[Jaykobell]

There was really no need to go through the trouble of meeting in such a place; but few people dared to venture through the mountains, so just to be sure they wouldn't get ambushed, he'd asked for his acquaintances (one was definitely a friend, but the other was most definitely not a friend) to meet at a certain place. Said place in question was a small abandoned church, from the early days of the clans. They would go there for various reasons, but they eventually abandoned it and nobody took charge of it, so it was always an amazing meeting spot for any urgent (and important) meetings. The only thing that made the trip so painful was the snow. Even if his clothes had been made with a special material that kept the cold from freezing him over, he still hated snow, and it was still cold.

Luckily, though, the church eventually appeared, and after a little while, he managed to reach the small rundown building. It had been such a beautiful church; such a shame it was slowly crumbling down. He opened the large doors and stepped inside.



He took off his coat (yes, he had bothered to bring one along) and held it in his arms as he closed the big doors before finally taking a look around. Even if there were a few holes from the crumbling stones and the broken windows, it was much warmer inside the church than outside. Fortunately for him, there was no snowstorm, so the weather was tolerable.

He took a few steps forward, stepping between the big columns of benches. Some of them had frost over them, while a few literally had snow toppled onto them from the holes in the ceiling. The glass windows shone down on the floor from the sun outside, although some patterns were broken because of, once again, the holes in the windows. The general atmosphere was still pleasant, however.

After he had taken a few steps inside, he stopped in his tracks. "Akakios! Navi!" He called out the two names, and his voice echoed slightly. "Are you in here?"

[Jaykobell]

She didn't like the cold, if she had to be honest. She had developed a certain liking to winter, actually; after all, it was during winter that she got close to her precious loved one, and it was during winter that the two had gotten close enough to live closely together. But she still highly disliked how cold it was during winter, and she disliked the extra layers of clothing she had to wear because of the cold. She could endure heat just fine, but cold was another issue. Even after putting on all those extra layers, she would still be cold. Even the furry collar of her winter coat wasn't enough to keep her warm.



She shivered lightly and crossed her arms tightly, little puffs of smoke coming out of her mouth when she would breathe. There wasn't a snowstorm out there, fortunately; or else it would have been much worse. She shivered some more, and her teeth chattered. She leaned back against her companion. "Aren't you cold?" she asked, and a few more puffs came about. "It's freezing in here..."



He glanced down when she leaned against him again, and he used an arm to bring her closer to him; his free arm was hanging from the back of the bench with the elbow resting on it. He wasn't particularly bothered by the cold. Winter was a season, so it was only a matter of getting used to it. His clothes were made out of special materials that protected him from the cold. They weren't as useful during summer, however.

He shrugged lightly. "No," he replied simply, his voice low, as it always were. "I told you to stay home. You don't like the cold." Because he liked her (lots) more than other people didn't mean he wouldn't say things for what they were.

She looked up at him and turned her head a little. "Aiolos asked for both of us to come," she reminded him as she grabbed his arm with her own, claiming him all for herself. "It wouldn't have been right to stay home," she added, and she heard him groan slightly as the name.

Staying home when her partner wasn't also at home wasn't exactly pleasant, either. She wasn't someone that liked to live alone; it was much more interesting to live with someone else rather than living by yourself, all alone. She preferred to be with him and to brave the cold rather than being at home and warm, but alone.

Suddenly the doors opened behind them, and there was a sudden gust of wind. It was quiet for a short while, save for the doors closing again and the quiet steps of the one who had entered. Then their names were called, and with a smile to Akakios, Navi got up and waved her hand towards the other man. "Aiolos! We're over here!"

[Jaykobell]

Despite how small this church was compared to most churches, it was still as high as any church could be, and it gave the illusion that the building was bigger than it actually was. When a small figure ahead waved an arm frantically, however, Aiolos immediately recognize Navi further ahead by the back of the church. He waved a hand back at her as he dashed for the two of them; how could he be certain that Akakios was also here? Navi and Akakios refused to be separated; at least, Navi didn't want to be left alone anywhere, even at her home. She would get insecure if Akakios wasn't nearby; the simple fact Navi was here assured that Akakios was also here. Even if they were still rivals, Aiolos had to talk to Akakios.

