The Fate of Heliohapt

When the group entered the room and their eyes had adjusted to the light, they would see a man who was standing before one of the windows on the observatory. He was turning to face them, his skin a pasty white that was a stark contrast to the tanned skin natives of Heliohapt. His eyes were colored in a strange way; a golden outer pupil, followed by a purple pupil with the innermost part of his pupil also being golden. The man's hair was also an unnatural shade of purple and his attire, too, was outlandish beyond belief.

The man had a staff at his side that he leaned on after he had made a full turn to the group, a wide grin plastered on his face. "Welcome, to the most beautiful view in Heliohapt~!" The man spread his arms out wide, and behind Lexiara the door shut forcibly. Morahm was still inside the room with them, but he was once again holding himself in the manner of a slave.

"Please, make yourselves at home and enjoy the... View." He punctuated the last word with a wave of his staff. Magoi and Rukh fluttered throughout the room, unbeknownst to those within it, and a table appeared with chairs for the children. After that, the strange clownish looking man began to twirl his staff in circles, aiming it at the table. Slowly as he aimed the center of his staff across the top of the table a delicious looking spread of fruit and juice began to appear.

Morahm was somewhat pale, his fear clearly stemming from the man before them.

Lexiara went through the door only to pale upon seeing an unusual man standing by the window, the unnaturally pale face haunting with terrifying eyes. She had seen many unusual body and face types in her travels, but never one quite as queer as this. She stood in stunned silence as the man spoke and seemed to conjure chairs and treats out of thin air. Normally, she was joyous to see magic performed, but now it simply struck fear into her chest. She whirled around when the door slammed shut and then turned an accusing look to Morahm, her voice a harsh whisper to avoid upsetting the children. “You said they would be safe!”

The gaggle of orphans were oblivious to her distress, clapping and cheering at the magic tricks the odd-looking man was producing. Several went to peer out of the window and others quickly took a chair to partake of the candy. Lexi contemplated taking the candy away for fear it was poisoned but did not want to alarm the children on a mere suspicion. She swung around to glare at the mad-looking man and tried to keep her tone civil. “And who might you be?”

The man cocked a brow at Lexiara's outburst, though his smile was still plastered on his face. Morahm simply cowered in the corner and refused to meet Lexiara's gaze. After the outburst, when she turned a glare towards the man and asked him who he was, he ignored her question at first. Instead, he spoke on the concern she had shown earlier. "Safe? Of course, everyone here is safe." The strange man paused, looking towards Morahm. "And though you didn't perform admirably, it was well enough, so the bargain will be held. These children shall certainly be spared the danger that will befall the city, and will continue to live beyond this day."

Even if none of the children showed any concern about what he was saying, the strange man who had not yet introduced himself would hush his tone in a conspiratorial manner, attempting to grab their attention. "The dangers of not seeing... Aaaaaa once-in-a-lifetime magic show, of course!" as he got half-way through his sentence, he raised his voice like that of a circus performer, drawing excitement to his 'performance.'

His primary focus at that time was to the children, however his attention changed back to Lexiara. "Now. You ask me who I am. Well, allow me to introduce myself. I am known as..." As soon as the word 'as' left his lips, the man disappeared. There was a small amount of smoke on the floor where he was, but not enough to actually keep anyone from seeing him. In fact, the size of the smoke itself was comical, and not at all effective at making it difficult to see through, as none of it was enough to even get knee-high to the children.


Only a second had passed since the last word he had uttered was heard, when Lexiara would hear the words "The Contractor." come from right next to her ear. The man had somehow gotten behind her, and was quite tall when looked at this close. He was leaning forward, almost as if he were bowing, in order to whisper those words into her ear. She only came up to the middle of his chest when he stood up straight.

While being mindful of the children and riling up their excitement for the sight of magic tricks, The Contractor spoke some more. "Now then, the protection from danger was only meant for children of pure heart!" The Contractor had thrown a significant glance Morahm's way, but flourished his staff and caused a small burst of fireworks to go off from the head of the staff to impress the children. "But I suppose you can be spared the dangers of not being able to see my great magic... If you tell me a little bit about yourself. Why are you with all these children?"

