The Better Siblings

**Users Involved:** User:Nearó Unlimited, User:ComicMaster619, User:GuyCivic.
**Date Started:** January 18, X943
**Setting:** Ikinobiru Clan Tomb
**Characters Involved**:
Nero Atosaki, Axle Strider, Gai Diyos.

"Well... that was easy." The man said as he stepped on the door that had fallen into the room in front of him, no explosions or anything like that but a simple knock was al it took to bring it down. Seeing as the room was pitch black with the exception of the small light source provided by his torch, Nero took a few steps in and raised it as to get a better view of the room itself. His lips formed a small circle as it suddenly started to create that sharp sound which would echo across to his environment. "Neat place..." Nero was impressed by the architecture as it appeared from a time long passed at this point, but it didn't last long as he took note of the large tomb-like casket at the center of the room. "Ohh baby, thank you history lessons!" The mage announced as he started making his way over, not even paying attention to the skeletons that littered the room around him.

Hovering the torch over the casket as soon as he reached it, Nero's interest peaked as it didn't appear to be any inscriptions to it at all. Placing the torch down next to him, the young man went on to clasp his fingers together and stretch them forward, only to follow it up by reaching down to one knee and lean his body to the opposite end before doing the same for the other. This went on for a few goods minutes until he felt ready. Finally, Nero grasped the very edge of the casket and started shoving it, "Holy Spirits this shit is heavy!" he exclaimed as he continued on before the entire thing had been removed. Taking a deep breath before exhaling, Nero placed his hands on each side of his hips before looking down to see what's inside. To his surprise, appeared to be that of a body. One that had been neatly preserved as if they had simply taken an afternoon nap. Scratching his chin as he let out another sigh, this wasn't what he'd been hoping for. "Maybe some ol' museum or doctor would wanna examine it or something... No treasure though. That sucks."

The body's eyes shot open as soon as the lid was removed, air from the outside quickly revitalizing his body as he arose from his apparent slumber. The body was that of a dark-skinned man who looked to be around his early twenties, dressed in a dark red robe holding a necklace bearing a strange emblem. His black messy hair covered his face, but behind the strands were two red eyes the peered cautiously around. Only a few seconds would pass until he the man would spot his awakener, looking the strange looking man up and down before realizing what he was.

"HOLY SHIT YOU LOOK FUCKED." He cried out before quickly pulling himself from the sarcophagus in fright.

The "awakener" had taken the opportunity to pull himself closer as soon as he'd noticed that body was seemingly moving. "What the..." Only to pull his head back in one quick motion as he took note of the red eyes that started looking around. Only to take another step back as the man came flying out of his confinement and screaming out words. For a second or so, Nero was simply standing there with his hands resting on each side of his body whilst trying to process what just happened. The torch was the only source of light and as he took quick note of it, with the addition that it was really just highlighting his scars. The man couldn't help but crack a sinister smirk.

Placing most of his body's weight on his right leg, making it appear as if he was limping, while one hand was raised up and extended in a crocked manner towards the red-eyed man. His head would tilt ever so slightly to the side and his jaw slightly open. "Bwraa-eeeiinsss!" Nero would exclaim as he started moving like a zombie towards his new acquaintance.

The man stumbled backwards before tripping and falling to the ground on his backside in a wave of shock and confusion. Still attempting to process what was happening, he frantically tried to find some sort of weapon he could use in order to fight back the strange thing. Feeling around the dark stone area, it didn't take long for his fingers to finally came across a lonely brick near him. The man was able to quickly grasp it without hesitation, and with his fingers, threw the brick to the direction of the being, using the noise as well as what the light could show in order to aim.

Seeing the situation they were in, with a room as dark as night itself if you were on the wrong side, the brick went by unnoticed the "zombie". The brick came to hit Nero at the side of his face, scraping against his left chin and ear, pulling against the multiple earrings but unsuccessful in tearing them away. "Mother... fucker!" The pain was sudden but lingering and Nero came to start stumbling the across the room with one of his hands holding onto the area. "You hit me in the ear...!" He ended up almost circling the sarcophagus before heading back again, reaching down to grab onto the torch and lift it up as to not only reveal himself more clearly but also the young man. "Who does that... Spirit man."

"Says you freak. You need healing?" The man in the red robes asked, picking himself from the ground before dusting himself off.

"You just hit me with a brick and now you want to heal me?" Rolling his eyes as Nero's mouth exerted a clicking sound followed by a dry sigh before looking back at the man, only to lower his head in yet another sigh. "You know, you're giving me mixed messages here man." Lifting his head yet again and eyes set on the man once more, "You say healing, but you just as well knock me in the head man."

"Piss off, your the one acting all crazy like. Who are you anyway, did my father send you to get me out?" The man asked, shaking off Nero's complaining.

Seeing that he still held the pendant in one hand, the man tucked it away into the inside of his robe. As he awaited an answer, the man began to look around the room despite it being so dark. He tapped his foot on the spot, making the room echo with every loud light step he took.

Tapping his fingers ever so lightly onto the wounded, Nero had received some scratches but he'd be alright. "Whow, making demands something now aren't ye? Ever heard of common courtesy?" He retorted at first, eyes focused on his hand to check if he'd been bleeding, to which he actually was but nothing to be concerned about.

"I wasn't sent here by some old man ye douce... Came here on my own searching for something of value, no one even fucking knows about this place." Nero was speaking nonchalantly, he was more so invested in his own health than that of this stranger. "I read about this place from some boo-... I mean COME ON... Look around you." Stretching his other arm to the side, making it circulate across the room as to highlight that they were currently inside ruins with dusty tomes, symbols and skeletons.

"...Wait. This is the place they left me in? H-how did you find this place? Only the Ikinobiru family know about this tomb." The man said in response, gazing around the area as the light lit up certain aspects of the tomb. "How. What do you mean, you read it in a book?" He asked before gripping a fist, his tone becoming more aggressive and straight forward.

Traversing through the dark with what appeared to be a dimly lit lamp, Axle struggled to push through the pitch atmosphere, feeling the hard roughness of the stony walls with his hand to navigate. As if a drum were beat, Axle could hear the squabble between two people directly ahead of him, irritating him to the point where he nearly fell partway through. Pushing against the floor, Axle lunged his lamp at the first person he saw, consisting of a tall robed man, "Oh my god, COULD YOU BE ANY LOUDER ASSHOLE?!"

"HOW MANY PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THIS PLACE."

Getting hit at the back of the head by the new arrival, Nero's head was flung forward and he raised his hands to cover the area which the lamp had made an impact. "Fucking..." He tried to hold it in, but... it didn't work. "FUCKING CUNT MAN...! Holy fucking..." Yet again, Nero found himself stumbling across the room yet again, cursing from left to right.

"Mind your language." The man in red robes said, crossing his arms and swing his head left to right. "But I'm serious, first you and now whoever that guy is. How do you know about this tomb?"

Looking across from the other side of the room, Axle took a moment to examine the two strangers, taking note of the large sarcophagus and its empty contents out in the open, before making his way down to their level, "Its my job for one, and it wasn't hard to find you with all the shouting. Keep anyone from getting in here they told, and I'm looking at you freak," quickly squinting his eyes at the robed man. Peering at the fact that there are two people in the room and one empty tomb in the middle, it wasn't hard to put two and two together. "But I'm starting to see why now, and I gotta say, this is fucked up," he said nonchalantly. "I don't know what you did, but if you're all the way down here, It can't be good."

"Like hell. Bullshit. Whoever you people are, I'll make sure you hang for trespassing the clan's sacred tombs." The man threatened, stomping his foot on the ground. Simultaneously, the tomb around them shook fiercely, as if the man's very step had shaken the earth.

Their voices were ringing inside his head, the world was spinning and the pain was pulsating at the back of his head. Nero didn't notice that he'd dropped his torch up until now, making it so that there were now two sources of light inside the ruins, one for each side of the sarcophagus. He could barely register what it was the other two were talking about, all he was focusing on was the throbbing pain. "Fuckin'..." His vocabulary wasn't changing much, but it was certainly a new type of development when considering that all he wanted to do was to get some treasure and be on his way. It wasn't until the sudden stomp that the mage would find himself tripping over and land amongst some of the skeletons. A moment of silence went by as he tried to sort himself, only to end up sitting down on his knees, face against the floor and hands still resting against his neck. Suddenly raising his head as he exclaimed: "FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCKK!" Whether he was the reason for it or just some other type of bad joke, the skeletons inside the room started rattling as he screamed - but returned to "normal" once he'd finished.

