Remulus watched as Auren left his bubble of Ein. The young Exalt clamored in excitement and lunged straight for the arms of the strange blond one, a presence similar to his old friend, Caires, engraved in his figure, that of the dragon's. So this was the group the other Oscar, Demon, had gathered. He had seen many Exalts in his many years of tenure, yet these people were quite different. The bastard, Saul's, experiments have already progressed to this point at a great cost. Sweeping his gaze over them, he frowned, his scrutiny showing naught but bad news, ill omens strung in their chaotic Eins. Did they know?
The only one who didn't give him the same feeling was Auren. The boy was odd. Despite the age he sensed in the bones and blood, the mind had hardly developed as if stuck in a perpetual moment as a teenager, easily impressionable and swayed. But the Ein surrounding him shone with clarity, clean comparable to the others, like a clear stream running along muddy banks. Auren struggled, yelping in pain as the big brute, Kragg, clenched on his head. They were a good group, held by strong bonds.
'I failed once before. I won't fail again.' Red veiled his vision, and he witnessed a memory of blood, a scarlet street with bodies of black and gold strung along to the end. The Black Aegis Order was his failure; Saul was his failure, not Oscar's or any others, yet no one blamed him. How could an enemy be so close? How could he be so blind? He asked himself until the questions scarred his mind. He wished Oscar would wake up and lash out at him, rebuke him, cast him out to die alone and in shame. Remulus deserved it; he believed he did. When Avril arrived, he offered his protection as penance and sought punishment from her, but she thanked him instead, her golden eyes full of gratitude, not a blemish of blame directed at him. 'For those two, I won't allow the same to occur.'
The bubble of Ein popped with a single thought, and Remulus dusted off his blue robes and adjusted his mask. Appearances and first impressions were the most important. Landing on the ground, he protected Renn and Gloria behind him, walking smoothly across the scarred land. Marcus and the others tensed up and unleashed their hostility, staring him down. Admirable that they should have already figured out the disparity in their power and still stood their ground, barking at Auren to run away. 'They're good companions.' Remulus grinned under his mask.
"Wait! This grandpa helped me." Auren shoved forward, standing before his brothers. Remulus eyed the others again. The blond one, Marcus, possessed a dragon's blood, seeming to have a good head on his shoulders but marred by the dragon's will infecting his own, hence that brutish display he witnessed from afar. The burly red-haired one, Kragg, fully gave into the beast within, oddly synchronizing into a potent warrior, perhaps due to how well he and the lion meshed together. Remulus raised a brow, a rare crease of confusion scrunching. The tall, skinny one, Santen, was an enigma, and impossible to glean more from his figure.
Coughing, Remulus rubbed the side of his ribcage, the injuries from Cerberus still afflicting him, searing agony akin to drowning in the fiery pits of volcanoes. A soft light warmed his back, coming from Gloria behind him. What a good child. He patted her head. A helmet overlapped before phasing over her head, a small one, a child's one, Draven's. Right, he failed then since the very start. Not anymore, he told himself. He vowed to protect his son's legacy, and since Oscar gathered these outcasts, he would do the same.
"Pardon me." Remulus approached slowly, their arms and legs positioned at the ready, still wary of him. "I am Remulus Grant. In a way, I am the Grand Master of your Lord. Questions you may have. But they can wait. First, let me see the wounded."
"Auren, is he truly what he says he is?" Marcus said, his voice strong, carrying the tone of authority captains and leaders required.
"He is, and more. He has protected our Lord along the way to the Lands of Zeret. For years, he has protected the Lady of our Lord. I trust him." Auren beat his chest over his heart, a sign of certainty.
Marcus lowered his guard, blue eyes still narrow and fixating on Remulus. After a glance at the other two, he nodded and said, "Follow me. But dare to do any tricks, and the Snail Primaere's wrath will be upon you."
"A good warning. I can see why he appointed you above the others." Remulus complimented, but Marcus brushed him off, stomped off, and led him to a large white tent. Behind the folds of the white curtains, the scent of burnt and rotten flesh filled his nose. Something crunched under his feet. Looking down, he noticed the thick layer of frost on the blades of grass, white as a sheet, the green blades hidden underneath. However, on the other half of the tent, the vibrant green foliage stuck out proudly, faint rustlings from the wind passing by their blades.