Lexiara was on edge, the entire situation making her skin crawl and a heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach. As the odd man spoke and then disappeared, her eyes widened and then she jumped as he whispered in her ear. She could feel in her bones that this was a bad situation and she desperately wanted to get the children and run, but something the man had said about them being safe here made her pause and look to the window. If they were safe here, what was going to happen out there.

At the man’s question, Lexi frowned, crossing an arm across her chest and trying to shrink in on herself defensively. Even her naturally trusting personality did not allow her to trust this man. Her voice was quiet in response, trying not to draw the attention of the children and risk frightening them.

“I visit them often, take them out to see the city, offer them a friend in a place where they only have each other. They were helping me at the Contest of Hearts event. The… the Pharaoh offered to purchase them as slaves. I didn’t… I didn’t want to, but the children begged for it. It offered them a better life than they would have at the orphanage and… I just... I just want them to be happy, and to have a good future. After the contest, we went out to celebrate, I bought them treats. I just… please don’t hurt them, sir. Please?”

The words spilled from her lips and a tear leaked from her eye, the guilt she felt over her decision driving her to tell the whole story. But her priority was still making sure the children would be safe. One of the older boys noticed her upset state and moved over to tug her free hand. “Miss Lexi? What’s wrong? He made treats and fireworks! He’s funny! Don’t be sad!” Lexi worked a smile to her face and crouched by the boy, ruffling his hair reassuringly. “It’s okay, Silas. I’m just being silly.”

The man raised a hand to his eyes, at first, pretending to be blinded by some unseen light. "Oh my, how pure of you. You tip the scales far too much, young child. Luckily, those scales should have equilibrium soon~" The man's words were certainly foreboding. His demeanor changed slowly while speaking to Lexiara, a lot of the playfulness leaving his actions.


The man continued to smile throughout the entire exchange. He now looked at her, in a straight manner while still smiling. "It's because of those like you that days like this are necessary. Ah, and don't worry about the little ones. The Contractor never goes back on his word where a contract is involved." The man, self identified as 'The Contractor', laughed as he continued to provide magic tricks to the children in the Observatory. In spite of having spoken in a normal volume, none of the children would be able to hear what he had most recently said. The power of the Rukh made sure of that.

Lexi relaxed only slightly at his words about the children, though the fear still coiled in her gut. As she was about to question the man more, faint crashes could be heard, though the children were far too distracted by the magic tricks to have noticed. She edged to the window and her breath caught. From the other side of the city, she could see smoke and dust rising. She remembered the slave auctions and turned a shocked gaze to the odd looking man. Was this what he had meant when he said the scales would be tipped back? Had he caused the mayhem she was just barely able to glimpse as she stood on her toes to get a better view. She could see people starting to run away from the areas where there was smoke, looking like ants from this height. She let a hard note enter her voice, curiosity and anger mixing in her tone.

“What is going on? What happened?”

The Contractor walked over to the window with Lexiara as she began to comment on the noise occurring in the city. He waved his staff in an exaggerated manner with a look of shock on his face. "Oh no! Children! Look at what is happening out there. It's a tragedy!" The Contractor had cast a clever spell. While it was certainly true that bombs had gone off where the slave markets were and causing quite a bit of commotion, the destruction that began to slowly unfold before everyone's eyes within the obelisk was far greater than the truth. It looked to the group as if the slaves were pillaging and destroying everything they could get their hands on, having somehow managed to escape their confinement.

"Oh no! If only there were some brave hero, like in the stories..." The Contractor cried out, dramatically. He paused, retaining the theatrical sense of drama. He turned around abruptly, a look of hope and happiness spread across his features.


"Surely, one of you are heroic enough to protect the city?! I have, upon my person, the Hero's Blade. A relic that will only accept a destined hero who is pure of heart. Who among you will be willing to sacrifice their way of life to protect everyone!?" Things had quickly spiraled out of Lexiara's control, as the man was speaking fervently and quickly. An illusion was cast over the woman, and a silencing spell as well. While she would be able to see and speak and hear what she was saying, the children would only see her standing there, looking with pleading eyes.

Silas, who had spoken up earlier, looked to Lexiara and then to the city before resting his gaze on the rest of the orphans. He stepped forward, and offered himself as the one who would take up the 'Hero Sword'. "I will protect them."

