#Scenario 21: Darkness Begins

"This will change everything. Good luck, Horus." whispered Ozymandias, grasping the shoulder of the man in front of him firmly.

The man, visibly distressed but with a resolute glimmer of determination in his eyes, nodded. After both men shook hands, they parted and went in their separate ways.

---

He stepped through the crowd with fluidity, avoiding the raucous crowd of Saturday shoppers with swift and snake-like movements. Considering his mission, it would have seemed preferable to take as much time as possible, but he was ready.

He finally halted in the centre of the Ceteris Mall and gazed silently around the beautiful atrium, taking in the sight of the busy store fronts, delighted shoppers, young couples and children frolicking with their parents, clutching things like ice cream cones and new toys. It may have been decadent, but it truly bought the populace happiness.

"What a shame, what a shame..." he whispered to himself.

"Are you lost, mister?" came a voice from below him.

Horus tilted his head down to see the beaming face of a young girl looking up at him. She could hardly be older than six, he thought, as the cherub-faced child smiled and pointed at an ice cream stall nearby.

"My parents are over there!" she informed him excitedly. "They're buying me and my brother ice cream. Do you want some too, mister? Maybe they can help you get back home!"

Horus dropped down to one knee and put both hands on her shoulder, giving her as warm a smile as he could muster.

"What's your name?" he asked gently.

"Lily, what's yours?" she replied eagerly.

"Well, I'll tell you, but first you have to do something for me."

"Like what?"

"Let's play a game."

"I love games!"

"Great. You have to close your eyes as tightly as you can, OK? You can only open them when I say so. Then, I'll tell you my name."

The girl giggled and lifted her chin, shutting her eyes as hard as she could to prove to the man that she'd abide by the rules of the game. To seal the deal, she placed both of her hands over her eyes.

"Lily?" came a concerned voice from a distance away.

Horus stood up and looked to the right, witnessing a distressed woman and what appeared to be her partner searching desperately for something. The connection was obvious and it only served to hasten what had to be done. Ensuring that the girl still had her eyes closed, Horus levitated high into the air above her.

A few onlookers had noticed something in the air and, upon seeing a humanoid form, were ostensibly incensed. The fury, however, immediately turned into apprehension as Horus' body started to vibrate and rapidly, emitting wisps of dark energy that spiraled outwards before retracting back into his body, over and over, the motion repeated, gaining in distance, in speed and in power.

The first screams begun when the ground started to shake, at first a murmur but soon turning into a full-blown earthquake. The crescendo of noise and of energy continued to spiral upwards as shoppers frantically tried to escape the scene and the deafening rumbling that shook the entire mall. Just when it seemed that ear drums might burst, everything stopped.

Horus remained completely still in the air, with the only noise being a faint buzzing. Nobody dared to breathe. Horus looked down towards the girl who had befriended him only moments ago and, for the most infinitesimal moment, their eyes met.

He threw his arms to the side and screamed, triggering the raging torrent of noise to return. His body, which had been vibrating before, suddenly swelled with a massive orb composed of dark energy that crackled and hissed menacingly. His screams continued as the flesh tore from his body, the outline of his skeleton glowing inside the sphere for a few seconds before completely disintegrating.

As soon as the last bit of bone had turned to ash, the black orb sent out a shock wave that crumbled everything around it before expanding ferociously, consuming anything and everything in its way. Men, women and children fell before the dark energy with no time to scream before their shadows were burnt into the ground forever.

The sphere ripped through the entire mall, crushing stores and collapsing pillars until one of the greatest feats of architecture in Ceteris was reduced to mere debris that burned and burned, lighting the night sky whilst the cacophony of howls and cries from the devastated around ground zero echoed across the violated city.

-End of Scenario #21-

---

#20

Kyo carefully disengaged his grip from Cancer's arms as the man became limp, the vividness of his memories fading along with his consciousness. He looked around at the others solemnly, wondering if anything had been gained by coming here.

The windows began to rattle.

"GET DOWN!" he yelled, hastily creating a telekinetic orb that encapsulated them.

The windows exploded ferociously as the entire building descended into unbridled chaos, the deafening noise of shattering windows punctuating the silence that they had held in the shell of the facility. The sharp shards of shattered glass rocketed towards them and some were able to pierce through the barrier, cutting the exposed skin of anyone who was unfortunate enough to get in the way.

