Calcia: Second Generation

Chapter Sixty| In between realms

In the realms of peace, a soul sat hunched over as he listened to his loved ones.
Another walked up to him, one with wide-spread wings, and went to talk to him.

"We're proud, soldier.", the figure smiled, the soul only grimly nodding.
He heard everything from the over-world.
"You did so well. You should be proud that...", in the middle of the others sentence, the figure zoned out.

'I wish you wouldn't have to fight this alone, sweetie.' His wife's voice echoed.
Memories flashed through his mind. Of everything he'd been through, everything he'd accomplished.
'I'm fine, mom. I learned well. I just hope he takes it well.' He heard his daughter reply.
A smile stroke his face, he heard rivers flow in his subconscious. Grimly, he smiled, and chuckled.
She'd grown to be such a great woman, and he was sad he couldn't see anything from here. The realms of peace may offer closure to some, but to most its  prison like. Captured in realms you adore. A realm for those, who didn't complete.

"...looks like you're the one captured now.", a snide tone gained the souls' attention. As he looked up, he was met with ice blue eyes just like his, and a devious smirk.
The soul didn't reply, but reached out to his brother, but something invisible pulled him back, like chains.
"Seems you're not saying anything? Fair enough. Just having you know...realms of peace is a term way too peaceful for what you'll be going through. You may have died good, but look. They're testing you.", his brother explained, the soul nodding grimly.
"You're the greatest guard of your time.", his brother mumbled, tears flooded the souls' face.

"This can't be! I thought I had it!", Dana protested, slamming her fist on the table.
She saw her dad chuckle.
"You just had the map wrong. There's no way it's one of the other guards.", he added.
Dana teared up in frustration.
"I need to...work it out. *mumbling* c'mon Dana, get yourself together. *louder* Let's go over this again..", Dana breathed, twirling her hair and sniffing.
She felt her dad's arms around her, and cooled down a little further.
"What do we know?", her father re-iterated.
"We know the angle, and that is was only one person. They later warped away. And we know it came from the castle walls.", Giulia joined, oddly quiet in her tone.
Finn nodded, and stroke his daughters face.
"Okay, anything else?", he asked.
"We also know the type of poison.", Dana smiled.
"How? I thought we didn't?"
"Kian. He figured it out easily.", Giulia chuckled.
Dana glanced over, and Finn noticed her eyes sparkled like stars.

A pause occurred, and Dana hurried her nose in the books.
"It says this poison, or plant, isn't even available in Calcia. They must've been from another kingdom. Hold on-", Dana paused, tossing the book away carelessly, then grabbing another.
"-nope, never mind. I thought this said something else. Doesn't matter. Anyway-", "What'd you hope to see?", Giulia asked.
"Description of the location. I know it's near the Mayland domain.", Dana explained, brushing back her hair.
As she flipped pages, she caught a picture in the corner of her eye. Then, she heard a door slam.
Still the book in her hands, her tail opened the door.
As she turned, mumbling, she ran into Kian bringing in one guard.
Their eyes locked for a moment only.
'She said she may know something.', Kian mouthed.
Dana nodded, burying her head in the book.

As she was checking out the picture, Giulia asked the guard to explain, and she did.

The soul was sat on his stone, grumbling after his brother had left. He'd visited a deity before, but they had said they needed to test him. Whatever that meant.
He noticed winged creatures walk past, then spotted his brother in the distance, after he'd been gone for a few hours.
"Still just sat here? Heard this deity was testing you.", his brothers mocking voice echoed.
Growling followed the taunting greeting.
"Still not a word?"
A long pause followed.
"This is your test, ain't it? Not talking?", the blonde questioned, barely looking as his brother nodded vaguely.
A winged creature entered, then left, followed by more creatures with wide wings.
Quiet laughter filled the silence, as the brothers stared at each other.

To the soul, his task, or test, was t really clear. He only knew he had to prove...something.
Quietly, he stood up and stretched, sighing.
His brother looked up, only raising his brow.
From afar, the soul spotted someone come.

Giulia had gotten every bit of information out of her colleague, and they still hadn't gotten further.
All she told them was that 'it wasn't meant for her.' Which didn't help much, if at all. She knew from Kian what Sheila had said before her passing and to Finn, whom seemed to be the original target.
Some more things she found were guard files.
Briefly, she glanced at the papers.
A pair of eyes spring in her mind, but she pushed it aside.
After a bit of flipping through pages, she eventually fell asleep.

Two days later, the group wasn't much further in their investigation. Together with Kian, Giulia had scanned the area the shot had to have been fired from, still nothing.
"Darn it. We're never gonna find them! Hell!", Giulia cursed, birthing her face in her hands.

Meanwhile, the soul heard everything happening in the overworld.
He still wasn't sure why he needed to be tested, but his daughters desperation was driving him crazy.
He still hadn't said one word, not since his arrival at this place.
All he'd done, was to listen.
"It can't be...why'd she give us these files?", he heard his daughter echo, then a sound of a tossed...something.
Sighing, he wandered around, for many hours after each other.

"No! Why're we not finding things?!", Giulia slammed the book on the table, growling to herself.
She then felt a comforting hand on her back, which she pushed off.
"We can't find everything at once. It's okay.", Kian whispered in her ear.
"We have no lead to begin with! And we're also on a loss for the people who killed dad! I could...box something!", Giulia screamed, clenching hair in her fists, sinking to the ground.
"How about I help, whilst you get some rest?", Kian mumbled, tossing aside the book he'd been reading.
"I can't..not now. We might be close...to something.", Giulia protested.
Kian's voice got softer.
"I'll do the research, whilst you get some rest, okay? It's all written down anyway. It'll be easy.", Kian smiled, softly hugging a frustrated Giulia.
Since she'd decided to stay sat on the floor, Kian moved her onto the couch, where she fell asleep almost immediately.
Kian smiled, and turned towards the papers.

The soul paced up and down. It had been some weeks already and they still hadn't given him his test, or task. He knew nothing, just that he'd probably messed up in some way, as  no one was talking to him again.
As he felt night fall in the over world, he picked up on frustrated grumbles his daughter echoed.
Sighing, he fiddled in his bag, dragging out an old notebook.
In it, there were some rules written down.

'Count it as illegal to contradict your task.
It's forbidden to resist Angel guards, as much as it is to leave, unless your task is fulfilled.
Consider yourself moved on, once your task is fulfilled. You are not to go against the deity.'

The soul sighed deeply.
Quietly, he moved around in the area, spitting no one except to winged creatures.
Everything in these lands was the same, only the odd building appeared. One of them, a historic library.

"All we've got is guard files...that's not helping because the assassin was no guard. At least we hope.", Kian mumbled, swiping away some papers.
The only lead they now had, was the angle of which the arrows were fired.
Giulia came up from behind.
"And the angle doesn't help much, does it now?", Giulia chuckled.
Kian smiled, a slight blush covering his face.
He barely noticed a piece of paper slipping into view.
Seeing it, his eyes widened.