A Second Alliance

It was immeasurable, the number of strings which the most powerful man from Terra had to pull to get his son into Celsia, and equally immeasurable the amount of trust that he had placed in the channeler as he allowed him to walk away from the Rogue headquarters and into what was essentially a den of lions.  Under normal circumstances, Celsia was an insanely difficult city to gain access to, a reality that being affiliated with a Terran military faction, and furthermore one which the Cleis del Angelus was not particularly familiar with, only seemed to complicate; making young Hyaku Yagami’s entry into this city an even more challenging task.

Despite its difficulty however and all of the reasons why he shouldn’t have been granted access, within 2 days of requesting permission to visit the city, Hyaku found himself gazing upon the marvellous architecture of the holy province.

As he made his way through the security checks at the port, Hyaku took the time taken for the long quarantine and deeping scanning processes to be completed, to do some soul searching.  Since the first day that he had joined the networks and found himself thrown into a world with other channelers within his level tier, Hyaku had noticed two things in a particularly profound way.  The first, and more obvious of the two, was how much he was set apart from the average channeler at his level.  The second however was one that he would not grasp for quite some time; the fact that this made him exceptionally bored and severely undriven.  This had caused him to fall behind a number of the more military minded channelers in terms of experience, and he was slowly being forced to admit that some of these channelers, the likes of Jayce Falco and Xavier Stryke, had even surpassed him in terms of power.  These realisations had forced him to take his life as a combat researcher a bit more seriously, forcing the young Rogue Operative to begin his little game of catch-up.

However, Hyaku knew all too well that his acquisition of power would not simply be a matter of gaining experience, and it was this knowledge that brought him back to the thing that had first brought him to the Rogue Special Forces... his father’s list.  So far, the reasons for most of the names on Kyasho’s list were clear... Roun’s and Ryuu’s had been particularly visible, no doubt due to the Itamis’ naturally troublesome nature.  In addition, Xavier’s and Jayce’s roles within Kyasho’s list were also very clear.  The other members of the list seemed to be shrouded in some mystery.  Tyler seemed to be profoundly aware of her role and the reason why she of all people was on the list, unfortunately, this was something that she preferred to keep to herself... so much so that not even her sister was sure of why she was so special to Kyasho.  Shade, like Tyler, also seemed to understand and accept what it was about him that set him apart from other channelers, leaving just Hyaku lost as to his role in the world’s grand schemes.

It was this that had originally driven him to his father, and that had finally drawn him to Celsia in search of the only other channeler that would be able to enlighten him as to why he was truly unique.  Hyaku now found himself joining the short list of people that had actually managed to track down the team of channelers that had managed to evade the Terran authorities for so long.  Oddly enough, this could not be totally attributed to his own personal information gathering abilities, but instead his uniquely fortunate timing.

“Your destiny is linked to... but not determined by one other channeler...” Hyaku scowled now as he remembered his father’s words.  “As such, it should not be very hard for you to do what the rest of us have failed, with our combined resources, to do.”  The words continued to come back to him.  “Just seek him out, and you will find him.”

Hyaku thought to himself now, wondering if his father truly knew how true those words would have been.  It took him less than four weeks to do something that the authorities had spent months failing at.  The youngster could not help but find this strange; it was almost as if he was destined to succeed at this task, almost as if it was fate.  Regardless of the reasons behind it, the reality still stood... he had managed to track down the channeler called Shade, the rest of the Mercenary group SABER and their new running mates, the Tener Aldron and Maximilian Stein. 

As Hyaku made his way to their location, he could sense a strange energy welling within him, an energy that brought about a strange feeling within his body.  What made it even stranger was that this feeling grew stronger as he approached the location of his targets; so much so that he could actually use this feeling to home in on the exact location of Shade and his party.  Hyaku would continue to follow this feeling until he finally made his way to the complex which the group occupied.