After what seemed like an eternity of the unnerved group cowering in shock and confusion, Kyo scrambled up to his feet and bolted towards the window that he had been standing with at Mei, the sounds of glass crunching under his heavy footsteps.

"Oh my God... no, no, no..." he whispered, both hands curled up into tight fists in his hair as he gazed out at the towering inferno in the distance.

Scenario #22

Jacob was sitting in his room, on the computer, when the explosion happened. Standing up, he calmly walked to his closet, grabbing a rucksack filled with the essentials to last him several days, as well as a large, thick cap that would protect his head from the elements. Checking inside the bag to make sure everything was secure, he took a deep breath and buried his face in his hands. So, it finally happened, huh? He didn't know the details, but that explosion was not normal. It was not some punk kid blowing up a pipe bomb, or a mortar landing a dozen or two meters away. This was massive. This was what they used to train people for back in the Cold War. A Nuclear explosion.

Of course, Jacob was wrong about that, but the details weren't important. He quickly made his way through the Academy, stopping just outside the gates and looking over at Ground Zero of the explosion. Ceteris was in tatters, people were screaming and running from the ruins, hoping to avoid any further attacks. As if anybody who could get their hands on a weapon like that would be such an amateur as to attack the same spot twice. After a few calm breaths, a dark look appeared in Jacob's eyes, and he smiled. He knew what he had to do, but still he waited, looking back at the Academy. Would anybody else come? He'd give it five minutes. Anybody who was going to do something wouldn't lollygag after hearing that.

20.

Jade looked up as the windows began to rattle, gasping before completely crouching down. She screamed involuntarily as the room turned into hell. She glanced up and saw the glass coming towards them, immediately putting up as many barriers of dark magic as she could. Being the closest to Cancer, she crawled over and tried blocking as much debris from getting to him.
Once everything stopped, she looked up and over to the others before looking at where Kyo went. She pushed herself up and flew over, not wanting to step on the glass covered ground. "My god..." Her hands covered her mouth, eyes wide with fear as she saw where the blast came from.

Scenario 22

Jesse nearly fell out of bed hearing a distant boom that shook the window above his bed. Jesse almost mistook the sensation for an earthquake, quickly remembering that he wasn't near any fault zones. An earthquake made no sense. It had to be an explosion, something absolutely massive. Jesse hoisted himself up and tossed his sheets on the bed, rubbing his eyes as he slowly made his way over to his closet. He was just wearing his pants and if he was going to run outside, he ought to have the decency to put on his trousers. A few minutes slipped by as Jesse got on his clothes, including a white button up that he was already regretting as he made his way out of the door. He was going to have the bleach this shirt tonight, there wasn't any real doubt in that.

Standing by the gates, looking as if he were waiting for someone was a young military-esque man. He had a few years on Jesse, as well as a few inches, but Jesse had a gut feeling about the guy. He seemed to be interested in going toward the source of the explosion and if Jesse's guess was right, he was probably a white mage as well. He gave a nod towards the man whom he had yet to meet, giving a friendly smile toward the man. "You headin' in?" Jesse directed, looking from the man toward the source of commotion. When Jesse's gaze returned to the wanderer, he extended a hand and gave his introduction "Jesse Wolfe, white mage, summoner, your company for this little venture into hell."

The chaos finally ends, as Dark brushes off the glass from his cloak, he's more concerned about Cancer than what happen outside. He kneels over to him to check if he's injured, other than a minor scratch, he seems to be stable.

"We're going to split up, some of us take Cancer back to Academy, while the other check what happened outside."

Dark heads over to Cancer and lifts him up on his shoulders.

"I'll take him back with me, no point in taking an unconscious man to that location you know."

"Sol, you big lovable oaf..!", Cancer murmured in his unconsciousness.

"Agreed. But you be careful on your way there and back. Looks like we'll be needing all the help we can get, and you're useless dead", Ashlynn said, concerned for both the two heading back to The Academy and the giant explosion that happened just recently.

Kyo looked back at the others with a determined mien, ineluctably drawn to the idea of helping the injured and wounded as atonement for the sins he had committed and was planning to commit.
"Why don't you just leave him here?" he asked Dark in a harsh and hostile manner. "It's not like anybody's going to come here looking for him. The people outside are the ones who need our help."
Kyo turned around and shot upwards through the broken window, not turning around to look at whoever else decided to follow him as he rapidly headed towards ground zero.

