Yuurei was walking through the forest as he was getting ready to get out of there and meet up with the Chaos Eclipse’s Guild master. He figured that this man would be at Orchidia if he wasn’t in Rush Valley. It would be the only logical place for him to be. He also figured that he didn’t have to hide anymore. His cape would come off his face and it would make its way on his back. It would be happy to be there as it was protecting his face but wanted to watch his back over anything.

The Seraphim was getting ready to fly, but then something would happen. When he lifted himself off the ground, nature around him started to grow. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but it was a trap and a blessing at the same time.

“I hate when they destroy nature, but what can I do? Oh well, this is a drag, but I was told to keep you Paradise Dawn people at bay for as long as I can.” He said out loud as nature was overgrowing throughout the place.

Yuurei tried to fly, but he couldn’t the roots of the trees wouldn’t allow him to. He didn’t want to destroy it due to the fire that harmed the forest. This magic had gone through the entirety of the area, but it had healed the forest that had been harmed.

Yuurei would land on the ground and he would see that nature magic wouldn’t harm him. All it did was prevent him from leaving through the air. He would shake his head as he figured that there was one way out of there. He could tell it was like a maze of sorts, and he had to figure a way out of it.

“At least, that solved your nature problem, Yuurei.” Migi said to him.

Yuurei would shake his head as he looked at his arm.

“Yeah, but now we need to figure a way out of this mess.” He said to Migi.

“Well, there is no time to complain. Just start moving, so we can get out of here faster.” He said to Yuurei and Migi.

They would all look at each other and would nod. It was the best thing for them to do. He wondered if Brone got caught in this and if he would bump into him. He wasn’t trying to hide anymore, and he was pretty sure that those ravens had already told him he was around. He would start moving though as he didn’t have time to waste. He would hit a fork in the road immediately and he would go to his right. It seemed like the right choice, and he would walk through it without a problem. He would continue moving for a while until he saw another turn. When he took this turn he would see that it was a dead end, but was it just that?

493

Brone Heavyaxe made his way through the thick of the trees. The majority of the Paradise Dawn troops were left at Rush Valley to help the citizens with the aftermath of the raid and the remaining of the troops were left to clear out any remaining wildfires that they might have possibly missed close to the entrance of the forest. Huginn and Muninn, the two ravens had flown ahead in order to locate Yuurei.

"This lack of information is nerve-wrecking" Gnicholas complained as he sat on Brone's shoulder.

"There's nothing for you to do other than just sit and wait" Benimaru chuckled which irritated the gnome. Brone felt bad that he wasn't able to voice where they were going because the only information he was getting were from the ravens and due to the pact he had made with them, he wasn't able to say a word that was shared between them. Even if he could communicate the information he does have, it was little to nothing since they weren't sure why the guild was behind these attacks entirely, nor do they know the hierarchy of the dark guild.

Eventually, the two ravens returned and flew along side the dwarf, they directed him in the direction of where Yuurei was spotted and he immediately turned on his heel changing direction. Soon enough, Brone spotted the winged guild leader trying to take flight, but as he saw tree roots were grasping at the half-elf, he drew forth his black axe, ready to free him. Suddenly a wall of vines and roots erected right in front of the dwarf. "What the molten core is this!?" he yelled in his anger.

"Seems like a maze" Gnicholas said as he pointed down the newly constructed path of vines and roots which seem to resemble a long hallway.

"You mean a labyrinth" Benimaru argued.

"It has to be a maze, because labyrinths only have one continuous route that leads to the center; if I conjured a choice between the two, I would pick the maze which would have different paths which would confuse the opponent" Gnicholas was adamant in winning the argument, not focusing on the dangerous situation at hand.

"Don't matter which is which, I'm destroying both!" Brone said as he swung his black axe, destroying the wall of vines and roots that separating him and from his guild master. As the dwarf jumped through the hole in the wall, the vines and roots quickly grew back and the wall was repaired as if there was no hole in the first place.

"You may want to reframe from doing that; you may get caught halfway" the gnome said as he slid off the dwarf's shoulder and into the cowl of the white cloak behind Brone.

Brone shrugged and turned to face the half-elf, "I guess we ain't flying our way out of here" he said as he walked up to his friend.

"Well mainly because Brone is too afraid to fly" Benimaru chuckled. The dwarf grunted in response.