"Quit your bellyaching," Axle retorted, losing his footing momentarily as the room shook, with dust and gravel sprinkling all across his hair and clothes. As if nearly falling flat first on his face weren't bad enough, Axle grew unsteady at the display playing a short distance away from him, creating an uneasy air the closer we got to the vocal stranger, scoffing with his arms crossed. Shrugging his shoulders, Axle threw both hands on his waist, raising one of them to point at the stranger. "Just relax, look," he paused for a moment, kneeling down to poke him from the back of the head, "no blood, if anything, the only one that came out of this damaged was my lamp, which, your fault by the way, you owe a new one." Lifting the now broken lantern off the ground, Axle glanced at the now-awoken clansman, "not for anything, but this just looks like a hole in the ground, but I'll swing for the fences and give you benefit of the doubt as for why you're here in the first place."

"Eh. WAIT. WHAT. WHY ARE YOU TWO HERE THOUGH. YOU STILL HAVEN'T ANSWERED MY QUESTION." The man yelled again, still baffled by the fact that two complete strangers, even to one another, were able to find this tomb.

As the clansman continued to scream at the two intruders, the pitch-black darkness became less of a problem for the three. Flames suddenly ignited around the room, held up by stone torches in the hands of four tall statues for every corner. They towered over the trio, as the light began to show truly how large the tomb actually was. Light seemed to touch all corners of the tomb which finally gave the two wanderers a perspective of how far they have traveled. The room was like a palace, with sarcophaguses neatly placed next to one another, pointing out from the walls of the tomb. Each one was unique in the way it resembled a person for each, faces of plenty of bearded men and wrinkled woman had been carved into stone that was placed over these containers. It seemed that whatever civilization was here before, must have had some great respect for the dead. The container that this man was found in, however, was significantly different to all the others, as it was placed in the very middle of the tomb. Its cover was bland, a clean plate of stone that simply had some sort of words carved into its surface.

"MY FAULT!?! And who cares if it's bleeding or not, it fucking hurt!" Nero exclaimed his growing frustration yet again and pulled himself up as to start making his way to the newcomer. He raised his hands with the intent of grabbing onto the man's robes but stopped midway as the flames around them would alight. The man's gaze would wander the vast hall, not for the sake of its grandeur but for the potential of it. "Eyy'... This might just make a pretty penny after all." A smile spread across his lips as he took a step closer to each of the tombstones, merely walking past the one he'd previously opened as he wasn't able to see the inscriptions earlier. Instead, he prompted to start lightly knocking on various objects and coffins that spread across the room, to check if they were hollow or not. "Oi, dead boy. Know if they stored anything of value in these things?" Nero didn't even look at the man as he spoke, but merely went on with his activities.

"I swear, you're persistent if anything else." As light flooded the chamber, it became much more evident as to the uncertainty that clouded him vision, his doubts clearing in unison with the darkness that once decorated this room. Much to his dismay, he was greeted with what, he thought at least, was a large grave site, decorated with numerous glyphs and ceremonial ornaments. "Come on man, not cool. Whatever happened to 'respect the dead'," he murmured, glancing the stranger. "Hey," he snapped back at the clansman, "what the hell is this, who are you?"

The man shook his head and sighed, irritated at the two intruders for ignoring him. "No-one ever fucking listens to me." he muttered under his breathe.

Leaning down and picking a stone brick from the floor, the man tossed it into the air before catching it with one hand again. Repeating the motion a few times, he caught sight of Nero walking near the graves of the clansmen, squinting hard at the freakish looking figure in the back. Holding it tight so it would not slip out, the man threw the stone hard towards Nero, making it fly across the room with the intent of hitting him on the head. "DON'T. TOUCH. THEM." He ordered at the top of his lungs.

Nero had started to turn as the man had begun his assault, eyes turning wide as he raised his hands to cover his face from the incoming brick. Yet in midst of it all, the sound of rattling bones could be heard echoing across the room as one of them suddenly rose from the ground and took the brick head on, literally. Returning to just another pile of bones, now without a skull, it would surely take a moment before the others would return their attention to Nero again. Upon which it'd be revealed that he'd pulled his arms forward and his hands up and down using a hand sign. Nero's opened his mouth, "Come on man, not cool. Whatever happened to 'respect the dead", his tone of voice reeked of sarcasm and made no effort in trying to hide the vexing nature of it. Smirking afterwards before leaning back at one of the coffins. Arms folding back and crossing his chest: "Chill... If they're not going to catch a pretty penny then you will see me touchin' no nothin'. Pinky promise on that one brother." Raising his left pinky finger as he said so, even following it up by waving it towards the awakened man.

Rubbing his eyes with one hand while lifting a bone off the ground with the other, Axle paused and took a moment to analyze what had just happened, realizing that there was more to this man than he had originally thought , his eyes wide open at the insinuation of who the roped stranger was. "*Pinky Promise he says*. Pinky promise this," with a quick flick from his hand, Axle gave Nero the middle finger, jumping across the room from tomb-to-tomb, waltzing up to robed stranger, shrugging his shoulders as he tucked his hands in his pockets, jerking himself upward to meet him face-to-face. "Okay. I dial it back and say your not the complete asshole I thought you were," his tone lit with a newfound sense of fascination, but in equal measure, caution, having had him pegged for a simple thief at first glance, only seeing now that there was more to him that meets the eye. Looking over his shoulder, Axle focused on the other stranger, looking for some explanation as to his predicament. "Yo, dead guy, no wait, ugh...hmm...shit, come to think about it, I don't actually know your name."

Seeing that the stone had hit one of the remains of a supposed relative, the red robed man was visibly infuriated with the intruder's actions. Pulling the pendant he held before from inside his jacket, he quickly placed it around his neck before it released a bright flash of red light from his position. As the light faded, a Morningstar mace was revealed to be in the man's right hand, gripping it tightly as if prepared to attack. Pulling his front to the side with the mace in-hand, he quickly spun across with his arm extended with the mace pointing out. In a split second, the mace changed into that of a flail, with a chain that continued to extend from the body in rapid succession. The chain was allowing the morningstar to fly across the room and supposedly hit Nero, with force. Thing was, the mace itself along the way was rapidly increasing in size in order to match the man's own height. From where the robed man was attacking, it looked like a boulder swiftly approaching the crush whoever stood between it and the wall.

"DISHONOUR." The man simply cried out after Axle's more calmer response.

Unfolding his arms, raising them up whilst leaning his the upper body back as the "monk" flipped him the finger; "Ohh, watch out. When the priest is swearing, the Gods are glaring." The man didn't do much after his supposed rhyme, merely inspecting the two in their actions. Upon which it wasn't difficult to spot the incoming Morningstar, even if it was a sudden change of hostility. Once again, the dead came to his aid. The bones of the skeleton that had lost its skull began to move yet as it made its way to intercept the Morningstar and its intended destination. Yet this time, it did not reanimate itself into its original body, but that of a shield made from the various bones in its collection. In the end, the Morningstar would find itself crashing into the bone "armour" but end up being buried inside its chasm. Nero hadn't moved from the spot, merely returned his arms across his chest as he looked over to the man with the cross: "Common courtesy would suggest that you state your own name first, priest..." Shrugging his shoulders as he continued: "But I guess I can make an exception. Name's Nero Atosaki, travelling *Mind-your-own-business*." Snickering as he finished replying to the man, looking over to the robed one instead.

"And what's your problem? Didn't your parents tell you that you shouldn't throw sharp objects at people? Might end up getting yourself hurt."

As the morningstar fell to the ground, the chains from its hand began extracting it back to the hilt. Irritated, the man would simply glance at Nero with a smile, hinting that he may have done something with that one look. Again he tried, repeating the same action in order to hit Nero.

"Let's strip you of your magic then."