The Contractor walked forward, and a visible sheen of force appeared. Those who were familiar with Magicians would know that force as a Borg. The Borg surrounded the child, and kept anyone else out. The Contractor slammed the bottom of his staff onto the ground. "Contract Complete. Take your Contract Vessel, and go forth to protect us all, young hero!"

A blade appeared from beneath the strange man's cloak, and floated in front of the contract. Silas stepped forward with awe and reached out for the sword, grabbing hold of it. At that very time a dark orb was seen to appear from the sword, and The Contractor watched it intently. He was whispering something, and Silas cried out in surprise and pain. The orb assimilated into the child, and the room's atmosphere became tense. Something about the child's very nature was changing before their eyes.

"Must... Save... EVERYONE!" The boy ended his words with a piercing roar, bending his knees. A crushing pressure enveloped the room and began to shake the entire building. The intense vibrations seemed to break the supporting walls of their room, and the entire obelisk seemed to be crashing down sideways for a moment, before The Contractor waved his staff and seemed to have stabilized the room. Silas pushed off the floor and flew out of the obelisk, out towards the slaves who were causing great amounts of destruction.




As the two made their way through the throng of rampaging people, they were able to find some paths that were less traveled than others, though that was mainly because most people would have trouble going through such paths and that it just seemed easier to go through the main roads. These paths were side alleys, winding throughout the city. There were still others who had kept their cool, and decided on taking those very same paths that both Diego and Ayero had taken.

The sounds of the explosions had already died down, and most of the panic was caused by the escaped slaves and the fear of future explosions. Though this was the case, a strange noise and a new wave of fear washed over the scene. The screams that were predominantly heard up until this point changed in pitch, direction and overall level of terror. Those who were furthest away from the entire ordeal were screaming much louder than those trying to run away from it.

And stranger yet, the sound of destruction was quickly approaching the two.

Suddenly, at the nearest exit of the alleyway, a small orb of dark purple light touched down. It expanded rapidly to 30 meters in diameter and completely engulfed an individual who was standing not too far away from them just a moment ago. It left absolutely nothing behind. No ground. No building. No scared citizen. A second after the strange purple thing had disappeared, an extremely loud explosive sound was heard.

A young child flew to the center of the crater that was left behind, screaming. "I WILL CLEANSE THE FILTH THAT THREATENS OUR CITY!" Several more similar orbs shot forward, at an incredible speed, and caused similar explosions as the ones from before.

The child then flew away. If there were several craters here and there, it would have been as if the child had never been there in the first place....




Altair's attempt to herd the people was met with a great deal of success. The citizens seemed to, even in their state of panic, understand on some level that this man was looking out for them and trying to help them to safety. The way the man held himself conveyed his authority and confidence, likely having stemmed from his experience in herding. His firm orders and quick assistance with responding to and resolving clogged groups no doubt saved the lives of many of the people that were previously panicking.

That would soon change, however.

The sound of strange explosions, much more intense than the ones from the slave break-out, began to approach them from the direction the citizens were attempting to flee towards. There was a brief pause as a child could be seen flying in the sky, perhaps 20 meters in the air.

This child stopped suddenly, 50 meters before reaching them, and shouted out on the top of his lungs.
"UUUUNFOOOORGIVABLE! YOU WOULD DARE ENDANGER THIS CITY!? FEEL MY WRATH!"

Several orbs of .5 meters in diameter fell towards the ground from the strange child. As they touched upon the ground, they quickly expanded to be 30 meters large and leaving only sonic booms in their wake after they disappeared. The child, if that's what this creature could be called, looked towards Altair and paused. His hand quickly came to his head, as if the child suddenly suffered from a headdache. "No... No... What am I... Doing? ... AAAARGHHHHH!"

The child screamed and seemed to go through an internal struggle for a moment before flying off. The destruction that was left in his place had paralyzed the people who were panicking only moments before. It was only a matter of time before the destruction cascaded a new panic...

Lexi wrung her hands trying to warn the children against the man, knowing that something was just not right with him. It seemed her words and actions fell on deaf ears and blind eyes and she stomped her foot in frustration. She could do nothing but watch as Silas took the ‘Hero Sword’ and cry out in concern.

