In the Ashes

[Kyrian Tidus]

The weather was pleasant, with a crisp Autumn wind blowing around the world. The sun shone down, people were happy, and the birds were singing in the city of Palestine, Texas. A young man walked out of the La Quinta inn and began to trek towards the Wal-Mart up the freeway. A few feet down the road, the male suddenly vanished as though he were taken from the world.

On the edge of town, in a woody area, there was a halfway burned down house. Before the fire, it has been a magnificent home. The ash-stained outside had been a navy blue with white overlays. It had stood at a proud two stories until it was practically all burned down. A few feet away from the house, something strange happened. A male appeared, from out of nowhere, and walked towards the remains of the house. He wore a purple tee shirt and black jeans, on his feet were sandals, at his waist was a katana sheath, and on his face were a pair of shades. As he walked up to the house, many memories went through his head of his times here. He stood on the front porch and stared at the door, a little hesitant to return to the house after so many years.

[Sage Tidus]

Sage hummed as the black mustang pulled up infront of La Quinta Inn, the dark tints and roaring engine seemed to intimidate most who saw it. Although, there it was something else that was off about the vehicle. A chilling presence, as if warding off any who would dare approach. It seemed as if the air was chilled, no not the air it was the feeling one got when entering darkness or a place of fear. This spine chilling sensation, was the very Aura of Fear.

The icy presence seemed to coming from the 5'11 male that stepped from the vehicle. Sage smirked, as his left hand rose fixing the black fedora upon his spiked black hair. The black v-neck the male wore, seemed to be a snug fit upon the lean yet muscular male. A brow rose, as he looked over the Inn. As he slowly approached, his shirt hiding the twin sheathed trench blades that rested upon the back of his jeans. His hands sliding into the pockets of his form fitting light colored jeans, the clothing carried many tears and Frays that revealed the white stitching of the fabric.

Sage quickly entered the Inn,"Good Afternoon, Sir. How may I help you?" the cheerful looking young man behind the desk smiled at the male as he entered, yet once Sage approached and the deadly aura settled in that cheerful smile faltered. Sage raised a brow, he was used to people quickly fearing him once his aura settled in. Sage leaned over desk, grey hues on the younger man's features."I'm looking for someone, but the name of Kyrian. Kyrian Tidus, is he staying here?" He had been looking for his brother or at least supposed brother for over six months, now here he was at this rinky-dink in.

The young man quickly shook his head,"Sir, I can't divulge if someone is staying here or not it goes against our polices." Sage chuckled, as he simply shook his head. His left hand sliding into his pocket, the male withdrew a wad of bills withdrawing to hundred dollar bills. As he stuffed them into the front jacket pocket of the males uniform,"Go grab a cup of coffee." the male smiled warmly, the young man looked at him awe struck before nodding his head. Sage's aura was beginning to truly work it's magic, the young man nodded his head quickly fear flooding his gaze as he raced off.

Sage smiled, as he watched the backwards glancing male until he was gone. The male laid both hands upon the smooth counter top, his muscles flexing as his arms lifted and his legs kicked from the ground his form jumping over the counter. His left hand sliding into his pocket as he withdrew his wallet. A small black leather thing, quickly withdrawing a picture he had found lodged beneath his window whippers. On the back of the picture were the words,"He is your brother.-Dad" Sage had never known his father, a new chapter in his life was unfolding and his 'Brother' should have some answers for him.

Sage allowed his fingers to quickly move across keyboard, until he found a photo ID copy that was a mirror copy of his own photo. A brow rose,"Room..214." Sage smirked, as he took a blank keycard from beside the computer. As he slid it into one of the slots, he smiled as the keycode was burned onto the keycard. As he quickly cleared out of the window before turning humming to himself as he moved from behind the desk. Sages form moved up the stairs, as he slowly walked down the long hall way."209..212." hues flickered over as he turned finding the door at the end of the hall beside a large glass window."214."

He smirked, as he slid the keycard into the slot the steady green light unlocking the door. Sage chuckled, as he pushed the door closed behind him as he entered the empty room. His fingers quickly sliding the locks into place, as he turned and began to look about the vacant room.

