Ziusudra took a sip from his flask before he began. "So back in my day people worshiped a bunch of different deities. Most of them were just spirits. Some were even Celestials that had long since passed on. But there was one deity who called himself God, but we knew him as Tawasi. Now, droves of people worshiped Tawasi and all in their own ways. His biggest following however grew so large they basically took over the world. Now you see, there were still governments and kings and leaders but if they didn't recognize Tawasi as the one true "God '' then the people didn't follow them. The thing about Tawasi was that nobody ever saw him. Just stories covertly spread by his angels. But faith in him grew exponentially and anybody that questioned him or the church formed in his honor were dealt with harshly. So one time Tawasi had ordered a group of angels to keep watch over the humans to make sure they stayed loyal to him. One day one of the watchers was sickened by all the blood spilled in his fathers name. So he went to his father and asked him to put a stop to it, but Tawasi refused. He loved it, thought it was entertaining. So the watcher decided to live amongst the humans and teach them the truth about Tawasi." "What was his name?" Bonrue asked. "Azazel." Ziusudra answered. "And Azazel ended up falling in love with a human and fathered offspring of his own. The other watchers saw this and followed suit by taking human wives and having children. Now this pissed Tawasi off, so he sent his first son Seraphiel the Silent, and a slew of others to kill all the watchers and all their children, and they were thorough. So as punishment Tawasi decided not to kill Azazel, but to imprison him on Hyunda for eternity." "So what about Aeolus?" Bonrue interrupted. "Damn kid, I'm getting to him." Ziusudra took another sip. "So centuries go by and Hyunda is plagued by the church. Even I couldn't rid my kingdom of its members. So around this time Aeolus is born. Now no one knows how he found Azazel's prison or how he freed him. But he did so as a child and as thanks Azazel told him everything. I guess Aeolus wasn't a fan of Tawasi or his church because he agreed to take up a sword or in his case swords against them in order to free humanity, and Azazel gave him the means to do so by giving his life." Ziusudra shook the glowing vial at Bonrue. "I don't know the specifics but Azazel's essence allowed Aeolus to ascend, and with his newfound power he traveled Hyunda loosening Tawasi's grip on the people oppressed by his church. That's how I met him. He helped me clear Tawasi's followers out of my kingdom. He even slayed the Great eel Bilan. But something went wrong when he challenged Tawasi. What had happened I don't know, I was already down here with the last two vials just incase he failed, and he did. All I know after that is that Tawasi initiated the blinding and the rest, I assume is history... or not if no one remembers." Bonrue took a moment to take in all that he heard. "Hold on, you said two vials but you only showed me one." Ziusudra took another sip." A while back another kid found his way here actually looking for a vial. But he seemed sketchy so I only gave him one even though it would mean I'm stuck down here until someone else showed up, that's just the kind of upstanding guy I am." "So I don't seem sketchy?" Bonrue asked. "Not as sketchy as that other kid was. And he wasn't even an Eldritch and that's saying something." Ziusudra took a big chug out of his flask and clumsily placed the vial into Bonrue's hand. "Look kid this stuff will change you. Aeolus even said it could bring somebody back from the dead. So make sure you take care in how you use it. And don't tell anybody about it. Now get outta here, it's time for me to leave this place." Ziusudra shoved Bonrue and he stumbled back and was suddenly standing in front of the stone head. "Wait, hold on. What am I supposed to do?" Bonrue frantically felt around the symbols on the face but this time they remained normal carvings. "And what's an Eldritch?" Bonrue asked, quietly giving up on the statue.