514

Yuurei would keep moving through the maze that he was in. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but he figured that he would eventually find a way out. He wasn’t sure where everybody in his guild was, but he figured that they would get out of this without a problem. The two of them would keep moving as they were making good pacing.

“I wonder who did this, and are they close by?” He asked wondering what Yuurei would say.

“I hope so, but I don’t think Yuurei would be doing anything to them. Besides them sticking us in a maze, they were doing the forest justice. The plant life is growing quickly.” He said to Renji.

Renji would shake his head at this thought, but he knew the arm wasn’t wrong.

“He’s not wrong, but we should knock them out. I don’t think it would be wise for them to keep us stuck here.” He said to them.

He would keep walking and then he would come to a stop. He was trying to figure out where he would go next. It was then that something would happen; the Seraphim would look to his right, and he would hear something coming in his direction. He would be ready for anything as he would look at the brush. Who the hell was trying to get to break through the maze and would they be able to go all the way to the other side?

It was then Yuurei's eyes widened when he saw Brone coming out of the brush, he would tilt his head as he couldn’t believe that his friend had done this. He would rub the back of his head as he would return to a normal posture. He didn’t have to worry about his friend, but what he did notice was that his friend had a different cape. He had never seen this one before, and he wasn’t sure what it could do.

“Nice cape you got there, Brone. When did you get it.” He said to him.

Renji would look at him, Gnicholas, and Benimaru.

“Oh look the gang is all here, so we could get going together. At the same time, we can fight whatever is waiting for us in Orchidia.” He said to the group.

Migi would appear on Yuurei’s hand as his eyes and mouth looked over at the dwarf.

“I haven’t met this guy before, right Yuurei? I only saw the sad-looking guy over him correct?” He asked Yuurei.

Yuurei would laugh as this would indeed be the first time Migi and Brone had met.

“Yeah, this would be the first time you guys met. Still, the plan is to get out and then go take out Chaos Eclipse. The Guild Master should be in Orchidia; we didn’t see him in Rush Valley or have anybody reporting that their main force was there. We didn’t see anybody destructive here except the fire mages. It is why I think they would be there.” He said to Brone as he looked ahead of him.

511

Brone smirked as he approached Yuurei. Though he is indeed the guild master, Brone has known him as a friend first. ”Got it from the rift that opened up on that machine island” he answered as he gestured to the white cloak that draped behind him. He managed to accidently obtained the cloak on the island of Talaz Lagaar, when an abnormal rift opened op. The dwarf couldn’t remember if he was swallowed up from the rift or if he managed to avoid it in time, but all he remembered was the voices of the other two personalities crying out in his mind as the white cloak suddenly appeared to him.
He was then taken aback when he spotted the speaking mouth on Yuurei’s hand, ”Woah! Why is yer hand talking, Yu-kun?” Brone asked as he tilted his head, trying to observe the abnormality.
”You shouldn’t stare, Brone” Benimaru chuckled. The dwarf knocked the talking shield with the back of his hand to shush him as Yuurei decided to move the conversation along from the introduction, which was understandable, for there was no time for pleasantries, given the situation they were in.
”It’s possible the leader may be hiding in Ochidia since it’s the largest settlement within the region that is close enough to where the wildfires were” Gnicholas the gnome had pointed out as he poked his head out from the white cowl of Brone’s cloak.
”Well then, we’ll just head to Ochidia then” Brone said as he rested the black axe on his shoulder and looked in the direction Yuurei was facing.
”Easier said than done” Gnicholas said, ”We first have to make our way through the thicket of the trees along with the maze”.
”Labyrinth” Benimaru quickly chimed in.
Brone looked up to the branches but noticed they too were clustered together tightly. He heard the distant caw of one of the ravens. This was intentional to keep Yuurei from flying and possibly to keep Huginn and Muninn from returning. Without the ravens, Brone wouldn’t be able to find his way out of the maze or to Ochidia, as well as any information they might have picked up along the way.
The dwarf ran down the direction where Yuurei was facing, hoping Yuurei’s sense of direction was much better than his. As the dwarf was coming to the first turn in the makeshift corridor maze structure, he got an idea in his head and pulled out Spellcleaver, one of his most trusted axes. He swung the axe and once the blade touched the wall, the vines and roots that made the wall collapsed in on itself, nearly causing two trees to tumble into the corridor, but luckily it seem the magic returned fast enough to fix the wall.
”Ok… no negating I guess”
466 | 980

Yuurei would look at Brone as he explained how he had gotten his cape. That was interesting to hear, and it would seem like Talaz Lagaar had given them different things. He wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t mind it. In the end, Migi had been helpful in his endeavors, and he was going to continue with it. The Seraphim would keep moving while he heard everyone speaking. He would look over to Brone as he would move ahead of the group.