Her lip trembled as she watched something happen to Silas, something she could not explain or understand. He seemed to be possessed by the evil spirits her Mee Maw would talk about around the camp fire at night to scare her and Onyx into behaving. He only wanted to help and now he was… something unnatural, something crazed, something not him. She fell to the ground crying, not knowing what to do, utterly helpless in the face of the other children finally realizing that all was not as it seemed. The orphans screamed as the Silas-creature flew out of the window but did not fall to his death, crying in terror at what they were all witnessing. This was not right. This day was supposed to be a happy day, full of celebration and joy and treats. Not death and destruction.

Just when Diego thought the worst was over, he heard Trixie growl in warning moments before loud booms echoed in the distance. Zanzibar shivered in terror as he clutched Trixe's back tighter. The horrific screams rang into Diego's ears and he sent a fearful gaze to Ayero, "What is going on?"

An orb of purple light caught his attention and turned to watch it expand rapidly towards them. Diego grabbed Ayero's arm and pulled her back as it got closer, motioning Trixie to do the same. Diego tried to call out to a Fanalis man a few meters in front of him before they were swallowed by the light. When the light flickered out, so too was the man.

Diego cried out in anguish, this nightmarish Festival of the Broken Sun was becoming too much for him. Flashes of memories passed through his mind; his family, his tribe, all dying from a rampant plague that quickly consumed them in a matter of hours. The amused look on Jagang's face as he spared Diego's life. "Why does everyone around me die?!"

The sonic boom shook him to his core and he was pulled from his thoughts to see a boy fly into the crater. Diego watched in horror as the boy screamed about cleansing the filth from the city and shot more purple orbs around. They expanded forward, swallowing groups of people, Fanalis and Humans alike. Not a trace was left behind. As Diego looked with shimmering eyes, he roared in fury. Feeling the same after witnessing such a sight, Trixie shared Diego's horror and raised her own roar.

The sonic booms that followed the light drowned out their cries. Diego felt helpless and looked to Ayero, a sickened expression on his face.

Though it appeared that they were now in the clear, Ayero kept her guard up knowing that the danger may very well not be over—but she could in no way fathom the bizarre events that began to unfold. The sound of rapidly approaching explosions didn’t sound right…they couldn’t have been some of the stray bombs they had planted that didn’t detonate earlier. They were louder, and with them came screams of anguish and desperation rather than simple shock and confusion.

She twists her neck to the side in an attempt to locate the source of the noise but it appeared to be coming from all directions. Thankfully Diego had been paying attention to their immediate surroundings and pulled her back by the arm as an orb of light in front of them expanded and engulfed those just a few meters ahead of them. Her breath hitches in her throat as she watches the light fade away, leaving nothing in its wake. ”I-Impossible…” She whispers, eyes fixed to the empty spot.

Diego’s sudden cry jarred her from her fixation and she springs back to life, grabbing the teen by his shoulders. ”Diego! What’s wr—“ At first she had thought that he was somehow hurt during the strange explosion, but her words are cut off by Diego’s own and the subsequent appearance of the boy.

She watches in confusion as the boy screams, a look of horror painting her face when he produces more balls of light. ”Quickly!—“ She grabs Diego by the arm with the intention of dragging him and Trixie (by proxy) into one of the smaller side alleys but stumbles backward as she shields her eyes from the bright flashes of light consuming the lives around them. When they fade she wonder with what miracle they have been spared.

Diego’s anguished cry intermixing with Trixie’s catches her off guard once again and causes her to fidget, and for several moments she can do no more than stand there and breathe heavily with a look of disbelief. Swallowing thickly to push down her own fear, she raises her right hand and backhands him across the cheek before taking him by the shoulders. ”Diego, listen to me. We’re going to get out of this. But we have to be careful about it! We have a better chance of surviving if we stick together, but we’ve got to keep our wits about us!” As she speaks her grip tightens on the boy’s shoulders and her eyes bore into his with a ferocious intensity. As she speaks she fights to keep the shake out of her voice but it’s obvious that she’s as terrified as anyone else in this city. Perhaps her words are for herself as much as they are for him.

