Unspooling the threads

Fires dancing 2

Given purpose, he finds connection.

It's been a whirlwind of information since the dark tendrils spit them into the outskirts of some desert town, but it's only served to prove Akira he'd been right about there being other things inhabiting the earth, only they weren't exactly what he thought. Leo's busy with the machines inside the shack they'd found abandoned, quiet as he works, he's been like that since they got here; yet to answer any of Akira's questions.

"That's cause you're asking the wrong ones chico"

Akira startles, but Leo isn't even looking at him, still entirely focused on the machine he's fixing; and there's still that hint of similar emanating from him, the same that led Akira to join him in the first place.

"What are you?"

Leo stills, head tilted. Akira swallows.

"What are we?"

The movement re-starts for a few seconds before a rumbling fills the space and the small room lights up. Brown eyes turn to him, glimmering too brightly to be considered human; grin so sharp Akira half-expects him to transform into something else, but Leo doesn't.

"Half-bloods"

It feels like his ears are buzzing.

"What does that mean?"

Leo turns back around, moving to the next machine over; a thing Akira thinks is called multitasking.

"Part human, part something other"

As if to prove a point, a flame is born on his forearm and travels down to his fingers before dissipating into faint smoke; and Akira finds himself both intimidated, and entranced.

"In my particular case, part god; don't know about you just yet chico"

On the one hand, the fact that Leo just summoned fire out of nowhere kind of makes him want to believe it, on the other hand...

"Part god"

To his credit, Leo lets out a loud laugh at Akira's tone, which is probably for the best; whatever the answer, Leo is clearly dangerous.

"Greek god chico, I haven't been claimed yet, but I'm betting on the god of the forge"

Akira wracks his brain, trying to pin point who Leo's talking about; but it goes nowhere fast because there's a loud noise outside, and Leo jumps up and over him before making for the exit. It's instinct that has him following after, hand going to the pocket where he keeps his blade, the one he's had since forever.

What he sees outside easily gets rid of any doubt he could've had about Leo's statement, the creature stands menacingly on the sand, two heads, one a lion, the other a goat, fix on Leo, who's pulling a cube from his pocket and fiddling with it. Akira thinks he's gonna get himself killed, particularly because he's soon to realize that the creature's tail in actually a serpent's head, and it's a fucking chimera, holy shit; but just as the creature pounces towards Leo, the cube unravels in a show of light.

The next moment, the creature is on its side, skin smoking, and Leo's holding a hammer bigger than the lion head like it weights nothing; and it bears noting, that said hammer is also covered in flames. And Leo transforms in front of Akira's eyes, only he doesn't, he's still the same height, with the same features, same body shape; still painfully human despite everything about him screaming he's something else entirely, and he is.

Leo is the brightest star in the galaxy, fire trailing him like a comet tail, devastating like an eruption as he all but dances around the monster; corralling, hurting, killing. Soon there's golden dust mixed with the sand, and a mismatched pelt atop; Leo makes a weird motion with his hand as his arm catches fire.

"I offer this to the goddess Hestia, to make this a safe home to live in"

The pelt dissolves into more golden dust, and Akira notes the shack glowing a dim red before Leo turns to him grinning.

"Hope you don't mind the desert chico, we'll be staying here a while"