"Why are you here, feind."

  "Why does he talk like that, it's so weird." Luna asked, the rest of the group breaking into discussion on the possible reasons for his abominable speech.

  "Maybe he's just old." Neil sigested. "We definetly know he has some divine power. Maybe he lived long enought to prefer it."

  "But Mala- Denis looks about the same age and looks stronger, but he's clearly cooler."

  Every one else agreed.

  "He could be trying to look older to seem wiser, it probably helps his credibility." Thomas sugested.

  "Oh yeah, thats actually a really cool thought." Ash said "And you saw what he did with the cut-he didnt heal it, just made his blood look more divine."

  "I knew it, that guy was full of shit." Anita said, shaking her head.

  "The only thing we can rely on it times like these is his hair." Jake said objectivley.

  "Truthfully, such beauty can never lie." Neil said.

  Everyone else nodded, "Beauty."

  Malakar started slurping again, "Aegis, come here. Lets chat."

  Aegis stood firm "Leave this place, swine."

  Ash and his friends tried to hold their laughter.

  " Swine " Luna mocked, whispering.

  They covered thier mouths.

  "I bet a hundred tokens that he'll say scallywag or some shit-"

  "This place is not for you, scallywag"

  His group started whisper laughing, Neil was on all fours, hiting theground to signal his expanding lungs. Even jake was hunched over, tears dropping.

  " Scallywag " Thomas mocked this time. They started up again.

  "what would I even do. We both swore an oath to not atempt to kill each other or our followers." Malakar said, thouroughly ejoying his ramen.

  "Still-"

  He got up from the rubble, "So, let me teach you a lesson on souls-"

  "I never alowed you to speak." Aegis said, interjecting.

  The group groaned again

  "I dont care." He moved through everyone, walking up to him with a smug smile. "I guarantee that you'll be interested in what I'm going to say."

  After a pause, he sighed. "Carry on."

  "Wonderfull now, some of you might not know this, but you could leave back to your old 'usless lives', as my brother here put it." he pointed his chopstics at Aegis, who was watching with a blank expression.

  He sat on a peice of rubble closer to them and pulled out a basket of dumplings. "He kidnaped you, or killed you when you were to vulerable to remember. Think about it, do you remember anything about your past life."

  The people shifted uncomfortably when they realised he was right. He blew on a dumpling and ate it "Mhm, pork. So, this place" he gestured around "is impossible for you to leave by your self if your soul isnt strong enough."

  " Soul , dont tell me he'll shart talking about chackras and shit." Anita said, feeling disapointed.

  Malakar smiled "I'm not talking about that."

  Anita felt even lighter.

  "Each soul iteracts with the universes energy to perform various functions. The mechanism that conducts your level of interacion is called..."

  Sudenlly, white runes in a language they did not understand were swilling every where, on their bodies, on the groud, dotting the night sky as if they were stars. Yet they all semed to turn around a central point. A single rune on Malakar's hand. Everyone loked around in awe.

  "...a sigil. These alow you to create a world based on your experinces, called veils, Veiwpoints or realms. To make this simple, they are segregted by colour. Grey, to blue, to Gold, to red, to black. A white sigil is reserved for deities that have surpased mortality. right now, exactly 3/4 ths of you have Gold sigls. and half of the remainig have blue. The rest have red sigls. Strong, but nowhere strong enough." The lightshow stoped. "This place is devoid of time and space. Only white sigils can leave freely."

  "And so why are you telling us this." someone shouted from the crowd.

  "I can give you a way out." he clapped. everything became greyscalen and the only source of light was a large beam that all of them could see.

  "Who wants to go first-" he started explaining.

  Shit Aegis thought, I need to fix this.

  "Pause." He said, taking the stand. Ash and his group wilted.

  He stood upright, brandishing the now golden blood as a sign of honor. Let's begin.

  "So this is your savior? A man who slurps broth and laughs as he condemns you to the unknown?" his starting sentence scilenced everyone, even Malakar stopped mid chew.

