A PROMISING Prediction

The Ryduun Family.

It was established 80 years ago when a certain man started a family with the intention of making it the greatest fighting force the world had ever seen.

For that, he found a woman he assumed to be the perfect mate and had five children that he groomed to be extraordinarily powerful, one of them more so than the others.

This man and his family joined a certain, nameless, massive underground community that hosted powerful Fint Users.

The Hired Heathens: collections of heartless killers contracted by nations, corporations, and vengefully motivated, individual customers.

Hired Heathens had no ties to society.

As far as the world was concerned, they didn't exist.

After the First Myriad War, relations between all the nations of the world remained shaky despite the concessions agreed upon to try and establish peace.

This prompted the need for the Hired Heathens, and during that time, when competition was fiercest, the Ryduun Family became quite well known.

They were not only considered powerful combatants. They were also considered some of the looniest, especially after several determined investigators managed to dig up information about just how this family came to be; their daily habits, their personalities, their regiments, their systems.

Some of it was genuinely jarring, even to other Hired Heathens.

However, even with all that the head of the Ryduun Family had done to forge his family into the deadliest one in history, as a collective, they only managed to become the second most regarded family of Heathens in the records.

...

Ess looked at the figure in front of him.

The immaculate suit, the white gloves, the gentle, yet powerful air…

Yeah, this was T-96 alright.

The mask that was perched on his face had a hazy 'T' printed on it, and on this letter in turn, was the number 96 boldly embossed. Circular openings could be seen on the mask allowing for the man behind it to see. In turn, those who looked at him saw the vibrant color of his eyes; purple.

'Uh... I suddenly miss S-4. Is he still around, I wonder?' thought Ess before he patted T-96's shoulder and walked into the house.

The wooden flooring was immaculate. Polished wooden tiles that didn't have a single trace of dust or dirt extended as far as the eye could see within the house. The walls were plastered with a brown wallpaper, wrinkleless in its layers.

On the wooden ceiling, which had carvings of the family insignia, were multiple chandeliers, all decorated with pretty gems that did not ruin the color scheme.

Ess walked up to the dining and sat on one of the chairs at the large wooden table which looked like it had been stolen from a wealthy kingdom in the eleventh century.

He rested and took deep breaths while admiring the view around him.

…

Soon, the kerfuffle between Twist and Bee ended under Ess's intense barks which were heard vividly from the outside.

In the end, the subject of the debate, 'Elijah', was left in Bee's possession.

He sat on Bee's lap while she embraced him tight like a child, her emotionless gaze locking on Twist whose twitching eyes told of his immense effort to restrain himself.

The three sat at the dining table on either side of Ess while T-96 stood like a statue behind Twist.

'Elijah' was feeling mighty uncomfortable. He would have liked to appreciate the warmth coming from Bee's thighs and the heavenly sensation brushing against his side from her ample chest mushed against his arm, but the humiliation was real and his pride, not to mention his dignity, was taking heavy blows.

The fact that the young man was still tied up, duct tape still plastered over his lips only made things worse.

Bee started stroking his thigh and he jerked in surprise. He gazed at her and found her staring at him with a small, emotionless smile. She then winked at him, as if to say, 'You're safe here.'

Oh, heavens! Did this woman not recall that she had killed his entire family?!

Ess grimaced.

He quickly decided to ask the question that was gnawing at his mind to purge the ugly atmosphere.

"Twist. What happened with the family?"

The spiky-haired boy stopped gawking at his 'promised' prey and emitted a light cough. His demeanor changed.

"Let me explain something first, big brother," said Twist. "I haven't forgiven you for what you did. I'll only comply because the matters at hand are... problematic. Both the answer to your question and Father's reincarnation."

Ess wanted to eye-roll, but Twist's tone made him decide against it.

What was going on?

Twist sighed before explaining:

"After you left, a Speaker visited our house one day. He gave us an Unlimited Forecast. A pretty bad one."

Ess narrowed his eyes.

Well, shit.

An Unlimited Forecast was like a prophecy, but worse for all intents and purposes. It was like a compound prediction. Not only was it always littered with layers of ever-changing variables – sometimes multiple people, multiple nations, and so on – but it was also hard to fully decipher.

