The two went further into the crippled ship, shooting down its long pipe-filled hallways eventually ending up at a hangar filled with debris. Light invaded the room from the wrecked hangar doors, shining straight on a pearl white round pod surrounded by others like it that were missing parts. Inside the vehicle was a front chair with a steering wheel and two stretched seats on each side, allowing space for up to five people.
“Set him down and we’ll be gone.” Rylen tapped it with his palm before opening the door, allowing Zio to place Tsuna inside and strap him in. “Alright! Time for a test run!” Rylen rushed into the front seat and pulled a shift. A button blinked, shutting off as Rylen’s pinky finger slid over the top.
“Test? You slept instead of testing? Are you sure this salvaged junk will even take off?”
“Why wouldn’t I be confident about what I built? I’d question the maker who’s required to assess their experiments first.” A hum from within a vehicle shook them as the pod slowly raised into the air. “So, while this warms up a moment, inform me of what I missed on your venture to The Crossing. The lad’s out cold for good reason, I hope.” His hand swayed over to Tsuna. “Skip the minor details, including the part where I step outside to get a clean whiff of air to Saria, furious as hell, for whatever dice roll of a reason she’s mad today and we end up here.” He shifted his hand in a circular motion as if telling Zio to go on.
“To start, we made it inside of The Crossing and it was nothing like those who’ve been there have said. It was empty, with pillars of the Deities sitting in the room, surrounding some sort of contraption. Our theory of there being some sort of second tower is developing into a more credible hypothesis.” Zio sighed and collapsed back into his seat. “Like you predicted, the kid could open the door and once we made it in, The Captain did as he does and tried to kill me again. He shot the kid too.”
Rylen scanned Tsuna’s body as he spoke, squinting around every exposed segment of his body. “No blood or bullet wound?”
“No. He was completely unharmed when I checked, but that’s where things become... complicated. I felt something when he awakened, something all too familiar. I’m absolutely certain that the kid carries a part of Infernus’ essence inside of him.”
The engine blew, the pod thrusting them out of the hangar and into the sky. Rylen turned, seeing Zio desperately reaching out his arms to secure himself in the vehicle. “Sorry about the rush! I heard something ghastly in the wind about the lad having the dragon deity inside of his body! Either the light’s getting to me or the lack of food that isn’t merely partially edible. Say again?”
“You know damn well what I said! We’re sitting next to someone who’s doomed to turn. It’s just a matter of when! I wanted to kill him and still think we need to!”
Suddenly the pod slowed, Rylen turning his head towards the Twin Sea.
“No.” Rylen’s voice became void of expression. “You’re not to kill him unless I say so. That’s an order.”
Rylen’s change of emotion brought a shock to Zio’s face. “Tch, fine.”
“I can see why you want to. It’s been centuries since Infernus’ disappearance and we discover him here, of all places. Inside a false tower posing as The Crossing? Are you certain about what you felt?”
“Completely. When we were in the tower, I watched him kill The Captain. He’d, out of nowhere, obtained a fire affinity and killed him with a single punch. After that transpired, he looked dumbstruck like he had no inkling of what he’d just done.”
“When you put it that way, it sounds like the influence. But what, why, or how would his ether be so far away from the continent? Naturally, it should be bound to his mountain, right?”
“While that should be the case, we can’t expect anything natural to occur when it involves Infernus. Ether, even from a deity, shouldn’t have the capacity of possessing people or creatures. Infernus was the only oppressive deity.”
“According to legend, none of them were.” Rylen bent his fingers twice, implying quotations. “The Draconic War might’ve played some part in that, but we’re not here to debate the contrary of what history records are composed of. We’re talking about the lad. Why is he unconscious and slobbering on himself?”
“After what he did to The Captain, I ran him to the beach to find you. The influence was becoming more potent, him mentioning how difficult it was to breathe and flames coming from his mouth. He lost control while struggling to keep up and so I struck him with the Azure Blaze technique.”
“Must have been serious. Doesn’t that technique normally kill dragons and even people?”
“I knew if he was holding Infernus, then this technique would do nothing to him. I took a chance and I was right. Rather than killing him, he lost consciousness.”
Silence passed between the two of them, the smell of the seas sweeping through their nostrils. The path ahead was clear, allowing Rylen to look back. “Are you alright? Using that couldn’t have been easy.”
“No.” Zio tilted his head back, looking towards the waters above. “I’ve transformed nearly twice in one day. Fought several times, been shot, and I even used the Azure Blaze. I’m more exhausted than you could imagine.”
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen you pushed to the limit. Bright side, you have about twelve hours ahead of you to do nothing but relax. I’d take that chance now if I were you.”
Crossing his arms, Zio shifted himself until he was comfortable in his seat. “I’ll do that. Don’t go yelling or flipping the ship sideways while I’m asleep.”
“You can count on me. The Twin Sea is calm and it should be night when we get far enough away from that weird aurora. Rest up. We may require you sooner than we know.”
“Yeah, yeah! Now let me sleep.”