Navi watched as Aiolos came up to meet with them. "There you are, Aiolos," she called as she made a few steps forward. "It's been a little while. How are you?" She caught a glance from Akakios, and Navi couldn't help but to feel guilty for greeting the other. While Akakios knew she was faithful to him, he obviously didn't like how friendly she was with Aiolos. While Aiolos was a really nice boy, Navi wasn't interested in him in that way. She shot a glance back at Akakios, as if to say "get over it", and his reaction was to just narrow his eyes and look away.

Their weird facial signals didn't bother Aiolos; he was used to it, he knew the two had sort of developed such signals because Akakios didn't like to talk much, so he expressed most of his thoughts and feelings through physical expression. Aiolos sighed as he reached the two. "Aah, Navi, it's good to see you too," he replied to her greeting, and he subconsciously squeezed his coat tightly. Aiolos wouldn't deny the fact that, even though he knew Navi was with Akakios, he did have a soft spot for her. "Ah, I'm... I'm okay, I'm okay, although I guess slightly tormented," he admitted, and he started fidgeting with his coat's sleeve. That was actually the reason why he had to talk to--

"Tormented by the fact you're late, or by the fact you're still feeling maybe a little too close to Navi?" Akakios asked, his voice slightly louder than that of a whisper. He had turned his head towards Aiolos, and his eyes were far from being friendly. "We bothered to come all the way over here. Drop your formalities and talk." Akakios had this way of speaking that made it difficult for listeners to figure out just how he felt, exactly. His tone barely ever changed, and only his eyes seemed to express his mood. "Sit down and talk."

[Jaykobell]

"Kee! We talked about this!" Navi shot him a glare and hunched her shoulders angrily. She rarely addressed Akakios by his full name, and she would call him "Kee" instead; Akakios had done the same by calling her "Navi" instead of Navisidor. "And he's just got here..." she murmured to herself as she put a hand over her face. She loved him, she really did, but there were times when she couldn't understand him. It seemed like he had this hobby of making people mad or uncomfortable, and Aiolos seemed to be his main target.

Aiolos was taken aback, and his only reaction was to blink questioningly and then to stammer a reply. "A-ah, well... B-both?" He blinked again, and when he got a glare from Akakios, he quickly tried to reformulate his answer. "A-aah... N-no, I mean..." He put a hand over his face and scratched his head. Akakios always knew how to make him uncomfortable. "I mean... Kee, nothing ever happened between Navi and me," Aiolos assured, his hands squeezing his coat's sleeve some more out of anxiety. He doubted Akakios would attack him (they were just talking for the sake of talking, right?), but Executioners were known for, er... their short temper and their tendency to jump to conclusions. Even if Akakios weren't one of them anymore, he still had many of their traditional character traits. And why was he so possessive of Navi? Was he so protective of any man that dared to greet Navi?

Akakios shot a glance to Navi, and he looked at her calmly when she glared at him. Well, he had promised he wouldn't say anything to Aiolos that would make him feel uncomfortable, upset or guilty. Seeing the other so friendly and at ease with his woman, though? Sometimes promises had to be broken. Aiolos was still much of a little boy; Akakios didn't trust him. Kids do stupid things, everyone knows that. "We did," he replied to Navi first, and then he turned to Aiolos. "Akakios. I'm not your friend. Don't call me Kee," he warned before turning back, and he just stared at what was ahead; a simple pedestal, with nothing on it. Whatever this church had had probably been taken elsewhere. "Didn't you hear me? Sit down and talk," Akakios repeated after a while when he noticed neither of the other two were talking.

[Jaykobell]

Navi huffed and crossed her arms when Akakios replied with a simple "we did" and nothing more. While she disliked when he would dismiss her words like that, she knew very well that meant that Akakios knew he was wrong. "I know you don't like him, for all those reasons... But he's a nice guy, so just this once, keep it down, would you?" That was what she had asked of him before leaving for this church, and while he had nodded and supposedly agreed, he obviously hadn't kept to his word. Unlike Aiolos, who had a strict code of ethics, Akakios would break rules if he saw fit, or if he just felt like breaking them. How troublesome...