Outstretching his hands, Axle tensed his arms, opening the palm of his hand as he thrust them straight it down with a knife and gesture, releasing a vacuum of air straight at the pair. Using just enough force to draw their attention away from one another, as if to call a ceasefire, the force whipped the air into a powerful whirlwind, scattering the dust and debris all across the chamber. "If we're throwing names out there, mine'd be Axle. Axle Strider. And I'm not a priest, I just happen to look like one. Comes with the territory when your working odd end jobs." Slamming his foot down across the ground, Axle left a small impression on the stone floor, echoing throughout the chamber, "So how about knocking that off and filling some of the blank spaces. I don't even know what to call you," he exclaimed, "cause' you see, I'm having some trust issues with you. So if we're going to make this work, how about giving me a name to put on that pretty face of yours, ok sweetheart." Speaking with a hint of sarcasm, directing his attention to clansman.

Irritated that his attack was stopped, the morningstar flair was retracted into its handle, making it a mace once again. "Strange, for a son of lord Ikinobiru, I Would have expected that my name would be all known around the provinces. But if you must, my name is Gai Ikinobiru, heir to the Ikinobiru clan. What you men stand in is the sacred tomb of the Ikinobiru, where we keep our ancestors together." He explained, revealing his true identity.

Clapping in an awfully slow and loud fashion as Axle prevented the fight to continue, Nero used his hips to shove himself from the tomb and start making his way over. "Well, you asked for it didn't you? Besides..." Raising his hand to point at the robed man, all the while stopping by the man's supposed tomb: "He started it." His voice spoke of honesty as if he actually believed it to be just so. Yet his ears perked up as the robed man revealed his true nature, raising his hands high up into the hair with his mouth wide open in a moment of surprise. "A noble!?" Lowering both his hands and body forward as if to bow in an exaggerated movement, repeating the movement several times over before his hands stood still in the air with the same expression. But in just a moment's notice, they would drop and his face would show little to no interest in the supposed clansman's words: "Lame... yet it does explain why you're on such an edge... Can't have a find a decent man these days," The man's attention swapping to the man they called Axle, "...ain't that right, False Prophet?" It was obvious that he was merely trying to tick the man off for his own amusement.

Clicking his tongue, Axle ran his hand across the back of his head upon hearing Nero's comment, knowing full well he was provoking him. At the moment, he couldn't help but smirk at his remark, insistent not to lose in their little "game" of theirs. "Decent can be subjective, happens only when you need to be." In spite of this, with the revelation now out in the open, a part of the mystery had been established, but only bringing a slew of new questions into light. "Royalty, I can get. The whole 'buried alive' thing you got going on you, no 'decent' guy gets that kind of treatment unless they did something to piss someone off."

"Didn't need to piss someone off to be buried alive. The only one who was pissed off was me for what they chose to do." Gai replied, scratching the back of his head as he took a look at the sarcophagus he woke up from. "Your colors are not welcome here Umarekawarun. I ask that you leave and I won't have you executed for trespassing our clan's sacred grounds." he offered to Nero, flicking his head back to see what the mutilated man was doing during their talk.

To which it would reveal that Nero was looking back at Gai with a blank expression, the man looked as if he was taking his time processing what the man was suggesting. Tilting his head in an extravagant movement towards Axle, giving him a look that without words screamed: Is this guy for real? Before tilting it back to the robed man in the same fashion. "Okay..." The man started as his hands reached for each other, meeting in front of his chest with his palms meeting together as if he was praying. "I apologize for my untimely arrival and that I stumbled into your resting place and that..." He'd started to tilt his body forward, yet his voice would gradually lower itself the further his bow went and at the end, it would almost go by as a whisper. Before suddenly rising with haste and swinging his arms outwards before exclaiming in an ever louder tone: "You get your shit together... I MEAN COME ON, LOOK AROUND YOU! WE'RE IN A FUCKING RUIN PUNK!?!" He'd taken a few steps back during this, only to circle around the sarcophagus and stand up next to the other two, looking first at Axle: "Can you fucking believe this guy?" Before turning back to Gai, reaching out to snap his fingers in front of the man's face several times over, "No one fucking owns this place dipshit, it's been vacant for the last fucking millennia!"

"What? This province belongs to the Ikinobiru Clan imbecile, for an Umarekawarun you aren't very smart." Gai shook his head and sighed. The weapon in his hands allowed the morningstar ball to fall to the ground as the chain was released, letting its thud echo throughout the tomb. "But then again, you Isgardian blue-skins have always been arrogant in your ways."

Grasping his own head from both sides whilst gritting his teeth in frustration as he began walking back and forth in a quick motion, Nero couldn't believe what he was hearing. He then made a stop and took a deep breath, hands slowly descending downwards until they found themselves on each side of his hips, "Alright." Raising one of them towards Axle before pointing at Gai, "You take the arms and I'll grab his legs. We're taking him out of here for a reality check."

"OH COME ON ON MAN! THIS SHIT AGAIN! REALLY?!" Looking him seriously, in disbelief at the outburst, *Don't drag me into this asshole!* he thought, sighing halfheartedly, he started to lift his hands up in an open-handed posture, tilting his head sideways as shrugging at the Nero's cry, "Hasn't anyone told you 'show, don't tell', Your as delicate as a fucking bomb, you know that?!" Taking a few steps backs, Axle couldn't believe what he had just heard, but as soon as he did, it was too late to mince words anymore, Gai was bound to lose it again, and if it wasn't them, he'd definitely throw the first blow. Glowing with a luminescent light along the soles of his shoes, Axle kicked off the ground, slamming his hands across the surface of the ground to throw his balance off, the tomb shaking strenuously, the shock reverberating all across the ceiling and walls to the point of dusting off refuse off the statues. Bouncing from the ground, Axle somersaulted across Gai's side, vaulting over toward his back, reaching for his arms.

"Wha-HEY HEY WHAT." Gai yelled out in a panic as the both of them grabbed onto him. For sure the guy with the piercings would go ahead with this, but Gai would've thought the other would have some decency. "LET ME GO." He ordered as he began to kick his legs, shaking his body to try and remove himself from their hold.

As to be expected, the legs were always the toughest part when carrying a person like this, at least when they were still around and kicking, literally. At first, Nero had managed to get a good hold of the man's legs and started backing to the entrance. But taking one step too quickly with the man still struggling caused him to lose his grip for a moment and Guy managed to get a kick to his stomach, yet there was no visible struggle but more so the sound of cracking bones. Poking through his light clothing was the sight of a collarbone, something which Nero didn't notice for another few steps before catching a glint at it and back the others: "Don't worry about that... That ain't mine anyway." He took another good hold of Gai's legs and picked up the pace as they were about to pass through the door.

"UNHAND ME HEATHEN."

"Heathen my ass. Agh...quit...fidgeting around...you should be thanking us. Beats the hell out of staying in a cave." With shaking and wobbling taking place, Axle in the commotion lost his footing, hitting his head directly against the rigid stone surface of tomb's floor, sending a burning sensation barreling across the entirety of his skull and shoulders. With Gai still skirmishing in his arms, his arms began to bulge significantly, as a result of magic being at play. Breathing with slow, deep breaths, Axle slowly began to lift Gai straight above his head. And with a single sway from his hips, Axle threw most of his weight into barreling him over his shoulder, lunging not only Gai, but Nero, who was still holding onto his legs at that moment, through the air with an overhanded throw, sending them spiraling head-first through the door—breaking the hard entryway and straight across the marsh terrain, landing straight against the ruins scattered across the local. "There...hugh...your welcome your highness."

Feeling the weight of Gai suddenly increasing and his body being jerked forward, Nero groaned as he had been forced to look away from where he was heading and towards the others inside. "What the hell man!?" Seeing Axle make his way up again didn't make much of an impression at first, well, not until the man's intentions became clear. But by that time it was already too late. "Oi oi oi oi oi oi OI! WAIT!" The mage attempts at protesting were left unanswered and were instead flung through the ruins and ended up crashing into a wall in the marches outside. The sound of bones cracking could be heard yet again, revealed to be a ribcage that he'd strapped across most of his stomach and chest area as he struggled to stand up and the pieces fell through his shirt. Holding onto his head with one hand and the other searching frantically for support as his entire world was spinning out of control. "I MAY LOOK LIKE THE PART BUT I CAN STILL DIE YOU ASS!" Nero exclaimed back towards the ruins, only to stumble back onto the wall, using it for support as he was gliding down into a sitting position. With a head-spinning, water and all matter of filth up to his waist and nothing but a wall to keep him standing, this was certainly far from what he'd imagined his day would end up when he threw out his socks this morning.