As Zio drifted off, Rylen mumbled to himself, leaning forward onto his knuckle as he closed his right eye. “There’s no uncertainty about it. What she told us all those years ago is developing. I posit this is who she sent. A boy dangerously close to being possessed by Infernus.” He sighed, rubbing his eyes. “If you were here, what would you do? I don’t think you understand the magnitude of responsibility that you’ve dropped on my shoulders?” He straightened up before reaching for the sky and twisting his back. “I’m whining. That’s the last thing I should be doing. For the good of all of us, I must see this through.”
The pod slightly altered, enough to jerk Rylen’s attention behind him. Eye to eye, he and Tsuna locked stares. Tsuna’s face held a mild confusion that looked as if a wrong choice of words would quickly change that.
Rylen moved his hand into the air, tilting sideways while simultaneously smiling. “Hey there! I’m Rylen Gran!” The two sat in silence, Tsuna gazing at the surrounding sky before shifting his attention to the Elf. “This is the part where you reach to shake my hand.” Rylen’s hand angled towards him nonchalantly. “Anytime you’re ready.”
Tsuna played along, accepting his hand with a firm grasp and shaking it. Across from him, he recognized Zio, who appeared to be asleep. Above was the sea, the same as below.
“Unfamiliar with introductions? Great, I’ll instruct you as I am very proficient at introducing myself even in the most dangerous of circumstances. First, we start with a name.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
He provoked Tsuna’s glare. “Don’t lecture to me like I’m stupid.”
“That wasn’t my aim at all! I had just assumed, since you’ve been asleep as much as I have on this journey, that we might need to touch base before we figure out a plan forward.”
“That’s a therapist’s rhetoric, preached to troublemaking idiots. For starters, I don’t even know who you are or why would I need to find a way forward with you?”
Rylen blankly stared at him. “I just introduced myself, but we’ll go your way about it. A discussion would be more apt for this case than finding a way forward for now.”
His eccentricities were noticeably cool, smooth, and willful. Rylen was obviously comfortable being the way he was, yet his pretty boy looks gave Tsuna another impression. This is the type of guy you’d expect is a player, but has a closet full of action figures. Tsuna’s eyes averted, reasoning about the number of manga in his closet. Can’t claim I’m any better, though. “The name’s Tsuna Tachibana and I have questions, if you don’t mind answering.”
Rylen’s eyes widened, shifting in his chair to show his full consideration. “Happy to meet you. Sure, I will answer as best I can. Surprising that you’ve been here for less than a day and already have two questions. Hopefully, one of them’s not ‘Where am I’.”
The air around Rylen calmed Tsuna. Enough that he felt comfortable enough to lean closer to the Elf. “Wow, you’re a lot more cooperative than the guy over there.” Tsuna smirked and nodded towards Zio.
“Zio’s our own protagonist, so don’t mind him. He can be less irritable when he wishes to be, and it takes very specific things for him not to be.”
He just… called him a protagonist. Tsuna pursed his lips. “Well, first question then. How hard is it to find someone here? Once I get my bearings, I have people to find.”
“Are there any factors involved in that? Networks? Connections? Of course not. That would depend on who you know and how significant their reach is. Finding a particular individual can be anywhere between easy to impossible, especially if they’ve never caused a stir here or there.”
I hoped to hear something different, but that was to be expected.
Rylen nodded, then placed a hand on his shoulder. “Positivity and ambition are all you need. Keep pushing on and I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for. Now, what’s the other question?”
“Second question.” Tsuna looked ahead. “This thing we’re sitting in. Is it flying itself?”
“Nope.”
“Then why are you looking at me and not steering?”
“Well, I didn’t want to be impolite to a unique visitor. Besides, the skies are clear right now.”
A flock of birds swooped through the sky, one of them straying too far. Suddenly, it crashed into the front of the pod, causing it to jerk about. Tsuna slid down to the bottom of his seat while Zio’s eyes popped wide.
“Rylen!” Zio yelled, reaching towards the steering wheel just as Rylen grabbed it.
Rylen laughing at their attitudes, settling the pod. “Nothing flipped. We’re going to be alright.”
Zio released a frustrated sigh, his irritable stare falling onto Tsuna, who was adjusting his seatbelt. “Remind me to fly next time. I can trust myself to not try to kill us while everyone else is asleep.”
“The wheel’s all yours right now if you want it. But given your condition, you’d kill us before I would. So, I’ll keep flying.”
For several minutes, no one spoke as the pod glided through the sky. The moon’s rays broke through the sea above them, mirroring on the sea below, and the uncanny light faded away. Shiny bodied creatures splashed out of the waters above, dancing from side to side along the trail of the pod. Rylen lifted his palm, a creature shooting a squirt of water towards him, landing on his head and giving him a hearty laugh.
“Hey.” Tsuna said, lifting his head. “If we’re here, what happened to everybody else on that island?”
“Now, I’d hate to sound like a judge.” Rylen spoke, this time keeping his attention straight ahead. “But I’ll ask you a question. Hypothetically, what would you do in a scenario where you’re trapped on all sides by characters who’ve jeopardized your life more than once?”
“But is leaving them to die the answer to that? Threats without action wouldn’t make me leave people stranded.”
