--Draconian Embassy, Oshan--

  The ending to a long, droll day at the embassy was coming to a close. Professor Duncan leaned back in his chair and ran a hand over his brow. His business overseas was almost concluded and soon he would be able to return home. He glanced at the pictures on his desk. Both of them were from his younger days, including a picture of his ex-wife as she was in late-stage pregnancy, and a picture of his father when he was still head of the Ministry of Science. Duncan still remembered the day, the day the 4th laboratory was destroyed. The day that his father died. After an intense argument that would lead to a divorce, Duncan was returning to the lab to conduct the daily experiments on the 5 APEX subjects. What he returned to was utter chaos. The lab was ablaze as the smell of smoke and blood choked him. Stumbling across the bodies of his slaughtered colleagues as he made his way to the nursery, in a desperate attempt to save his creations. He was too late. Freyja was missing as Athena, Tyr, Baldur, and Ares were all that remained. Yes, remained was the perfect word. He remembered their bodies torn asunder, clinging to life, the magic in their cores all but exhausted. The area was peppered with large holes and craters, showing signs of intense struggle. He had to dodge falling debris as the building began to fall apart around him. He remembered calling out to his father, trying to find him in the blazing inferno. He found his father sitting in the desk in his office hunched over his desk, his face obscured by shadow. Then came the butterflies. A swarm of black butterflies erupted from his head, materializing from his flesh consuming him until nothing was left. No blood, no bones, nothing remained of him. From out of the shadows a pair of golden eyes stared back at him, and then nothing.

“They must pay for what they’ve done. I will make sure of it,” He said to himself.

---Med Bay--

“How long have you had that cough?” a doctor asked Tyr as he was undergoing his physical examination.

“It started a day or two ago, shouldn’t be a big deal though,” he stated.

“Mhmm” the physician sounded as he jots down a few notes. As he examined Tyr’s bare chest he noticed that one of the runes above his heart had begun to disappear. He noted this in his report. “I’m going to keep you on the mana supplements a bit longer, it seems you still have yet to recover. I’ll forward Duncan the treatment plan, be sure to stick to it.”

Tyr felt a bit uneasy about the doctor's prognosis. Sure the Hattori girl had done a number on him, but it should have been nothing he couldn’t recover from. He expected to be a bit fatigued after recovering from complete disintegration, but he still felt a bit fatigued even now, days after the fight.

“No problem doc,” He said to the physician flashing a cocky grin as he rose from the chair. I’ll be right as rain in no time!” He waved behind him as he put back on his shirt and armor.

“Right as rain huh?” Baldur said from behind him. He was leaning against the wall arms crossed. “You're lies need some work brother.”

“It’s none of your concern,” Tyr said. “I’m in no mood for mocking at the moment.”

“But, it is my concern brother. If somehow a human has managed to permanently damage you it is best we know so that we can make sure it doesn't happen to the rest of us. It would be foolish to underestimate them if that’s the case.”

“Shut up,” Tyr dismissed as he continued on his way.

“Hmph, proud till the end I see,” Baldur remarked as he watched his brother disappear down the hall.

-- Hattori compound, Hisayo’s Chambers--

Zed remained kneeling, head bowed in shame as he could not bring himself to look his mistress in the face,

“I asked you a question Zed,” Hisayo pressed. The man remained silent. Hisayo let out a sigh.

“Look,” she started. “I’m not angry with you. The Hiragi girl told me everything.” She walked over and knelt next to Zed. “What I feel is...”

“Failure,” Zed uttered. “That is what I am. I was entrusted to train the young mistress, to protect her and yet…”

Hisayo said nothing, ruminating on the phrase interrupted. “Yes, that is it, but it is not your burden to bear alone. You have failed as her ward and I as her mother.

“Hisayo…” Zed had not called her by name in a very long time and only did so when he was under great emotional duress. “What was I to do?”

“I..I don’t know,” she answered. After a few moments of silence, Hisayo spoke again. “To think that she carried this alone...I am not fit to call myself her mother.”

“Lady Akane has become distant from us all over the years, she’s even shut me out completely. I fear that she no longer trusts me. I do not know how to help her.”

“Alastor was right about me after all,” Hisayo mused. “Together we have failed, but together we will make up for it.” She walked over to Bento, who was napping near her bedside, she stroked his fur as he let out low, delighted grumble.

“I hope that she doesn’t hate me,” she said softly.

“As do I mistress,” Zed uttered.