Gai got up from the ground and dusted his appearance, looking around to see where they brought him. This was surely the province, but much more quieter than usual, as if abandoned. Vegetation seemed to cover the tomb's entrance as well as plenty of shrubs and plants growing here and there. He tried to process where he was, but he just couldn't do it, this place was not familiar to him, nor was the magical energy in the air the same when he was buried underground.

"...So where am I?"

"Oh please, with what you could do, doubt you'd die that easily." Pointing his arm toward the tomb's entrance, a bright ray of light escaped from the grasp of his hand, blasting directly against the face of the mountainside, escalating a rock slide to drag down along the tomb's slope, rocks and boulders falling directly on top of the entrance. With the only passageway all but destroyed, any details or signs of it marking the scene were all but gone, with the exception of ruins loitering about. "Welcome to the year X943, I guess you're a man out of time huh?" Clapping his hands to shake off the dust, he patted his clothes, starting with his chest before working his way done to his pants, examining the area as his eyes roamed around the deteriorating buildings, hinting at a village or civilization once inhabited these regions, but were long gone. "I take it this is home, but not much left of it anyway."

"Like hell it would..." Nero announced from his seat of mud, his head starting to see fewer stars circling around his head as he observed the two men from his position. Only to witness the ruins falter right before his eyes, raising his arms and reaching them forward as he was trying to grab onto something with his fingers. "Noooo... The money!" slightly upset over the fact that the contents of those ruins would be taken from him, but with an attention span as short as a cigarette, he quickly lost interest upon hearing Axel's furthered comments. "Wait... you serious?"

Gai looked around confused, looking at the tomb from the outside after how many years. Holding his hand, he began counting his fingers as he tried to make sense of how long its been. But even so, he repeated counting over and over again trying to see that what he got may have been a mistake. *"No, this can't be right. It's the X300's. Isn't it? X943?"*. No matter how many times Gai counted, he still wouldn't believe that he had been buried for 600 years underground in his family's tomb. Had no-one come back to save him after that battle? Was there no-one left to do so?

"Bullshit. You're going to tell me I've been down there for 600 years?" he yelled at the two in a shocked, vicious tone. "If this is your idea of a joke than you seriously need to get your standards in check."

With how Gai was feeling, it would only exacerbate things he was left in this state. Glancing at the landscape, Axle, knocked a large pillar of stone that was intertwined with foliage and vines at the side of once visible tomb entrance, dusting the surface before sitting down to explain things. "This ain't a joke, but the hard truth brother," he murmured, letting go a small breathe in between sentences as he swapped glances at Nero. "You see, we didn't there anyone down there, imagine our surprise when we found you the way we did." His attention turned over to what little remained of Gai's home, now being perfectly clear that more than half of a millennium had transpired since this village had been inhabited by any intelligent creature. "All in all, nothing's changed that much. It's been the same routine topside, a couple wars here and there, we got vehicles now, that's neat. There was like a black wizard 200 odd years back, genocide after that. A couple MORE wars. My birthday last year. And peace ever since."

"Peace doesn't exist, the true definition of peace is life without conflict." Gai mumbled to himself in response of Axle's recount. "One year of peace is one more year closer to the beginning of another war."

Looking at the pillar that Axle knocked over, Gai proceeded to approach the stone support and study the bricks, running his finger over the indents and chippings that time had eroded it with. Through the vines that managed to stay latched on, Gai's eyes opened wide as if he recognised something underneath, brushing the vegetation off with the palm of his hand. What appeared under was a large engraving of the Ikinobiru Clan's mon, having survived all this time to be covered by the reach of nature. Gai's heart sank into his stomach at the sight of this, realising that this may be his home now after how much time.

For once, Nero wasn't actually speaking back but merely listening to the two of them as steadily started to lift himself up from the ground. Looking back for a moment to see the broken ribcage lying next to him, Nero sighed as now he'd have to get another - that it was difficult but more so to it being a hassle. He remained quiet as he approached the others, giving Axle a quick glance but didn't say anything. Walking up next to Gai as he was processing the reality, Nero couldn't help himself from raising one of his hands and placing it on the man's shoulder. What he was going through could certainly not be an easy thing... but he just had to ask: "So... How does it feel to be over 600 years old?"

Gai turned his head slightly to Nero, shrugging with a quick smirk, "How does it feel talking to one?"

His expression was blank at first, it wasn't the response he expected. But his eyes quickly regained their spirit and white teeth would surface as began to chuckle. Looking towards the yonder as he gave the man a few pats before leaving it to rest at his shoulder for another few moments, "Not too bad old man, not too bad."

"On the bright side, you don't look a day over 40," grabbing Gai from his arms, he lifted him back on his feet, giving him some manner of comfort for the cold revelation. Coughing a few times, Axle fastened his hands around one another, folding them along his chest as he peered over Nero, then quickly back to the man out of time. "What's done is done, you can't do anything about it. But you can do something about what comes after." Turning his back against the two, Axle began pointing toward he opposite direction, hinting at what lied beyond the forest. "There's a pub a couple ways down, decent enough to get a couple drinks. Nero owes me a new lamp anyway."

"A COUPLE WAYS DOWN!?!" Nero yelled out, not even thinking of the fact that it was right into Gai's ear. Nevermind the dramatic speech that he'd wanted to make a comment about, it was Axle's complete disregard for basic geographical distances. "Mate, hold the lacrima ye? The closest pub is 40 minutes away from here... and that's on a fucking vehicle mate."

Gai rubbed the side of his head after Nero yelled next to him, quickly pushing his arm into the mage to knock him off balance. "...Isn't the Umarekawaru Province down there? I don't think it'd be wise for me to walk into hostile territory." Gai asked with a bland expression on his face.

"Come on, its been like, what, 600 years since you've been here, what's the worst that can happen. Plus, you got anything better to do?" Peeking left and right, then across from Gai's shoulder, Axle threw the Lacrima into the air, later balancing it on top of his finger as they began to stroll down into town. "So a fake priest, a zombie, and mummy walking into a bar, it's like the end of a bad joke ain't it?" Patting Gai around the back, he gave him a forceful push forward to get his moving, shoving the Nero's Lacrima into his chest for him to hold, hoping for him to point them the way. However, hearing the name of region they were in brought up a sense of foreboding premonition, *Umarekawaru...*, he thought, juggling the name around in his head for a few minuted before turning over to Nero, glancing at him for a couple of seconds, as if to insinuate if there was some greater meaning to the name. "Umarekawaru, I don't know anything about the place, but I have heard about some killer lady by the same name if that matters. Real famous around these parts."

"...It's the province that borders mine. If memory serves me right, then they're one of the clans that planned to invade the Ikinobiru Province." Gai answered, walking nervously, "It's been a while since I've strayed so far from home, most of my work before being trapped there was to help keep the populace loyal to our clan". Gai could feel the strange atmosphere as if something around him increased, causing him to swipe his hand around his position as to see what it was. The thin air of the tomb was hardly something amazing to wake up to, but once thrown out was Gai impressed with how the world has come.

"Umare this... Umare that- Umarewhateverthefuck it or she is can stuff it!" Nero announced with a sense of pride in his voice, like a child who knew exactly what he was on about. Yet while it first appeared like he didn't catch a whiff of what they were referring to, his continues babbling proved otherwise. "It's not like they're the only ancients still lurking about. But they're nothing special, really." Feeling restless, Nero went on to casually open his the bag resting at his waist, from which some of the "powder" inside would start hoover in front of him. As he moved his hands about, so too did the powder turn into different toys or general objects of today's day and age - yet done so in the form of bones. "Why would they be mad anyway..." Not looking back at the others as he continued, "You lost right? Gone for 600 years would guarantee and none of them would know your face anyway." Pausing his creations for a moment as the bones would show the form of a skeletal mask, looking over to Gai suddenly. "Though I'd change the name if I were you... To be on the safe side after all."