With Altair's leadership, he was able to send many people farther into the city to safety. The operation was going smoothly, with minimal snags or disruptions. But Altair began to hear something in the distance. At first, he thought that it could be more of the bombs that they had placed, but the direction and pitch of the explosions was all wrong. They were coming from the front, in the direction the escapees were heading, and the tone was much higher and louder than the magical explosives they used before. Something was visible in the distance, a small figure, seemingly floating in the sky and throwing balls of darkness that expanded and exploded. When it reached the area where Altair was, it was revealed that it was no more than a child in a ball of light. The child screamed at him, and launched more orbs, that expanded in violent explosions, causing whatever was inside the ball to be completely destroyed. Altair saw people evaporate before his very eyes, and narrowly dodged an orb that was aimed for the spot he was standing on. Instantly all control he had on the crowd was lost as men and women alike ran for their lives from the enraged child. But Altair saw something in the child that he thought was strange. It seemed like he was struggling with something. Almost like he regretted what he was doing. But just as soon as he thought that, the child's demeanor returned to a violent state, and flew off towards another group.

Altair gripped the hilt of Caim's sword in his hand. He knew that the power he had would never be enough to counteract the awesome power that the child seemed to possess. Whatever it was that was providing this energy to the child seemed to be troubling him. Maybe, just maybe, he could talk the child down.

First things first, he still had people to take care of. If he left them like they were now, they were sheep to the slaughter. Altair started by calling the crowds attention. He urged them to continue forwards, but keep to the backstreets. Move slowly and deliberately, and try to make their way to the edge of the city. the farther away from the center they are, the safer they would become. Once he made his point, he got to a high point, and tried to locate the child in the orb.

The Pain of a Lost one:

The spells that had kept Lexiara from saying anything were now lifted, allowing her the freedom of her real voice and actions to once again be visible to the others. He walked back to the windows, overlooking the destruction. His magic, the only thing keeping them afloat, still provided a brief view of the destruction occurring outside. He looked back to the group.


"Oh my. It looks like he isn't used to his new strength as the great hero~ Well then, I suppose it's time to make sure everyone gets down to safety. Can't have two contracts at the same time, no no. I'm very faithful~" The man began to lower the room down to ground level with his magic. He seemed to be somewhat indifferent to the group now, though he did take great care to gently lay the room upon the ground outside of the obelisk. The remaining stone that was held in place shot outwards, making a path to the north, where the damage was progressively worse from Silas' indiscriminate rampage.

"Hmmm. Now that you are all safe to do what you please, I will be taking my leave. It's a busy day today, and I need to be the Enkidu for my Gilgamesh~" He did not immediately leave, however, and there seemed to be time to ask him another question.



Though neither of the Fanalis could see it, a mass of white Rukh were floating about, returning to the flow of Rukh. The lives of the many citizens that had prematurely lost had a gentle warmth about them, even though they had just been panicking moments before. Now that they were dead, they held no more true attachment to the world, though if there were one who could feel the thoughts of the Rukh they would sense a nostalgic sadness, as the dead moved to join the great flow.

Baker:

The baker's dead spirit, formed through the Rukh, smiled. The last thought it had; "I hope he doesn't blame himself for what happened..."

White Rukh, however, was not the only thing. Those left behind by the deaths of their loved ones, and those that despaired at the current state of events slowly generated hatred for their fates. Black Rukh began to coalesce to the point that the heavy darkness could be felt. A man approached the two Fanalis and the beasts that they had tamed. "Please, please kill me!" The man was crying desperately. While he had no wounds on his body, he was crawling, begging them in a pathetic display of desperation. "My wife.... My child! They both died! What's going on in this city?! Who did this to them!" The man screamed out a cry of anguish. "I... I cannot live without them. Please. End my life."




Altair's quick actions took advantage of the shocking numbness that the people had felt when the series of attacks had ended. His orders gave the people something to think about, and his authoritative nature put their minds at ease. A man who knew what he was doing; if they just listened to him, everything would be fine. It was the weight a ruler would feel; the expectations, hopes and desire for this flock fell upon Altair's shoulders. Their trust in his words was a weight that could give pause to any man. It was a power that could be taken advantage of, if in the wrong hands.

Altair caught sight of the child flying off to the west, towards The Contest of Hearts. That was where the Pharaoh was. Though it did seem that the child was fighting the destructive nature that was causing such massive chaos.

