Popped Bubbles

A large black hand grips the top of the high wall, and a moment later, Cage soars up and over the battlements that rise on either side of the Alure. He lands on the stone walkway with a quiet thud, then leans over the wall where he just came from. Cage sucks in a breath as his black arm stretches down to the ground, splitting into two and lifting a familiar heavy load.

Kyro and Ingen are dropped beside Cage with a crunch of snow beneath their feet, and the makeshift arm returns to normal as he winces and rolls his shoulder, "I thought it would be easier without Krash to lift as well," Cage says.

"You had distractions then," Kyro says, walking to the inner battlements on the wall and leaning over them. He peers out into the dark and silent city of Yellen, hand relaxed on the hilt of his sword as the tip rests on the stone below, "There are no distractions in the dead of night. Let's hope it stays that way."

They stand a few paces from where the oval-shaped wall meets the mountain. To the right, tightly packed homes and shops stretch all the way to the gate, the roofs covered in a thick blanket of white, the streets doused in shadows created by the violet moonlight. There are lights shining through window shudders here and there, and a few drunken men stumble down the streets. They are heading home, hopefully.

Ahead, near the edge of the constant shadow of the overhang, the homes are built larger, the craftsmanship of the marble finer than those closer to the gate. Most of the important buildings are here too, the Archive, the in-repair training house, the Foreign Registry Office, and more. Past the area where the rich and important reside, the wall can be seen on the other side, merging with Betor mountain just the same as the one the men stand on.

To the left, the massive hole carved through the bottom of Betor mountain reigns supreme, holding its secrets with a vice grip in the ever-present darkness. Other than the torchlight of patrolling guards stepping through the streets, only those green-flamed lanterns can be seen tucked away in the back of the cave.

"So..." Cage whispers as he points to the black and rough tower revealed in spots by the green flames, "...Yoru will be there, right?"

Kyro nods, "She'll be down below the earth, locked in the dungeon," he says, sighing, "Mavyl, Ingen, and myself chose to become Collectors before ever being taken there, so we'll have some searching to do."

"It can't be too difficult," Ingen chimes in, hefting his warhammer onto his shoulder, "What man would have the patience to dig underground and build an entire fortress?"

"A man that's lived for nearly a thousand years, that's who," Cage replies.

Ingen glances down at Cage, then at Kyro, who shrugs with a smirk plastered to his lips, "He's right," Kyro says, "We talked about it earlier, Ingen. The last thing we should do is underestimate our enemy, especially since the one we face has had a millennium to gather knowledge and power."

Ingen grunts, "I know that," he says annoyedly, "Let's just get this thing over with. I want to be gone before daylight comes. We don't have to deal with the soldiers, but there's still the guards," Ingen sets a massive hand on the battlements, then vaults over it, his bulky figure disappearing into the shadows below.

On their way to the city, they had seen thousands of torches moving across the fields and toward the stem. The Rajin army. The Utherians will invade soon.

Kyro watches the Rajin man land in an alleyway, sandwiched between a building and the wall, "Have you ever killed a man before?" Kyro suddenly asks.

Cage raises a brow, glancing sidelong at the blue-skinned Rajin, his expression hidden by the shadows, "No." Not on purpose, Cage thinks, but I can't say that, not yet. There's too much going on, and the revelation of Mavyl's last words will only distract Kyro. There will be time later, but they have to survive the night first.

"Then you may take your first life tonight. Be ready for it," Kyro leaves the solemn words behind as he vaults and drops into the city.

---

Three men skulk through the nearly pitch-black streets, hugging the cover provided by buildings and sprinting from alleyway to alleyway to dodge the torchlight present on nearly every corner. A few guards notice a hulking purple-skinned mass along the way, but each of their yells of alert are cut short by massive hands that strangle their consciousness from them.

If it were not for Kyro detecting their Vas, a few patrols would have ran straight into the three of them. There would have been bloodshed then, a lot of it.

"I don't think there could be anyone more useless on a mission that requires stealth," Cage whispers to Ingen as they approach the end of an alleyway, "I'd run through here butt-ass naked and still have a better chance than you at not being seen."

"What do you want me to do, damnit!?" Ingen hisses, still managing to keep his voice low as he scowls at Cage, "You want me to magically shrink, huh? That'd be real nice, but it's not happening!"

"For Betor's sake, will you two shut your damned mouths!?" Kyro snaps, turning with an even deeper scowl than Ingen's as they reach the end of the alleyway. He takes a deep breath to calm himself, tilting his head back in a quick gesture, "We're here."

Cage and Ingen shuffle up beside Kyro, making sure to stay hidden by the shadows as they peer out into the street. To the right, that looming black tower can be seen, the detail of the flickering green flames lining the structure now more visible. The fifty-foot wall surrounds it with small spikes like spear heads lining the top, and the sheer height of it hides the bottom portion of the tower from prying eyes outside of its enclosure.

"The dog isn't there?" Cage says slowly, his words a half-statement, half-question.

"No point in questioning a stroke of luck," Kyro says quickly, turning to Cage, "I can make it over myself, but there's no telling what I'll smash into on the other side, and I'd rather not alert the guards after getting this far. Plus, without the Rage Stones, Ingen has no chance of jumping that high. Put us over as you did with the main wall, then come over yourself."

Cage nods in response, and Ingen clicks his tongue in annoyance, muttering something about being a slave to a stone, then unintelligible curses.