Gai rolled his eyes at Nero and let out an irritated sigh before shaking his head. "Exactly, I've been gone for 600 years. How am I to know what's happened between the clans since then. Have relations gotten better or not? Have some of them been dissolved or still remain? I still don't even know if my clan is in the province yet." Upon hearing Nero's suggestion, Gai's head perked up and looked back to where he thought the capital was, raising an eyebrow with an intrigued groan. "I guess I should though, can never be too careful. Any suggestions?" he asked as he looked to Axle and Nero.

Taking a short moment to think as they continued walking towards their designated area, Nero went on to display several names using the powder but getting rid of them all the same. It wasn't until the seventh or so that his eyes seemed to sparkle as he looked over at Gai and Axle, moving and expanding the powder into big letters in front of them. "Alistair McMarvelous!" Nero thought the name sounded perfect, like naming a pet or a being of immense power.

"I would rather take Moxie over that any day." Gai said, shooting down Nero's suggestion.

Grunting at his denial, Nero went on to murmur to himself as he continued to create various art forms with his powder. Repeating the words of the man reborn in a low, mocking tone "I would rather take Moxie over that any day." Head shaking as he spoke, "It's a fucking girl's name anyway..."

"Which is why I'd take it over whatever you just suggested." Gai said as he rolled his eyes, "What about Atwell Hill?"

"That sounds dumb. It's like you'd name yourself something meaning "Hill near a spring" or "Man from the Hill". Which for the record, you came from underneath one, alright?" Nero was quick to jab back at the man, being all too keen on bickering for having his suggestion dismissed and mocked.

"Ooo someone's salty. All that brazen talk back in the tomb and you can't take rejection." Gai crossed his arms in amusement. "Alright then, come up with a name that doesn't sound dumb, smartass."

"You had your chance..." The man replied, but moments later, his eyes sparkled yet again. "No wait! I got one!" Nero started rummaging around his pockets, be it from his pants or inside his jacket. "Where did I put that damn..." It would appear that the name must've been written down or something from an earlier point, even without his hands used to manipulate the powder, it too had started making up all kinds of shapes and letters. "I FOUND IT!" From the left side of jacket, Nero reached out for something inside it - only to look over to at Gai with a bland expression which was accompanied by the universal sign of a flipped finger. The same being for the powder next to him.

Gai shrugged while holding a satisfied smirk, "Your really not helping your case whatsoever. So does this mean I've won?"

"Either case, getting a pet might actually do you some good, it'll make you less of a monster. I mean, If I left you on your own, you'd probably start picking fights with girls," he said ironically, brushing up against Gai as he nudged him across his side with his elbow. After crossing over a reasonable distance, they came over a large hill overlooking the town, lit up brightly as it brimmed with life straight ahead.

"Monster? Excuse you? What have I done to be called such." Gai asked with a surprised tone.

As they watched over the town, Gai covered his eyes from the bright sun since his eyes hadn't adjusted from the tomb. From above, the town looked quite small compared to the ones he travelled through as a kid, but it must be because of the changing times. After all, six centuries did pass since he was gone.

"Got it." Gai snapped his fingers, "Alexander Maximilian Marquise."

"Why so pompous?" Asked Nero, raising an eyebrow at the given name.

"During our talk I was limiting myself down to five names: Iskariot, Gai Diyos, Guy Guinto, Mago Hogi and of course, Alexander Maximilian Marquise." Gai explained, still shading his eyes from the bright sun above their heads, "Again I thought, Iskariot is a pretty dumb name and I would rather neck myself than walk around being known as that. Mago Hogi, Gai Diyos and Guy Guinto are pretty good too, but Alexander Maximilian Marquise was the one that stood out the most."

Nero just kept staring at the man's logic, let alone for the names he'd try and go for. When Gai had finished speaking, Nero's head would jolt forward ever so slightly, emitting barf making it appear as if he's trying to hold himself from puking. "Oh man, your sense of name are... oof... so very bad." Leaning down and grabbing hold of his knees for support, Nero would go on to fake heavy breathing and again, trying to hold in the need to puke.

Gai shook his head and laughed, "Nu-uh. I've got pretty good standards if I'm going to avoid walking around being called 'Iskariot'. Can't say the same with your parents if their going to give their son the name 'Nero' though."

Quick as lightning, the man was up on his feet again and looking back at Gai with yet another blank expression. Even the powder began showing three dots next to him, creating a new one just as one would disappear, making it look as if it was a continues movement. "That's a low blow dude... I was just having a bit of fun and now you're insulting me directly? The priest was right, you are a monster." Head shaking from side to side in disapproval, to think they'd unearthed such a cold-hearted being, poor shame.

"Don't think I haven't forgotten what you've done back in the tomb, its was a low blow on your part to use my deceased relatives as shields. The only monster to walk out that tomb was you." Gai rolled his eyes, sighing.

Blowing at the powder of dust, Axle swept through the cloud, wiping his hand through the air to get past. Coughing strenuously, he paused for a moment to compose himself, "not to belabor a point, but you were the one throwing a giant-ass mace at everyone's faces," he spoke between coughs and breathes, "then again, his idea of fun says more about him than it does you Gai, I mean, did you see what he did my lamp? Not cool man, not cool."

Raising his hands with three fingers extended, holding it up as to signify that people needed to take a step back. "Okay, first things first." Pointing at Gai, "That was self-defence mind you, if you didn't attack me then yours kinsmen's bones would still be at peace." Pointing back to himself as to emphasize his point before directing it towards Axle instead. "You like the "dust"? Guess what, it's minced bones. Lastly, YOU FUCKING THREW IT AT ME ASSHOLE!" Having walked up to Axle as he spoke, poking at his chest as he spoke. Only to turn around and the particles of the so-called dust that had been caught to Axle's body began to gather and returned to Nero's side.

"W-wait...this is...you didn't...OH GOD!" Axle, in a frantic manner, took off his jacket, banging it against the trunk of a nearby tree to smacking the dust directly off his clothes. Panting hectically, he scooted away from the tree, kicking the air as he strode on up to the thief. "HUH? I'LL STOP WHEN YOU PAY ME BACK DICK!" With a quick turn, Axle lunged after Nero's shirt, grabbing him from the collar as he dragged him up close, literally butting heads with Nero as he smacked him with his own forehead, nudging his finger underneath Nero's chin.

"PAY YOU BACK!?!" Was the only thing Nero managed to reply with before getting lunged at by the fake priest, responding through reflex rather than anything else and grabbed hold of Axle's own clothing as he grabbed him. Jolting back however at the impact of the man's skull, letting go with one hand to cover the area which had been hit. "FU-..." He cut himself off as he felt the finger at his chin, taking a moment to look down at it before glancing back up at Axle. "You serious right now brother?" As Nero started to speak, he let go of Axle's clothing and raising both hands up in front of them, a bruise forming on his head. "You're blaming me, for the lamp that YOU THREW!?" The somewhat angry expression turned to a chuckle, a short nod before continuing. "Okay, fine. You want your lamp?" Suddenly, the feeling of a sharp object could be felt just barely touching the same area that Axle was pointing his finger, but on himself instead. It would feel like nothing more than a needle just slightly poking at him, but in reality, it was a rod made out of bone, shaped like a stake.

"Guess again." Smiling as the two of them had entered a stalemate, one bad move from either of them would result in more than just a prickle.

Without skipping a step, Axle glanced down to the floor, doing so without so much as letting up on his grip, letting his eyes to wander around the edifice of bone protruding from the ground, freezing him into place. In that exact moment, the tables had been flipped, with Nero's magic throwing him in quite the precarious situation, exchanging quick glances with the man before letting up some pressure from his finger. With clenched teeth, Axle began to snicker under his breathe, only to burst out laughing not even a second later. Letting Nero go with one of his hands, he ran his hand through the head, ruffling his hair while locking stares with the thief, abandoning his frenzied demeanour for a more level-headed attitude. "You got a couple of brass balls, I'll give ya' that, and you're just the right amount of crazy to try." Letting go of his shirt as Axle quickly shifted his grip unto the rod of bones instead, "weird magic for a weird guy."