Though his leadership was certainly effective, there were some things that just couldn't be helped simply by the commands of an authoritative figure. Some individuals were slumped to the ground, sobbing quietly. One such individual was a young woman. She had the remains of a person cradled in her arms; it was the arm of what looked to be a male. On his hand, an engagement ring that matched the ring on her hand.

Earlier today:

Not too far from where Altair was were two children. An older boy and a young girl. The crowd he was controlling was very steady and calm, and thus the chances of people being trampled were very slim. The girl was crying, and the boy was hugging her closely. "Don't worry, Miria. We'll be okay. You've got your big brother looking out for you. I'll protect you for Mommy and Daddy." The child held his little sister tightly, and fought back his own tears. He looked away from his little sister, who was crying loudly into his shoulder. Tears were streaming down his own face, but he refused to show them to the girl. He needed to be her pillar of support, and he needed to be the man of the family now that their parents were dead.

Just moments before:

The child looked to the masked man, who was still giving instructions to the people. He looked down to his sister who was still in his arms, and remembered his father telling them to trust in the man. To believe that he would lead them to safety. "Look where it got you..." The boy muttered, angrily. His sister heard the tone in his voice, and her sobbing died down to sniffling. Anger gripping the child, he picked up a small stone and threw it as hard as he could at Altair.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU DO ANYTHING?!" The child was doing his best to hold back his tears. His sister immediately hid behind his back, peaking over the corner of his shoulder towards Altair. "THEY TRUSTED YOU!"

Another adult was walking by and stopped at the side. This outburst had gotten the attention of some of the people walking forward, but many of them continued, pretending they had heard nothing. "Child, there isn't anything he could have done. Anything anyone could have done. It's unfortunate, but that's just fate."

The child screamed. "I don't need fate! My parents are gone! They believed in him!" The child pointed an accusatory finger at Altair. It was at this point that the child could no longer hold back his tears, and began sobbing uncontrollably.

Another adult walked up to Altair. "Please forgive them, sir. The children are stricken with grief. They don't understand that many more of us would be dead if not for you..."

Shortly after Diego’s outburst Ayero’s attention was quickly drawn to the man who approached them, pleading for death. The halfling’s eyes widened at the man’s request and his maddened ramblings of anguish. For a moment she felt as if she would crack, nearly unable to stand the mounting confusion and danger of the situation herself. But her thoughts began to settle on the poor man in front of her—more like a husk of a man. Here was someone who had seemingly lost everything of value in his life and would never get it back, would never be able to rebuild or replace his family. Though she is loath to kill an innocent man, she couldn’t bear to let him live, as she presumed he would, an empty existence.

Her mouth hardens into a thin line and her eyes narrow slightly as she steps forward with resolve, unsheathing her sword as she does so. ”Very well...please be still.” She flourishes the blade to align with the man’s neck, her expression unreadable save for a trace of pity in her eyes.

A slap from the Fanalis woman jarred Diego to his senses. Her shouted words gave him the chance to remember that he had to survive. If he gave up now, then how would his tribe be revenged? Diego stood up, the will to survive burning in his eyes, "Thanks." He gave an apologetic look to Madam Trixie and Zanzibar for losing control. Trixie nuzzled her nose against his hand, giving her support to him.

Diego had found his will to survive, but another had lost their will. A sobbing man was lost to despair for his family and begged them to end his life. Diego felt for the man and he wanted to try to help him find his resolve. Before he could, Ayero unsheathed her blade and took a step forward, accepting the man's wish. Diego watched her place the blade to the man's neck, searching Ayero's face for a reason.

"Wait! There's been enough deaths, why should he die too?"

Altair observed the crowd as some followed his directions, while others simply wept at the loss of some loved ones. He noticed one woman in particular who was holding the severed arm and hand of what could have been her betrothed. He saw this was true for the ring was fresh on both of their fingers. He was about to walk over and try to comfort her, when a small pebble hit him in the arm. It wasn't painful, but Altair turned to see where it had come from. He saw a male child, who couldn't have been older than eight standing there furious with him, a girl (who Altair assumed was his little sister) cowering behind him. Men from the crowd tried to console the boy, and another offered Altair answers to what had occurred. It was horrible. The boy had lost his parents in one fell swoop and only he and his sister had survived. The boy cursed his fate, and though none could see it, Black Rukh began to spiral from around him. Altair could feel the hurt that the boy was feeling, and every second without an answer made it worse.