[Victoria Belmis]

The soft fresh wind rushed through Victoria's hair and neck causing a pleasant shiver to go down her spine. After spending a few nights in the local city, Victoria decided to explore the town's surroundings, specially the wood area, it seemed calm and peaceful, and it would be good to get away from the noisy and crowded town. Not that Victoria didn't love the noise, confusion and excitement that a good city provided, but once in a while it was good to be a in silent place.

Victoria wore a red sleeveless t-shirt, black worn out shorts and her trustworthy sneakers. As she entered into the forest, she took a deep breath, letting the pure air fill her lungs. About twenty minutes into her walk Victoria encountered what it seemed to be an abode. Well, what was left of it. Most of it was burned down. Victoria found the scenario almost picturesque, in the middle of a calm and relaxing woods, stood a pure show of destruction and chaos. A small grin appeared in the corner of her lips.

Victoria yawned, feeling the small hours of sleep now begging to be compensated. The area seemed safe enough for Victoria to drop her guard for an hour or two, so she climbed to a tree nearby, picked a solid branch and leaned herself against the main log, closing her eyes. Victoria was used to sleep in uncomfortable places, that was something part of her way of living.

The time passed.

Victoria sleep was interrupted by a passerby cracking sticks and dry leafs under their feet. Reluctantly opening her eyes, Victoria looked through the branches. In front of the burned down abode was a male. Victoria stood up on the branch trying to get a better view of the man, the branch cracking under her feet,she ignored it. She decided to observe the passerby, out of curiosity, without being noticed.

[Kyrian Tidus]

The male finally stopped staring at the door and moved his hand out in order to clasps the dented golden doorknob. While placing his hand upon the deformed orb, he heard a noise in the trees behind him and covertly glanced behind him to see the source of the noise, his shades hiding where his amethyst hues were glancing. Normally, hearing something in a tree was nothing unusual in a wooded area, however, this place was not safe even after years. There would be pole waiting for him to come back, or just simply looking to find something of interest in the house. He couldn't let his guard down in this place. Especially since the wards around this place to hold back any dangerous non-sentient beings were fading.

After examining his surroundings for a little bit and finding nothing wrong, he lifted his shoulders and then dropped back down to a level position, shrugging at finding nothing amiss. The male proceeded to open the door and enter into the house. As soon as he stepped into his old home, all the memories came rushing back at him. All the times of joy with Tiberius, all the times of depression, the times of pain and of healing. He remembered everything of importance in the span of time it took for the door to swing shut behind him.

He was, finally, home.

[Astaroth Merula]

Astaroth smirked from his post on top of the fire-damaged house, watching quite an interesting site. The young male, his charge, had come back to this boring place. However, that was not was Astaroth had his eye upon. Rather, the demon was watching the female sitting in a tree on the edge of the clearing. She appeared to be one of his kind, a demon that is, and she was pretty cute. Although, the thing that amused him was her study of Kyrian without the elemental even noticing.

The demon lifted an apple he had gotten from Kyrian's tree out back to his lips and took a bite, trying not to laugh out loud, instead letting a small chuckle escape his lips. He picked up another apple as his unaware master walked into his home, and tossed it at the female demon who had caught his attention. He spoke to her, soft enough to where the man inside wouldn't be able to hear, but loud enough to where her heightened hearing would be able to pick up, "Hey there. What brings a treat like you all the way out here?"

[Victoria Belmis]

Hidden in the tree branches Victoria saw the male turn for a bit at the sound of the branch cracking beneath her. Victoria held her breath for seconds hoping he wouldn't see her, he would probably think she was spying on him. Well, technically she was, but not for any mischievous reasons that he might think. Victoria sighted in relieve when the male finally turned again to the house, entering inside.

A few moments after the male disappeared into the abode , Victoria felt something banging on her shoulder, falling behind her on the thick branch she was standing on. She turned her head to see what had hit her. An apple. Confused, she looked around trying to figure out the direction from which the apple had appear, until she heard a cheerful male's voice coming from the top of the house. “ Hey there. What brings a treat like you all the way out here?”

