The wind was cool and fresh. The sun was out and one could feel its radiating warmth. Summer was here.

Aurelius stood at the top, his upperbody clothed in a thin white t-shirt that exposed some of the scars on his forearms while he wore his usual loose black pants tied with a white ribbon at the waist. His grown-out hair fluttered, no longer needing to be covered as the bounty was no more.

"You're not gonna shout it this time, are you?" Cade asked, coming up behind him.

Aurelius's smile faded as he looked at Cade on his side.

Cade made an expression like she had seen god and mimicked Aurelius' voice poorly as she whispered, "The world is mine!"

Aurelius' cheeks flushed as he stood there slack jawed.

"Oh, yeah. You thought I didn't hear it?" Cade asked, smiling from ear to ear.

Aurelius covered his face with a groan. "Of course I did. I'm an idiot, remember?"

"Tch, stop sulking. You were a kid back then. It was over a year ago." Cade said, bumping him with an elbow. "Now look. We're here. Akario. Look how peaceful it is."

Aurelius took his hand off of his face and looked. Oh, how peaceful it was. Grassland stretched far to where a humble city lay, surrounding a long lake of glistening, turquoise water. There were leaf trees and goats. Flowers and butterflies. It was possibly the most beautiful land Aurelius had ever seen.

'Who knew Mircrest could be so beautiful?' Aurelius thought.

Then a lengthy groan came from behind as some rocks grinded under a boot.

"Are we there yet?" Balgair's hoarse voice echoed. Aurelius and Cade looked back. "My essence isn!t essencing very well no more if you know what I mean. Oh, and I seriously gotta wash my ass."

***

After a few days of wandering, the trio found housing at a local orphanage near the lake after they made a hefty donation. They couldn't stay there for long, though. When rumors got out about a charitable group floundering around, there would be trouble. They tried to keep quiet at first during their travels, but when none of it worked, they just began announcing themselves to be part of a group called Deity and moving on quickly enough after improvements were made in the orphanages so that they wouldn't become targets. That way, they made a name for themselves and helped spread hope while doing good and avoiding any damage.

The bad side was that their way of traveling was that it made them easy to track. And someone was tracking them. Balgair was sure of it.

Those twins he had been told about as well as the Boeria massacre, were definite signs that someone was after Aurelius for real. Someone had plans for him. If they weren't careful, they'd be used by someone wicked.

That beautiful face in the café haunted him. That was him. The man who was after them.

He'd done his research. Back when he made his way up in the criminal world, he had studied everything he thought could help him. However, nothing pointed to that mysterious man. But one day it had hit him. There was no real information about the leader of Numen either.

The thought had seemed impossible at first. A man in control of a whole nation after their little trio? And how could the man be so young when Numen was so old? It was incomprehensible.

The thought that the young man was the son of the leader of Numen had also crossed his mind. Maybe he was just some rich child playing games. But his aura rejected that thought. And he had possibly touched Aurelius' essence flow somehow during the encounter. He was real. Maybe he really had overtaken Numen. If so, was there really a chance for their trio to do anything except walk the steps he had laid out for them and do what he had planned.

Was it possible to escape something of this caliber?

Balgair shook awake as Cade's voice called him over. Balgair stood up, his bare feet on the grass patch near the lake. He looked to his side where Aurelius was running around with a group of overjoyed children. Of course they loved him.

Balgair then headed back to the terrace where Cade sat.

"What is it?" he asked as he took a cup Cade offered him and sat down on a rough wooden chair.

Cade sipped her coffee and shrugged. "You looked like you needed a drink."

Balgair looked down at the coffee in his hand. "Yes, but of a different kind." He gazed up Cade's frown and grinned. "Well, thanks anyway." He took a sip and put the cup down before laying his hand on the table.

"You're shaking," Cade remarked.

"A bit," Balgair said nonchalantly as he glanced at his hand.

"Withdrawal?"

No way. It had been months since he stopped.

"Just shivering," he clarified. "You're so scary."

Cade laid her cup down and looked away. Balgair followed her gaze to the distant mountain range.

He sighed at the breathtaking sight. "My hands used to shake no, and then before I started smoking. One of the main reasons I kept doing it was that it kept me still."

"Why do they shake? And how exactly does smoking help?"

"You said it youself. Smoking was my slow suicide. By doing it, I was telling myself that I was fine with dying. But when I don't do it, I know I deep down want to live. There's nothing more terrifying than the thought of losing that. That's why my hands shake. I think so at least. Don't quote me on that."

Cade's gaze remained serene. "I won't."

Balgair had to admit that she was maybe acutally slightly beautiful sometimes. Just a bit. He looked at Aurelius and shook his head.

'Just get married already or something.'

"He's stronger than me now," Cade said following Balgair's gaze. "I'm not sure if the enhancer had something to do with his progression."

Balgair turned to her with his eyebrows raised. "You think he's stronger? But I never saw him beat you when you were sparring on the trip."

"He holds back," Cade said, leaning her face on he palm. Her eyes got softer when she looked at him.

Balgair clicked his tongue and leaned back in his chair, letting his head fall back. He stared at the bright sky as he wondered.

'He really has everything, doesn't he? What happened to God creating every man equal, huh?' For some reason, in his bitterness, he smiled. 'Whatever. He's my friend, and I'm happy.'

***

Under the dark sky, a man stood at the border of Akario, his black cloak fluttering in the mountain wind. He removed his mask, revealing a head of blonde hair.

Leonardo sucked in a lungful of air with his eyes closed before spreading his arms high.

'Now I just have to wait,' he thought, 'and then it begins.'