Final Convergence, Part Five.

That same night in Eightfold's underground Base, Xenos stood in the outside center, Hail beside him. The two siblings were accustomed to the feeling of their Fate crackling around them like an inextinguishable blaze.

Alora rubbed her chin; dark blue pupils reflecting their flaming aurae. 'These two are something. In less than a month while they were also traveling, they both managed to hone their innate life force so it doesn't spill out like an amateur.' She paced around them.

'As far as Powers go, Xenos is the weaker of the two. But in exchange for more power, Hail discards her mental stability for the sake of only moving to decimate her target. It's a dangerous and formidable technique we can use to maximize chaos at the right time. As for Xenos though…'

Hail Zolstein's Predestined Power: 'All I See Is You'. The technique bypasses human limits by discarding mental stability and filling the unreasonable body with enhanced Fate. The strikes she throws are capable of destroying countless internal organs with a single blow.

Xenos Zolstein's Predestined Power: 'Unwavering Malevolence.' The technique revolves around his superior swordsmanship. Xenos releases a ball of Fate that attaches to the opponent, but the projectile is like a bubble, so it's nonlethal.

The ball can be easily dispersed or deflected, but attaching it to the target is the condition for activation. It doesn't matter where the bubble attaches to. So as long as Xenos strikes where it lands, it'll be an instant kill. The hard part about his technique is using the necessary aura to emit the bubble like a bullet from a gun barrel. As for Hail, the difficulty of her abilities is trying to make her control the technique.

Xenos was far superior to his little sister in the way he understood the lessons Alora taught them. Even in this short period of just thirty minutes, the Warrior managed to withhold and also control the extent of his aura. The sunny Fate bursting all around him seemed natural. If not for his subpar technique, he would've already been a Master.

Alora stopped in front of Hail. Her eyes were closed as the abundance of aura her Fate produced erratically danced around her build. She was in the zone.

'Nice. Well, it's been thirty minutes. Let's see how they react now.'

Lora looked over at Marie and nodded. Shortly after, Princess Baron vanished. Meanwhile, Illustrious extended her finger, pointing it directly at Hail's face. The smallest circle of aura formed around the tip and, with a simple flick, she shot it at her. Hail's dyed hair split apart at the bangs—as the wind lifted it. Peering through the smaller strands at Alora, Hail stifled a giggle, tracking the bubble of aura shooting toward her.

Marie's super speed was immeasurable. The moment she landed against the Base's ceiling and jumped at Hail, the Princess's Fate was sealed. Despite the lax control she had over the technique, she didn't know her strength. She enacted two actions.

After sharpening her nails with aura to make them look like claws, she slashed at Marie behind her and caught the bubble in the palm of her hand. The simultaneous actions she initiated were performed at a breathtaking speed. A speed Marie had to rely on her instincts to dodge. To push the Princess to rely on reflex was an undeniably impressive feat.

Lora clapped, beaming at her pupil. "Well done, well done! You can release your Fate now."

The siblings listened. As their differently-colored aurae dispersed, Lora took to the floor, extending her legs.

"We're done for the day. Any more than that and you'll be too drained to continue tomorrow. Sit with me, you two."

Xenos finished squatting by the time Hail's bottom splatted flat into the ground. Letting the ankles point up, his elbow rested on his leg, scratching the back of his head.

"There's one thing I still don't understand," he said.

Lora, and Marie behind her, felt their curiosities pique at the sound of his speech.

"What do you mean?" asked the Princess.

"Well—" Whether or not his memory's newfound clarity was due to Uriel, he didn't know. Regardless, he retraced the events and played it back for the two women before him. "—after the fight with Moloch, it gets kinda hazy. I kinda remember being dragged."

Lora squinted. "Dragged? Are you sure?"

Hail's sudden gasp was accompanied by her quickly standing up. "I remember now!" Lip trembling, she stared down at Alora—her teacher. "He didn't just spare us... he dragged us out of harm's way. To protect us!"

"That doesn't make any sense."

Alora's playful gaze was replaced by something unfamiliar. The same phenomena Xenos encountered in his short spat with the Blessed swordswoman unfortunately returned. The black smoke that gathered around her seated posture sharpened to the hilt before lunging forward to hover before the Zolstein brother's throat.

"Xenos—!!"

Marie's hand sunk deep enough into Hail's shoulder to leave a handprint.

"Don't. Move."

Tightly gripping her shirt at the collar, Alora huffed, allowing the Blessed aura to rage all around her. The shape of her Fate was beyond that of reason—like Hail's, but masterfully controlled, now resembling a monstrous beast. With red eyes peering through the mist as it formed, Xenos felt the chills spread across his skin.

"Choose your next words very carefully. You outsiders have no room to judge the enemies who've taken everything from us. Why would the worst Displacement save those utter meaningless to him?" The welling tears at the corner of Alora's eyes shimmered under the light in the ceiling. "That… can't be true!"

Only then did Marie realize what her comrade meant. Vanishing from behind Hail, her hand slid across Alora's shoulder. The simple chill from the girl's touch was accompanied by a familiar peaceful feeling. One strong enough to calm the Illustrious woman entirely; dispelling the smoky-black signature surrounding her figure.

Xenos stepped back. Lifting his sister into his arms, the Warrior vanished from their sight. Alora's bored gaze followed the siblings' movements like they were gnats. In the end, her fingers hovering before each other fell, allowing the Warrior and Hail to flee from the Base.

Marie conjured her technique's pen. Shortly after, her aura dispersed and the princess sat in the chair she summoned.

"Oooh," she grinned, sinking into the chair, "Comfy."

Alora's fists clenched; veins stretching over both her arms. "Should I have let them go?"

"Hmm," Marie shrugged. "Probably not. But I feel like Uri would've said something because if Tal didn't realize, he definitely would. So it's probably fine."

She sat across from the princess on the flat pebble-riddled ground. "What a pain. Then again, I suck at teaching anyway so…" she sighed.

"Well, think of this way—" Marie threw chips down her throat from the bag between her legs. "—I forgot what I was gonna say."

She sighed. "You're useless, y'know that?"

"Yeah. Want some chips?"

"Where'd you even get those from?"

On the surface of the City, Xenos limped out of a train station's stairway that was embedded into the sidewalk. Scanning the deserted curb, he spotted a nearby alleyway and allowed himself to collapse in the pocket, releasing Hail from his hold.

"Should—" She crawled over to her brother and knelt on the floor. "Should we have done that?"

Xenos sat up in the puddle below his knees. The rain pouring from the grey clouds above drenched the Warrior's light blonde hair.

"I don't know." Clenching his teeth, he averted his gaze. "Why did that man save us? Just as Illustrious said, it doesn't make sense. He came with Atlas. Why didn't he kill us that night?"

Looking down, Hail's dyed bangs covered her eyes. "Where do we go?"

"If answers are what you want—"

Xenos and Hail felt their bodies flinch and turn toward the wall of darkness at the end of the alleyway. Stepping out was a man with bright green eyes and curly brown hair flowing in the winds filled with rain. Apollo smirked at the survivors from the Massacre, stifling a chuckle.

"—I can provide them for you."

To Be Cont.