Cleyra Act 1: The Protector of the Sanctuary - Open to Cryptic & myself

The black cloaked one slips through a shadow of a building and is unseen from the other side. The dimmed lit sanctum seemed an unlikely structure, given the outward facade. The echoes of steel toed boots against marble reverberate from the wall, echoing with soft clock.  He passes a figure with a deep purple robe.  "It is done then?"

"Aye." He states simply.

"But the boy - we need-"

The black cloaked man cuts him off before he can finish. "The boy is indeed powerful and seems to be unaware but I will not risk standards and reputation of this guild to acquire a child, no matter how great his potential.  Who knows if he can channel it - and even he, a boy, can see his father is a charlatan - he will lose confidence in us and possibly his own skill if it appears we have respect for his father's nonsense. Now is not the time."

The purple cloaked man nodded quietly and turned to the side through a window overlooking the sea. "What are they doing here? It concerns me we didn't receive word from headquarters about his movements... we need to get to that boy before -"

He is cut off again. "Before, what, exactly?  He is a boy - a boy unaware of what he is.  They are pirates, what in hell would they want with a child? - unless that idiot father tortured them with his 'magic' and they wish to be compensated for their suffering with the blood his first born, there is no reason for them to even notice the boy exists."

The man in purple sighs and retreats down the hall as the man in the black rob turns to leave. Touching his face, as he departs, it turns into something else entirely. A wicked face replaces the one that was there a moment ago as a sinister smile creeps over his face. "Thank you for your cooperation - now to find that boy."

"Father, I'd like to go back home and study now." Hawks bluntly claims, and turns his back to his father to walk away, with the male falling down and rolling over again. "My Goodness, Hawks, what a cruel child you are, mwhahahaha!" apparently, Eagles was always acting like a clown in front of Hawks. This was occurring a lot more often ever since his wife, Hawks's mother, passed away. He was always hoping that, acting like this, would eventually make Hawks smile again.

Meanwhile, at the port, the world observes the peculiar man, who just looks around, glaring at them with a sinister smug on his face. His eyes, shadowed by his shades, were not visible, but from that expression one could easily assume they looked pretty crazy. "Say, peasants .. where can I find a man named "Nemuri Eagles"? ..!!" "!!!"

Back to the village, Eagles was chasing after Hawks, making all sorts of completely failed magical tricks along the way, often tripping and smacking onto the ground, or hitting poles that were in the way and he failed to notice. "Hawks Hawks .. will you look at this?~!!" he shouts, and then trips once again. Hawks stops walking. "You annoy me. Leave me alone, loser." he coldly says, and walks away, his father left surprised for a moment, not talking. *Please take care of our son for me, too, darling*

"Hey now, Hawks, I am not a loser, I am just ... ECCENTRIC!!" Eagles remarks, and leaps up, pulling out a hat and a rabbit, out of the blue. "Now, for our next trick ...?!!" he stops talking, and looks up towards the sky. Black smoke was covering the sky, coming from the port village. Something ... something ominous was happening. Could it be, they found out?!

"Say ... I have some rum, would you like to drink?" Hawks pauses for a moment, and offers Jade a small flask.

The man in purple returns to the great hall of black flames.  All around the low-lit room, odd candles burned an odd blue-grew, dull and unsettling.  Despite the awful lighting, the room teemed with life as members were lost in their arts collecting talismans, arranging liquids - somewhere between alchemy and spell casting - the room was charged with an unnatural energy.  When the man stepped through the chamber, everyone paused.

"The bastard came in disguise.  They have abducted Dailin and sent that shape shifter with his face to obtain information.  They know about the boy but they don't seem to know what he is, who he is, or where he is.  He cannot join but we need to obtain him - they are going after his father right now. They can't be allowed to find him.  We must get to him first - are you prepared?"

~~~~~

Jade raised an eyebrow at the magician who was offering her a flask.  This seemed rather out of character. "I would - as it seems I've just had a fair ass kicking. I have a special reserve if you're interested." She pulls out a flask - silver metal twisted with black, making the vessel resemble being covered in black flames- clearly made by a skilled metal worker.  "This is dream-rum. The blacksmith, if you remember her, makes this - most people can't drink it because of the strength. It get its name from the multiple days you spend unconscious if you can't handle it."  