Two women rested on the table. On the left, a woman in thick bandages groaned sporadically, her chest heaving up and down in deep, pained gasps. Marcus's face dropped and darkened as he swiftly went to her side, grasping her hand and tenderly covering her eyes. On the right, the other woman didn't breathe at all, her face pale and body still, as if she were a sculpture crafted from ice. Her bluish hair sprawled everywhere, glued frozen to the table.
"Elementals," Remulus mumbled, placing a hand on the one with the bandages, Eve. Rampant flames sprouted from her core, blazing in her veins. There was no Anima, only the flame. The fierce heat melted the frost around her, keeping her side of the table dry; too dry, the wood started to crack. Burns covered every inch of her skin, explaining the need for the bandages. He swirled the Ein in his palm and released it, a single shining ripple coursing across her body. "That should halt her pain for the moment."
He turned his attention to the other. How interesting. The woman, Astrid, had no pulse, no heartbeat, and no spark in her brain, yet her soul clung to the body, latching on like a child refusing to leave a mother's embrace. His Ein stretched into tendrils, coiling around her heart to massage it, a pulse now felt under the cold skin. Cycling his Ein in a perpetual spell to go on forever, he examined her core, also lacking an Anima, replaced by pure Ein of ice.
'Rather than being alive, they're closer to moving fire and walking snow. That makes their lives far more fragile.' Remulus retrieved three vials, one half-full and two empty. He tilted the contents of the one vial, carefully placing two drops in each empty one. "Droplets of a grade-five healing elixir. They will overwhelm a Marshal Exalt in full dosages, but a few droplets won't hurt." He explained to Marcus, who clenched his black dagger, the metal creaking loudly under his scaled grip. Water diluted the droplets, filling each vial to the brim. Before he could use them, Marcus swiped them and sipped, testing them.
"Good, aren't they?" Amused by Marcus's stunned face, Remulus scratched his forehead, forgot he was wearing a mask, and scraped against the paint. Under Marcus's watchful gaze, he fed the elixirs to Eve and Astrid, their conditions improving. Eve stopped her pained groans, and some burns healed. Unlike Maia, she suffered burns by ordinary flames, not primordial ones, letting the elixirs do their work well. Astrid started to breathe, her skin still pale, but that seemed to be her normal appearance, according to Marcus. "Now, shall we clear the room? They need all the rest, lest they wake up too early."
Outside, Auren started a campfire, and they all sat around the warm flame. The young lad shared his story after his capture, his enthusiasm reaching its peak and face blushing upon retelling how Maia saved him. Did the boy awaken to love? Remulus held in a laugh, wondering how that former vixen might react. Auren completed his story, declaring his loyalty not just to the Lord, Oscar, but to the Lady, Avril, as well.
"So, to introduce them again. He is our Lord's Grand Master." Auren pointed at him, then to Renn and Gloria. "They are our Lord's children, separated from him at a young age and left for their mother to raise alone!"
"Then, you are our young master and young miss. Please accept my bow." Marcus knelt and bowed his head.
"And mine." Santen followed suit, as did Kragg and Restel.
"Interesting. I had thought the lot of you had been bound by the desire to take revenge." Remulus probed, no lies able to escape his discerning gaze.
"When I swore and drank from my cup, I chose to serve the man, not the cause. Whatever he decides, I will enact his will." Marcus answered, and Remulus sensed an iron will bound to each word. His oath was no lie.
"I like to be calm. Peace suits me best. And it was my Lord who first brought that to me. For him, I cast aside my wants. But truth be told, I am most calm next to him." Santen laughed strangely, a series of clicks rather than human laughter.
"I want revenge, but the best fighting is beside my Lord, and I know that on the stage he will fight on, the New Dawn will appear." Kragg sneered. "There is no need to leave."
"S-sorry! I just want to stay." Restel apologized.
"But you're all too weak to fight alongside him." Remulus gave them a piercing stare that quelled the bulging retorts down their throats. "I knew of others who once fought with him, and only a brutal death awaited them. Your Lord's enemies will be many and powerful beyond the norm. Your deaths will afflict him more. But you have time. Starting from now, I will train you. Become stronger and succeed in living where many had fallen."
Last time, he had been complacent and too busy to help his disciple and grand disciple. This old one still had a duty to fulfill, a redemption to seek.
"Renn, Gloria. Firstly, advance to Marshal Exalt, then your training will begin." Remulus smirked under his helmet. It had been too long since he personally trained others.
