Chapter Six: Families

Laurence, as well as three others stood just outside of The Popigai crater in Siberia, Russia. To the naked eye, nothing was wrong with this landscape. However, the four of them could see something much different. "This isn't a good sign" Laurence says. "We didn't leave this here. So it's official... someone else is tampering with the world, and I don't think this was left here on accident".

"It's like the seals, brother" the largest of the four says. This man was tall. Maybe not the tallest man you'd ever meet, but he looked extremely buff. He spoke in a deep, but a somewhat soothing voice, as the words he spoke always sounded kind. He had long, light blonde hair and blue eyes. "The ones that separated this world from Valhalla".

"Right-o!" Laurence says cheerfully as he turns to the other three. "From here on out, we're going to have to... interact more. Nobody is to know who or what we are. Remember your code names, and only address each other as those, even if you think you're safe to speak freely".

"A wise decision" another one of the brothers say. He was the same height as Laurence. Although he had a bodybuilder level of muscle tone, he was smaller than the second member of the group. He had dark red hair, and black eyes. "What is my name again?".

"I realize I'm a trickster" Laurence says, "but; guys, come on! I can't be the only one to remember these types of things!".

"My apologies, brother" the second one says. "If I remember, my name is... Terry?".

"It's Todd..." Laurence replies. "You weren't even that close. Look... I'm Laurence for now, you're Todd". Laurence then points at the third one and says "You're Manny". Then Laurence points at the last member of the group and says "and your name was hard to find a... decent change to. So you're just going to be Aaron".

"Aaron..." the last one repeats. "I think it sounds weak". This brother was average in height, which also made him the shortest in the group. He wore plenty of clothes, so his body shape wasn't well exposed, but he was athletically fit. He had long black hair, and green eyes.

"I like Todd!" Todd says. "It sounds... manly!".

"No... no it doesn't..." Laurence says with a quiet giggle.

"Did you say something, brother?" Todd asks.

"Nothing... Todd. Pfft- HAHAHAHA!" Laurence laughs, then starts slapping his knee and wheezing.

"I understand the precautionary measures" Manny says, "but what's so funny?".

"It's because Todd sounds like a weak name too" Aaron replies.

"Brothers" Todd says loudly, yet somewhat cheerfully, "we have business! This is a rather dire situation".

"Right" Laurence says as he looks back at the crater. As Laurence looks at the crater, through his eyes, he could see massive amounts of endo spewing out of the ground, all of which is invisible to the naked eye. "It's like when the seals separated this world from Valhalla. This means, this could only be the work of a god... or maybe multiple gods".

"But how did it come to this?" Manny asks. "There were measures taken!".

"There's so far only one... entity... that I can think of that could've been the start of this" Laurence says. "However, I've also heard about this other thing".

"Other thing?" Todd asks. "You're going to need to be specific".

"Don't panic on me just yet" Laurence says, "but the humans called it The Naris Catastrophe. I've heard about it being spoken of, but only frankly, and I don't know much...".

"But it cant be the same!" Todd declares. "Naris!? In this world?".

"Silence, you oaf!" Laurence shouts. "I told you not to panic. You've done exactly the opposite of what I instructed!".

"Don't let father putting you in charge of this investigation go to your head" Aaron says.

"What I'm saying is..." Laurence says, then pauses, "is there's more. This... catastrophe is apparently a historical event for these people. If it's history, then it must have been documented somehow. You know how the humans are, with their obsession of keeping track of everything around them. But also, if it's history, that means it's no longer a catastrophe. That means, if Naris was here, he isn't anymore. For now, we should seek these documents, if there are any. From there, we will continue this investigation".

"Then we make haste!" Todd declares.

"Indeed" Manny agrees. "We've no time to waste, staring at this... pillar of Endoindustria".

Several years later; Thursday, October 11th of 2210, back in Seeira. Siran and Zia were sending Silas to bed for school the next day. Silas was now 14 years old, and was in his first year of high school. After Silas finally went to sleep, Siran suddenly got a message on his phone, which they bought not long after he and Zia became parents. Siran looks down at his phone, and Zia looks over and asks "What is it?".

"It's from Tanya" Siran says. "She says she has a message from Don, and he wants us to meet with him soon".