-Kyo has left Scenario 21-

20.

Jade frowned as she heard Kyo and watched him take off, then turned to Dark. "Take him back. Don't listen to him." She took off soon after, speeding after Kyo, hoping to be able to help out as many people as she could.

/Jade has left scenario 20/

Dark scoffs at Kyo's remark and bolts out of the lab with Cancer snoring in his ear, this is going to be a long flight back to the Academy.

-Dark and Cancer left the scenario-

Ashlynn saw several of the group go and dusted some glass dust off of her shoulders. She stretched her neck on both sides, hearing two slightly audible pops and rolled her shoulders. She then formed telekinetic armor over certain parts of her body, such as her helmet, elbows, forearms, knees, and shins; the armor having a deep red glow.

Her head turned to face Mei. "I invited you at first because you seemed genuinely interested in the recent.. 'Events', but it seems to me that you're mind is actually focused on other things", Ashlynn said, nodding toward Kyo's direction as he left. "Go home. You can get some dick later."

Ashlynn went through the window and then flew towards the city; more than likely the 'Egyptian Alley Attackers Society' were behind this and everything that's happened to her. And she wants revenge.

/Ashlynn left Scenario 20/

Mei had no clue what this girl was implying. Hell, she hardly knew her. She was still dusting off the glass and dust from her hoodie as the girl flew off. She ran towards the window, having no idea how to travel as quickly. Her thing was ice and fire, not air.

Kyo and the others had Cancer, and it was likely that this girl would need some help investigating. She was right: Mei wanted to know what was going on. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good for the rest of the Academy. Finally, some inspiration hit. Mei perched herself on the window sill, trying not to look down. Closing her eyes, she focused energy into her hands. Fire began to roar from her palms, scorching the cement floor behind her as she felt herself being lifted from the window sill, out into the night air.

Mei made it several feet into the air, hovering, the jets of flame from her hands keeping her abreast. She looked down, trying to not scream. She had to have been several dozen feet in the air. Now, if she could propel herself forward. Another thought emerged. Using the same principle that brought her the first discovery (A lot of a book on magic control mixed with a little physics and a dash of Iron Man), Mei focused energy into the soles of her feet. Soon, jets of flame began to emanate from her heels, propelling her fast forward. Perhaps too fast. In a few moments, she had caught up with the other girl. "The fuck are you talking about?!" She shouted as she rocketed beside the girl, trying to figure out how to slow down.

/Mei leaves the scenario/

#Scenario 23

Kyo descended slowly, his flight trajectory eventually becoming diagonal as his pressed back into his sides. The wind howled in his ears as he observed the carnage that the attack had left behind; the fire was still raging unabated and the smoldering ruins of the mall were scorched black. There were charred skeletons scattered around the wreckage and dust that had to be the accumulated remains of the rest of the unfortunate bodies that were caught in the blast zone.

Kyo landed with a thud and stumbled forward, landing far outside the zone of impact. The blast radius had been huge and it felt as if he was at least two or three miles out. Everything in between had been demolished entirely. There was no way the death toll was not in the hundreds of thousands.

"Hey!" said an unfamiliar voice in his head.

Kyo whirled around and saw two men running towards him. The one on the right looked as if he might be an alumni of the Prometheus Academy, but the younger male by his side was definitely new.

"What's going on?" he demanded, a note of urgency in his voice.

"We're trying to gather as many white mages as we can to heal the injured but we'll take any help we can get." said the man, his words feeling invasive as they echoed in Kyo's head.

"Why won't you speak out loud?" asked Kyo abruptly, looking around; the behaviour was suspicious and he wasn't sure if there was some hidden danger in his immediate vicinity that these two knew about and he didn't.

"He can't he's a mute, so telepathy is the way to go." says Kent as he approaches Kyo, he stops a few paces away. The sweat showing how long he's been at it trying to heal any survivors from the destruction.

"It's a quite a mess, I didn't think things were this bad from what Dark told me earlier."

23.

Jade slowed down and lowered herself until her feet touched the ground, from there she jogged lightly over to Kyo who was standing by two guys. "Good lord.." She muttered under her breath as she stopped next to Kyo. "Did a bomb go off? What happened here?"