Navi sighed and turned to Aiolos, an apologetic look to her face, as if to say "I'm sorry". Somehow, she could understand, even if only slightly, Akakios's worries. He'd been all by himself for most of his life, and anyone relatively close to him had abandoned him. The thought of Navi suddenly getting with Aiolos for any reason whatsoever was probably enough to make him fidget. She sighed again and headed for the bench where Akakios was sitting. "Right, Aiolos, you wanted to tell us something," Navi said as she sat down, keeping some distance from Akakios, unlike earlier. She was not please with his behavior, and she would make sure to make him understand. "What's bothering you?"

Aiolos blinked and scratched his head. He still had no idea whether Akakios was upset with him or not. Obviously Akakios just wanted Aiolos to keep his hands off of Navi. Aiolos couldn't even understand why the other was so protective. Obviously Navi wasn't interested in Aiolos in that way, so Akakios had nothing to worry about. Maybe he was just paranoid? Worried? Or maybe it was because of the ingrained rivalry between the two. Aiolos couldn't put his finger on it. "Ah... Akakios, right..." He fidgeted a bit, then sighed and sat down besides Akakios, putting his coat besides him. "Right... Ah, see..." He fidgeted with his hands for a moment, and when he caught an impatient look from Akakios, Aiolos tried to go on. "Ah. I was out there doing a job," he started with, "when someone bumped into me. A small girl, I guess no older than fourteen, maybe fifteen... Either way, she's really young." He paused for a moment. "She was being chased by some people. I transformed and got her away from those people -- she seemed particularly desperate to get away from them -- and then she said... a few strange things." He would forever remember that strange evening. He was out to do a job, nothing unusual, and then that girl came along.

Akakios watched as Navi and Aiolos sat down, and he wasn't very pleased with the situation. Any situation involving Aiolos wasn't pleasant. He listened to his words, and... was Aiolos seriously going to just tell them about his antics? Akakios hadn't come all the way over here to listen to Aiolos's adventures. He wasn't interested in them, not at all. He stared. "So you met a girl and saved her. I don't understand how it's supposed to be tormenting, important, or urgent. I'm not interested in your personal antics, Aiolos. If you have something to say, talk." He heard an exasperated sign from Navi, but nothing else.

[Jaykobell]

Again with the sudden conclusion. Aiolos blinked and stared at Akakios for a moment, once again slightly taken aback. "What? I mean... I mean wait, I'm not done," Aiolos replied, scratching his head questioningly. Right, what was it that he really had to tell Akakios...? "Just let me think about this for a moment..." He noticed Akakios staring at him, but he didn't say anything else. "It's important, I swear it is."

He tried to remember the event as precisely as possible. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, and the event came back to him. That little girl, bumping into him, clinging to him and begging for him to take her away, to help her escape. She was being followed, followed by people he didn't know. He agreed to her request and took her away, allowed her to run away from those people. He brought her to his home and tended to her; the poor thing was bruised and injured, malnourished, and he was willing to guess she had probably been beaten or abused. She realized he was an Emancipator, they talked... they talked... Right! They talked!

Aiolos opened his eyes and slammed a clenched fist into the palm of his hand. "Ah! Ah, right. Listen. That girl I found... She's lived in an asylum for most of her life. Well, for a while, at the very least. She was put there because she had the habit of seeing some sort of visions... some sort of weird dreams. And some of them came true, apparently. Some of them weren't exactly the same, but the events, and the results they were supposed to bring, happened. People called her mad, though, since she got those visions when she was only a little kid." He could remember the look in that little girl's eyes when he had first asked her to tell him her story. He saw horror, fright, doubt. Would he believe me if I told him? That was the question he thought he could see in her eyes, and it had been hard to believe her story. But that wasn't it...

Akakios listened, and he had to admit this was mildly interesting, even if only slightly. So Aiolos had found a girl, and said girl happened to be able to have some sort of visions of future events, so people labelled her as insane and put her in an asylum. "Right. So you saved a girl, and she said those things to you," Akakios resumed in a nutshell, and Aiolos nodded. "I ask you again, Aiolos. What's your point?" Little kid mediums weren't unusual. Not common, but not so rare that nobody knew about them. Aiolos was still just talking about his antic.