"Do you think it's important?" Zia asks.

"If it's about those documents" Siran says, "then it might be very important. It's been 15 years. He should've had all of them by now".

"We can go sort things out tomorrow" Zia says. "For now, let's worry about getting Silas to school on time. We'll see what he wants afterwards, alright?".

"Yeah... alright, hun" Siran agrees.

The next day, he and Zia take Silas to school, then drive over to Vega. When they finally meet with Don, he says to them "I'm sure you're already aware of the only reason I'd call you for".

"You finally have all of those documents?" Siran asks.

"That's the problem" Don says. "We have most of them. Some of the greater military powers keep those records guarded securely. We won't be able to get those ones anytime soon. As well as... some of the other documents... they have already been stolen".

"You can't be serious" Zia says. "Did somebody just take it and sell it on the black market or something!?".

"No clue" Don says. "However, if it were on the black market, it'd be easier for us to find. That is, however, so far... not the case. I'd like to go out of my way and track these down, maybe get into a gunfight or two over these documents... and by like, I mean I'm absolutely not going to go through that trouble for this shit. As such, I'm once again making this your job".

"We can't" Siran says. "We have a family now. We're tied down".

"I don't give a single shit about your family, Siran!" Don says. "I have the documents I've collected so far that we have already began delivering to Seeira. You take it from here. I've done what I can".

"But!" Zia says.

"I don't care!" Don says as he starts to walk away. "You take care of this library of yours. I'm ready to retire, but I have business I have to finish up before leaving Vega in the hands of the next person".

After Don leaves, Siran and Zia stood still in silence. "What are we gonna do, Syr?" Zia asks. "The point of collecting these documents is to keep track of all that happened, and keep something like what Naris did to the world from happening again... but we can't do that if we don't know what Naris did to the world, or how people rebuilt the world afterwards".

"I was planning on making an actual library out of the documents so people knew the real story of what it was like back then..." Siran says. "We need this to work out so we can let the world take care of themselves. The world can't depend on The Six Guns anymore. Our job is done. We were only there to help people learn how to stand up for themselves... and we all now have a family to think about".

"Should we... give up on the documents?" Zia asks.

"I don't know" Siran says. "Maybe we'll have to".

"We can give the world the documents we have so far" Zia says. "Maybe that'll be enough?".

"We can only hope so" Siran says. There was a pause before suddenly, Siran realizes. "Wait a minute... Don said they were already delivering those documents to Seeira. Where are they delivering it to?".

"I dunno..." Zia says.

Suddenly, Siran's phone rings. He got a text from Vivi, saying "Why the hell is my house filled with giant stacks of files!? You better start explaining shit, right now, you little twerp!".

Siran stares down at his phone for a few seconds, then just says "Fuck".

Zia and Siran return to Seeira immediately, and arrive at Vivi's house. When there, Vivi and Alex were there with their son, Carl. School had already ended by now, and now Siran and Zia were worried about Silas. However, not long after Siran and Zia arrived, Silas and Dana entered Vivi's house too; alongside Rose and Finn. "Heya, what's up!" Finn says as they enter. Suddenly, Finn and Rose stop as they see several giant stacks of files filling Vivi's living room. "Whoaaaa~ what's going on here!?".

"That's what we'd like to know" Vivi says with her arms crossed.

"Aunt Vivi is mad" Silas says with a sarcastic laugh.

"Don't sass me" Vivi says to Silas. "Did your father teach you that!? Your father sasses me all the time too! What'd you do, Siran!?".

"I didn't teach my son how to sass people!" Siran replies. "It's in our genes! Sarcasm is a part of nature too, y'know!".

Vivi takes out a wrench and starts stomping towards Siran. Alex grabs onto Vivi to stop her and says "Not in front of the kids, Vivi".

"Arrgh!" Vivi growls.

"I'm sorry" Siran says. "Those are documents... taken from during The Naris Catastrophe. We needed them, and Don delivered them to the wrong house".

"Why the hell do we need these!?" Vivi asks.

"I'm going to rewrite the documents into books" Siran says. "Leave history books for the world to read. Remembering the past so we don't ever repeat it".