“Ah... so the prodigal son returns.”  A voice sounded as the door opened, revealing the source of the voice: Shade.  Hyaku scanned the room briefly, noticing only for a split second as an odd energy rushed through the room, before he turned his attentions back onto the channelers in front of him.  The massive frame of Rock blocked the door, while Shade stood behind him and monologue as usual.  “Well don’t just stand there with your mouth open...”  Shade sighed now, causing Hyaku to actually zone back into what he was saying.

“What?”  Was all Hyaku could actually reply, having been far more concerned with his safety than whatever it was that Shade had to say.  Another sigh would follow the reply.

“Is he clean Blitz?”  Inquired Shade now.

“Yup, thought you would never ask.”  Came the reply, giving Rock the signal to remove himself from the doorway so that Hyaku could enter the room.

As the Rogue Special Operative made his way into the room, his senses were treated to the luxuries that crime had afforded the team, causing his scowl to grow even further as he opened the real conversation.

“I assume you know why I’m here.”  Hyaku prompted Shade now, leaving everyone else in the room somewhat puzzled.

“Of course I do, you don’t get where I am without being well informed.  The question is, do you know why you’re here.”  Shade inquired now, his amusement slowly growing.

“I don’t have time for games.”  Was Hyaku’s reply.

“Oh please... what else do you have to do that is more important?  Huh?  More important than your destiny!?”  He finished, a devious grin breaking across his face as he did.

“This is pointless...”  Hyaku replied now, his frustrations overwhelming him as he turned to leave.

“Fine... leave... you’ll be back.”  Shade said confidently.  “Afterall, you can’t get very far without me...”  He added, causing Hyaku to pause slightly, his ethereal energy already beginning leak as his anger got the best of him.

“Okay fine...”  He stated with venom.  “I’ll play your game.  To answer your question, I’m not exactly certain as to why I’m here... so why don’t you enlighten me.”

“Heh, this is too amusing... I would have thought by now that the Itami would have at least noticed... if not him at least, then definitely the woman.”  Shade continued, causing Hyaku to raise an eyebrow.

“What are you talking about?”

“You understand the role of the Itamis don’t you?”  Shade inquired now.

“Yes... everyone does...”  Hyaku snarled.

“Good, well then you’ll understand, when I tell you that we are their counterparts.”  He replied, causing Hyaku to look somewhat puzzled.  “What, you thought that those guardians were the only ones who thought ahead?”  Shade inquired.  “Heiarch and Teros are just as vulnerable as those four when lying in their dormant state, as the only way to conceal them requires the locking of most of their power.  So it stands to reason that they would require a herald as well.”  Shade smirked.  “And what good is a herald without his own personal bodyguard.”

“Bullshit.” Came the reply just as Shade finished the statement, only further fuelling Shade’s amusement.

“You are a sceptical one aren’t you?” Shade stated, watching as Hyaku looked around the room.

“Why would anyone want to help two psychopaths who’re trying to destroy the world?”  He inquired.

“For the same reason that causes millions to support four loons who are trying to save it.  Mutually beneficial relationships.”  Shade explained.  “If the guardians win the war, the destroyers get banished and the entire thing starts over in a couple hundred years, locking the world in a constant state of turmoil... the only way to end this stupid war and really restore earth is to get those four out of the picture.”  He continued.  “Plus...”  He smirked.  “Heiarch and Teros are bound by the pact that they made with my companion soul... when this whole planet goes up in flames, my friends and I will be... exempt from that catastrophe.”

“So you’d sacrifice the entire world for your personal safety?”  Hyaku inquired now, somewhat annoyed.

“Sacrificing the world?  Oh please... this war is going off one way or another... I’m just choosing the winning team...”  Shade retorted.   “You should be happy...” He started, walking towards Hyaku now.  “...that the winning team chose you.” He finished, causing his eyes to start glowing now, an action that drew a similar response from Hyaku’s form.  “It’s time for you to wake up, boy... the real world is calling you.”  From there Hyaku would just black out.