Finally Altair approached the boy. He took his right hand and placed it on top of the boy's head and looked him dead in the eyes. He spoke so that everyone could hear him. "Do you want to die today? Has everything become so hopeless that you would abandon everything for the selfish desire to end it all? That is how you are acting right now. Listen to me, and listen very closely. You may have lost your parents, but look at who clings to your shoulder." Altair paused to let the boy's realization sink in. "Your sister, who you have sworn to your parents to protect is depending on you right now. It is your responsibility to make sure that if nothing else, she gets out of here alive. You have to put your life on the line for her." Altair's tone changed from stern to more caring. "If you give up now, who will be there for her? Like a shepherd protects his flock, you must protect those you care about. But to do this, you will need a guardian's tool." Altair took out Elisheba then, his rod that he had grown up with since he was little, that he had crafted with his own hands. He took a moment to present it, and then handed it to the boy. "This is the tool of a Shepherd, of a guardian. It is a rod of iron. It is used both to lead your flock and to defend them. I'm giving this to you now, because i know that when the time is right, you will have the strength to defend everyone that matters to you." Altair gave the pair of children an embracing hug. He spoke to them both saying, "Remember that your parents are always watching over you. They would want you to succeed, so never give up, ok?" Altair got up then, and instructed the boy. "You aren't the only one who has lost someone. look around. don't you think you could help lead others out of the darkness? Get them to safety. I'm trusting you."

With that, Altair set out getting others up and heading to safety. When he finished directing them and was sure that they would be ok, Altair turned his attention back to the Contest of Hearts. That was where he saw the floating boy before. The boy was in danger of destroying himself with his unchecked power. Something had to be done about it, and if Altair had learned anything from what that pair of children, it was that if you have power, you need to protect those who don't. Altair gripped Caim's sword hilt. It was time to get to work.

Lexiara stared in horrified wonder at the destruction in the city. Had one of her innocent orphans really done so much damage? What had the man done to Silas? Why had he done it? Where had Silas went? Her questions were never ending as they tumbled through her head. She turned an angry look as several frightened orphans ran over to her, clinging to her skirt in fear and confusion.

“What did you do to him? Why? Why are you here? Was all this necessary?”

The questions spilled forth as she picked up Sara, the young female orphan that always preferred to be carried, shushing her softly and rocking her side to side. How was any of this possible? Why were those close to her always ripped away? First, her family and now the orphans she had befriended and cared for. It simply was not fair and she hated the man for what he had done to her piece of happiness.

The Contractor looked to Lexiara, confused. "Haaah? Me? Why, I did nothing. It just looks like the the boy's body is rejecting the hero sword a bit~. But this world needs guidance, and a hero is just the thing to provide it. With that, I must be off!" The contractor spun in place for a brief moment, taking his hat off and bowing at the last word 'off' before disappearing completely, leaving the woman and the orphans alone in the wake of the debris.




The Pharaoh was residing over the matches for the Contest of Hearts, where it turned out there were others who had offered feasts to be enjoyed. One of the high priests spoke to the Pharaoh asking if he would also like to enjoy the next contestant's cooking.

"No, I am still full from the prior three courses. I will have to pass... Wait. Are those Manjuus?" The Pharaoh looked, standing up and witnessing the foreign delicacies. "Well, there is always room for a little something extra."

The Pharaoh approached with a servant, who placed several Majuus into the basket, one of which he partook in. He gave high praise for the food, though that was to be expected considering it was his favorite. As he returned to his place, however, screams and explosions were heard from afar as the slaves were freed from their confinement and the chaos had begun.

Guards immediately approached the Pharaoh to protect him, and began evacuating the citizens and leading the Pharaoh to safety. The Pharaoh took the basket of Manjuus, walking with the guards in a hurried pace while calling out orders.

They were moving through the hallways when the Pharaoh began eating one of the Manjuus as he moved forward. A violent shaking suddenly took place and the building collapsed above them. The guards on either side, unable to reach the Pharaoh. What's worse was that the shaking had startled the Pharaoh, who was now choking on the Manjuu. The guards could hear him from within the rubble, but could do nothing to assist.

