The noise of the normally busy street stopped, once more. Some of the crowd had stuck around for the show, their eyes unblinking as they stared at the two beaten men walking towards one another. One of them walked, his legs pushing forward through sheer might of muscle, the other limped forth through sheer will.
Ru Feng stared at Jean and no one else. His face twisting into a million expressions, darker with each one. While Jean only smiled at Ru Feng reassuringly. They were of different make. Ru Feng seeming gigantic when compared to Jean.
The two approached and brushed past each other. “FENG! GRAB HIM!” Atlas shouted, last second. Ru Feng moved as if ready. His muscles pumped up full of blood and anger and his rope bonds snapped apart as he grabbed onto Jean without a moments delay.
“RUN!” Atlas bellowed as he slid down from the roof. A poison cube, Chasm Clan trademark, was dropped right in the mix of Crystal Palace affiliates and exploded once more.
Ru Shi remained shock for a moment before blinking and sprinting away. A jagged crystal spike crashed into the street right where she had been standing.
“AFTER THEM!” The order echoed in the street as the knights scrambled out of the smoke. All but one. Xerxes sprinted out perfectly unaffected, he tossed a wet cloth from inside his helmet away and chased the runaway group, in perfect form.
Three cultivators burst through the poison cloud on paper thin crystal disks, fire spitting from their eyes. But Al-Sen would not let them catch up. She sprung up from the ground. Three neon green spears flew straight for the refiners who dodged aside with a swerve. They retaliated quickly. Crystal shards and spikes flew at Al-Sen, who formed bubbles of swirling green and purple smoke that melted the crystal conjurations, coating them completely in poison.
She moved back on the offensive. Toxic bile rose up from the ground, grabbing at the swift moving crystal cultivators. They dodged the hands of lethal poison with ease and conjured up a bright red star, as they settled into a triangle formation. Qi condensed from thin air as the star was pushed through the middle and a ruby spike as thin as a laser flew straight for Al-Sen.
She lunged away, yet the crystal beam seemed liquid as it followed suit. “Shit!” She shouted, she couldn’t escape it. As a last moment’s defense she coated herself in thick black sludge. A foul smelling toxic smoke exploded from the contact point of the laser with her shield, it billowed outwards sticking to every surface it touched. Coating it in black sludge.
The red star grew faint and disappeared, and at the same moment the smoke cleared as well, and Al-Sen was gone.
~~~~~~~
“Atlas! What are you doing!? How?” Ru Shi run through the streets next to Atlas. They moved as fast as their legs could take them, dodging and sliding through the bewildered crowds of people.
“We’ll worry about that later. Xerxes is still onto us.” Atlas responded with a smile, he switched legs, stomped down to decelerate and twisted on his ankle. A side kick rushed straight for Xerxes’ head but he dodged under it. He crashed onto Atlas and picked him up locking his hands behind Atlas’ back, yet he was too slippery to stay held down. He popped out of the grip above Xerxes and flipped himself back to a sprint. The two locked eyes as they run parallel, they split up for a moment separated by a stall before coming back again like diverging river flows. The crashed into one another, tumbling into the ground, and sliding under a large animal pulled carriage before rolling back up.
In Atlas’ hands was Xerxes’ helmet, his long hair flapping in the wind behind him. Atlas tossed the helmet to the ground with a mocking smile, certain he’d have to go and hide his face as he’d done before. Xerxes did not care. He instead closed the distance and lunged at Atlas who dove to the ground, with Xerxes flying above him he noticed he was about to crash into a market stall, but with a show of force and a push with his shoulders he exploded up and over the base of the stall, diving like a screw under its big multicolored tent. He grabbed onto a purple looking mango-banana as he passed and picked up his pace the moment his feet touched the ground Xerxes trailed, heavier and slower behind him, taking more time to swim in between clumps of people.