Kyo felt a wave of relief pass through him as Jade stopped by; a familiar face in an unfamiliar environment provided him some semblance of comfort and would allow him to regain any equanimity he was capable of possessing.
"Sorry." said Kyo sincerely, nodding at the mute man.
"It's fine, don't worry about it." came the earnest reply. "Introductions are in order, I guess. I'm Raphael and this life-saver to my left is Kent."
"I'm Kyo, this is Jade." he said tersely, wanting to make himself useful as soon as possible. "Dark and I are best friends, Kent, and I have no doubt in my mind that you're referring to the Guardian. Since the two of you are well acquainted, I'll trust your judgement. Lead on."
Kyo gestured at the wrecked buildings behind Raphael and Kent; it was there that they were most likely to find survivors. The area behind Kyo and Jade did not even have a remote possibility of containing life.

"Oh you know Dark as well, that's great. I met up with him a couple years back when I dropping off cargo from my family's boat. But enough about that, it seems that it was a doing of a wanderer unfortunately, probably the people with the Egyptian names were behind this. I'm not entirely sure, however in the outskirts of this destruction are many injured people. If you allow me."

Kent places his hand on Jade and Kyo's shoulder and they appear near the line of injured citizens, some to the point that their limbs are severed, gored or completely gone. Many are moaning as white mages are doing everything in their power to heal them up.

"We've been at it for awhile now, not much we can do about connecting the limbs back, we're not that skilled yet."

Kent walks over to a group of injured women, and he extends his hands out and closes his eyes. A gust of wind picks up and a white aura begins to swirl around the group as their injuries begin to heal. They let out a sigh of relief as the wind comforts them as well as the aura.

"It's my healing circle, I'm trying to make it bigger, but this will have to do for now."

23.

"Those pricks are behind everything." Jade walked away from the men and kneeled down next to a few of the hurt people, looking at their injuries and frowning. "I can't heal, but I can at least start putting out fires so they won't spread. It's better than just standing here." She stood up and walked back to the three, "I'll be around though if y'all need me." She pushed herself off of the ground and began to fly over the flames nearest to the people, water seeming to come out of her hands as if it were rainig over the flames. She was careful not to use too much force, scared that there might be others and she'd hurt them.

Kyo remained quiet in light of these observations, feeling a small sense of frustration at being so out of the loop. Dark had been in a hurry and so had not been able to give him a thorough explanation. From what he had surmised thus far, there were ineffably powerful Wanderers who were using the names of Egyptian deities as pseudonyms and Ivy was missing. Kidnapped. Most likely dead.

He shuddered at the thought as he swept his hands silently over a gash in an unconscious man's arm, looking with forlorn at the seemingly endless line of injured.

Kent doesn't let up on the healing process, but also begins to use his wind to keep the flames and smoke away from the injured. He hears sobbing in the background and looks as a ring of fire surrounds a small child, he teleports over to her and begins to teleport back when a pillar begins to giveaway. It begins to fall, the impact would crush them but it stops in mid-air and flings off towards the pile of the rubble in the background, then another gust of wind, or telekinetic shock wave blasts in Kent's face, as a smile begins to form as he recognizes who that could be.

"I was wondering when you would get here, and I see you brought a friend."

Aphrodite and Dark land near Kent, happy to see him and frown at the wreckage around them.

This looked bad. Caist was carefully making his way through the flames, secure within a pale blue bubble of psionic energy, repelling the heat. Nothing could have survived this, whatever it was. First responders were taking their sweet time getting here, too. Just as well; less yellow tape to get through. There was something about this that smelled of Wanderers. The blast was contained to this particular area. He was unable to find a point of origin with the limited time he had. Not a single clue could be find in this burning mess.

Giving up, Caist made his way to edge of the flaming ruins, opposite where his sweep of the area had began. Wait...thoughts. Close. Who would be suicidal enough....Caist followed the thought patterns. He didn't have to travel far. A small group of young adults, younger than him, were standing together. Suspects? Too many. Nosy bystanders? Time to find out. He approached the group.

It looked like a makeshift battlefield triage. It looked like someone had already dug up any survivors of this disaster. He approached the closest one. He looked younger than most of the (presumed) white mages around them. "Wanderer first responders. You guys Guardians?"