The smile, just as his gaze set upon Axle remained unwavering throughout their eventual breakup - slightly bowing his head in response to the man's comments. "Don't overdo it, it's my unique trait after all." The pillar made out of bone, on closer inspection, had jagged lines sprouting from each of its four corners, much like a rose with its thorns. "I'd suggest you let go unless if you want to lose a finger or two... 1.. 2-3!" The slow start, followed by the sudden acceleration to its countdown, would finish with having the bone delve back into the earth, leaving a hole from which it once emerged from. "I must commend you though, it was if though that finger of yours could pierce my throat should it have come any closer..." The smile had turned to a smirk, with one of Nero's hands reaching up to scratch his lower chin to rid himself of the feeling of Axle's finger still threatening him.

“Yikes. And you call me bad?” Gai said with a smirk as he watched the two men bicker.

Looking down at his hand, he let go under the pretence of annoyance more so than personal injury, glancing at the unorthodox method of summoning Nero's magic entailed. With a quick huff, Axle clicked his tongue, rubbing his hand as he straightened off his jacket, flapping it multiple times with both hands. "I swear, it's like taking pot shots in the dark with you, it's impossible." Axle could feel the brisk air rush him across the face, prompting him to breathe into his hands to keep warm. "Bah! Hey, Gai, back me up here. I'm in the right here, aren't I?

"Ugh." Gai exclaimed irritated, annoyed that he would have to be brought into this sooner or later. "Sure, yeah, Axle's right." He answered as a flash of red light blasted around him to reveal a gold and silver mace in his hand once again.

Holding the mace above his head, the morningstar instantly dropped down below, just narrowly missing Gai as it halted above his shoulder. The Ikinobiru began swinging it around his head as the chain began to slowly extend the longer it stayed up, looking as though Gai was ready to attack with it. "But this doesn't mean both of you are still in the right. Maybe if you didn't trespass in the tomb, you wouldn't be bickering like this."

"Whatever man..." The man replied as even he could admit that their bickering might be getting a little bit repetitive. Nero looked onwards to Gai as he spoke and began swinging his mace around. "And you would still be in it... You're welcome by the way asshole." He wanted to turn around and just get to the bar already, but he knew well enough to keep his eyes off.

"Didn't ask you to get me out prick, I wouldn't have minded being left in there." Gai responded quickly, "Keep your mouth shut till we get to the bar, everytime you speak it always starts another argument."

He wasn't wrong. Nero wanted to reply, or at the very least annoy Gai by not speaking but simply making the dust spell out the words instead as the man did say not to "speak". But he was more so annoyed with the way the man was speaking, like he was in right despite not knowing anything about the world he's arrived to. But Nero obliged, he didn't speak, nor did he create any letters to disobey the man's words. However, to annoy the ever so high and mighty, Nero would start having the bone that was hidden underground come up once and awhile. It did so by merely showing the very tip of its form, making an effort of trying to prickle Gai's feet from time to time as if he was walking on pointy rocks. This was often played out as the feet were about to hit the ground, but also not frequent enough to make it obvious but every minute or so before it would disappear as soon as came around

It was annoying, sure, but barely pricing his feet, as the footwear Gai was wearing elevated him off the ground, simply causing Gai to temporarily lose balance here and there. Thinking that Axle had enough decency to keep to himself and remain behaved, Gai instantly looked towards Nero, believing he was the one responsible for this.

“If you don’t stop I swear to the gods I’m dragging you back to the tomb and putting you in the same box they kept me in.” Gai bursted with an irritated tone, stomping his foot on the ground.

Raising an eyebrow at the loud-mouthed companion, Nero didn't say anything and instead looked over to Axle to see if he knew what Gai was on about. The expression of his face was that of a man bewildered with questions, having no idea what the time lost man was complaining about him for. Raising two fingers at the corner of his mouth before dragging it along his lips, signalling to his vow to not speak as Gai had told him to earlier. Only to raise both hands to show that he wasn't doing anything, even as the bone kept stabbing the man.

"Motherfucker, fine, he wants it like that then..." Gai mumbled to himself before sighing.

The group continued on their way, but this time with Gai's movements proceeding a lot smoother than before. He was walking fine without the bone hindering his movements, almost as if it was just passing through Gai with nothing in the way. Ignoring both Axle and Nero, Gai gazed upon the sky and land far away, relishing in the peace around them. Back in his time, the sky would be filled with arrows, smoke and the occasional cannon balls whirring through the air. In the distance, there would be small outposts or small groups of soldiers scouring the land for any invaders, but now Gai could see the green of the hills away.

Reaching the top of the hill, they reached the outskirts of town, walking to what, at least to Axle, seemed like hours, with the soles of his shoes being a little worn after all the excitement from earlier in the tomb. For all their efforts, the group of travellers were greeted with bustling and noisy shape of the town, mostly taking on the cultural style that the Umarekawaru province is famous for. It was late, the narrow street nearly vacant, with the exception of a few stores and locals still heading home, which brought some comfort to Axle's conscious, tucking his hand into his back pockets. Scrounging around, he moved his Celestial Gate Keys to the other side of his belt, taking a quick look into his wallet, mostly to weigh his spending limit out at hand before picking a spot to eat. Shifting his eyes between the promotions, happy hour deals, and discounts signs decorating most of the restaurants around the block, Axle had found their ideal eating spot, running up to the establishment only to peer through the window ecstatically.

Consisting of a pub with an overall traditional design built into it, making it quite appealing to his sense of aesthetics, "If you guys are done screwin' around, it's about time we got a bite to eat eh."

"What are you on about? I've been an upstanding citizen for this entire journey." The words he spoke didn't come out of the man's mouth, but rather from his hands as Nero was using sign language to communicate. Or at least as good as he could perform it. Upon which he would, in fact, start raising the bone from earlier to stab Gai in the foot, using the sign language as a cover, but stopped himself just in time and left the spike just below the surface above. Smirking to the others as he went on ahead and opened the door to the establishment, nudging to the others to enter.

Gai rolled his eyes, unimpressed with Nero and whatever he was doing, and proceeded to walk into the bar. The door, however, came swinging right back to Gai and looked as though it might have hit him, but it simply passed through him as if he was some ghost. Luckily the patrons inside the bar didn't notice, and those who did rubbed their eyes to make sure they weren't seeing things off the booze. Unfazed, Gai looked around to see if Nero had picked a spot yet and proceeded to walk over to an empty table just in case.

Something which the man hadn't, as he didn't know the bar nor any of the place's customs. With that being said, Nero did find the town, in general, to be somewhat familiar... Must've done a job or so in the past here but he couldn't say for sure. But as none of the other patrons took note of Gai little moment, Nero sure did, and he was having a wide grin on his face as he walked behind the red robed man. Yet as he walked a few steps, he looked back to the man that had insisted that they took this establishment, gazing at Axle momentarily before turning back to Gai. Leaning his body forward, putting his arm over the man's shoulder and dragging him in closer as Nero lowered his tone. An act which the sound coming from the other customers helped to hide. "You know, it's quite some coincidence that our priest chose this town and this house specifically... Perfect place to have the tables turned on you wouldn't you say?" Grinning widely afterwards he kept leading them on towards the table Gai had picked out.

"Oh really? What makes you think I'd believe you?" Gai asked, walking through Nero's arm and through the table to stand on the other side.

Placing both his hands on the table in front of him, Gai signalled for a passing waiter to order from, hoping that he may hear what is on selection. He was very wary of the people around him, as what they had travelled to was, at least to Gai's mind, enemy territory. It was possible that Axle may have been a Umarekawaru this entire time and was leading the Ikinobiru heir to his death. Gai wasn't too trusting in Axle anyway and raised an eyebrow to Nero as a way of telling him to back off. He began to tap his fingers on the table to pass the time, making a sort of galloping sound on the surface.

Still having the grin on his face despite the rejection, Nero sat down on the opposite end of Gai and awaited something else to happen. He was enjoying himself, his words had merit but he also liked to screw around even if it could turn out to be true.