"That's all well and good, Siran" Alex says, "but it's not our job to do. You know we don't have to keep protecting the world. Humanity can do that on their own".

"It's important to me too!" Siran yells. Siran pauses, then says "I've missed so much... I was in hiding, scared of what the world thought of me. Even after taking down Naris the first time, even after all I tried to do, I still was never accepted in the world. I'm done sulking over all of that now... but...". Siran stomps his foot on the ground, as if to build up more confidence, then continues to say "but I need to know what I missed! I should've helped rebuild the world, but I didn't! I got too absorbed with myself and my own feelings. I owe it to those people I left behind for so long!".

"Siran, nobody here blames you for The Naris Catastrophe" Zia says gently.

"No, not here" Siran says in a calm voice as he looks down at his feet.

"Look" Zia says, "you're here now. We're here now. And we've done a lot, especially you, to pull the world out of a bad spot. Don't you think it's about time you learned to relax a little?".

"See?" Alex asks. "Even your wife gets it! You're the only one who's not ready to live a normal life, Siran". There was a heavy silence in the room, before Alex says "We get it... we really do. You think this is your fault. Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn't. What matters now though, is that you've already taken care of your own mess. Just stop for now... for your son?".

Siran looks down at Silas, tears almost forming in his eyes. "Yeah... yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. I know my child needs a father here with him".

"Dad..." Silas says, a little embarrassed, "I can handle myself, you know? You know I love you, dad, and I know you're not pushing yourself because you don't care. It's cool... you tell me everyday that you love me... it's really embarrassing too. Just... if you do something... I know about The Six Guns and all... so I know it's probably hard for you to sit still... it's just...". Silas pauses for a moment and tries to find the right words. "What I mean, dad, is it's okay. I know you still care, even if this is something you have to do".

"Don't encourage your father" Vivi says.

Siran hugs his son and says "I love you, Silas".

Silas laughs softly and says "I know, dad... you kinda... you're kinda embarrassing me though. D-Dana and Carl are watching".

"Oh come on, it's not that bad" Carl says. "Your parents have done more embarrassing things before".

"Our parents are just weird like that" Dana says. "They were The Six Guns after all. Their cool... like... really cool! Even though they may be kinda stupid sometimes".

"Dana!" Rose pouts. "Not you too!".

"I still love them though" Dana says.

"Aw, I love you too, kiddo!" Finn says. "But please stop listening to Holly when she tells you bad things about mommy and daddy".

"No" Dana says. "You're idiots, and you need to know that".

"Even my own daughter..." Finn says, defeatedly.

"I want these files out of my house as soon as possible, Siran" Vivi says.

"I'll get on it" Siran says.

As Siran, Zia and Silas start carrying the documents over from Vivi's house; to their own house; a familiar face shows up. Laurence suddenly approaches from behind, after Silas went inside of the house, and says "Long time, no see".

Siran stares at Laurence's face for a while, then asks "Who are you again?".

"Oh please, you don't remember me?" Laurence asks. "You don't remember... being stabbed in the gut?".

After a while of thinking, suddenly, Siran jumps back. "It's you! From back in the Philippines!".

"Yes, yes!" Laurence says, cheerfully. "It is I! How've you been doing, Ishmael?".

"Ishmael?" Siran asks.

"Come to think of it" Zia says, "he called you that last time too".

"You must have me mistaken for someone else" Siran says.

"I know for a fact that I don't have you mistaken for anyone else" Laurence says. "I can see into your soul, Ishmael. Also, there's your blood".

"Was there some sort of blood test?" Siran asks.

"Well, that's one way to describe it" Laurence says. "Lucky for you, my brothers don't know about you, yet. My father personally looked into your blood. Your blood contains an amount of residual endo that was previously attached to your soul, and your soul gives away many secrets, you know. We know it's you, Ishmael".

"I have no idea who this Ishmael person is!" Siran declares.

"His previous name was Jack" Zia adds. "He was never known as Ismael".

"Can it be... that you yourself don't know?" Laurence asks.

"Who are you and what do you want this time?" Siran asks.

"Oh my, he really doesn't know" Laurence says. "Well, I've been looking into something for the past six years. Some much like what you're carrying now. Those documents... they're from The Naris Catastrophe, aren't they?".