Victoria glanced at the male. A demon. Her senses sharpened. She examined him a phew seconds before answering. She couldn't trust him just yet. “ None of your business, that is.” She responded aggressively. If he wanted to attacked her, he would have probably have done it by now, seeing that he apparently spotted her before she noticed. But she still couldn't let her guard down.

[Sage Tidus]

Sage sighed,"Nothing can ever be easy, can it?" hues flickered about all he wanted was to find his supposed 'Brother' but no. He wasn't in the hotel at the moment, hues dragged about the room."Time to set to work." Sage quickly moved about, as he moved to the drawers. His right and left hand dropping to the knobs of the drawer, fingers settling and wrapping about the smooth wooden knobs as he tugged open the drawer.

The male quickly began to set about tossing the contents about, his right hand lifting up a bible as he placed it on top of the dresser with great care. The male raised a brow, as he found a picture. It was Kyrian and another man standing infront of a large home, "Well seems he didn't have it all too bad." Sage took the photo as he closed the drawer, turning he quickly left the room and returned to the lobby.

Sage found the cheerful assistant once again at his post, as Sage was on his way out he stopped a thought settling in his head. The male turned quickly, as he approached the desk once more. Hues narrowed, as the young man lost his cheerful demeanor fear once again flooding his features. Withdrawing the picture from his pocket, Sage held it up infront of the young man."Where is this place?" he raised a brow, as he jabbed at the photo. The assistant remained silent for a moment, as he stared at the picture."Uh, it's an old burned down building now.."

Sage shook his head,"I didn't ask that. Where is it?" his tone taking on an angry and violent tone, as he now glared at the other male. The young assistant lost all color in his features,"Uh, it's in the back woods not to far off from here. Five minutes drive tops." Sage smiled, a happy and cheerful look crossed his features. As his right hand rose and gently slapped the male on the cheek twice,"Thank you." turning he left the Inn and slid into the drivers seat of his car. The engine roaring to life as he drove down the rode hues flickered to the side of the road until he finally found a small dirt path that went off road.

Sage turned off the main road onto the forest path, as he drove along the bumpy road. After a few minutes of driving, the male entered a clearing. Hues narrowed upon the burnt building before him, as the engine shut off and the male stepped from the car. Sage took a deep breath and stared at the building, as he approached his right hand gripping the door knob as he twisted it and stepped within."Hello...Kyrian!?" the male called out into the home hoping that his 'brother' was here.

[Astaroth Merula]

Astaroth stared at the female as she said "None of your business, that is." He suddenly began laughing silently to himself, as though he had just heard the best joke in the world. His clear voice was filled with a melodic joy that would reach the female's ears. However, he wasn't laughing at her words, but rather her attitude. "So you've got some backbone, huh? I like a girl with a little attitude."

He would silence himself upon hearing the roar of a motor approaching them, once again tensed up and ready to go on an attack. A black mustang pulled up to the house and from inside the car, a male in a black fedora with a black v-neck and some frayed jeans came forth. Astaroth tried to think of what human social category the male would fall under. He looked like one of the ones called 'hipsters.' However, the demon quickly dismissed the thought from his head as he rubbed his bracelets, watching the newcomer walk towards the door.

After watching the male walk into the house and hearing him shout of Kyrian's name, the demon jumped down from the house roof and landed nimbly on the ground, looking up to wink at the female demon. He would then proceed to enter into the house behind the one who came seeking his master. The steel bracelets he wore slowly shifted, atom by atom, to change shape into two small, steel, razor-sharp knives. He began to stalk the new male, not sure as to whether or not he was a threat to his master's life.

Also, this would provide a great opportunity for Astaroth to finally present himself to Kyrian. He was sick of silently protecting the male form the shadows, and was now ready to present himself to the kid who he had watch grow up into a strong young man. He would save his life from this new threat and gain Kyrian's favor.

[Kyrian Tidus]

The male walked further into the house, stepping into the ash-covered living room. He would walk instantly to the fireplace and dust the ash and soot off of it, cleaning off the trophies and pictures and other small memories. He traced his hand over the ornately designed fireplace, with two dragons on either side, flying up to the heavens where the gods were. During his child hood, seeing all of the carving in the fireplace, and hearing the stories that his uncle would come up for them had fueled his hunger to know about the supernatural.