--Hattori Compound, Mansion living room--

Yuko sat with Satoru in the living room as he regaled her of tales of his homeland.

“So how was it growing up on the steppe?” she asked. “Was it difficult?”

“The great steppe is as beautiful as it is dangerous,” he said. “You have vast grasslands as far as the eye can see, with beautiful mountains lining the horizon and past those is an unforgiving desert wasteland. There are also many of the dangerous predators there. The wolves, the giant birds of prey, dangerous insects, and reptiles. Just the usual stuff.”

Yuko jotted a few notes from his response down in her pad. “How long did you live there?”

“Ten years. I was born into the descendants of the Sky Tribe. Used to be a pretty badass back in the old days. I was still trained in their warrior ways, like how to wield a spear and shoot a bow, wrestling and all that, but it was mostly tending to the livestock, hunting with falcons or with the horses and a lot of feasts. Life was..simple.”

“Why leave it behind? What made you leave the Great Steppe and want to do...this?” Yuko asked. Satoru’s brows furrowed as he pondered the question.

“For 10 years I grew up in that place, I hunted and played alongside my nomad brothers and sisters. I cherish my days from then, but I never felt like I belonged. They used to make fun of my eyes when I was a child, I could wrestle men much older and larger than me, the bites of venomous scorpions or snakes would have little effect on me. It was clear that I was different from the rest of them. I questioned my father, and that’s when he told me of my mother. I realized all my gifts, was from her. Then one day she came and I just...left. She seemed pretty upset when I said I wanted to join her though.”

“Why do you think she would be upset?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe cuz’ I left my wife?” At that moment a loud crash echoed through the room, as Shelty, who was carrying a tray of refreshments, had dropped it, shattering the glassware into pieces. Satoru looked toward the sound and frowned in concern.

“You ok Shelty? You look pale.” He said rising from his seat to approach the girl

“Y-yes! I’m fine!” she answered. “It was a bug! Yeah, I was startled by a bug! Those little critters, hahaha,” Yuko rolled her eyes at the girl's awkward explanation.

“Need some help over there?” Yuko offered.

“Oh no! Don’t mind me! I’ll have this cleaned in a jiffy, no need to trouble yourself! I’ll just...go get something..for….that,”. The blonde excused herself and sped down the opposite hall.

“Hmm she's been acting weird lately, I wonder what's gotten into her?” Satoru pondered.

“I think it's a matter of what isn’t getting into her,” Yuko muttered to herself.

“Anyway,” Satoru continued. “It’s been a change of lifestyle for sure. I thought that moving in with mom would somehow make me feel like I belong somewhere, but here I feel even more out of place.” His expression turned somber. “I wish I could be more useful,”

“When you kidnapped me that day, you seemed pretty terrifying,” Yuko commented eliciting a ‘thanks’ from the young man.

“I'm sure sending you on that assignment was something they trusted you with because they had faith in your abilities.”

Satoru snorted. “I had to beg to get that assignment, and even then I was barely given it over little Ms. Perfect,” he spat.

“Little Ms. Perfect? You mean Akane?”

“Yes... It's frustrating how good she is at everything.”

“I know what you mean,” thought Yuko. “How do you determine who gets what job? Is it a ranking or based on difficulty?”

“Well let me show you,” Satoru pulled out his phone and tapped through it to get to an app. Inside of Yuko could see a list of requests from various anonymous individuals, each with a ranking of 1- 5 stars. “We receive our requests here on this app, it's super encrypted or something so only those with the right connections can gain access. From there if we decide to take one we can select one from the list. The rankings are based on difficulty, risk, etc. Then we collect payment and other necessary information. Anyway, Akane has been taking on 4-star and up missions, since she was twelve. Shes never failed a mission and her global-bounty is estimated to be over 700 million! She’s--

“Dangerous,”

“Incredible!” Satoru exclaimed. “I’ve never been able to lay a finger on her when we spar. I’m--” Satortu’s excitement died out, the light in his eyes dimming. “--nothing compared to her.”

“Though I’m not going to comment on the difference in your ability to murder people, I am going to say that it’s natural to feel that way. She’s older and more experienced than you, it's just the way it is.”

“It’s not just that. I don’t have the trust of the family, I’m too weak, too lazy, to be of any real use. I can’t even use shuunpo correctly.”

“Perhaps you need to train more. Why not ask Akane for help? I’m sure she wouldn’t training with you.”

“I guess I could..” Satoru said nervously rubbing the back of his head.

“But..”

