1000 years and it still feels like home(Open)

[A.B.A.]

Before A.B.A. could so much as scream or even feel fear from the effects of the teleport spell she was on the ashen ground of Guasto, starring down the towering gates to Effigia. She looked on in marvel, for she knew immediately that she was back home. Her hand brushed against the harsh stone walls, their form every bit as intact as the day she'd left to join the Saints. "Time has been good to you." She muttered softly to herself.

She looked up at Van and smiled. "Thank you again Van, this means a lot to me." She looked back through the arches of the gates towards the cityscape, and further still to the peaking summit of the Royal Castle. Part of her wanted nothing more than to run off at full tilt towards it, but she remembered that this was a trip for Van's sake too, and held close to him instead.

[Van]

Van nodded. "Your welcome. Do you think your father is still alive or do you want to head to the portal?"

[A.B.A.]

As they travelled in deeper to the city A.B.A. felt better about the trip. Despite the additions and changes to the city's buildings and layout much of it looked very similar to when she had explored it so long ago. Granted the cobble shop had been changed into a weapon smiths. A magic guild had replaced the little bakery she had snuck out to buy treats when she was younger, but there was so much that was the same. I guess the war never spread into the city at least. Maybe the other kingdoms managed to defeat Duo right after we were sealed. She pondered before hearing Van's question.

"Oh, umm... I don't know about father. He was a really powerful man, so he might have found a way to live longer. Still, let's save that for last. We can go to the portal if you want Van."

[Nero Whitemarrow]

Nero felt the waves of new comers among the air, he shadow-vanished and appeared on the tower gates. Above the two of them.

...Their energy suggests they are...Guastoian, but I do not remember an energy wave like this. They need to be watched closely.

He shadow vanished again, yet the haunting air suggests he was around somewhere.

[Van]

Van shook his head. "No, I don't want to see my father. If you want to go through the portal though, I will follow you." He had never told anybody about his creator. Then he felt something.

Thanks to his heightened senses from living with the Saints, Van could feel himself being watched. He put his arm comfortably around A.B.A. and leaned in. He was smiling, but he was tense watching every face that passed them. "You feel that," Van whispered to A.B.A., "someone's watching us, but I can't figure out where they are."

[A.B.A.]

A.B.A. turned to Van just as he chose to lean in, her attention divided by the sense of nostalgia. She listened to him and stared blankly for a moment before a sly grin crossed her lips. She placed her finger to his lips and whispered back. "If we're being followed, then we'll just have to be not ourselves. Let's split up for just a moment, and I'll meet you in there." Her finger pointed stealthily towards an inn.

With that said she slid away into a group of people, pushing past them all and into an alleyway. Keeping a brisk pace she shifted, turning into a plain looking man, dressed in a traveler's vestments while Paracelsus shifted into a sheathed broad sword. Mixing among the crowds for a couple minutes she at last slipped into the inn. Taking a seat among one of the tables, she kept her eyes peeled for anyone suspicious to walk through the door.

[Nero Whitemarrow]

Most amusing Nero watched the two of them split off, They can seemly sense me even when I have melted among the elements themselves. They are not spirits...yet they are not mortal.

Nero watched from his safe place as the girl disappeared, he traced the other's movements instead. Following him was easy in this form.

[Van]

Van smiled at A.B.A. and nodded. Ducking in an alleyway, he pulled out two sleeves. He covered his hands and put on his metal claws just in case. He walked into the streets and tried to mingle with the crowd. After a few minutes he sighed, this wasn't going anywhere. Getting an idea, he walked briskly to a graveyard that, in his day living here was only ten bodies, was nearly overflowing with graves.

He knelt in front of one of the graves and cleared his head. The dead can't talk physically because they don't have mouths in the physical realm. Van temporarily snapped his thoughts from the other Saints and focused on the dead in the graveyard, willing them to rise.

[A.B.A.]

A.B.A. had been waiting for a while. Too long, and it begun to worry her. She worried that Van might have been captured by whoever was pursuing them, and felt unable to hid anymore. With a fearful apprehension she went back to the outside, her only solace being the protection of her disguise. She wandered around the nearby area looking for any sign of Van or a scuffle, but found nothing. Van, where are you? Give me a sign, something to let me know where you are. Her thoughts concentrated, hoping to reach him through the mental connection she had with the Saints.

[Van]

"What the heck do you want, lifeling?! We spirits need our sleep too you know." The voice was strong in his head. A spirit came out of a grave and sat on a gravestone. The spirit crossed her legs and glared at Van. "Please great spirit, I need your help," Van thought to the spirit, "Someone is chasing after me and all I ask of you is to slow him down. I will, of course, give you payment by helping you to ascend from this plane." The spirit thought for a moment, then nodded. "Fine, but I hold you to your promise, lifeling." Van nodded and severed the connection, snapping it back to the Saint's link. "A.B.A., I'm on my way."

[Nero Whitemarrow]

As soon as Van turned around Nero was seen standing at the entrance to the graveyard. "You are an interesting piece of trash. Your energy is quite stronger than of the other, what kind of trash are you?"

[Van]

"A.B.A., stay there. I'm a bit occupied." Van cocked his head at the other person. "Have you ever heard of the Saints?" He started to unveil his four-fingered hands. He checked the metal tips to make sure they were on tight enough.

[A.B.A.]

A.B.A. stood still, left unsure what to do upon receiving Van's message. There was an hidden urgency in the second one, something that screamed danger to her. She'd hoped to avoid conflict on their short trip, but also knew she couldn't live with herself if Van came to harm because of her selfish wish. I'm on my way, don't even think about trying to stop me.

She ran through the busy streets, trying to think where Van would have went. What would he do if he feared confrontation? Her worries for his safety blinded her to the obvious; that he'd seek out a place to use his abilities to the fullest. All she could do now was run.

[Van]

"No!" he screamed in his head, but he knew that A.B.A. wouldn't listen. He would have to use the teleport to get both of them out of Guasto when she got here. It would be a very fast visit in Guasto.

[Nero Whitemarrow]

"The Saints," Nero's face remained as dead still as it always was. "Never heard of such trash as that. Yet, you are Guastion... that is pretty much the only manner of interest here."

There was a vibe of panic among this strange person, was he scared of Nero? Or scared of something else?

Or for someone else, Nero thought, The other trash he was with, he's probably trying to protect her.