the area to see if he could spot Annabelle when instead he caught a soft glow that managed to pierce the thick ash.

"Hang on a second..." Enizo said while sitting up, "I'll be... right back!"

He began to move to the glow, his slow stepping quickly became a full run as he slid to where the glow was. He quickly became hopeful as he removed the rubble from around the glow and found himself face to face with Dral.

"WHOA!" Enizo yelped in shock before falling back a bit. Disappointed at first, he became hopeful that his lovely God-Slayer was being kept save by the beastly creature.

Enizo stood up, sucked in as much bravery as possible and pointed at Dral, "If she's under there I need to help her. She could need medical attention, so, uh... MOVE! ...please..."

[annabelle]

"INDEED, it is some...'crazy shit'," Annabelle practically yelled in Enizo's ear, having stood right behind him this entire time and took great pleasure in trying to scare the young man! Hooo hoo hoo hoooooooo~

Though he blitzed off in a hurry anyway because he found...something? Someone?! She grumbled something about 'young kids running faster than her' and hobbled off after him with her staff in hand.

[Sahir Masbrati]

Dral did not move in response to Enizo's words. While his body held on desperately to life his mind was equally trapped in a concussion-based unconsciousness as Sahir was. However a quick survey of the two gave a better view of the damage the explosion had wrought on them both. While Dral's scales seemingly protected him from the brunt of any lethal damage, the stones and debris did a terrible number on his wings. Outstretched to cover Sahir the fine bones connecting his wing tissue had been broken in several places, and the tissue itself has several contusions and micro tears.

Sahir's clothing had reverted back to their normal appearance as the God Slayer visage no longer had her concentration to maintain it. She seemed to have taken a bad shot in the head that was still bleeding, and while hard to spot her shoulder nearest Dral was positioned oddly, dislocated by her companion's hasty rescue efforts.

Regardless, neither one was moving and both were in need of some serious aid. Still Umbravox shone on with it's brilliant light, powerful enough that from his proximity the light might almost be blinding to Enizo.

[Enizo]

This entire situation was bad, really, really bad. The fact that this damned weapon was basically blinding the poor boy made it even harder for him to focus.

"Dammit!" Enizo swore while giving a quick look around, "I need some help here!"

Convinced that the unconscious Dral wasn't going to bite Enizo's head off he quickly moved to do his best in helping the two. He had no clue how he'd help Dral but he could help Sahir, at the least.

Slipping out one of his cloths from his pack (he was thankful he packed so many.) he began to wrap Sahir's head wound so that'd it would stop the bleeding.

Once he finished that he moved Sahir away from Dral, trying to listen to see if she was even breathing. "Hurry, they're badly wounded!"

Enizo wasn't a medic and everything that he was taught about battlefield wounds didn't exactly cover being crushed by larges pieces of rubble.

He wasn't panicking but dammit, he was close!

[annabelle]

A pair of hands touched the back of Enizo firmly as Annabelle leaned in over him and watched him work on the pair that were trapped, having finally caught up to him. She breathed heavily but was well enough to aid him.

"This one," she said quickly, shoving a vial into his hands, "pour it on the skin. I'll find one to help the lady..."

She set to work handing over tools and potions to Enizo, at one point even saying sympathetically, "It'll be alright. Breathe, young one."

[Enizo]

Now this Enizo could do. He took the potion from Annabelle and began lightly covering the wounds with the potion.

As Enizo applied the potion he made a quick glance back at Sahir, as if the wave of guilt he had been feeling wasn't enough, seeing her wounded like that only made it worse. He should have refused when she asked to come along, but he wanted to see her again so much that it blinded him to the potential risks.

"Will she be okay?" Enizo asked Annabelle as he looked around Dral to make sure he didn't miss anything.

[annabelle]

"Just give her a moment," Annabelle answered, leaning over the girl with a grunt and checking over her herself. She sat quiet for a long moment before she pulled out a flask or two of water and used a little bit in a cloth to clean up Sahir a little more.

"She should be fine. I've got another little something we can give her to help speed up internal problems, though that could be quite painful for her," she raised an eyebrow at Enizo, "and I mean more than what you suffered. How is that animal of hers doing? You need to move her without jumbling her around too much, she needs a good, comfortable rest until she wakes up."

[Enizo]

"Move... her?" Enizo repeated, eyeing the large creature, "Hah... sounds fun." His eyes darted between the creature and Sahir before finally looking back at Annabelle, "Just make sure she survives... I still need to learn her name."

He closed his eyes and focused his magic on the creature, building a platform that formed under the creature body before using small bursts of magic to lift it up in the air. It seemed like a incredibly complicated method but it worked nicely.

[Sahir Masbrati]

Still trapped in the haunting dreams of days past Sahir slowly pushed herself up, her eyes now tense with panic as she cried out. "Natis! Roobi! Anyone! Where are you all?" Looking amongst the few tents nearby she watched for a moment, hoping someone would rise from the entrances and tell her something, anything to make this all make sense.

Nothing, only the howling of the wind persisted overhead.

Her mind still foggy she pushed herself up from the stone slab and onto her bare feet. She remembered thinking to herself that the clothes she was wearing didn't match what she had been wearing earlier, but it was something she dismissed as the more pressing business of finding someone took control over her thoughts. For what felt like hours she investigated her whole village, checking each tent, the pastures, the fields, yet nothing but the beasts of burden remained.

Suddenly, as hunger and weariness were taking their toll on her she felt a chill crawl up her back before resting on her shoulder. "Hello."

Snapping awake from the vision Sahir cried out, half in fear and half from the pain of her present injuries. She tried to rise up immediately but cringed as every muscle and bone shouted in defiance against the idea. "Where...hey I know you." Her vision focused on Annabelle. "What happened? Where's Dral? Where's my outfit?!" She shouted out in surprise, realizing two very important things were missing at the moment.