It was then Yuurei would see that he would cut the roots with his green axe. It was then he would watch the spells of the trees disperse for a second before some grew in its place.

The hunter was okay with going through this the normal way and he was hoping that Brone would too. He would rub the back of his head and shake it as well.

“We don’t have to be violent with nature. Whoever did this is trying to keep us here, but at the same time, they are helping the forest. I don’t want to destroy the nature magic they are using. If anything, I hope the mazes go down once we’re out of it, and everything else stays.” He said as he would make a left this time. He had been making sure that he remembered everything around him.

He was going through a bunch of paths and returning making sure not to go through the same route again. He would look at Migi and he would look back at Brone.

“So, my arm can talk now. I fought one of those watchers again. They caught me off guard and I lost the arm that was bandaged up. Then it seemed like a parasite came from the rift and tried to take over my body. This was the result when I stopped him from getting further than the stump arm that they entered.” He explained to Brone.

“Yeah, I am Migi, and I was trying to take over Yuurei’s body. It was a failure, but I made a new home in his right arm. Well, I helped by regrowing his arm and then made myself at home. I figured I would help Yuurei since we are sharing this body for now.” He said as he would move his right arm and looked over to Brone.

Renji would shake his head when he heard this. He couldn’t get used to Migi just yet. Yuurei shared his body with this Parasite for the rest of his life.

“It’s weird, but he does help Yuurei in a fight. I guess you will get to see it in the future or whenever you two fight again.” He said to Brone.

Yuurei would smile because he knew that Brone was probably curious to see what it could do in battle.

“Just know I basically have like two extra appendages that could appear on my right hand. He can also create blades. It’s weird you just got to see it.” He laughed as he would see another fork in the road.

513|1538

Brone was initially surprised when Yuurei chose to take the passive approach and just walk through the maze as normal, though when he had given it a second thought, he remembered that he is part elf and may have an affinity to nature itself, "I suppose yer right" the dwarf bashfully said as he stowed his black axe away, but made sure to keep his green one rested on his shoulder, just in case he needed to defend himself.

"Yuurei does make a good point; which the vegetation growing in such a rapid pace, it'll heal the ecosystem in the immediate and surrounding area; it would have taken decades for plant-life to sprout and bud out of the charred debris" Gnicholas returned to his seat upon Brone's shoulder, seeing as there was no immediate danger to the group. The dwarf sighed, his muscles relaxing, though he was a tad irritated now that the group had to deal with navigating through a maze, meaning they had to focus and use their memory and common sense to make their way out. Brone wanted to point out how quickly it would be if they would just break through the walls.

"Damn right it'll be easy to just destroy the walls; to hell with the trees, focus on getting out" Ranulf's voice echoed in Brone's mind, trying to egg-on the dwarf to enact his initial plan.

"Destruction will lead to your downfall, do not give into such barbaric thoughts" Minori had brought Brone away from second guessing himself. From that point, the two secondary personalities began to bicker at one another, causing a headache to begin to cloud the dwarf's mind as he followed Yuurei through the maze. The conversation with Yuurei and the talking hand Migi had pulled Brone's focus away from the headache.

"Pleasure to meet ye, Migi, I'm Brone" He greeted the talking hand, though he hesitated from reaching out for a handshake, but realized it could get too weird, "Another watcher? Are they still after that grace? I thought they would have just given up by now" the dwarf was surprised to hear another angel had sought his friend out, even after the last one's defeat.

"Obviously the watcher must have thought fighting Yuurei alone would be enough to defeat him" Benimaru laughed which caused Brone to laugh as well. Indeed, Brone knew himself to be a good companion in a fight, but even by himself, Yuurei was a force of nature, for the dwarf knew this all too well.

Hearing of Migi's usefulness gave Brone reason to accept the odd creature, "Extra appendages?" The dwarf seemed confused, not knowing what the word was.

"Extra arms" the gnome was use to chiming in to help the dwarf with definitions and grammar.

"Oh! Ye mean like me!" Brone was excited as he pulled both his extra arms from beneath his white cloak to show all four of his arms flexing.