She eyes his flask, almost takes a drink but closes the lid, remembering that she had not seen him drink from it.  She remembered how badly he wanted to get rid of her - so much that he may have drugged the flask. It felt odd not being able to trust him.
"You also look like you could use a good drink.  It seems you have a black eye. You're quite powerful, you know - why do you always hold back?  You have a great talent - but you hide it - as if you don't want someone to recognize it and find you."

"Father, why is everyone running away?" Hawks asks, finally he shows some emotion, this one manifested into concern and worry about this; possible fear, too. It was true, from the distance, it was now visible, a lot of people were running towards the opposite direction, the one leading to the mountain part of the island. Something really dangerous was obviously occurring to the other side. A female stops running for a moment, and looks at Eagles, her eyes look terrified. "Eagles, they found out ..!!" Eagles looks at her with widen eyes, before he turns towards the rumble. "Take Hawks with you, and go." "What?!" Both the female and Hawks say together. "Father, what is the meaning of this? Is someone after you for being so bad with magic?" "Don't be silly now, Hawks. Just some bandits probably cause some problems, surely it's not a big deal. Now go away with Rebecca, she's a good friend of mine."

"Come on Hawks, is it? Let's go .." The female says, after she have a worried glare at the male. Hawks then notices something. "What is that shadow??" Rebecca looks up, and her eyes widen which shock. She then abruptly pushes Hawks away; just in time, too. Something large just came hurling, and smashed her down into a crater. "MISS!!" "REBECCA!"

"You ... you must be .. Eagles .. !!" A man speaks, he's a very rotund, almost round, male, with a large, red, silk cape across him. Below him was the bloodied Rebecca, unknown if she was even alive. "We'd like to talk to you .." he turns to them, and his insanely beautiful, bishounen face with blonde straight hair and hazel eyes, appears.

Introduction Box:
Bishop, the "Most Beautiful"

Introduction Box

A grey hooded creature pauses and blood sprays across the ground. The boy seemed safe but was in great danger. He turns giving signal to another figure in red off to the west who began moving in an indirect path between the caped pretty pastry puff and the boy. When the red one passed a certain point, the blue mage to the east began a mirrored, misdirected patten of movement. It was the purple mage who was the closest. He had seen the boy earlier that day before the black mage had disappeared. "Little Nemuri - You must come with me. Time is of the essence. " He threw a dark green hooded cloak over the boy in one swift motion and nudged him away from the bloody spectacle.

The colours of the cloaks had meaning only known to the guild - some of guardians, some of gate keepers, some of warriors, some of puzzle masters, some of hunters, most unknown ... but green, green was always the colour worn by their leader but it was also worn by their newest recruits who had not yet chosen their way. It was both the most common and the most precious. Their leader always returned to the green so that he may never forget where he came from and how open his mind was to all of the branches of magic.

"Damnit, Nemuri, I told you for the last bloody time - STOP STEALING OUR CHILDREN FROM THE ACADEMY!  The others are mocking this one calling him 'Little Nemuri' because of his association with you and he has become quite terrible at magic and wears this ridiculous hair fashioned after you! Stop corrupting our youth and keep your failure to yourself."

The man takes out a knife, roughly cutting the boy's long silvery blond hair away and sending a purple pigment through it, before throwing the hood over his head just in time for the other hooded brethren to arrive - only eight converging. They all begin to drain of one colour, being filled with another in a wave of shifting pigment, they switch places like an annoying shell game as the constantly move behind each other. After a moment, one is missing, the another, leaving only seven of the nine figures as a strange battle begins.

Six of the seven magicians spread out and approach the destructive pirate while the seventh goes after Eagles. Moving with unnatural speed and smooth motion, it seemed almost as the cloaked figure was a floating specter. He catches up with Eagles, speaking in low tones. "He'll be safe that the citadel - find your way to the docks, we have arrange for your passage and his - separately. I can't tell you any more now. For right now we have to try to stop this lunatic from destroying everything."

The cloaked falls back and returns to his four brethren, taking his place in the circle surrounding the pirate who seems to be very distressed over his slashed face.  With luck, they could build a soul casting barrier to entrap this lunatic and send him away.