  "Well I'm just offended." Malakar said, turning back to his food.

  His voice was piercing, someone who has never doubted his own greatness.

  "Fine. Leave. Run into the abyss. Trust in the mercy of a world that has never shown you any."

  He steped forward, meeting their uncertain gazes.

  "Do you think Malakar knows what’s waiting for you out there? Does he truly understand what it means to leave this place? Or is he just playing a game? I mean look at my scar."

  Aegis getured at Malakar with an almost pitying look.

  "He calls me a liar, but what has he given you? A door? A possibility? Tell me, what use is freedom when you have nowhere to go?"

  let that sink in. Then, he spoke softly.

  "I saved you."

  He scans their faces.

  "You were lost before me. Scattered. Hopeless. Some of you had no homes. No families. No purpose."

  He pauses. His golden blood has dried now, glistening like a relic from a forgotten past.

  "Yet here, you have something. A reason to wake up. A cause to fight for. A future that you understand."

  His voice drops to a whisper, but it cuts through them like a blade.

  "What waits for you beyond that exit? You don’t know. Neither does he."

  Malakar nods in agreement. He couldnt deny that

  "But I know what’s here. And I know what we can be."

  Aegis takes one final step forward, letting his presence overwhelm them.

  "So go ahead. Run. Chase the illusion of freedom."

  He pauses. Then, his voice hardend.

  "But when you realize that no world out there will ever give you what I have given you…"

  He turned away, his final words laced with sorrow he wispered sadly

  "Don’t bother coming back." then he walked away.

  The people shifted nervously, some turning to malakar who was nodding whilst eating his dumpligs. He set his chopstics on his basket and set it aside. He started to clap.

  "Congrats, now most of you wont want to go. That's alright. You wouldnt be able to anyway."

  Confusion rippled through everyone.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  "Before he interupted me. I was going to say that most gates like this only alow those with gold sigls to pass. And that so happens to be most of you." He looked at them and smilled "I never said that This gate does."

  Aegis looked on, his confusion uprooting the pride he felt from his performance.

  "He conviced 3/4 ths of you to stay. But Most of that group wouldnt have been able to leave. Because most of you have gold sigils. The rest can leve after I finish. Actually, just go." He waved everyone away.

  Aegis was thrown. so what is his intention then.

  Malakar sat back down and finished the rest of his dumplings. "Youre probably wondering my intentions." just then, they heard a scream. Coming in from all directions, the monsters of this world crawled, walked or slithered to the gate. One was about 20 stories tall and was stick thin, made of wood.

  "The verdant is alive?" Aegis said in awe as it turned its dim grre eye to Aeigis, paused and walked into the gate.

  "You can make new monsters right?" He said, procuring another ramen cup.

  "I cant remake him " he said sadly. "he was a good challenge, even for me."

  Malakar snickered "Of course he was."

  "So, that was my first objective. The second was to kill you future army."

  "You cant kill anyone of mine untill our final battle. We swore on Aleora."

  "I know. And you quick mouth would prevent me from getting almost anyone out. Soo..." he waited....

  "Oh shit!!" a voice shouted as the sounds of stabing were heard, it increased and increased, untill the whole battlefeild was filled with blood.

  Aegis watched... as if waiting for something. Then he got increasingly more angry.

  "She's not coming to enforce our oath...what did you do." he turned around slowly.

  Malakar shruged "Maybe she's asleep." he smiled "i may not be the god of chaos you despratley want me to be but..." he turned to Aegis, whose feeling of dread intensified.

  "...I'm far from good."

  Ash and his group were waliking back, oggling their spoils whist laughing at today's events.

  "If he had kept on, he would have said something like 'whippersnapper'," Jake said, making them all laugh.

  "This was honestly one of the beter market days. But we should realy find out what colours our sigils are." Ash said, calming down.

  Luna was uncharisticaly scilent.

  "Luna, Is everything alright." Neil said.

  She sighed "Well, if you insist i tell you...I was honestly considering leaving."