With clean air, entering the much bigger southern boulevard. Atlas quickly reached the Southern Portals, where he spotted Carius, Jean, Ru Shi, and Bi-Ran in the distance. They were near the door leading to Borsi now, Jean leading them to the correct door.
He waved at them. “Hey guys I’m here!” He shouted at them, while munching on the fruit he had stolen in the moment. He didn’t plan on coming back, so it shouldn’t really hurt.
It was when the group turned around and their faces turned black, as they shouted at him with an edge to their voices, that Atlas noticed the sound of hooves smacking stone, and wooden wheels rumbling from behind him, approaching with deadly intent at a rapid pace.
He turned around at the last moment, a massive, straight, wooden pole aiming straight for his body as Xerxes rode on a deer pulled carriage turned chariot he had stolen. Xerxes, poised for the kill, flashed a brilliant smile when he noticed that the others had yet to disappear.
Atlas Jumped as high as he could, his hands grabbing onto the pole pushing against it to make him go even higher. His palms were burnt to crisps from the friction, his tendons stretching past their limits. He spun in place, nausea grabbing onto his stomach, above Xerxes’ head, who grabbed onto Atlas and pulled him down.
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“AGH!” They both grunted as Atlas crashed onto the carriage turned chariot. The deer whined and the wood creaked at the weight. A crystal tipped boot that shone like iron dug into his guts, bile and recently eaten fruit splurged out of Atlas’ mouth.
Xerxes grabbed onto the rains, he steered the deer onwards. “I got you now! All of you! Thanks for the promotion!” Xerxes shouted in glee, whipping the deer ever faster.
“Wait! Jean!” Ru Shi screamed, suddenly. Xerxes noticed he could not see amongst the group, being carried by the long haired scaredy cat as he should be. The young woman, that had been the one to send him to his death shouted after him in concern. Yet he was nowhere to be seen. She was held back by the gigantic oaf they’d been torturing the past few hours. Black tears seemed to run down his cheeks.
Xerxes mouth gaped open, and his eyes popped out of their socket. From right in front the pair of White Furred bucks tied to his carriage popped the bloodied figure of Jean. “I’m back!” He screamed as he pushed off the backs of the deer with all he had. He head butted Xerxes right off the chariot, leaving only Atlas on board. The two of them fell to the hard ground and rolled in a mess of limbs and armor. Xerxes found himself on top with a bleeding nose. His mind lost in the rush. He rained punches down on Jean’s already broken face.
A small blade came whipping over from atop the moving Carriage. It opened a straight cut on Xerxes’ forehead, taking him out of his stupor. He licked at the blood pouring down his sharp features.
“You came to me all on your own? How thankless!” Xerxes laughed devilishly.
“ATLAS! SAVE HIM!” Ru Shi screamed at Atlas as he scrambled out of the chariot, landing unbalanced on his legs, falling down on his but, his head spinning as he tried but failed to stand up once more.
“It’s Fine! Leave you fools! I still have to scold my sister one last time anyway!” Jean shouted, pinned down under Xerxes, trapped in between his legs.
“SHUT UP!” Xerxes threw another punch, caving his face inward maybe even knocking a few teeth out from his near rotting gums.
“I have no more need to speak! My dream will be carried out not matter how you flay me! My spirit shall not die to your petty punishment! No torture will break the Truth!” Jean decried. His bloodshot eyes wide open. He went unconscious staring at Xerxes. His bulging eyes haunting, gray.
Ru Feng arrived next to Atlas and grabbed him, he helped him run the rest of the way to their portal before he closed the door behind him. He gave one last look to Ru Shi, who was already running off to the portal, staring right at the ground. Brooding. All sound of the city went silent, yet the peace of the garden did not match the turmoil inside them.
They walked in the long path amidst the artificial creeks of fresh, cold, water. They felt the calming wind on their skin.