"That's not the only things she told me," Aiolos continued when Akakios got impatient again. "That's what I have to tell you... From what she told me, Akakios... I think there's a third clan, parallel to our two. I think we're not the only ones with the powers we have."

[Jaykobell]

He had urged Aiolos to speak up. He had urged him to say what he had came here to say. Now that the truth was out, Akakios wasn't so pleased with the given answer. His reaction was to stare at Aiolos for a while, then to narrow his eyes. He then groan and huffed. "A third clan? Parallel to us?" he echoed, and Aiolos confirmed with a nod. Akakios was quiet again for a while, and then he shook his head. "Nonsense. We would've heard of it," he retorted, crossing his arms and his legs as he looked forward at the wall, pretty much at nothing in particular. "What gives you that impression?" Whatever Aiolos's argument was, if there really were a third clan, they would've heard of it. Never before had anyone mentioned a third clan. There were only two: Executioners and Emancipators. No others.

Aiolos leaned against the bench and sighed. "I know. You don't think so, right?" he asked, and he turned to look over at Akakios, whom had already turned around to stare at the back of the church. Aiolos did the same and looked right in front of him, looking at nothing in particular. "I didn't believe it, either. We would've known, right? Nobody ever mentioned a third clan like ours. I didn't believe it..." He paused there and put his hands in his pockets. He didn't say anything for a while, but he eventually pulled his hands out of his pockets. "I refused believe it. Not until the girl showed me this." He opened his clenched hand towards Akakios and revealed a small die. Unlike most dice, that one wasn't white with black dots. Some of its faces were black, some of them were white; the dots on the black faces were red, and the dots of the white faces were golden. All in all, the die was a combination of both the Executioner and Emancipator dice. "Try to tell me the black sides don't remind you of your own die."

Akakios didn't look right away, but when Aiolos stretched his arm, he glanced sideways, and then he actually turned around to take a good look at the die. A six-sided die, three sides black and red, three sides white and golden. Akakios narrowed his eyes and stared at the little thing. Obviously half of it was the Executioners, the other half was the Emancipators. "What's your conclusion? That third clan would be made out of those who were kicked out, and those who wanted to drop and live by their own rules? What does it mean?" Even if the die proved the existence of a possible "third clan", who was in that clan? What were their goals? Their powers? "And to be honest, why should I care? I'm not an Executioner anymore."

[Jaykobell]

Aiolos shook his head. He had hoped Akakios would've heard about that supposed third clan, but apparently he hadn't. He had based his hopes on Akakios since he had left his clan when he was young; maybe while traveling around the world, the rumor of such a clan would've reached his ears. Aiolos's assumption, however, had been wrong. He sighed, as stumped as his clan rival. "I think that's a logical explanation. Our clans wouldn't want to motivate us to leave by telling us about a third clan that takes in banished members. Executioner kids would most likely seek a clan like that if it meant a better life." He glanced at Akakios again. If that third clan existed, if that third clan took in runaways from the Executioners and the Emancipators... would Akakios be tempted to join them to get revenge on his parents and those who hurt him? Akakios had never been able to bear the lifestyle of his clan, even if he his personality matched theirs on many levels.

They didn't talk for a short while. Akakios had given the die back to Aiolos, and the two just stared at the wall ahead. Navi eventually got back to clinging to Akakios, gripping one of his arms tightly. When he noticed, Akakios looked down at Navi for a moment, then turned to Aiolos. "Why did you ask for Navi to come?" he asked him, bringing Navi forward a bit with his arm. "She's not associated with us. She doesn't have to know." He didn't mean in the sense that it wasn't Navi's business; in a way, it wasn't. On the other hand, there was no need to drag her further down the pit with them. The more she would know -- and she already knew more than regular humans -- the more she would get in danger. "Speaking of that, why did you bring us here? Is that clan supposed to be dangerous to us?" He noticed Aiolos blinking, and the other didn't reply. Had that meeting just been for... Wait, what was that?