Browsing through the menu fervently, Axle poked his eyes above it, switching back and forth from Guy and Nero, grumbling to himself from the other side of the table. "Please, If I wanted to 'turn the tables' on you, I'd have done back in the cave where nobody was looking." Grabbing a straw from the side of condiments on their table, Axle undid the tip of wrap, blowing the straw wrapper into Nero's ear. With two taps on the table, Axle signalled the waitress over to their spot, "Whiskey on the rocks," he exclaimed, placing the menu down.

"Do you perhaps have any melon liqueur? I'll take that along with a pint of beer while you're at it." Gai asked in a polite manner when the waitress had turned to him.

Head twitching at the sudden invasion of personal space caused by the straw wrapper, his hand reach out to swipe it aside by instinct as Nero chuckled in response. He had to find ways to entertain himself, spicing things up through potential scenarios was always welcome. Looking over to the waitress as the other two finished, "I'll have what he's having," pointing at Axle, "but without the rocks... Something to eat too, sandwich or something."

Loud banging on the bar's door was quick to bring silence to the establishment, with the shadows of pairs of feet seen from underneath the door. One of the patrons looked through a window near the door, being sure to have a quick glance so they wouldn't be seen. Flicking their head to the window to catch a look, their eyes shot wide open as soon as they recognised who it was.

"Get down! It's Rune Knights." The patron whispered at a loud enough volume, ducking their head while waving his hands down to signal everyone else.

Many other patrons did the same before stuffing some items into bags that laid by their feet, stuffing them deep into their carriers before hunching over their tables and drinks to avoid looking. One of the barmaids rolled her eyes and cautiously walked over to the door, her shoes tapping loudly on the wood plank floor. Gai looked with an eyebrow lifted whilst watching her approach the door, slowly reaching for handle before taking a deep sigh. Whatever these 'Rune Knights' were, they were obviously not very popular around these parts. Were they perhaps what they called the warriors of the Umarekawaru Clan? Nonetheless, Gai's current outfit screamed Ikinobiru, so if there was trouble he was probably going to be the first target.

"What can I get ye' boys?" The barmaid asked as she opened the door, swinging it open to reveal the quiet bar.

What stood at the door was three men dressed in long blue and white robes, holding long metal staves that stood higher than the men themselves. The white ankh insignia that was worn in the middle of their outfits was foreign to Gai, who thought for a second that the Umarekawaru might've changed their mon in this new age. One of them was quite larger than the other two, with muscles that stood out from underneath his long robes, as well as a long brown beard that covered the entirety of his lower face. In one motion, the large Rune Knight shoved the barmaid out of the way and took a step into the bar, making way for his accomplices to follow behind. His heavy steps made the establishment creak with fright, which was now easier to hear now that everyone was dead silent.

"So this is the place the captain described..." The large man mumbled to himself before wiping his mouth with the back of his wrist. "You lads stay here and make sure no-one leaves." He ordered, receiving a nodding motion from the two who blocked the doorway.

Taking another series of steps towards Axle's table, the Rune Knight looked at the three strange men with a glint of opportunity in his eyes. A wheezing cough abruptly burst out of the captain's mouth which was directed to Nero's face, stinking heavily of foul alcohol. Chuckling at his own actions, the Rune Knight continued to walk into the centre of the bar with his metal staff tapping the wooden planks, with his heavy steps causing the building to creak with fright.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. You know the drill. I know what this place is, and by the authority of the Rune Knights and the Magic Council, I order you all to hand over all magic items you have on your persons. Failure to comply will result in a fine, imprisonment, and execution on the spot." He declared in a loud grizzly voice, "Now. Hand over the goods." He finished before stomping the bottom of his staff loudly on the floor.
Simultaneously, purple barriers formed around the establishment, composed of a series of runes that Gai could read clearly. They were using Jutsu Shiki in order to keep everyone inside, with no other way of escaping unless the Rune Knights rewrote the barriers.

Wiping his face with a napkin set on the table, Nero's eyebrows narrowed as followed the knight's movement. For once, Nero didn't speak up or make any rash decisions but rather stayed idle. Ears perking up however at the mention of the Rune Knight's reason for being there, leaning in to whisper whilst still keeping his eyes on the bearded knight. "Sounds like they're from the Artefact Detainment Divison, had a run in with these fellas not too long ago..." Remembering how things went down during that day, Nero leaned a little closer to Gai as he continued: "Also, you might not want to pick the name Sibiko as your surname..."

"How fucking coincidental..." Gai noted whilst squinting his eyes at Nero, "Well, guess it's still Alexander."

The large Rune Knight opened up a large sack for the patrons to dump their stuff into, one by one, each patron tossed in an item or two into the bag. Noticing that neither Axle, Gai or Nero had moved from their spots, the large Rune Knight beckoned to one of his two accomplices. Without hesitation, one of them began marching over to their table, metal staff in hand as it swung back and forth in the air. His steps were noisy, but it blended well with the sliding of wooden seats on floor along with the numerous steps of patrons delivering their items. There was a sly look on this particular Rune Knight, something about it pissed off Gai from the inside, but he had to remain calm. Besides, he knew how he was going to get out of this particular mess.

"You lot. Didn't you hear what the commander said? He said hand all your magic items over to him now, unless you want to end up beneath the Magic Council in their prison? Or would you rather act as a message to those thinking of defying the Rune Knight's authority?" He threatened with a sadistic smile forming on his face.

Gai held the neck of his top closer to his chest as a bright red light flashed dimly within it. Bringing out his golden and silver mace from underneath the table, Gai nodded his head and seemingly complied with the Rune Knight's instructions. "I don't know about you boys, but I'm going to follow their orders. Who knows what they're able to do?"

Walking over to the larger rune knight, Gai could smell the alcoholic stench of his beard up close. Trying his best not to throw up, Gai dumped the mace into the sack before waiting for the sound of metal clashing with other metal. Sure enough, the sound brought a devilish smile to the rune knight's face even though it was covered by his beard. Gai rolled his eyes and returned to his seat, baring his very own smile as he sat back down across from Nero. The rune knight from before was still looking at Nero and Axle, knowing well that the two were going to have to comply if they ever wanted to leave the establishment.

*"Axle and Nero seem pretty violent if triggered right. I can deal with the barrier, but its the three Rune Knights that seem to be my only obstacle. Maybe if I can get these two to lash out against them, then I can get us and everyone else free. Perhaps even snag ourselves some items from their collection over there."* Gai thought as he eyed the large sack the rune knight was holding.

Breathing in a deep on before sighing as he moved up from his seat, looking at the Knight next to them with the expression of a dead man. Keeping his eyes set on the knight before lifting his arms wide up to the sides, "Ain't got no magical items. You want to inspect me, go ahead. Don't forget about the satchel around my waist, only dust in there anyway as I'm a Dust Magic user." Once again, Nero was lying about his real magic but it was an understandable one given how he did have the ability to freely manipulate the "dust". Truth was however, the items that he did have was over with his magical vehicle hidden in another village. Looking over to the bearded man with the sack, and back over his shoulder towards Axle. "Ain't got all day pal."

"Yeah yeah. Whatever. That's an excuse and a half. Hand it over leather skin or you're about to look even worse when I'm done with you." The rune knight threatened before drawing a sword from thin air, being a clear user of Requip. "I'll give ye to the count of three, we already know what this place is."

"Don't waste time." The larger rune knight ordered in a loud booming voice, "If he doesn't hand it over kill him. Besides, we're the only ones that will be able to deactivate the barrier, so he has no choice but to follow."

Taking out what appeared to be a ring of keys from his waist, Axle proceeded to twirl them in circles around his index finger, amused at the sudden change if events unfolding as he glared at the man, his voice grating and heavy even at the simplest of expressions. Keeping himself composed, he let the keys rest in his hand, putting the spinning at a dead halt before confronting the man, "1...2, 3...4..." he mumbled to himself, quickly pointing his fingers at the numerous knights laying around. Letting an exacerbated groan, he stretched his arms across the booth from their table, grabbing two pair of shot glasses and a bottle, raising the glass up the gentleman. "Come on man, Iv'e been walking for an hour and you're killing the mood, what's say we work something out," pouring both shots as he offered the knight, raising him a drink, "on me."