"EEEEEK?!!" Eagles nearly passes out from the sheer shock, as the person that approached him felt as if he was floating through the space around, really did scared him a lot. However, his words come to becalm him. And, come to think of it, all these bizarre movements and appearance, could it be that they were from this place? "... Thank you ..." Eagles actually falls on his knees, and bows to the man, gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes; this really did meant a lot for the male.

He is about to speak to the clothed man, but, his attention is caught by something; something bizarre yet, terrifying. Somewhere else, it seems that this bizarre, peculiar man, Leoris, was communicating with someone through transmission. "So, Bishop was knocked out so easily? This is a shame ... at this rate, people will be able to escape this place. And we got a hefty amount of cash to ensure that no one escapes ... eh, guess I should just use it." raising his other arm and extending his hand towards the sky, it seems that small strings were released towards the sky. And, in only some moments, said strings, having reached over a mile into the air, begun to fall across the landscape, creating what could be described as a cage; a massive, peculiar, cage. Some people, running towards the outskirts of the mountain region, come across said barrier. "What is that?" "Just go, go!" a person says and attempts to walk through, only to be .. sliced in pieces. "KYAAH!!"

And, said cage had seemingly sealed off the entire village from both the mountains, but also the ports. Everyone was caged inside. "That should help us do our job." this horrible man, speaks, grinning widely, with pleasure. And, as Eagles observes, he pants in shock and disbelief. And, to add even worse tragedies, he notices something even more bizarre and utterly mortifying. People were suddenly attacking each other, but, the attackers seemed to be screaming and crying, as if forced to act as that. "W-what ... what in the world ... WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAPPENING?!!"

Hawks is just being carried away, looking at that this, scared and left speechless. "What is happening ... I .. I am scared .. father, I am sorry.. please be okay! What is happening?.."

Hell. That is what's happening. The first of the two times Hawks faced this horror that was started from this one man.

((OOC: Is that hellish and desperate enough for you? ))

One of the cloaked creatures had whisked the boy away in the confusion, carefully leading him to a strange apothecary. Moving a large statue of a bird of prey aside, the man moved a rug to the side, revealing a boring wooden floor that looked exactly like the surrounding floor. Carefully lifting one piece of wood out of place, a small semicircle with an odd hollow shape in the center was hidden under the wood. The man took off the brooch that was clasping his cloak together at his neck and attached it to a small bird statue the was sitting on a nearby shelf. He then pulls a green book from the bookshelf behind the counter, opening it to about halfway, revealing a cut out hollow in the center where a small silver flute of some sort was tucked. He took these three items and carefully assembled them into an odd structure, oddly forming the odd shape embedded in the semicircle on the floor. He pressed the puzzle-piece like structure into the matching hole and gave it a quarter turn to the right, then a full rotation left. Nothing happened for a long moment as he pulled his "key" out of the hole and dismantled the parts, tucking them into his robe. He then put the piece of wood back over the the semicircle, returning the floor to its boring state - and for a moment, the entire thing seemed like a giant waste of time.

Suddenly there was a soft rumbling before the wooden slats sunk one by one to for a shallow set of stairs leading to a a larger stone set. After he lead the boy into the poorly lit stone passage, he lifted the bottom part of the collapsible stair structure back upward, which folded like an accordion to 1/2 its size. When it was in place, there was a faint click. He turned a dial on the underside of the structure until clicked, signaling that it was locked again. All that would be left was a perfectly boring floor in behind the counter of an apothecary, a passage designed to be 100% undetectable.

As the light got better, it was observable that the odd texture of the walls was actually sea-stone. It was unclear if it was meant to be a barrier to keep fruit users our or if it was meant to keep guild members from cheating with fruit abilities during their practicing. The corridor wound into a confusing cave system for some time until there was a spot of complete darkness - and after stepping though something that looked like a wall, but felt like a fog, the darkness was gone and the cave opened into a vast, temple like structure, coated in marble and studded with bizarre, brightly coloured and pulsing gems. The Forbidden Citadel of legend was no legend at all. It was one of the best kept secrets in all of the world, protected against all detection and this was the best place they could hide the boy. No matter what happened up there the citadel would always be secure. Something about the place radiated energy, mystery, and magic.