It was rare for anything good to come from it, which also meant that it was rare to receive one, thankfully. There were only six known genuine Unlimited Forecasts given since humanity changed with the sun after the Darkening, and one of them was the reason the First Myriad War ended so abruptly.

"What was the Forecast?" Ess asked.

Twist frowned, recalling the words.

" 'Travel far. Each to their own void. Spread like the wind to the ends of the nightmare. Part and never seek. For the day when the congregation of six stars should light the dark, one will surely fall and the fable will end, taking those who dream with it'," he recited.

"Hmm? That's it?" said Ess as he crossed his arms. "Seems pretty straightforward to me."

Twist scoffed.

"You would think so," he said before passing something to Ess.

The latter immediately scowled.

"You've got to be kidding me."

There was one thing that made Unlimited Forecasts all the more dreadful and undesirable. In fact, it was what made them Unlimited Forecasts and not prophecies.

Unlimited Forecasts, like prophecies were delivered through word of mouth – usually through a riddle – but the most vexing thing about them was a complement that came along with it called a Nexus.

A Nexus could be anything; material or immaterial. And it did not aid in the understanding of the Forecast at all. Once it was given, the recipient of a Forecast was supposed to return it to where it belonged before whatever doom the Forecast alluded to came to pass. If not, solving the riddle and accomplishing what it said, was meaningless.

In this case…

Ess looked at the eye in his hand. It was about the size of his fist with dark sclera, a reddish iris, and a deeply dilated pupil that was very hard to see.

"The Speaker didn't give us any clue as to where this belongs?" Ess asked.

"What do you think?" Twist replied with the click of his tongue.

Of course, Speakers never helped. They delivered the bad news and went on their way. People weren't fond of them. Ess remembered one who got gutted the moment he suspiciously approached a certain 'young lady' and opened his mouth to speak.

Ess sighed.

"Well, the riddle... I don't know what the nightmare is, or the fable, but I'm pretty sure one of us will die if we all find each other, right? Six stars? That's all of us… except one. Does that mean Father is excluded from this Forecast?"

"It seems like it. The Forecast was made after he died," said Bee as she continued to caress 'Elijah's' thigh. "There's that bit about the fable ending and taking those who dream. Twist and I think that possibly means on top of one of us dying, a lot of people will die if our family gathers again and if we fail to find the owner of that eye. Not sure which people though."

Ess twisted his lips.

He didn't like this at all.

He especially didn't like that only six of them were referenced. What about Father? Wait, what if it wasn't even Father that was missing from this Forecast?

Above that…

"Funny. Why on earth would you two travel together with what you know about all this? And why bring me into the mix instead of just calling to inform me about Father?" Ess asked.

"You insensitive bastard!" Twist barked as he slammed the table. "Do you really think any of us could survive alone? Maybe someone like you who had their soul ripped from them can, but I can't! Bee can't! Heck, everyone else is probably living together despite what the Forecast says! We need each other and we were made for each other. No one else can tolerate us but ourselves."

"You would have simply ignored us if we tried to call anyway," Bee added.

Ess' face remained cold.

"We exploited a loophole in the Forecast. Well, we gambled, I guess. The bad stuff only happens when we are all gathered. Things have worked for us thus far," said Bee.

"That's right," said Twist and his face grew soft as he hung his head. "And well, just in case, Bee and I decided to live as close to you as possible. Since you wanted to be alone, away from us, we didn't bother you, but we knew we'd need you eventually."

Ess leaned against his chair.

"Damned stalkers," he said.

"Tell that to Bee! She has a box full of high-res photos of you and that one hot brunette fuc—"

BANG! BANG!

Before Twist could finish telling on his sister, Bee had already pulled out her gun and fired several shots at him!

Twist blocked each bullet with his knife, its shining blade leaving after-images with each stroke he made!

An intense blush painted Bee's cheeks. She didn't put away her gun as she anticipated Twist to continue spilling more beans.

'Elijah' shook vehemently.

"Enough," said Ess exasperatedly. "What about Father?"

Twist retrieved his knife and sighed.

"About that…" he began.