Akakios suddenly got up and looked around. Had that been a fallen stone that he had heard just now? He looked up at the broken ceiling, narrowing his eyes as sunlight shone down from the hole above him. He looked down again and scanned the floor for a stone, or a piece of glass; nothing. He wasn't so insane yet that his mind would play such tricks on him. Had the other two heard anything? When he turned back towards them, Navi tilted her head questioningly at him, while Aiolos just blinked. Akakios shook his head. "I thought I heard something. That's besides the point. Aiolos, what do you think we should do from now on? Make this meeting worth the trouble."

[Jaykobell]

It was cold; and she hated cold. It made her bones stiff and ache in pain after a while. Not to mention winter would always give you a cold. Thankfully, it wasn't snowing today; this mission would be easy.



The secret had been leaked out. A few Executioners and Emancipators had had doubts about a third clan for a couple of years, and some of them had even found evidence about its existence, even if they had never seen it, or its members, for their own eyes. They relied on relics that were found... and on knowledgeable people. The thought of such a person made her groan angrily. Had it not been for such people, the clan wouldn't be facing discovery. They couldn't afford to have anyone -- anyone -- know about the third clan. It was still small, and while its roots dated back to centuries before time, it had been left to die before coming back to life again. She huffed at the thought. Maybe her clan was small and weaker, but it had potential and its members were much more special than those other scums from the other two clans.

And it was for that purpose that the two of them were here today. That was why they were both freezing in this weather: to get rid of those who knew. "Remember. Kill only those from the clans." A female voice, her tone tainted with a slight tomboy accent; leadership and certainty could also be heard from her voice. "It's boring, but if we just stay here and keep..."

But as she was about to continue, her partner moved, and the broken ceiling twitched, dropping a tiny part of itself inside the rundown church. They both heard the nose from up above, and she fidgeted when one of the three people below moved. Her heart beat quickly as she watched him scan his surroundings, and she sighed with relief when he gave up and continued the conversation with his two friends. She shot a dangerous glare at her partner. "I told you to be careful!" The calmness and certainty in her voice had disappeared to reveal anger and irritation. "You're lucky that fell right behind something down there...! What if they'd seen something?"



Her companion also watched as the man looked around below. He sighed when he gave up, relieved, but then he jumped when his female partner threw a fit. He blinked, his crazy blue-dyed hair poking out in every direction known to man, and sighed. "Yah, s'okay, I know, Jacqui," he called, crossing his arms and looking away. "But this thing is crumbling down. You can't blame me. Just talking gets a piece of stone or glass to topple off."

[Jaykobell]

Jacqui huffed and narrowed her pale violet eyes; a strange mutation gene that was from her father. While most eye colors within the clan were regular colors (blue, green, brown, and grey), some bloodlines had different colors, like gold, red, purple, or some other odd color. It was another thing that strengthened the undeniable fact that Ukkres, her "brother", did not share that eye color. He was her half-brother and not her brother. Even if they had known each other when they were kids, Jacqui never considered Ukkres as her brother. He kept on stressing and insisting about how siblings could be more than just related by blood; but Jacqui refused to go along with such a thing.

They sat there for a little while longer. She didn't feel like arguing with him. She didn't even want to do this mission with him. It baffled her why their leader insisted that they be paired for every mission. Not only were tasks with Ukkres absolutely unpleasant, rumors had even started to fill the air in the clan. She bit her lip as she thought back about those stupid clan mates that claimed that Ukkres and Jacqui were becoming a couple. Even if they were technically family, they didn't share blood, so a relationship, while it would be slightly mind-boggling, was genetically possible.

As for Ukkres, well, he couldn't understand Jacqui at all. True, he was childish and stupid for his age, but when it came to missions, he took his responsibilities and always tried his best to succeed. But Jacqui was always oblivious to his accomplishments, always reporting to the leader how he had been loud, noisy, stupid, obnoxious, in the way, useless, and who knows what else. He wasn't even mean to her; he wouldn't dream of being mean to her. He was younger than she was, although not by many years; still, Ukkres had always looked up to Jacqui. He wanted to be brave like she was, he wanted to be able to jump right into battles without being frightened. He was always trying his best so she would, eventually, notice him and admit that he did have some potential.