"This is quite fascinating ..." little Hawks comments, once all these elaborate acts and revelations take place, to reveal this secret, impressively sculptured and modeled structure. Although, constant to such a statement, he remained mostly apathetic and reserved. He was actually quite amazed by all this, despite his expression and tone, however. Who would expect that such a construct, such a wonder would exist just under their feet? And, for the time being, the little boy forgot about all that was happening above their heads.

"W-what is the meaning of this?" Eagles basks, while starring down at the enemy, with his right arm holding a long katana, with a flower-petal like, light purple protector and black hilt. Before him, was that man, Leoris, with his right arm extended, oddly his fingers aiming forward. Between them, was that mage that earlier on informed the man of his son's salvation being taken care of. Oddly, the mage seemed to be standing with his arms extended as if he was a marionette and, while his expression remained relatively calm, the cold sweat rolling down implied that he was just keeping his cool; obviously both men were in grave danger.

"What is the meaning of this man's new-found place as a pawn of mine? Why, it's my Devil Fruit ability. And you must be ... Nemuri D. Eagles, correct?!" The man speaks, or rather, shouts mockingly, his wide grin suggesting enormous arrogance, but with his stature and current situation, it seemed to be well backed-up and justified. "Welcome .. to hell!!" He sadistically adds.

"Fascinating, indeed." A vague barely seen from beneath the hooded visage of the cloaked man currently leading the boy. "You are the first unworthy soul to lay eyes upon it and so it seems fitting you have the most disrespectful tone. You can be unmoved by it because it was given to you. You never had to invest decades to training and sacrifice everything around you. You even have a natural gift others have to work hard for rival - you can never fully appreciate that which is given to you. The magnitude of where you are is meaningless because you never had to fight it -- like the rest of us ... so do keep your bored comments and sarcasm to yourself - your very presence is insult enou--"

"ENOUGH" A louder voice thunders over the man in the hood. He wears a dark green robe and, despite long silver hair, appears to be quite young. It was an unusual silver with such a high sheen that it looks vaguely metallic. His deep, leafy-green eyes had a quirk of ancient wisdom about them. "Leave the boy alone - he didn't ask for this - ANY of it. Don't blame him for being a victim and don't make him resent his talent - he didn't ask for that either. Your own lack of natural ability isn't his doing - now, retreat to the study before I remove a medallion from your ranking."

Little Hawks observes the two men converse, the one that seemed to be rather aggressive towards his presence here, and the other male that seemingly stood by his ground. Once they were done, he glares at the former of them. "I'd keep such harsh words away from someone I meet for the first time; are you maybe a mere crude?" he coldly responds to the man; clearly little Hawks wasn't the type of person to just idly take negative commentary. "Why am I here? What is going up up above? Is my father safe?" he then adds, tone somewhat imperative. The boy was just brought here, and already so many things he couldn't possibly make sense took place. Just where was he taken into? Was it related to what seemed to be a dangerous assault occurring on the village above their heads?

"Why you insolent, unappreciative little ---" The grey hooded man is cut off my the raised hand and sharp look from the green hooded man. Looking back to the child, a brief flash of amusement crosses his face. He kneels in front of the boy to look him in the eye. "Do not fear, child. My name is Calen, young Nemuri. You've got spirit and potential beyond your comprehension, to be sure ... but don't make the mistake others have made..." He pauses to eye the grey hooded man who quickly retreats. "... by allowing pride and overconfidence to keep you from unlocking it. Now is not the time for such things - right now, we must keep you safe and hidden as we locate your father."

"Potential? .. What is this place? Ah, now is not the time, something is happening above, can you people do something about it?" Hawks asks the person, Calen. Despite his rather arrogant, apathetic and stern demeanor, he still was just a small child; naturally he couldn't fully grasp what was going on, and naturally he'd seek guidance and help from others, however naive or awkward the situation or the favor asked were.

