“We have dallied long enough…”

“The time has come for us to act!”

A familiar voice roused the Synchros host from his rest as he slumbered at his parents’ estate on the outskirts of Genaisa. The disembodied voice caused the young man to shoot upwards and out of bed, gasping as he did. With his body now sweaty and heart racing, the youngster clutched his chest, his thoughts swirling as his newly regained consciousness tried its best to make sense of the overwhelming sense of dread that had jolted him from his slumber. Unfortunately, the feeling was unlike anything that he had felt in his twenty-one years of existence. As he pondered his circumstances it did not take long for him to confirm that he was unaware of anything having actually gone wrong—but even so he couldn’t shake the feeling that this sense of dread which he felt was totally warranted. It was a disturbing contradiction.

In an attempt to allay his fears, Roun now turned his attention towards his room at his parent’s estate, scanning it to ensure that there was nothing out of the ordinary. As he’d expected, everything was in order. Much like Masamune, this particular compound was an extremely secure one. With a full compliment of heavily armed security forces and powerful energy fields protecting the mansion and the surrounding property, there was ordinarily little to fear from any attempted incursions; while the powerful energy suppression fields blanketing the property worked well to prevent prying eyes from even looking in.

“Okay—” Roun muttered to himself, having confirmed his immediate safety “—maybe it was just a bad dream.”

This rationale seemed to assuage his anxiety somewhat, allowing the youngster to sit on his large bed once again as he tried to further calm himself. Slowly, he took deep breaths and allowed the ambient energy flows into his body, creating a slight calming sensation within himself. As this wave washed over him, he then turned his attention towards the data comm that he’d rested on the night-stand next to his bed. His eyebrow tipped upwards at the sight. The small device was projecting a holographic display of the time, which was showing that it was only a few minutes after four in the morning. Roun sighed heavily at the entire ordeal, shaking his head at how ridiculous he concluded himself to be behaving.

“Clearly all of this training is just getting to me.” He stated with a sigh before a smirk of mild amusement broke across his face. All he could do was shake his head once more at his own silliness before exhaling, leaning back and attempting to make himself comfortable.

Strangely enough however, as soon as his head touched the pillow he could feel the overpowering sense of anxiety washing over him yet again. His eyes shot open as the feeling filled his body, making him wonder for a brief moment if he was indeed having a panick attack. This caused him to shoot up from his reclined position once again, sitting up as he tried to figure out what could possibly be causing his bizarre symptoms. He could only think of one possible culprit.

Was he right however, he would need to connect with the source of his discomfort so that he could address the root of his problem head on. Knowing this, he began to concentrate. As he had done just days prior during his training session at the park, he focused his mind’s eye inwards and attuned his senses to the odd energetic core at the centre of his channeling abilities. And as had been the case during his training session, he pin-pointed the central energy that emanated from him, the source and manifestation of his own aesis ability. Just as before, rotating around this singular core were two flames. This time however he quickly bypassed the first of these two, the green flames of veranos that each of his family members seemed to exhibit. Though odd, this energy-amplifying flame was not his current focus. Instead, he turned his attention to its sister flame, the golden embers of synchros that coiled tightly around the heart of his own channeling. As he focused on this energy he could feel its familiarity and the sensation that came with it washing over him. Just as it had done during his first interaction with Synchros’ corporeal manifestation some months prior, this legendary energy produced a profoundly calming effect on Roun. This came as a welcomed side-effect of his synchronisation with his guardian spirit, despite the fact that the young man was still unable to explain why it happened. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to contemplate this oddity either. Instead he needed to focus on the task at hand. He could already sense the effects of attunement with Synchros’ flame, as this single ring of golden fire began to completely encapsulate his own aesis core, wrapping itself around the source of his own channeling abilities completely.

Though it had so far gone unnoticed to him, Roun’s body now burned brightly with the flames of synchros as the synchronisation between his own channeling abilities and those of the unfettered spirit reached its peak. It wasn’t long before the voice of the disembodied guardian then rang in his ear.

“So, finally you summon me.” Synchros jested audibly, startling Roun and causing his eyes to shoot open before his focus returned to his surroundings.

As his eyes focused on the scene in front of him, he fixed his gaze on Synchros’ corporeal form that stood in front of him. Her body was now also bathed in the same gold flames that he had been exhibiting for some time, though she seemed far less startled by this realisation than he was. Roun’s curiosity mounted, his eyebrow tipping upwards slowly in response to all that was transpiring.

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“What’s going on here?” He inquired, much to Synchros’ further amusement.

“Your training finally bears fruit, it seems.” She smiled in return. “Our synchronisation is almost complete.”

Roun’s eyebrow tipped upwards even further.

“Then I assume I’m right and you’re the one responsible for my panick attacks?” He inquired, but Synchros just smiled in reply.

“Clearly you sensed my own anxiety.” She explained. “But startling you was not my intent.” Her words only served to intrigue her young host however.

“What’s going on?” He pressed. “What is it that's got you – off all people – so riled up?”