  Everyone stopped. They were about to pounce on her, but Anita got there first. "Could you tell us why?" she asked calmly.

  "My baby brother. He's the only person I remember from my world, but I miss him. Every day."

  Everyone calmed down, after all, how would it feel if they lost everyone from their family. And memories from before this place were way too valuable to just discard.

  Anita threw them a glare "But if he's anything like me, he would just get angry," Luna smilled biterly. "that wouldnt help anyone-"

  They halted as they reached the end of the greyscale veil, there was some sort of barrier preventing them from leaving.

  "Well, we'll have this convo later." Thomas said, going closer, "Something's off."

  Behind them, a man was walking towards them, he was middle aged, with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing a dark brown tench coat and using a walking stick.

  "Elder, the way foward is blocked, it might be best to-"

  "Oh young man, the way back isn't safe either. People are being killed by malakar's group." The man iterupted.

  Thomas froze "I thought there was an oath in place."

  The man rubed his perfectly combed hair. "He had to go through a lot of loopholes to get this done. You have no idea-" he stopped as he saw the glint of a rifle in front of his face.

  "You know too much about the specifics to be some ordinary guy. I've never seen you around. Where do you live-" He was stopped mid scentence as a knife went throughthe right side of his chest. Everyone was stunned. For a millisecond. Neil got into a fighting stance.

  "We need to survive if we want Thomas to live. Anita-"

  "On it," she used her screen to analyse the barier as everyone else prepared to fight.

  "Luna, give Thomas first aid." Ash said.

  "Sure." She materialised a kit and started.

  Neil and Ash lunged at The man, with Jake preparing his long range devices.

  The man used his stick to slash at the both of them with his stick. An action almost as deadly as using a sword. Ash jumped over the strike whilst Neil went below it. Neil reached him first, and let the man know it.

  CRACK! His exendable staff met the man's side. He blocked it with his walking stick, which was clearly a rouge and struck Ash, who was crouched below him and about to strike him with his unseathed sword. Blocking it, he shifted his weight back, managing to get into an akward back handspring and rushing back at him, with Neil pairing his attacks. He tutted and pulled out a concealed sword from his walking stick, and used both those patts to fend them off. He would block Neil with the sword and Ash with the stick, then they would switch cleanly. As if it was a pattern. Then they wouldnt follow it and start attacking individualy. He got fustrated and leaped back to rethink...

  But thomas wouldnt let him. He felt an imense shock to his arm and got on his knees, writhing but trying to stay upright. The three infront of him would kill him if they had the chance.

  He couldnt let that happen. Forcing his free hand to his arm, he tried to rip the taser off, shoking his arm in the process. Screaming louder, he got the taser off, barley taking a breath before being thrown backwards when Neil's staff conected with his face. Midair he used his hands to vault himself upright whilst Ash stabed the ground where he was with his unseathed sword. In the split second where they hadnt reached him, he lunged through them, his blade about to kill Anita as sahe was distracted.

  Then he felt a force feild that glitched as it resisted the blade.

  "Your fight is with them." Luna pointed at Ash, who used the oppening to slice the man with his sheathe. As he was about to fall, Neil struck him away from them.

  "You guys, I've managed to open it for a bit." Anita was standing outside after helping Luna carry Thomas out. "It's not that strong, come out."

  They fell back with Ash being the last. The man couldnt let that happen, he threw his stick with deadly precision at the back of his head, making him stumble. Then, almost in the blink of an eye, he was there, clutching his wound that would most definetly kill him by the end of the day.

  Malakar was watching the killing spree that he had caused and sighed. "This shouldnt have been neccesarry-" he felt a tear in his force feild.

  "People are strong enough to leave, yet they chose to stay? I'll never understand people." he pointed his chopsticks in that direction and a part of the beam of light branched out and went to where Ash was.

  Ash had lost his balance and the man was about to stab him, everythin started moving in slow motion...

  So this is it. he thought sadly, he looked up At Anita, who was about to run in...