"How'd you know?" Siran asks.

Laurence takes out a document that he was holding onto. "I've read into it. I thought I knew what was going on with this planet, but seeing you like this... that can't be right". Laurence then throws the document at Siran, and Siran takes it.

"Elaborate..." Siran demands.

"Well, I thought you were the one tampering with this world" Laurence says. "I should've known that answer was too easy though. You were the one who released Naris onto the world by removing those seals, weren't you?".

"The... seals..." Siran repeats with a shocked face. "How'd you know about that!?".

"I'm no human" Laurence says. "And I can now say that I'm not your enemy either... seeing you in this condition, with such ignorance. My target is the one who's opening these rifts. You see, these... streams of endo... Endo-Streams, if you will... keep opening up, and it'll eventually choke out all life on Earth. I'm here to find out who's causing such a thing, and reverse it".

Siran drops the documents, then asks "What!?".

"You see" Laurence says, "Naris had to have been carefully placed in this world by someone... and you broke the seals, allowing these... powerful entities... these gods, if you will, to affect this world freely. However, they couldn't touch this world because of one thing, and one thing only. They were all scared of Naris. But then you had to go and remove him, so now I have bigger problems, thanks to you!".

"What are you talking about?" Siran asks. "What entities!? What's going on?".

"You two have been to Valhalla" Laurence says. "How many gods have you met?".

"You... know about Valhalla too?" Zia asks.

"Answer me!" Laurence demands.

"Just one... Gaia" Siran replies.

"Tch" Laurence replies, "of course it was just her". Suddenly, Silas comes back outside, slowly, from their house. When Laurence sees Silas, he freezes in terror. Silas freezes in terror as well, and after a while, Laurence asks "Who is that!?".

"That's my son, Silas" Siran replies.

"Right..." Laurence says nervously. "I-I need to go... but before I go, what's your name currently?".

"My name?" Siran asks. "It's Siran...".

"Right, I'll remember that name for now" Laurence says. "Maybe we'll meet again. As for now, I have to go".

"Is something wrong?" Silas asks. "Who is this guy?".

"Don't worry about me" Laurence says nervously to Silas. "Just... I got what I came here for. I'm at least a little glad you're not the cause of this, Siran".

"Wait!" Siran yells. "Is the world really in danger!?".

"You leave that to me" Laurence says, then suddenly disappears in a short burst of black smoke.

"Cryptic asshole!" Siran yells.

"Are you okay, Syr?" Zia asks.

"I don't know..." Siran says.

"Are you going to have to do something dangerous, dad?" Silas asks.

"I... don't know, bud" Siran replies softly.

"So, how did your mystery solo investigation go, brother?" Todd asks as Laurence appears just outside of town.

"We're out of leads" Laurence says. "And it only gets worse".

"Worse how?" Manny asks. "You never even told us about this friend you went to go talk to".

"It was Ishmael..." Laurence confesses. "Or at least, a part of him".

"So he is here then!?" Aaron asks.

"Yes" Laurence answers. "And I'm afraid, he's also unaware of what's going on right now. As of now, he's only a mere human, with no memory of his past lives. He has no access to any of those memories, nor does he have any knowledge about the Endo-Streams. Our only lead is gone now...".

"Don't let it get you down, brother" Todd says. "We're not completely lost on information yet! We still have the chain of streams to follow. We shall find our culprit yet!".

"Right" Laurence says, "thanks... but it gets worse".

"Still?" Aaron asks.

"What is it now?" Manny asks.

"There's a new entity" Laurence says. "Potentially worse than Naris. The good part is that it's a child, and shows no malicious intent".

"And the bad side?" Todd asks.

"It's like..." Laurence says as he tries to think of the right words. "It's like the opposite of the Endoindustria Streams we've seen. Instead of spewing out endo wildly, it seems to be constantly absorbing it from the environment".

"What does that mean?" Todd asks.

"It means, it- I mean... he... the boy" Laurence says, "he can constantly absorb Endoindustria without realizing he's doing it. Furthermore, he possesses that last shard of Chronos that was previously kept safe from the Olympians, in Valhalla". There was a long pause, before Laurence looks back at the town in Seeira and says "A new God Slayer has been born".