"Mister!!" Eagles yells, as the hooded man falls to the ground, the act soon to be followed by blood starting to form a small pool. "Wow, who would have thought that I stumbled across a trickster. Or, rather, are they called "magicians"? That was not too shabby, but it's too bad that I'm a bigger magician than you." Leoric taunts Eagles. The situation had only gotten worse; there was fire all around the male, people still attacking each other across the landscape, unable to stop themselves. And if that wasn't enough, Eagles himself was encircled by several men-they must have been pirates, working with that sinister figure. An odd thing to note was that Eagles's face was inexplicably puffed up, as if he had a serious case of an allergic reaction to something.

"Now, to handle the main focus of our mission .." Leoric calmly speaks, as his thumb slowly moves to point towards Eagles. The male however, after giving the enemy a sharp glare, leaps to the side, which seemingly surprised Leoric somewhat, and then swiftly closes in to attempt to slash the opponent with a wide swing. "Impressive .." Leoric parries up the slash by merely weaving his long arm forward, and the blade was stopped cold, without anything used as a weapon. Or at least, that was the first impression given. A closer look would reveal, to an observant individual, some very thin, fiber-like strings. "I ate the Ito Ito no Mi, I am a string man, you see. You are quite sharp to realize that by pointing at you, I'd inject a string on you and then control you ..!" the pirate remarks, and then swings his other arm around, slashing Eagles across his chest, and sending him smashing down, a couple of meters away. "But either case, you cannot possibly beat me. See, I recently rejected an offer to join the Royal Shichibukai, just to give you an idea of what you are facing ..!" he adds, as Eagles's eyes widen in both pain and surprise; he clearly was busted.

A pirate calls Leoric then, and the male turns. "Oh, you found Bishop? Excellent, bring him here, he found him first, he can tell us if he found him with anyone else..!" Eagles's eyes widened more. If that Bishop figured out that this boy was his own son, then surely these horrible men would attempt to find him and kill him, too. He had to do something to make them assume he had no offspring. And one thing he did do, earlier on, was to purposely cause an allergic reaction to himself to deform his facial appearance; desperate and completely ridiculous, but he had to protect his son!

Calen looks at the youth with seriousness. There was no use in sugar-coating anything at this point. "Boy, I won't like to you. The scourge that has befallen this place may well destroy it. It possesses that ability and is unstable enough to employ it. Whatever they are looking for, they will burn this place to the ground and slaughter anything in their way to get to it. Not pirate, nor wizard, nor world government nor reason has been able to bring this bloody bastard to heel. We've got sources seeking to find out what they're after - but an any case, we are deploying a strategy to rebuff their efforts. This is out home and ancient birthright - we will not be intimidated and we will not falter. We will give our last breath to defend it. We have made arrangements for any civilians who want to temporarily relocate to do so. The rest have been been deployed in strategic locations to launch a counter attach, should things get out of hand. We have our best out looking for your father and shall bring him to you as soon as possible. The best thing for you to do right now is stay here so we can focus our resources on finding him, instead of looking for you. You'll be find here. It is imperative that you not leave."

A man with a grey hood and a particular swagger approaches the conflict between Eagles and Leoric. Smashing a cigarette under his foot, he leans against a tree quite casually. "You know, puppet master, unless you want to become his apprentice, he really doesn't need a copy of your résumé. No one gives a shit about the Shichibukai - it has fallen from its former glory to become a club for the truly desperate - congratulating each other on the power they they think they still have - in the territory we allow them to occupy. I commend you for turning them down but it is amusing you were invited."

Only mere miles away from the island currently under hellish siege, the marines finally seem to report to the authorities of the situation. There's a lot of commotion, as the brave men are assembling, preparing and vigorously entering ships, ready to combat the calamity that fell upon the people living inside this gigantic prison. All awaited was a confirmation from the superiors that they are to be dispatched; merely a signal that they are good to go. But, as time passed, the marines, impatient at first, became desperate. From the distance they could only see the flares and fumes becoming larger and more intense; they had to act immediately! "Sir, what is taking so long?!" a marine shouts at an officer, who, slowly walks towards one of the ships, his action followed by a gulp as he realized he yelled at an officer. "Disembark the ships, and return to your usual posts."