“I could but..you know..”

‘You’re also scared of her?”

“I mean shes Intimidating!”

“Are you serious? She’s as quiet as a mouse”

“Yes! I am! To be honest you especially should be more afraid of her. From what I can tell, I don’t think she likes you very much.”

Yuko rose a brow in confusion. “What? Why? What did I ever do to her?”

Satoru shrugged before a smug grin plastered his face. “Maybe you should just ask.”

--later that day--

Akane stretched as she walked towards the sparring grounds. Zed had requested a match with her out of the blue. They haven't had a training match since she was younger, so she was looking forward to fighting the man again. But as she approached the open courtyard she found Zed and her mother seated around a game board, both intensely concentrated on a game of Shogi. As if on cue as she approached, Zed seemed to raise his hands in defeat in a grand display.

“It’s my win again,” Hisayo boasted a victorious smile on her face. “Shall we do another?”

“Indeed mistress, your prowess is as sharp as usual. But, I believe I have no hope of victory. It would be wise for me to escape while I can.”

“Then I shall take on all comers,” Hisayo proclaimed, crossing her arms triumphantly, her eyes darting to Akane. The girl sighed and took Zeds' seat at the board. The pieces were shuffled and positioned for a new game. Zed took this time to quietly exit the room, leaving the mother and daughter alone. The game began silently, save for the sound of the polished wooden pieces being placed across the board. Hisayo let out an admired “mm” as she moved to counter one of Akane's moves.

“You still play very well, it seems you’ve retained your lessons,” Hisayo stated.

“Your lessons are hard to forget.” Another moment of silence.

“Yes, I admit the training was difficult,” Hisayo said as she captured one of Akane’s pawns. However, it was for a purpose. If you are to one day lead us then I needed you to be-

“Strong,” Akane interrupted as she surged her lance forward to capture one of Hisayo’s knights in the promotion zone, allowing her to promote the unit. “Am I not strong?”

“You are. You are stronger than I ever expected you would be. I am quite proud of you Akane,”

“Really?”

Hisayo nodded, a warm smile on her face. The sound of shogi once again occupied the silence before the girl decided to speak again.

“Mother, what do you want?” Hisayo looked a bit shocked.

“Can I merely not play a game with my daughter?”

“When I was younger, you forced me to master Shogi to learn to think and act strategically. If I made a wrong move, you would strike my hands. So forgive me if I’m a little confused about your intention to ‘play’.” Akane captured another piece of Hisayo’s. The older woman swallowed the lump in her through and pursed her lips in acceptance.

“Yes, that is true. But you are grown now. There is no reason that we cannot have a different relationship going forward.” The moment was now, there was no more room for delay in her words, no matter how unnatural it felt. She leaned across the board and touched her daughter's hand. “Despite how it came off, I do care about you and I would like for us to have open discussions about how you are feeling.” She tried her best to offer a warm smile but whatever maternal affection she was trying to exude was deflected by Akane’s unreadable expression. Hisayo had seen a lot of things in her life, many things that would unnerve even the most hardened man. But when Akane suddenly erupted into a fit of belly-aching laughter, she couldn’t deny the slight goosebumps that appeared on her skin.

“Open discussions? Twenty-two years and now you wish to act like a mother” She took one of Hisayo’s pieces and put it back into play. Omit Akane’s forces were beginning to overwhelm her opponent. “ Not ONCE have you shown concern for me. Not ONCE have you wanted to talk about anything! And now you want to start over? Like the past didn’t happen? All because you’ve been influenced by your little pet,” she spat venomously. Hisayo could feel Akane's aura pass through her, filling the room with the intensity of the girl's anger. Her hair began to stand on end due to the saturation of static electricity that filled the air.

“I understand you’re upset--”

“YOU UNDERSTAND NOTHING!” Akane exploded, standing up to toss the game board across the room, shattering it into splinters against the stone wall. The sound of rolling thunder booming in the distance. Hisayo took a breath as she stood to meet her daughter's enraged eyes.

“You surely are Genbu’s granddaughter. You inherited that nasty temper of his.” Hisayo pinched the bridge of her nose. “I never told you how your Uncle Shuu died, did I?”

Akane frowned in confusion. “I was told he was ambushed and killed by Hama Clan head hunters.”

“Not quite,” Hisayo said. “It was during a confrontation with the Hama Clan, yet it was not they that caused his death. Hisayo turned her back to her daughter, her shoulders slumping slightly.

“It was me,”