There wasn't much for either of them to say. They watched as the other three continued their conversation in the church, Jacqui growing restless as the conversation went on.

[Jaykobell]

"Jacqui?" Ukkres eventually called, looking up from the hole in the ceiling to her. "What's your plan?" He made a startled face when Jacqui looked up at him with a glare. She had probably heard that as, "Jacqui, what the heck are we supposed to do? I don't understand!" or something along those lines. "I know we have to kill them," he said indignantly after a while, "but how are we going to do it? An ambush? Or do we separate them?" He knew what their goal was: kill those who knew about the clan. But he had no idea how to proceed so that they could have the advantage, especially considering they were outnumbered three-to-two. "It's not like you to rush forward unprepared." Because he wouldn't be mean to her didn't mean he wouldn't use some sarcasm. If she wanted to be moody, then fine, he'd be moody too.

Jacqui stared at him with narrowed eyes. Surprisingly, the question that came out of his mouth actually made sense, and it was relevant. She wasn't very pleased by his last comment, but she tried to ignore it. The leader wouldn't be very pleased if Jacqui came back home with a shredded Ukkres, no matter how obnoxious he was. "We get down and confront them. We might be outnumbered, but we should be fine." She looked down the hole, keeping her eye on Akakios. "The only one that seems to be fit for battle is the blond guy. The other two look fairly defenseless." Maybe the other two could at least defend themselves; she had no idea. But she could hear their voices from below, even if they were only as clear as whispers, and that man's voice... it dripped with confidence. Jacqui fidgeted at the idea of a good battle. "If they try to resist, you know what to do," she reminded Ukkres, hoping he hadn't forgotten such a simple battle tactic. She saw him rolling his eyes, and Jacqui got up. "Let's go."

[Jaykobell]

Jacqui was about to head down the church when an idea came to her. "Wait! Wait, I know just what we should do." She turned back to Ukkres, who had been following her closely, and looked down the hole again. "You stay on the roof here," she began with, and then she pointed down the hole at Navi and Aiolos. "You'll stay on here and paralyze those two. My skill might be useful for missions like this, but it's cold, so let's not overdo it." Ukkres was useful for one thing: keeping her enemies from moving. When he graduated, Ukkres chose to get control over electricity to follow his father. The tradition of the kids becoming electric masters was a big deal in Ukkres's family.

She also had a bad feeling about the blond one. He seemed... different. Dangerous. Maybe taking all three of them at once, or even just two of them, would be too much for her after a while. "Hostages aren't... fair, I suppose, but can't afford to fail this." She shot a glance at Ukkres. The clan didn't like to take hostages, but the hostages in this case were also victims to eliminate, so why not use that to their advantage? "Understand?"

Ukkres stared and listened intently, and then it was his turn to narrow his eyes when Jacqui mentioned hostages. Was she serious? Succeeding a mission by taking hostages wasn't very appreciated from the clan. "Hostages?" he echoed to himself, trying to think about the situation. They had to eliminate all of them, right? So even if they did take those two hostage, it wouldn't change much: they were going to get killed one way or another. He groaned quietly as he thought about it, and he eventually realized there wasn't much of a choice. Jacqui could handle two people just fine, but it was tricky beyond three. "Fine," he eventually replied, trying to keep the uncertainty out of his voice. "I'll stay here. You go down and ambush him while I keep the other two quiet." The two nodded to each other, and Ukkres watched quietly as Jacqui disappeared down the church to set the plan in motion.

He sighed at the idea of doing this. The clan had never encouraged the use of hostages to win against enemies. Still, it was either fighting fair and letting Jacqui get hurt, or they got the two defenseless ones tied down while Jacqui killed each of them one by one. This was an important mission, even if it didn't look like it. If the Executioners or Emancipators got word of the third clan, they would ambush it and eradicate it completely. The clan's survival was at stake. "We should just tell the truth instead..." he murmured to himself as he prepared to start the attack. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, and he only opened his eyes again once he could feel static fidgeting all over his fingertips. He pressed his fingers together, and every time the tiny strings of electricity would become bigger and longer. He did that until they had gotten thick enough so they wouldn't break from the two's struggling. "All set." He shot the lightning down the hole, the strings getting longer and thicker still as they scrambled down through the air. They wrapped around their unsuspecting targets, squeezing them tightly. There was no need to shock them... at least, not for now.