That request sounded so alien, it took several moments, which felt like hours, before the warriors realized what was spoken. "W-what ..?" "We have received orders from the HQ. We are to .. do nothing." The man apathetically adds, and then just casually turns and walks away, not a single trace of mortification, of remorse, about stating what he stated. "Sir, are you serious?! We need to go and save those people! It's that heathen, Leoric, isn't so? We were informed ... we must go!!" "... Whoever disobeys the orders is to be declared a traitor, and shall thereby be shot immediately." the officer then says, glaring brutally at the poor, gallant marine. "T-this ... this is ... THIS IS INSANE!!" a gunshot then goes off.

Back to the island, the enemy now glares at the newcomer, a sadistic, sinister smile, cracks up. "Oh, who could that be?" Leoric comments, while tilting his head. "Another trickster? .. If so, I will graciously give you a gift; you are free to cower in fear, to inform that foolish clan, that, their secrets aren't as secret as they may think they are. If not ... then this matters not to you, so you can freely stay here and be terminated in a split second ..!!" the index finger of the man's right hand now fully aiming at the newcomer.

"... I see. Um, alright, I understand." Hawks responds, seemingly skeptical. "Um, is there .. is there any toilet that I could use? All these things have made me .. umm .." he then adds, and blushes; an extremely rare trait for that person, even as a child. He probably was about to wet himself from the overwhelming information, that poor child.

---

"We should be going .. I'll tell you more, if you really wish to know, on the way. We stayed here for far too long; if these people here decide that we are also dangerous, they will surely sent their elites to hunt us down. And to be honest, I do not wish to draw my blade against those that are victims to the same calamity as me, ever again." Hawks says to her, as he gets up, and cracks his neck. His wound, thanks to her, was healed well enough for him to move around as if it was nothing. "Thank you-are you alright, tho? I tried to avoid actually cutting you deep enough to endanger your life, but still .." he adds, some remorse evident in his tone and expression.

((OOC: He totally just wants to elude them and try to go back and search for his father. ))

"I'll remind you once more that attempting to leave will endanger your father's life further as we will have to seek both of you out, cutting our resources in half to accomplish this. You have been assigned an escort for the moment - they will take you where you wish to go." With that Calen take his leave of the child.

The grey hooded man yawns and walks carelessly past Leoric and his finger. "You bloody paramecia are so trigger-happy, wearing your abilities across your backs like a banner, using them as a hiding place when challenged. What are you compensating for? ... a weak spirit, a specific failure, bland character, something more humiliating? I've told you a thousand time to calm down and evaluate your environment. You can't expect your fruit to save you 100% of the time - add your own power to it instead of just using it as a shield. You're better than this nonsense, little brother. You're so focused on what you expect to see that you fail to see what's actually in front of you. Now stop assing around with your pets and pay attention to the mission." He then jusmps down to a lower deck of the nearby pier with his cloak fluttering behind him. When he lands, the cloak flutters down to the ground empty, with no one in sight.

---------

Jade was partially pay attention as she wiped the blood from her mouth. She had been to distracted and shell-shocked to bother healing herself. The last thing she expected was a death match with one f the few people in the world she was stupid enough to trust - apparently a grave error. "If I really wish to know? Yes, I suppose I am intrigued by the thing that is so important it drove you to such cruelty and an instigation of death match." Her face was still a bit pink from its close encounter with his hand - a vague pink to go with her various cuts, bleeding lip, and black eye. They would fade quickly if she could shift her focus away from the mistrust that still had her on edge, ready to draw her blade. She eyes him coldly before walking slightly behind him. "No need. Words are sharper than steel, magician."

"Captain, who is that man?" One of the pirates asks. "Just a ghost." Leoric says, a sadistic grin cracks up, before he disappears, only to be seen moving at high speed towards the direction this figure went. "Whoah, captain!!! Eagles is making a run for it!!" another one yells as, indeed, Eagles found the opportunity to escape their trap, going right into the searing flames. "Does not matter. EVERYONE INSIDE THIS PLACE WILL DIE!!!" Leoric yells loudly, with a sinister, sick tone, and only thing to follow, as the hooded man turns to face him, expression of contempt, all heard and seen from far away was a massive, eruptive, collision that threw debris, strings and blood all over the place.

"Damn, damn, that was useful! I don't know who that bastard was, but that saved me .. hey, mister, are you alright?" Eagles asks the man, the magician from earlier, Eagles bothered to pick him up and carry him away from them. "It kinda hurts to move with that wound, but worry not, there's gotta be a way out of this! Let's go find my son first, tho!!"