"Keep those Stones ready. We don't know what awaits us in that tower," Kyro says, earning another nod from Cage. He glances at the tower, grip tightening on the hilt of his sword, "Let's go."

The three men burst out onto the street, blue, violet, and white bare feet slapping against the stone. They reach the wall and that black arm slithers from Cage's shoulder, its figure nearly invisible against the shadows. Just the same as earlier, the arm splits into two, and the black hands grab Ingen and Kyro by their thick waists.

Cage grits his teeth, lifting the men up high and over the wall. He stretches the arm a bit more to put them closer to the ground, but his grip slips. Cage hears a quiet thud from the other side of the wall, and then a less than quiet shatter. Glass, pottery, it's impossible to tell. Not that it would matter if he could.

Cage freezes as he sees his own shadow against the wall before him, flickering orange-yellow light surrounding it. The black arm shrinks back to its original state as he hears footsteps several meters behind him.

"Hey! You there!"

"Turn around and show me your palms!"

Two different voices, each deep and commanding, the voices of men. Guards, to be exact. Cage stares forward at the wall, eyes flickering as his mind races. There are only two voices. Two sets of footsteps. He can take them, but should he? There won't be time to hide the bodies, and Cage can't absorb them. That is, unless...

Kyro was right, and Cage knows it. Even if he doesn't feel ready, it must be done.

"You deaf!? Turn around and show your palms!"

"Do as we say! This spear isn't just for show, you damned fool!"

Cage turns, palms up, one pale, the other a mass of black. He smiles at the two guards in white robes, his eyes darting to the weapons and torches held in ready hands.

"Good! Now step toward us, slow-" The guard's words are interrupted by a black mass wrapping tight around his mouth. The hand lifts him along with his comrade, and they squirm silently, kicking and clutching at the cold blackness. Steel clatters against the stone below, and sparks fly onto the street as the torches drop.

The black arm, which is split into two in order to hold both men, suddenly sprouts another smaller arm, the hand clutching steel that shimmers in the light of the torches. The blade swipes faster than the guard's eyes can follow, leaving both of them with blood pouring and bubbling from their throats, their gurgling muffled by the dark mass holding them.

Cage watches as their squirming slows until finally... all motion ceases. Silence.

They hang there, long limbs dangling, white robes stained with fresh crimson blood. Then, the darkness takes them from this world. Cage absorbs the weapons and torches left behind, and the black arm returns to him, "No evidence," He whispers, only just realizing that he had been breathing heavily.

Cage jolts as he hears fast footsteps approaching, torchlight sliding across the surrounding buildings, shouts echoing through the area. He turns and grabs the top of the wall with his black arm, pulling himself up and over.

Cage lands soft on the other side, and the first thing he sees is a mess of shards. Pottery. It sat on a stone pedestal once, identical to the many others that line the inside of the wall, painted with depictions of battles and solemn men. His bare feet are tickled by shaved blades of grass, which cover the entire area inside of the wall, save for the stone pathway that runs straight down the middle, from the gate to the doors of the tower in the back.

"You dealt with them?" Kyro steps up to Cage, stoic, jaw muscles poking through his blue cheeks. However, the flash of worry in his eyes does not go unseen.

Cage nods.

"How many?" Ingen asks, looming over the other two, thick silver brows drawn together. He glances guiltily down at the broken pottery.

Him too, Cage thinks, even without me saying it, Ingen knows what happened on the other side of that wall.

"Two," Cage says flatly, looking up at the Rajin men and meeting their gazes, "Don't worry. They won't be found."

"There's no one here!?"

"You all heard something too!?"

"I did! But where did they go!?"

"Quiet, you idiots! Look! There's blood here!"

Kyro and Ingen look up at the top of the wall, then they both look down at Cage, his eyes almost like empty holes in the darkness. Cage only shrugs, face blank as a stone wall.

There is a heavy silence between the men as the shouts on the other side of the wall dissipate. Kyro stares down at Cage, nodding slowly, lips pursed, "Let's keep going. We're close now," he says quietly.

Cage nods, following behind Ingen and Kyro toward the tower.

He did it. Not one, but two men. Two sets of desires, memories, and connections. Like a soap bubble popping against a wall, it all vanished in an instant. And how does Cage feel knowing that two families will cry in the morning, with no corpse to mourn over?

Powerful. Sharp. Clear-minded. Beasts give him a boost in his abilities, sure, but that increase now feels minuscule. Meaningless. It's as if he was just shaken from the fog of terrible sleep, his body and mind shocked into focus. It feels... Good. Terribly so.

Cage follows the two men through the iron doors of the tower, and descends a wide spiral staircase. Is he supposed to feel something else? Guilt? sorrow? despair? Perhaps. However, even if he wanted to feel these emotions, he can't.

Getting stronger. Finding his brother. Protecting those around him. These things matters to Cage, more than most other things. But it is not the reason he really feels this way. No, he won't lie to himself. Not this time. It's that darkness, that inescapable void where nothing but his thoughts exist. Oblivion.

Kill those that mean to do the same to him, or let himself be sent back to that place? It's not a difficult choice to Cage. A hundred. A thousand. A million. They can all have their throat cut if it means he can avoid Oblivion. All of them.

No one will ever know this about Cage, no one but himself, and the one that laughs in the back of his head.