[Jaykobell]

As per instructed, Ukkres did his part and kept the two weaker-looking ones under control. Jacqui slid down the rundown church, stepping nimbly on the stones that were poking out; her small frame allowed for a lot of agility. She slipped down and dashed for the main door right away; Ukkres's skills took no more than a few seconds -- a minute at best -- to kick in. All Jacqui had to do was to set the plan in motion, and to kill the three of them as quickly as possible.

She pushed the door open, sending gusts of wind down the room, the holes in the glass windows whistling from the wind. She stood up straight and walked towards the three targets, noticing two of them pinned against the benches they were sitting on while the third one, up and standing, was looking up at Ukkres up above before turning and fixing his gaze on Jacqui. She was thrown off by his indifferent and cold eyes, but she moved forward and stopped only once she was close enough to them, but also far enough to avoid any unexpected blows that would come her way. She pointed a finger at Akakios first. "You! Which clan are you from?"

Hearing that rock fall earlier had been no mistake. Akakios had spotted the one on the roof; he had had to reveal himself to chain Navi and Aiolos down. Navi had shrieked, while Aiolos had gasped and made a few angry noises. He didn't let go of that newcomer, the one with the weird attire that was apparently aware of the secrets he and Aiolos had. "I'm with no clan," Akakios replied, narrowing his eyes. "This one," he motioned to Aiolos with a tilt of his head, "is an active Emancipator. The girl is from no clan." As he answered her question, Akakios took out a small squared-item from his pocket. He revealed his black-faced and red-dotted die, and he calmly squeezed it between his two pointer fingers. The die squeezed like a small metallic can until it disappeared, leaving a soft glow behind. "Is it enough?" As he asked his own question, the small round light that was left by the die flashed for a second and revealed an old-looking scythe, the handle made out of wood, and the blades shades of pink and dark red. Akakios gripped the wooden handle with his black-gloved hands. "Or do you want to talk more?"

[Jaykobell]

Jacqui took a step back when Akakios summoned the scythe. Obviously he was ready to fight if he had to, and he wasn't afraid to threaten Jacqui. She huffed and narrowed her purple eyes, crossing her arms as she stared at Akakios. That scythe was no normal weapon, and even someone like Ukkres would realize that. She heard him fidget on the roof. "Hah! You've got the short fuse and the taste for blood of a typical Executioner," Jacqui retorted, narrowing her eyes at that scythe. "That scythe isn't any normal scythe, either. If you're not with them, either they kicked you out or you left on your own. Either way, you're related to them." She grabbed the mask around her neck and spun it around, hiding her face behind it save for half of her mouth and a cheek. "Then yes, maybe we should talk more," she agreed, staring from behind the broken white mask. "We can't let you live now that you know."

He had expected a weapon, or a ruse of some sort, but all she did was to put on that old broken mask. Was she trying to mock him? He narrowed his eyes when she mentioned him being part of the Executioners, and he found it unnecessary to answer her own questions. He just listened as she rambled, and for the first time in a while, he felt his blood rushing as he thought about fighting. He hadn't officially fought against a trained fighter in a long time. He did like fighting, even if only to pin your opponent down and to hear them whimper in fear as they begged for you to spare their puny life. Akakios snarled mockingly at the thought, and he gripped his scythe tightly, ready to strike at any time. "Now that we know what?"

Jacqui groaned when she heard him make this weird laughing sound as he gripped his weapon. The thought he was playing dumb also irritated her. "What else? That there is a third clan -- parallel to yours -- that exists. Now come at me if you can." She said that last daring comment calmly; there was even a small hint of amusement in her voice. Let the opponent strike first, let him be surprised, shattered.