  Thank you for being my second family... he closed his eyes.

  Then nothing, darkness, sleep.

  So this is what being dead feels like. He thought simply What an absurd thought to be having right now

  He wasnt dead, the branched out gate had reached Ash and the man right as the man stabed him. Transporting them right as the force feild forcefully closed. Anita fell to her knees. Scilence. Her body started shacking, and her eyes became blury.

  "He's not dead." she said, trying not to cry, Anita dosent cry.

  But everyone else can do it for her.

  "WHAT THE FUCK!!" Luna shouted, pulling out her phone and prepared to summon a tactical missle. "I'M OPPENING THIS SHIT AND GOING IN TO FING HIM MYSELF."

  "That won't work," Jake said, his voice barley above a whisper. "the gate probably sends you to the timeline you were born in-"

  "SO WE SHOULD JUST STAND HERE AND DO NOTHING!!" She snapped at him.

  Neil and Anita shared a look. They couldnt be sad right now. That would make them vulnerable.

  "We need to get back to base to think. It's dangerous for us to be here, he could lower the forcefeild. Whe have no idea how many people he sent."

  Anita got up and wiped her tears. "Neil is right. We need to leave. Look." She pointed at the forcefeild. Malakar had gotten there really quickly and he was eating his ramen, smilling at them.

  Luna jumped back, not noticing him.

  "The token shop is working now, lets go home." She bought a transport token and they teleported home.

  The mood at home was solemn, with every one calming down a bit. Neil stood up, his body tense, preparing to lay out all they know.

  "So, we know that As is gone to his own timeline through the gate. We also know that he didnt have any difficulties, and he's strong, so a red sigil..."

  Everyone nodded, agreeing.

  "So most of us have red sigils, maybe one has gold." He said.

  "And only white sigils can leave and enter freely..."

  "Yeah..." Jake pressed.

  "So then we all get white sigils. Simple."

  Everyone looked at him. Stupified.

  "I never said It was easy. I said it was simple ."

  Anita thought "Ok, but we would need someone that does have a white sigl to teach us. Any ideas."

  Thomas raised his hand. "You said you had a drinking buddy that had divine power. Wouldnt he have a white sigil."

  A lightbulb went off in his head. "Youre right. The sword saint would have a white sigil."

  Anita stood up "Stop." everyone went scilent. "We have some game plan, but lets talk about this tommorow. It'll be business as usual, but Neil will go to the sword saint and Thomas still goes to vulcan. Actually, Thomas and Luna. Now that people have died, there might be some disruption. Luna will protect him." Right after she said that, she rushed to her room.

  Luna was about to follow her, bur Neil stopped her.

  "She needs to be alone right now." he said, "and I do too." He walked to his rooom as well.

  Jake sighed and stood up "It's late anyways. Let's all just sleep on it."

  The rest Nodded and went to sleep, the extra weight of Ash's empty room burdened them.

  Anita stayed by her door and waited for everyone to leave. She pulled out an old folded picture.

  Our first day as a team. she looked at it. Neil had puored whiskey on it, so Luna demanded another. This was the original pictue.

  The lonley drop of whiskey felt a drop of water beside it, then another, then another. Anita continued to cry silently, until she covered her eyes with the paper and started sobbing, she tried to stop, she really did. After all, anita dosent cry. Never. But she decided to indulge herself for today, a girl can spoil herself after making good money, cant she?

  She fell onto her bed, feeling hatefull. Hateful to Ash for being caught off guard, hatefull to Neil for not protecting him, Hateful to malakar for causing this to happen, Hateful to Aegis for being so spinless...

  Hateful to herself, for not runing to catch that stupid boy faster.

  Everyhing she had been holding back since she saw him vanish was let out, she screamed, she cried, she broke everything she could.

  She grabed the picture, preparing to tear it, then she looked at his stupid kid face, threw it asside and wept, curled up on her bed.

  A man with long black hair and red eyes, leaned on a tree outside a cleverly hidden base, slurped some ramen broth, smilled, then walked away.