They began attempting to remove the rubble away, but it seemed like the work would take forever. Their despair was palpable as they heard explosions occur from outside. One of the guards took a look out there, to be greeted by the sight of a child causing massive havoc.



Soon, a strange looking man appeared in the air next to the child. A man who went by the name of 'The Contractor.' Passing a hand over the child's head, it seemed the anger he had, died down. The two of them disappeared, as if they were never there.

The guard was suddenly pulled back to the current situation; they could no longer hear the choking in the rubble. The Pharaoh had died, choking on a Manjuu.




The man shook his head vigorously, weeping. "Child! You don't understand!" He was visibly agitated and looked back towards Ayero. "Please, have mercy! Let me follow them into the next life!" The man would hold still as Ayero had instructed.




The young child's sister pulled herself closely to her brother as Altair spoke to him, causing the child to quite down on how much he was sobbing. There was a definite look of resentment in the child's eyes as Altair reprimanded the boy. As Altair allowed the child some time to think about what he said before he continued, the child's eyes seemed to soften a bit.

He did not, however, let this show on the rest of his features. The resentment was gone as Altair handed him Elisheba, but he did not lose the tough exterior he put on. Wiping his eyes, he took the object from Altair. "You don't tell me what to do. I'll look out for her anyways." Giving one last defiant look, the child kept his sister close to him while walking away from the man.

Many who had seen this realized the wisdom behind what Altair had said, and were able to align themselves with a stronger will because of it. However, not everyone saw eye-to-eye with the man, and there were still many of those who cursed their current fate. Altair couldn't possibly go through and recover all of them...



OOC:

You may now post an exit post if you would like to. This is the last Proxy post for this thread.

The halfling wasn’t exactly surprised at Diego’s protest, but her eyes remain on the man in front of her as she speaks, standing still as stone. ”Think about it,” She begins, her voice low and steady ”This is a man who has lost everything and will never be able to rebuild his life to the point it was before today.” She shifts her grip on the hilt of her talwar ever so slightly seeing as how her hold on the weapon had begun to slip from her sweaty hand. ”To leave a man in this state would be…it would be cruel. We’d doom him to an empty existence.” Her gaze rakes slowly across the man’s face, his eyes a mix of utter despair and a pleading for death. With a soft grunt of forewarning, she flourishes her blade to the side.




The sword swiftly makes contact with his neck, beheading the man in one fell swoop. The detached limb rolls to the ground as the body buckles and collapses into a limp heap. Sucking in a long breath, Ayero sheaths her sword and turns on her heel, away from the scene to face Diego. After a moment of hesitation, she grabs the boy by his shoulders. ”I don’t know what you went through, but there’s a reason you’ve made it this far.” Her voice shakes but her tone is strong, and as soon as she makes her point she pulls the younger Fanalis into an embrace.

Seeing the man beg for the sweet release of death pained Diego. Diego's pleading words didn't change Ayero's mind, instead she explained that it would be worse to leave him alive. Feeling hopeless, Diego looked away as Ayero finished the task with a quick slash of her sword. The moist sound it made as it tore threw flesh reverberated in his ears, a sound he would probably remember for a long time after this day.

Ayero grabbed him and reminded him that he was alive for a reason, before embracing him. Diego tried to hold back his tears, but the comfort of his friend's arms made him feel safe to cry. After a moment he pulled himself together and stepped back. Wiping his eyes on his sleeve, Diego looked at Ayero, "Let's get out of here." Diego found Trixie's neck and rubbed her fur as he started walking away.

[exit]

Ending an innocent man’s life wasn’t easy, and Ayero would be lying to herself if she thought she didn’t feel at least a dull sting of regret. Maybe there was a chance that the man could find peace and happiness in life after the passing of his wife and daughter, but everything about the moment seemed so bleak.

As Diego leans into her embrace, the Fanalis woman suddenly feels the urge to cry as well. She bites her lip to hold back tears in time as the younger of the two pulls away from her and suggest that they leave. Nodding absently, she wordlessly pats Diego on the shoulder as they depart from the dreary scene.