“Thanks, I can walk on my own.” Atlas said weakly as he separated from Ru Feng and stumbled forward, but held a hand up, showing he was fine. Bi-Ran walked next to Carius, both silent. Ru Shi plunged through the portal. Away from the quiet of the Garden.
“How does this work?” He asked the, seemingly put together uncle.
“You just walk through and you’re out. Don’t worry too much about it.” Carius responded, getting lost right after in the little tune he was mumbling to himself. He walked through the portal as if he did not even notice it. Bi-Ran stumbled to a stop, hesitating.
“Bi-Ran. I know you were dragged into this. But do not fear or worry. All you have to do is confirm that the area of Dense Qi near my home is actually a Qi Spring, and a place your clan can use to create a sustainable Mother Smog to live in. Just pass through, you won’t even feel it.” Atlas said as he arrived next to the kid. He egged him on with a hand on the back.
Bi-Ran gulped the saliva flooding his mouth and pushed forward, hands first. After that Atlas made way for Ru Feng who stopped right before the small flowery arch that made up the portal on this side of the Pavilion.
“Next time. I will not be a burden.” Ru Feng said as he looked at Atlas. A firm look on his face, it burned with such regret and passion it was too bright for him too look at. Atlas merely nodded. He waited as Ru Feng left and went as well. His body tired, feverish, his joints aching from top to bottom, popping with every move he made. His heart beat at a sluggish, uneven rhythm, his head ached, submerged in cold water one moment and dunked into burning lava the next. ‘4 had gone, 5 were returning…. Yet it’s all wrong.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atlas stepped out of the pavilion and came upon the scene of the bustling city center of Borsi, where human life continued with a some form of routine. It was the furious shout of the slimy foreman, of the Northern entrance, he remembered that they were not out of the thicket yet. Old Man George waved at him from his balcony and adrenaline returned one more time to Atlas’ body.
“Guys, We need to be quick! Take the medicine and go.” Atlas said as he pushed past everyone, dumbly staring, too weary to process the new developments. They followed Atlas at his call. Ran up the windy flight of stairs, still with the large whole in the wall.
They entered the pharmacy and found Old Man George, and his son, Jonathan, with bags of everything the group had requested already waiting for them.
“Go here for res. They won’t be able to find you.” He gave a map folded neatly onto Atlas’ hands and bid them goodbye. Bi-Ran and Ru Feng grabbed onto two of the bags, Carius another and the group rushed up the building, exiting from the roof top.
They sailed above ground from one apartment’s roof to another, the map’s guidance never imperfect. From whole buildings to half crumbled, to large trees growing through the debris, and completely destroyed piles of construction materials the group waded safely above the beast ridden streets the promised ‘X’ of the map and dropped down to rest.
In an almost dizzy spell the whole group went unconscious easily enough. All except for Ru Shi, who stayed up for the few hours they gave themselves. She sat with her back to the group staring at the quiet interior of a house, empty, dusty, smelling of moldy bread. Her mind wondered, back many years. To that dark night, the last night of freedom, of joy. It had been just an adventurous night out with the little princess. A childish want to join in on the celebrations. Tears burned her eye-ducts, flowed down her cheeks. She cradled herself as best she could, knees to her chest, chin resting on them for support. The midday wind felt cold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atlas saw the weirdest of dreams as he slept, his body burning, his sweat smoking and turning to steam as it was emitted from his pores. A dream of the earth spinning in infinite starry space for eons as life existed on its surface, cared for, thought for. Life with Qi, burning brightly, ever replenishing. A Cycle so much different from the one modern science had observed, perpetually strengthened by every little interaction and reaction that happened with the core of Qi that existed within the earth’s core. Everything was connected to it in some way. It had come from it. And now, he felt himself, an ethereal form without flesh, attach. As if he found his breath for the first time. An electric tingle crackled playfully over his soul form, as a pulse, the drum of something mystical yet oh so familiar was born inside of him.
He was back, connected, integrated again and for the first time with the Qi of the World. He was whole again.