The drunken man's words swam through Bonrue's head as he approached the dock to await the return of the ferry. A man in a white suit was leaning against a lamp post staring at the water, but Bonrue paid him no mind and sat on a bench across from him. He reached into his pocket and felt for the vial the drunk had given him, it was warm. "You okay kid?" A voice broke his train of thought. Bonrue looked up to find the man in the white suit standing in front of him. "You look troubled." The man said with a concerned smile on his face. "I'm fine." Bonrue replied tightening his grip on the vial in his pocket. The man chuckled and sat on the bench beside him. "I used to have that look on my face all the time when I was your age. You know what my father would tell me when he saw me looking like that?" Bonrue ignored him and remained silent. "He told me that if I was doing what I was supposed to, I wouldn't have time to make that face." The man held out a card for Bonrue to take. "Go on, I think you'll find it helpful." Bonrue took the card and examined it. Only thing on it was four right angles and on the other side was a series of numbers that looked like coordinates. "By the way the name's Lijuan, it's nice to meet you." The man held his hand out in greeting. Not understanding the gesture Bonrue didn't shake it. "Bonrue Ortega, nice to meet you." Bonrue looked back down at the card and back up again to find Lijuan was gone. He began to look around for him but at this point he was getting used to strange things happening and instead leaned his head back and closed his eyes until the ferry arrived. Although it never did. Fed up with waiting he decided to explore the island and see if the archeologist had a way off of it. On his way he stopped and examined the statue that had swallowed him earlier. He ran his fingers across the markings once again but the structure remained dormant. His attention was drawn away from the statue by the sound of rushing air getting closer to him. Something slammed into the ground behind him showering him with debris and cloaking itself in a cloud of dust. The dust hid him as well but before he could use the cover to make an escape a second impact blew away the dust from the previous one. An abnormally warm breeze blew in from the south and carried the dust that was still obscuring the area away. "See, i told you that you were just being paranoid mother, It's just a boy." Xtabay said, brushing the dust off of her dress and taking a step toward Bonrue. "Yes, but this is where I felt that strange sensation emanating from. There's no way I could ignore something like that this close to HIS prison." Queen Xochi replied, stepping out of the small crater she created when she landed. Bonrue recognized Xochi from the news but this was the first time he'd seen Xtabay's face and the pressure they gave off made him feel uneasy. "Boy, who are you? And what are you doing here?" At this point Xtabay had invaded his personal space to ask her questions. She was pretty, and that made him even more uncomfortable than the sinister aura her and her mother radiated. Off balance Bonrue stumbled back into the stone head. When he made contact the symbols on the head lit up once again. Xtabay jumped back when the head's mouth opened and swallowed Bonrue once again. "Where'd he go?" Xtabay asked, looking at her mother. Xochi took a deep breath and closed her eyes. After a few seconds she smirked. "It doesn't seem to be our problem anymore." "Huh? What do you mean?" Xochi ignored her daughter's question and stood in front of the statue. With a strike that was almost too fast for Xtabay to follow, Xochi cleaved the stone head in two. "This machine is dangerous, destroy the two halves." Without hesitation Xtabay annihilated what was left of the statue in an explosion. "Good. Now let's go, Sahn and Lukohé should be in Uraeus already." Xtabay smiled and shifted into her serpent body. Her white scales shimmered in the light of flaming wings as she circled in the air above her mother. Xochi gave a commanding glance over her shoulder before leaping onto her daughter's head. The two of them flew off toward Uraeus. Lijuan seemed to step out of thin air standing right where Xochi's gaze was directed before she left. "Man she's scary. But did she really have to destroy the thing?" He complained looking at the smoldering remains of the statue. "She's very cunning to be able to perceive us while hidden in your pocket plane." The boy that traveled to the island with Bonrue and Cassius stepped out of thin air and stood next to Lijuan. "Yeah, we should probably get out of here. Plus the kid activated it twice so there's no doubt he's the anomaly on this world." Lijuan said, looking down at the boy who was now dressed in all white as well. I'd like more data if at all possible." The boy replied. "Come on, you saw how she looked at us. I don't want to fight her. And her daughter is a damn vessel. Maybe if Honey were here I'd be up for it but she's not so let's just go?" Lijuan stared at the boy waiting for a response. "I too would have preferred Honey on this mission." The boy replied dryly. Lijuan sighed, "Fuck you Dunbar." And the two of them vanished in a flash of light.

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