The Rune Knight approached Axle with an irritated look on his face and shoved the shot out of his hand, watching as the shot glass fell to the floor before snorting. "Hand the keys tough guy, or I'll cut both your of hands so you have no more need for them." The Rune Knight threatened.

"I reckon you need to take a step back sir." Gai said, tapping his fingers on the table. Looking around the room, he could see that most of the patrons were hunched over their tables, and that he could easily take out the knights with one large swing. Thing was, there was also a risk of some of the patrons getting in the way, and there would be no time to check on them once they had the opportunity to leave. *"C'mon Axle and Nero. Hurry up."*

Eyes growing wider alongside his mouth, faking a look of both overreactive shock and... pleasure? "This skin right here?" Pointing towards his chest where it showed signs of his purple skin, placing the finger at the very top before slowly having it trail downwards across his chest and stomach. Looking up at the knight as he did it, "Be my guest, be careful though, this here is all natural sugar..." Biting his lower lips as if he was trying to seduce the knight, "...Because god DAMN I'm worth it, rawr!" Spreading his arms out yet again as he took a step closer, making a short pause before suddenly bursting out laughing and turning back to his companions. "Did you see this guy's face, priceless!" Slamming his hand against the table as he went on to give out a silent laughter and leaned up against it.

*"Nero you fucking idiot. THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT. WHAT THE FUCK IS RAWR."* Gai panicked in his head as he tried to stop himself from yakking. What he watched was truly disgusting, something that made him sick to the stomach. The same thing could be said for the knight who was trying his best not to gag, but nonetheless, the rune knight persevered better than Gai did at the moment.

"Fuck it. I'm killing whatever this thing is." The rune knight declared before bring the sword he was holding above his head, ready to swing it down onto the neck of the laughing Nero.

Grabbing his fork from the side of the menu, the surface began to glow with a luminescent glow, jabbing it head-first into the sword, lodging it between the tines. Axle pressed his hand against his face, chuckling to himself, more so out of how crude the joke was than the actual joke itself, and if it was Nero's intention to get a laugh out of him, he had certainly succeeded. Grabbing the bottle from the side, he poured himself a drink, his eyes stumbling down to the one he had poured for the gentleman, now splashed across the ground. With a click of his teeth, Axle took down the shot in one gulp, letting out a sharp groan and heavy cough not a moment later, nudging his chest with a few pounds. "Looks like diplomacy's failed, so..." slowly turning his head to face the opposite direction of the knight, Axle, in a rapid daze, zipped his hand across the top of the bottle, bringing it around his side before slamming it across the side of the knights head, using a backhanded motion to strike him with such force, that the bottle broke, scattering glass and alcohol all over the booth, table and floor, with the knight coming off as completely drenched in it. Handing his keys to Gai for safekeeping, hunching over to Nero, giving him a small nod.

Finally seeing that Axle was ready to begin, Gai was happy enough to catch Axle's keys midair before tucking it safely within his gi's top. At the same time a red light flashed within his clothing and the silver and gold mace reappeared in his right hand. "You two take care of these guys, let me take of the barrier." Gai suggested before walking calmly over to the door, which still had one rune knight guarding it.

The larger rune knight gave off an irritated growl before dropping his metal staff onto the ground, reaching into the sack of magical items and picking up several weapons and items with his large hands. What he had picked up was a set of throwing knives lined with gold, pulsating with a purple glow that followed along the silver blade. He had also managed to pick up and put on a large chain with an emerald medallion, it too emitting a great amount of energy from its very core. Having some clue of what the items he had just picked up were, the rune knight held the knives in both hands before pointing two fingers at the tables closest to Axle, propelling them to sandwich the independent mage.

"Nero go help Axle, I've got this one." Gai ordered, letting the chain extend to allow the morningstar head to drop. Swirling the morningstar around, Gai was ready to take on the knight with a confident smile, getting ready to prepare for a charging attack from his opponent.

As expected, this was the Rune Knight who was using Jutsu Shiki to entrap everyone, so knocking him out simply wasn't an option, or at least an option for any other mage. Swinging the morningstar flail as hard as he can, Gai waited for the rune knight to begin charging at him with his staff, watching his opponent closely to ensure he got him in time. The rune knight threw his hand forward and another purple barrier appeared around Gai, just like the one that surrounded the building they were in. Clumsily propelling the morningstar towards the barrier, Gai could feel a surge of electricity climb through the metal of Takara and into his hands.

"Fuck." He groaned as he extracted the chain back into the handle.

Clenching his teeth hard to hold back from screaming in pain, Gai's eyes held a fire that burned viciously within his pupils. Gripping the mace once again, Gai slammed the morningstar head onto the purple barrier, dispelling the magic without the need for rewriting its properties. The purple barrier dissipated into bright red particles before drifting off into thin air, causing the rune knight's eyes to open wide in shock. Without hesitation, Gai marched right towards the rune knight and swung the mace into his stomach, causing him to drop to the floor instantly. As he tried to get back up, Gai swung the mace back down onto the rune knight's head, albeit with just enough force to knock him out rather than deal long term head damage. With this knight done for, the apparent leader of this rune knight trio was the last to deal with.

"Yeah... hahah... Sure thing bud. Ho hoo!" Wiping the tears from his face after having enjoyed himself a little bit too much for what could be considered healthy for his stomach, Nero quick for his condition as he went on raise his hands up the air in a flamboyant movement. With it, rows of jagged skeletal structures sprung through the wooden floorboards and surrounded both him and Axle. This created a makeshift protective barrier as the incoming tables turned into splinters upon impact. Lowering his hands and body in turn a low bow, causing the bones to descend just as soon as they came.

Looking back at Axle for a moment, "Nice fork-play by the way," raising a thumbs as he replied.

"Appreciate it but," breaking off a the table leg from what little remained of the furniture around them thanks to Nero, Axle, with a single-handed thrust, swung the leg across the the rune knight's leg, knocking him down on one knee before stepping off the floor. Sprinting across the numerous chairs, Axle pounced on the downed knight, rappidly stepping off his raised knee with one foot, before the swinging the other leg against his head, with slamming his knee directly across the side of his temple, sending him flying towards the bar. Exhaling a deep breathe, Axle turned over to look if the barrier was down, snaking back at Nero, "popping a boner in public? Heh, bold."

"Can we leave now? I don't really want to deal with any more trouble." Gai said as the mace he held disappeared in a flash of red light.

The Rune Knights laid on the ground defeated, patrons walking by either drunk and unfazed or worried and cautious of the three strange men. The staff distanced themselves from them as they looked from behind the counter, not wanting to get involved with the fact that three men working for the government had just been taken out. Whether this was going to be investigated or not was not a chance that many of the patrons wanted to take, prompting several of them to storm out of the establishment in fear and irritation. Gai approached the bag that the Rune Knights held the confiscated items and slung it over his shoulder, baring a sort of childish smile that reached from ear to ear.

"I know I've been taught better... But I think this kind of payment is good enough for dealing with those guys." Gai said as he walked back to Axle and Nero. "We ready to leave? We can see what they've taken and split it up between us."

"You should... you should've started with..." Holding a finger up to show that he was about to finish, a growing smile being all too clear on Nero's face: "Yeah, sure thing Mummy-man, just..."

It had taken a few moments before Nero gave his reply as the Necromancer had found himself too preoccupied now covering his own mouth; "I'm sorry but-..." Giggling before slapping his knee a few times, Nero would approach Axle as he straightened his composure whilst still trying to hold back the laughter. Raising and placing his hand on the man's right shoulder, "Y'know, I got to admit I enjoyed that one." Nodding his head to reinforce his statement before his other hand gestured towards where his two skeletal minions used to stand, "So much so that I'd let you have one of them,-" the scarred man's face glistening up even more than it already was as it soon would be evident why; "But I guess they're a little bit too old for your taste, huh Priest?" The outstretched hand came back to start slapping against his own hand and Axle's shoulder whilst Nero's wide gaze shifted rapidly between the two companions as his mouth opened once again to provoke a silent laughter.