Though they had to double back a few times when reaching a dead end, Brone wasn't too upset about it, given that the conversation was well enough to keep him occupied and off the thought of being trapped in a maze and having two extra personalities arguing in the back of his mind.

552 | 1,532

Yuurei would continue the move through the forest right now. While he was doing this, he would hear Brone speak. He wished it was that easy, but it would seem like they didn’t want him alive. They were not happy that such an abomination was becoming too strong. They figured that he would be able to pass them eventually. It was why they were trying to pull the plug on him, but it wasn’t going well.

“The pleasure is mind. Yuurei is going to be harder to be taken out now that I’m here in Brone. I heard you two fight a lot, so just saying in advance it's going to be harder to beat this guy.” He laughed as he had an ability not even Yuurei knew about.

Yuurei would look over at him as if he was interested in what he would be able to do. It was then he would answer Brone’s question.

“Yeah, it seems like they don’t just want my grace. They want me dead. It seems like I’ve become something that they are worried about. In the end, I got you and Kaito by my side. It will be hard for them to finish me off if I say so myself.” He said to everyone.

Yuurei keep moving as he was trying his best to guess as best as he could. The dead ends they would bump to would bring them to go into a new path, but at least the Seraphim was keeping track of it all. He would keep moving as he wasn’t going to get stuck here any longer. He wasn’t gifted with luck, so he knew he would get through this with trial and error.

“Oh that its interesting; a dwarf with four arms sounds scary and tough. No wonder you have him on your side Yuurei. Still, I can’t do it like that, but I basically can create two hands for Yuurei or two arms I guess.” He said to Brone.

“I didn’t choose to have Brone by my side because of his extra arms. I chose him to be by my side because we are friends and built a relationship through our adventures together.” He said to Migi.

Yuurei would make a right and soon they would be out of the maze. His eyes widened when he saw this because he didn’t think they would be able to get out. It was then he would feel someone looking at him. He could feel the vibration coming from a certain direction. It was then he would see that magic was being cast. He would shake his head as he would disappear from where he was and end up behind the man.

“We got out fair and square. Brone take him out so we can head to Orchidia.” Yuurei said this to him as he would be ready to leave after Brone took him out.

485|2023

[exit]

As time went on, Brone was enjoying the company of Migi the hand, "Aye, indeed we do, we always find time to spar, though the half-elf does usually have the winning hand at the end, it's usually close" he laughs as they turn another corner, continuing their trek through the maze.

"To be fare, Yuurei, having such a powerful source of power is a liability, especially if it belongs to a high ranking angel" Gnicholas pointed out.

"They lost the grace, might as well move on with their lives instead of risking death just to get it back; the lad is using it for good anyway" Brone sucked his teeth in annoyance. He understood what it meant to lose a valuable weapon, but he also understood that losing repeatedly isn't worth the lost weapon. Even a dwarf had to admit defeat and move on, despite how connected the dwarf was to said weapon, "They can come back in the dozens and we'll mop the floor with them" he flexed his muscles in intimidation as they were doubling back after reaching another dead end.

"I find your ability interesting, Migi, tell me, what kind of creature are you and do you have a soul?" Benimaru asked, though he asked in a curious tone, Brone knew he was interested in figuring out if Migi's soul was edible. The dwarf knocked a fist against the shield to signal to the oni spirit to drop the questioning for it was obvious where he was going with it.

"I suppose more hands means more weapons" Gnicholas sighed as he looked ahead, no longer interested in the conversation. The gnome is an intellectual and focused more on discovery and knowledge, but whenever the boys fell into focus of battle and weaponry, it became dull to him, so Gnicholas would drop out of the conversation.

"Side by side, through the most perilous terrain, dangers from all sides and of all worlds!" Brone began to monologue about the adventures he and Yuurei had since they met; fighting vampires on several occasions, wendigos, and the most interesting, at least by his opinion, was the battles with the dragons of different colors. Though Gnicholas fell out of the conversation, he did enjoy hearing of the adventurous tales.

Eventually, the group found themselves out of the maze. Brone had actually forgotten that they were traversing an obstacle, for he was lost in his own nostalgia. As Yuurei was quick to find the enemy, so was Brone through his battle instinct. The half-elf had already closed the gap within a split second, appearing behind the mage. As Yuurei had gave the order to Brone, the dwarf was already rushing at the enemy mage, swinging his green axe which immediately cut through the magic circle the mage was conjuring and downing him. The battle was over before it even started. Now it was time to move on.

491 | 2,023

[Exit]