“Quite the heart of gold you have, lad. That’ll merely get you killed in most parts. Ambitious goals and good willed speeches meant nothing to that group. To them, we’re paid mercenaries with a common cause. Our goals is where all similarities ended.”
“And just what were those goals?”
“Shut up.” Zio interrupted. “Going on like you know shit with this holier than thou attitude. Countless times, the two of us have stuck our necks out for you in the brief time you’ve been here and suddenly we’re bad guys? Get real, kid.”
Tsuna’s pulse sped up, his teeth grinding before he spoke up. “Don’t call me kid.”
“It’s very fitting, so I think I will. It’s kids who assume we can solve everything without fighting, with everyone surviving, and living out their dreams like a fairy tale. Pampered ass children have no place in the thick of things, where their coddled lives remain unchanged thanks to folk like us.”
“Just who the hell do you think you are? There’s not a damned thing about me you know. Where I came from, how I grew up!”
“Different story, ending in the same spoiled kid.”
“Quiet down, Zio.” Rylen said. “You’re getting worked up over nothing.”
“No. The kid’s challenging us like he has some authority here and I’m telling him the truth. We don’t need him. I should ask him who does he think he is?”
Tsuna furiously pulled at his seatbelt, unbuckling it, and stood over the composed Zio. “You don’t need me?!” Tsuna lifted a foot on the edge of the pod. The wind nearly blew him off its side. “Then what the hell am I doing here? I’ll figure things out on my own.”
Zio’s eyes locked onto Tsuna’s as he folded his arms.
“Do it. We’re hundreds of miles in the middle of nowhere. You dying out here will change nothing.”
Tsuna stared at him with resentment as Zio stared back, their tension growing.
“Wait!” said Rylen as he twisted back to grab hold of Tsuna. However, it was too late.
A powerful wind struck Tsuna’s chest, blowing him over the threshold of the pod. His blood went cold, a nervous smile appearing on his face. The echo of metal unsheathing rang in his ears as his body slumped into something hot that encompassed his entire body.
“You’re nothing but trouble!” Zio shouted, his scaled wing extending from his back and wrapping around the rear end of the pod.
It was then Tsuna laughed, so loud that he couldn’t hear the air in his ears. I knew it! It felt like he hadn’t laughed in years as his body felt relieved the more he inhaled.
Zio’s stare remained as he set Tsuna back inside of the pod.
Rylen’s shock turned into interest, as Tsuna’s laughing fit infected him as well. The both of them sharing a moment. “I understand now. He called your bluff, Zio. The lad’s sharper than you give him credit for.”
“You little bastard!” Zio said, clutching Tsuna by the collar and shoving him back into his chair.
“Not so smart now, are you, asshole? Tricked by a ‘kid’. Now that’s pathetic.”
An eyebrow on Rylen’s face lifted, and a sigh ended his laughter. “Quick-witted, and has the balls to back up what he says. Color me intrigued. You ever use a weapon before, lad?”
His question made Zio perk up. “You can’t be serious? Asking him that means you have a mind to involve him with us. We know nothing about him and he’s still volatile. Anything could happen even while we’re in this pod.”
“I’ve taken all that into consideration, but I’d like to see if he possesses the potential. You mentioned he killed The Captain, so maybe he can be of some use to us.”
“But that doesn’t mean…” Zio bit his tongue. “There’s no use arguing with you! Leora won’t comply with this plan of yours. Watch.” He swung his body straight. “I’m going back to sleep.”
Tsuna scanned over the two of them. Sheesh, they’re like a married couple. He smirked, his thoughts running back to what took place at the tower and what went on in Yanagawa. I have to find them. “Hey, Rylen right? I have a few other questions.”
Rylen raised a finger, his attention still concentrated on the sky ahead. “There’s a lot going through my head right now. I have to request that you preserve the questions for when we land. It’ll be awhile, so you can figure out what you really want to ask me. After that, we can get you a formal welcome into Zenith.”
“Zenith?”
Rylen waved his finger at him. “No questions, remember!”
“Fine, fine.”
What I really want to ask him? Perplexed, Tsuna listened to what he said and relaxed in his chair. Rylen seems to have answers to everything I’d need to know, but there’s something about him I can’t get a read on. Eyes traveling to the other side of the pod, he studied Zio. Zio’s still pissed off for whatever reason. He can keep that bullshit attitude to himself.. And what does he mean that I’m volatile? Tsuna took a deep breath, perking up almost instantly after in bewilderment and putting his palm on his chest. I just realized I can breathe just fine again, but my body is still hot. Am I adapting? It’s possible, I suppose. A glint from his left hand reflected in his eye as the gem on the backside of it had a distinct change. It’s crimson now? Could that be why I’m hot? If I take this at face value for what it is, then it has to have something to do with that dragon. Wonder why he’s been so quiet since the last time? Whatever the reason, I know he’s the one who changed me. He peeked down at his exposed feet as he wiggled his toes. I’ll need to discover why I feel like this and can control fire. Tsuna peered off to the distance between the Twin Sea, his eyes growing heavier with each passing moment. Then, abruptly, the dragon’s voice reverberated in his ears.
“Rest. He's coming nearer and you must be ready.”