---

"Heh, you got a point." The blonde bitterly responds with a faint smile, before he begins to move towards the north. "That ra-Talani ... she gave me a map. I think we should head to where it shows. You are better at navigating, maybe you could use that better. It supposedly leads to a settlement called "Cleyra"."

Four Cloaked me approach Eagles and their lost brethren. Quickly, they throw a cloak over his head before pushing him into the group and changing positions several times and then abruptly splitting up. The one grouped with Eagles leads him toward and alley, away from the others. With enough misdirection they may be able to smuggle off this island or, at least, to safety.

Jade was annoyed that they just had a needless battle because of his obsession with secrecy and protecting everyone from a catastrophe which would affect the entire world anyway. Now he was trying to change the conversation with a bloody map.  She truly loved maps - everything about them - but she was too annoyed to be concerned with it and was too frustrated to even notice where it lead.  She cleared her mind, focusing finally - allowing her wounds to fade, save for the slight cut across her lip. She stepped out in front of him, her gaze unyielding and even deadly.  "Enough of this." She steps closer to him, too close for the comfort of either of them, but she wouldn't allow him to squirm out of direct focus.  "I'm tired of your smoke and mirrors, magician.  You need to trust me enough to tell me what's going on.  You know you can't get rid of me without one or both of us dying so it would be in the best interest of both of us to stop holding secrets.  I don't like walking around in the dark." Her gaze softened for a moment because she did feel sympathy that he had clearly been holding onto a burden of some sort for years. She put a hand on his shoulder while looking him in the eye.  "Please, Hawks ... talk to me."

"But, I am telling you as we speak now, don't I?" Calmly the magician responds to her, his eyes setting on her closing in towards him, but does not react in any odd or over the top way. He then turns and looks towards the direction of their new-found goal to reach. "But we need to be on the move. You must know better than anyone that the more time we spent in this place, the more likely it is that we'll get lost. I'll be telling you on the way .."

---

"You guys .. thanks again! Why are you helping me out, though?" Eagles questions, but in a rather baffling, confused and goofy way, as he continues to, how coated and camouflaged, move towards an unknown destination.

Meanwhile, one of the other males, from that team that earlier came to perform this confusing and disorientating maneuver, smashes straight through a wall, left on the mercy of the falling rumble of debris. From the direction of where the smashing took place, a huge, muscular figure, with a tank top, and extremely buffed, extended arms, observes the falling stones and concrete. From the flames across, his face is revealed. He seems to be black, and has very short, almost bald, jet black hair, and a stoic, unnerving expression. This man clearly wasn't the type to fool around. "You are not Eagles ..." he calmly speaks, before he turns and disappears into the flames. The strong ones were apparently on the loose, searching for the man.

"You keep changing the subject.  I know better than anyone that we will be fine.  I grew up in these lands - I know their dangers, their secrets, and their treasures. I also have wings - so getting lost in a non-issue.  Stop panicking and inventing danger.  You have a map but it will do you little good right now - see the quote 'The way is guarded by fire'  the landmarks can only be seen at certain times of day when the sun meets the horizon - when it is most difficult to see... and the other times the map won't tell you. You should know, magician, that all is not as it seems."  The sun slipped lower into the horizon, leaving a dusky orange glow across the landscape that gradually faded to purple as the last particle of light clung to the sky before the darkness could drive them away.  The temperature was rapidly falling to something almost pleasant.

The sphinx looks up at the sky, bright green eyes fixed as though waiting for something.  A soft pulse of light appears before slowly fading away.  Moments later another appears - then another ... and another.  Soon the landscape is filled with glittering, pulsing light, fluttering here and there. Whimsical insects cast their ethereal glow across the sands as they inherited the night from the blistering sun. Most where white and blue - a select few were a brilliant orange. The orange ones were less erratic, staying mostly together and moving little.  

She whispers fondly as one of the insects alights in her hair.  "The way of fire..."  Turning to the magician, she takes his map, rolling it up and stuffing it into his belt, before she takes his hand and tugs him close.  "I'm your map ..."  She then turns to follow the trail of pulsing fire, tugging him insistently.