However, he wasn't here to admire the fireplace. He was her to uncover a secret he had learned about. As he moved his hand slowly and gently over the top of the fireplace, he heard a car motor rumbling outside the house. Quickly sliding his katana out of its sheath, he stepped into the shadows of the darkest corner of the house as the door opened and a male voice called out to him.

Kyrian tightened his grip on the katana's hilt, watching the other male come into view. He seemed to be dressed for a day trip, his clothes would be of no use to him against Kyrian's katana. What was this male doing in his house looking for him anyway. He had told nobody at the hotel where he was going, and nobody knew he was even in town. He must be some form of supernatural come after him.

The male's training kicked in automatically as he silently stepped behind the other person and rose he blade swiftly, bringing it up in front of the flashy male. The sharp, nearly unbreakable edge of the sword was pressed against the exposed flesh of the other male's neck. This way, Kyrian could easily slit his throat if he tried to attack him. He was not going to be caught off guard today. "What do you want from me, Fedora Boy?" Kyrian growled into the other male's ear.

[Sage Tidus]

Sage looked about the house, hues slowly flickering about the dark and ash filled house. A smile crossed his features, this remind him of one of the many places he had torched. His hands both sliding to rest into his backpockets just beneath his sheathed trench blades. Sage stopped as he heard the male speak, hues shut as his left hand undid the clasp of his sheath. Fingers slid within the tench blades holds as the blade rose, hues narrowed as he hated having this blade at his throat.

Sage sighed, "Fedora boy? God, you arn't witty at all." Sage rolled his eyes,"Now you have two seconds to that sword from my throat, before it gets ugly in here. Sword boy.". Hues continued to flicker about as hues narrowed on the hilt of the katana, the Fire Elemental smirked as he began to focus upon the hilt. Sage knew within a matter of seconds it would be hot enough to give the male third degree burns if he didn't release the weapon.

He did not speak a word as, his right hand followed his left hands movements and silently and covertly undid the clasp of his sheath griping the holds of his trench blade. As he knew he would have to talk to this hard headed man that was his so called brother.

[Victoria Belmis]

The male seamed almost amused with Victoria's defensive comeback. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Victoria enjoyed a flirt once in a while, but only from people she, either considered weaker than her so they wouldn't be seen as a threat, or simply just someone who wouldn't most likely try to harm her in anyway. This new male didn't fit in neither of this categories just yet.

The male's attention was soon caught by the sound of a motor nearby, Victoria slowly followed his gaze towards a black car that pulled up next to the burned down house. A new male came out of it shouting for someone... Kyrian? Or whoever that was, as he entered the house. Could he be referring to the first male that appeared? Most likely.
The demon followed the man, leaving Victoria but not without a charming blink. Victoria felt herself blush slightly surprised by the man's gesture, rapidly rebuking herself in her mind, and shaking her head.

She was alone again in the woods, as the three males entered the house. She felt curiosity piling up inside her. She really had nothing better to do. And something interesting might be going on. Those three man could have a connection somehow, or just an awkward encounter, either one seemed entertaining enough. After debating in her mind for some minutes if she should leave or investigate, Victoria climbed down the tree and walked towards the house, slowly pushing the door and entering quietly.

Upon the entrance Victoria saw the first two men that entered the house, one of them seemed to have sword pointed at the other man's neck. This one, Victoria could see wasn't as defenseless as it seemed, he was discreetly reaching some kind of weapon behind is back. She kept herself silent.

[Kyrian Tidus]

Kyrian noticed the other male reaching behind his back for something, at the same time he felt the hilt of his blade heating up. Knowing that the heat was coming form the male, Kyrian jumped into the air and curled his body, pushing his feet out in front of him and into the other male's back. He would use the male's back in order to give himself a boost, pushing him backwards away from him, also releasing his grip on his katana.

While flying the the air, he would put his right arm back at a 90-degree angle in order to brace himself when he hit the ground. Upon landing, he would use the momentum from his launch, along with the instant stop of his arm in order to flip himself over, landing on his feet. He would stare at the other male from behind, ready to go back and retrieve his katana if need be.