“It appears that my sisters have been machinating in my absence and their schemes have borne fruit.” Synchros replied. “Unfortunately, these schemes will endanger their hosts. It’s time that we return home to Merricent, Roun.”

“Whoa, slow down there.” He replied as he tried to wrap his head around what was going on. “My training is far from done and I don’t even have a way back to Merricent, yet.”

“I understand.” Synchros nodded. “Was the situation any less dire I would not even suggest such drastic actions, but I fear we may not have the time to properly finish your training.”

Roun just sighed heavily.

“Rushing into the fray without the tools to get the job done sounds like a good way to get the both of us killed.” He admonished Synchros, but she simply smiled in return.

"As an echo of the dead, death is not something I fear, Roun." Synchros replied snidely. "However, I do appreciate your reservation."

Roun simply smirked in reply.

"I'd be lying if I said I shared your gung-ho attitude; but if it's got you this riled up I trust that it's important enough for me to risk my neck over." He conceded. “Admittedly, I can’t say that my dad will be so easily convinced.”

Synchros just laughed lightly at the statement.

“Shin’s compliance is not required.” She shrugged nonchalantly, causing Roun’s eyebrow to tip upwards.

“It might be more required than you think—” he stated “—unless you have some other way for me to fly fifteen thousand kilometres.”

Roun just watched as the smile on Synchros’ face grew wider.

“You under estimate my power young host.” She now grinned. “With the strength of our current bond, you could be in Merricent within seconds.”

Roun’s eyebrow just crept further and further upwards as he stared at the manifestation of the legendary Guardian incredulously.

“You don’t believe me?” Synchros inquired, but all Roun could do was shake his head.

“Whether I believe you or not is irrelevant, I get the feeling that we’re going to find out if you’re right sooner rather than later.” He replied.

“So you’ve decided to heed my call?” She pressed, causing Roun to nod slightly.

“You’ve been with me all my life, Aesis.” He stated. “If there’s one thing you've always had, even before all this training started, it’s my trust. I’ll go see my father and let him know I’m leaving.”

Synchros simply nodded as Roun got up and started preparing himself to leave the massive estate.

Moments later, the young guardian host was making his way out of the large bedroom and into the hallway on the other side of his door. Strangely enough however, as the automatic door slid closed behind him he found his brother Seth standing in the hallway awaiting his arrival.

"You're up awefully early Seth." Roun stated as the youngster stood between him and the door.

"I'd say the same thing about you." Seth replied with an almost accusary look.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep." Roun shrugged. "I assume I woke you."

"Yeah, your energy signature probably woke every channeler on the compound." Seth replied with slight annoyance. "What's going on?"

"I'm not too sure myself, but something's come up." Roun replied. "I'm going down to Masamune to see dad, then I'm probably leaving for Merricent."

Seth eyebrow tipped upwards.

"But your training isn't anywhere near done." He retorted, but Roun just laughed lightly in reply.

"Yeah, of that I'm all too aware." He smirked. "But I don't exactly have a whole lot of choice in the matter. Unfortunately, I've got a job to do and this seems like something that can't really wait."

Seth just sighed heavily in response to these cryptic statements. He could tell that his brother's mind was already made up, and he was well aware that when this happened there was little that he could do to change it.

"Hey, lighten up man." Roun added now as he rested his hand on Seth's head. "I'll be back for a real visit as soon as this whole 'guardian business' is out of the way." He did his best to feign a smirk. "In the meantime, look out for mom and dad."

Seth just smirked in reply.

"Yeah, no problem." He added with a nod. "You just be careful and hurry back."

"Will do." Roun nodded before walking past his younger brother and making his way towards the exit of the main house.

"Wait up." A familiar voice stopped him mid-stride however.

Roun turned to see Zadavia, who he'd also seemed to have woken from her sleep. Unlike Seth however, who was still in his pajamas, this young lady was dressed as if she was ready to go out. A fact that confused Roun greatly.

"I'm coming with you." She stated, causing Roun's eyebrow to tip upwards slightly.

"That's probably not a good idea." Roun immediately shot down the plan, drawing a look of annoyance to Zadavia's face. "Look, I've gotten you in enough trouble as it stands – and things are likely to get dangerous, so you're probably better off here where my parents can protect you."

"And what about my parents?" She chastised him. "Who's going to protect them?"

Roun paused briefly.

"That's what I thought." Zadavia continued. "Look, I appreciate the hospitality but I can't hide out here forever – and evidently, neither can you. So if you're willing to risk going back home, for whatever reason, I'm coming and you're taking me."

Roun glanced over to Seth briefly, only to watch the young Itami shrug, before turning his attention back toward Zadavia. There was little he could say in the face of her determination after all.

"For the record, let me just say that this is a terrible idea." Roun started with a disclaimer. "But I really don't have the time… or any real ground to actually stop you, so you win. But, if you're going to be tagging along you have to stay close and you can’t take any unnecessary risks."

Zadavia just smiled in reply.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Her smile broadened into a grin. "Let's go."