--------

The time was short and they only had a few options of successfully securing the magician. Why were they after him anyway? He was terrible at magic and about as dangerous as a basket of baby ducks. Did he charge them for a show and they wanted retribution for the torture they paid for? Did he accidentally turn one of their children into a sock? Why would this many powerful creatures be after this man. Who was he really? The fact that such evil wanted him so badly made it that much more important that they never acquire him.

The grey cloaked man ran from one shadow to the next, his cloak changing from red, to blue, to green, to black, orange, to purple each time he left a new shadow. Was the cloak changing or the man? No one could be sure - the only option was to catch all of the slippery skin changers. Most ran about, overtly running here and there from shadow to shadow causing quite the distraction. At some point, there would be someone with common fisherman's clothing and a fisherman's cap so he could step out of the shadows and disappear in pain sight as the hunter continued to pursue the gaggle of cloaked demons.

"You are quite weird .." Hawks mutters, after leaving a faint sigh, with a soft smile, before said expression lights up into a more warm grin. "Or rather, unique." Walking alongside her, he observes this phenomena. "That is quite beautiful, I must add. It is good to watch over such a soothing and charming sight from time to time. Well then, my map .. where to, now?" he growls at her, while tilting his head in a slightly joking, playful manner.

---

"Hey, listen, sir. I think we should stop now." Eagles halts moving, and watches back, to an image of houses burning down. "I made up my mind. Everyone is dying because of my affiliations with the Revolutionary Army .. look, is it possible for you to reach this destination?" Her offers the magician a piece of paper, with some letters on it. "I realized that, this cage will not fall unless that bastard kills me. So, bring as many people as you possibly can to that location. Please trust me." saying that, Eagles turns the other way, and vanishes into the smoke and flames.

Meanwhile, Leoris was done with his pointless skirmish with his relative, and seemed unscathed from it, too. "Well then, that was a fine way to get my blood boiling .. WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG?! HE IS JUST ONE MAN, KILL EVERYONE YOU COME ACROSS UNTIL WE FIND HIS CORPSE!"

"Weird?  Wasn't that a recruitment requirement for this crew?" She walks along, carefully following the floating path of golden lights, their curious glow reflecting on them as they passed under it.  She had not been to this place since she was small and roamed the desert islands with her sister, though she usually came to this particular place alone.  For a moment it felt like no time had passed and everything would be the same - that her old ship and crew would be waiting for her in the bay.

She noticed the magician's demeanor suddenly changed - something about the hypnotic glowing lights had a way of relaxing even the most tightly wound people. She raised a brow as he spoke to her.  She was not accustomed to him being nice to her ... nor playful?  Did he just growl?! She shivered and swallowed hard, giving him a confused look.  "Your ... map.  Yes.  We ... we must follow the golden lights for a time; when they disappear, we must only follow the blue lights, ignoring all others ... I will tell you the next sequence when we near it."

Something about the low, glowing light made his eyes seem to blue ... and this unusual playfulness was distracting.  She no longer possessed the ability to be angry with him, much to her annoyance. Her eyes wandered back up to the lights before she became more of a confused train-wreck. The lights weren't relaxing her much at the moment ...


----


The magician stagger backward and the seemingly incompetent man disappears in a most flamboyant fashion.  Considering his reputation, he rather fear he had only accidentally set himself on fire, but upon examination he had indeed disappeared.  Muttering a soft curse under his breath, he pulls out a small, portable Den Den Mushi "Brothers, we have a situation.  The Eagle has taken flight - search the proximity."

"So, this is where you was raised? These lands, I mean." Hawks speaks to her, it has been some minutes now that they were just walking, rather, he was following her as they were following the golden, ethereal lights. It was quite a shooting environment, but it was not just because of this that he was becalmed and serene; talking about his past, despite the brutality and anguish experienced, oddly made him feel like a part of some invisible, colossal weight that was pressing him down, was lifted away. Still, the scenery was not enough to deter the male from wanting to reach this Cleyra; more answers and leads to his target were to be revealed once there, that was for sure.

"Who taught you of all these places and knowledge?" He carries on with distracting small talk; he didn't felt like talking about his story right now, the rest could wait for after they'd manage to arrive to the mystery city.