However, at the moment, the most pressing issue was figuring out this male's identity. He could not fight an enemy who he knew nothing about, especially regarding his race and powers. He panted heavily, feeling the adrenaline rushing through his veins as he watched the other male who was intruding in his home. "Who are you?"

[Sage Tidus]

Sage smirked, taking a slight step forward as Kyrian kicked off his back. His next movements happened with swift preciseness, as his right hand shot out snatching up the falling katana. Sage did not mind the heat, at all as he quickly took all warmth from the weapon. His form leaping forward, as his left arm created a 90 degree angle infront of him. As he rolled forward, as he rolled,Sage spun about to face the male the Katana in his grasp.

A deadly smile on his features, as he looked at the man. Hues watched his brother, this man could fight and it seemed he knew how to handle himself in battle so far. Sage stood, his left hand in his back left pocket. While his right hand crocker at a acute angle, the katana blade resting upon his shoulder as he grinned." My name?" Sage thought for a moment, before looking the male over. "The flaming angel of death, but my real name is Sage Tidus." the male smiled as he emphasized the last, name."I'm your brother, so says our father." Sage smiled, flashing a set of pearly whites worthy of a commercial.

His left hand moved to his front left pocket as he withdrew the picture of Kyrian and the other man infront of the house, hues narrowed as he held out the picture infront of his brother."I found this in your hotel room, that's how I found you." sliding the picture back in his pocket he once again withdrew the picture of grown up Kyrian before flipping it over to reveal the inscription."This is your brother.-Dad." Sage raised a brow,before sliding that picture back into his pocket." So your Kyrian?" a brow rose, as he took the katana and held it out before him before tossing the blade the five feet between the two brothers.

Arms crossed over his chest,"Now think before you end up ashes in the wind." his right hand lifting the fedora to reveal more of his face as the warm smile. He chuckled looking at his brother, as his hands once again settled on the hilts of his trench blades wondering if Kyrian would once again attack."Where's our father?" a stared at Kyrian as he looked the male over, but there was something else he could feel it as if others roamed the house maybe it was his imagination? No, the elemental had learned to trust his gut long ago with a shrug he simply remained alert while talking and watching Kyrian.

[Astaroth Merula]

The demon smiled a little, watching Kyrian fight off the new male and muttered encouragingly to himself. "I don't need to get in this, he's got it. It's good to see him actually go on the attack." He morphed the knives back into bracelets around his wrist and fixed his self: running his fingers through his hair as a makeshift comb, and then adjusting his tie.

He stared at the on-goings between the two males, realizing that the 'fight' was clearly over, and placed his hands into his pockets. Always one for extravagance and taking unneeded measures, he stepped forth from his hiding place and smiled reassuringly at the two. He turned his attention to the male in the fedora first, "I applaud you on noticing us, sir. However, you're a little late, since Kyrian has already sensed us..." The demon paused for a moment as a thought came to the front of his mind, and he smacked his forehead with the pal of his right hand. "Urgh! Where are my manners? Nice to meet the both of you, my name is Astaroth. I am a demon. And I am charged with taking care of Master Kyrian, by order of his father. Now who are you, supposed brother?"

[Victoria Belmis]

Victoria decided that staying hidden was useless, since the demon had come out from it's hiding spot, and showing her presence would probably demonstrate that she was in peace and did not intend a fight. She moved from behind the wall staying next to the male demon. She examined the other two males before speaking, their fight seemed to have calmed down, and there had been this great family revelation. She gazed upon the demon beside her, he also had some connection with one of the males. One happy big family reunion, Victoria felt slightly awkward, but mostly amused by this situation. " Here's something you don't see everyday..." She mumbled to herself.

" Hello Casanova." Victoria said jokingly to the demon before drawing her eyes once again to the brothers " Hello... katana boy and his mysterious brother " Not exactly knowing how to refer to them. " I'm Victoria and I don't have a purpose for being here, I'm just...a passerby. So yeah, don't mind me..." Her thick Irish accent sounding through her words