He narrowed his eyes. Obviously they had been listening in for a long time. It hadn't taken too long for Aiolos to blurt out his theory about a third clan, and now they were being hunted because of it. Akakios gripped his scythe tightly and without even replying to Jacqui's comments, dashed for her head-on. She twisted and had the scythe slash sideways, aiming for Jacqui's sides, near the stomach.

To Akakios's surprise, Jacqui didn't move; she didn't even try to get away from his obvious strike. Instead she bent down slightly and caught the scythe's blade with her bare hands. She winced as the scythe hit her palms, and a trickle of blood dripped from both hands. Jacqui's face, however, expressed nothing but contempt and satisfaction. She held the blade tightly with her hand, seemingly just fine, even after taking that hit bare-handed. "Is that it?"

[Jaykobell]

He had to admit this defensive counterattack had taken him by surprise. The only thing Akakios could do at this point was to get the scythe away and back away from Jacqui. He pulled the blade out of Jacqui's palms, and he heard her shriek shortly in pain as her injuries got away from the blade. Akakios took a few steps back, while Jacqui flapped her arms to her sides, sending little droplets of blood as she did that, the droplets turning back into thin crimson strings as she clenched her fists. Her hands hurt, she'd admit that much; but the look on his face, that look of utter surprise; she loved it. "Try again," she urged, messing with his patience. She could feel the stares of the two hostages nearby, one of them staring harder than the other. "Maybe eventually you'll get through," she scoffed amusingly, her confidence growing like a balloon. If this was all he could do, he wouldn't be able to pierce through her defenses.

Akakios huffed and didn't reply to Jacqui's ridiculous urgings. She had taken the first hit right on. Maybe her hands were naturally toughened; but what about the rest of her body? Akakios quickly scanned Jacqui's body, his gaze resting momentarily on her throat, shoulders, hips, thighs, and ankles. He was most interested in her ankles. Apparently she had a certain ability that made her body stronger, but from what Akakios could understand, that didn't mean she couldn't take damage. The cuts on her hands hadn't healed, and they were still oozing blood, although they were nearly dry now. The cuts hadn't been so deep, either, but Akakios figured that a cut that deep would enough... if a cut was even needed for the plan he had improvised.

He huffed and tightened the grip on his scythe. "You're ridiculously boastful for someone your age," he shot at her, his eyes drifting back from her ankles to her eyes. "You blocked a hit. Big achievements. Tell me, what else satisfies you to such an extent?" She was young. Not a teenager, not quite, but she wasn't so old as he was. She was a young adult, perhaps around twenty or so. He could almost see her overwhelming pride and ego swell around her. "Perhaps outrunning a puppy creates the same extent of self-satisfaction as demonstrating the minimal level of skill in a battle."

Ukkres could be heard chuckling on the top of the church, but Jacqui shot him such a burning glare that he shut up instantly. She gave Akakios the same indignant glare. "I have potential," she snarled at him angrily, bending her back slightly and putting her fists to her chin. "If you were within our clan, you'd understand that we can't always rely on our older members! The young ones, like me and Ukkres, have to do all the work. There's no time to dwell on our skills." She gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes. "Someone like you, who isn't living for the sake of everyone's survival, couldn't possibly understand!" Without giving him anytime to reply, Jacqui dashed for him and bounced, aiming to deliver a powerful punch to his head, which would be enough to knock him out for a few moments, which she would use to beat him up some more. She still had the upper hand.

Akakios watched calmly as she fell for his trick. As she came close to him, he moved aside, and right as she bounced besides him, he positioned his crooked scythe in the way and caught her feet. He quickly twisted the blade, twisting Jacqui's ankles in the process. While the sound of broken bones wasn't heard, there was still a sickening noise from the tearing of flesh and the twisting of muscles, as well as a piercing shriek from the victim of the counterattack. Jacqui found herself falling down awkwardly to the ground, rolling over to a pillar. She moaned as she tried to reach for her twisted ankles, blood now dripping from both her hands and her feet. The cuts weren't deep: it was the strong twisting that had done all the damage. She wheezed and breathed hard as she wished for the pain to go away. This couldn't be it. This fight had lasted for a matter of minutes... This couldn't be the end!