The Tourney of Champions!!!

Benkei watched as the two were finally revealed , one being named rally and the other beastman named edge "hmmmm well hello you two, now that we have calmed down and introduction are out of the way can we please see the matter at hand" Benkei slammed his fist on the table "The traitor nearly killed us but we must be more on guard than ever, who knows how far that monsters influence has spread! we need to rest up and gear up for we know our mission and council members you now know your duties to your people now shut up and get to it !" He looked at everyone and sighed "I just want lady persephone and well don't we all ?" Benkei would step out the tent and go towards van "You come here now we need to talk !"

Conference Tent

Francis would walk fold his arms, agreeing with what Rally had said. "Aye! I'm with Rally! We must avenge our Galatia! War with Duran is the only option!" He'd have a fierce look in his eyes. It was as if he were dying to battle the foes he had crossed paths with earlier. Orion would sigh yet again, closing his eyes."I truly wish there was an easier way. But I'm going to have to agree. We must declare war on Duran." Leo would look down at Edge, grabbing him and helping him onto his feet. "Stand brother! I cannot have you like this! I know that we could have done things for our king and city, but it isn't too late to regain our glory!" He'd then look to Benkai, who was speaking his heart, with a smile on his face. As he walked out Leo would add additional comments, "Councilmen, heed his words! We shall begin to form our strike! Rally, Edge, Orion and Francis! I need you four more than ever! As for you Nir, work with Benkai. Find our Oracle! I believe in you!"

Nir would nod, "Understood General Leo!" He'd then turn around with Stella, walking out after Benkai. As Van walked towards the tent, he was approached by Benkai. "Oh man! I smell some questions!" Van would stop, "What business do we have?" Nir and Stella would finally catch up to Benkai. "I smell even more questions now!"

Comference Tent

As Benkei would speak his mind, Rally would look up at Leo. "Who is this man?" She would say as we was acting demanding as if he were in charge. Leo would briefly mention he was a fighter in the tournament that decided who would stand by Persephone as one of her guardians. After Benkei had left and Leo had helped Edge to his feet, Leo would add to Benkei's last words. "I will avenge my people. Duran will regret the day they invaded our lands." Edge would speak in a violent tone.

Medical Tent

Shinji had started walking back to the tent. He would open up the curtains to reveal his friends laying in wait for him. Remi would turn towards Shinji who had just entered with tear filled eyes. Anna too was crying, while Biggs and Koji were in fear. "What's going on!!?" Shinji would shout as he rushed over to them and there he saw Virgil sitting upright. The reason Shinji didn't notice at first was because he was too focused on Remi when she turned around. "Vir.. Virgil? You.. you good man?" Shinji would say with shakiness in his voice. Virgil would look at Shinji with a blank expression. He would then raise to his feet.  "I thank you all for nurturing this body. I will soon be reborn. But I no longer need your services. I have full control of this vessel now that the seal was broken." Virgil had spoken but it wasn't his voice. It was a voice unheard of before. The room was silent. Virgil or whoever was in control of him would begin to walk passing everyone along his way. Koji would bark the entire time but it didn't phase him. The only one to react was Shinji. He would grab at Virgil's shoulder. "Wait a damn se-" before Shinji could finish his sentence he was thrown by the dark aura Virgil possessed. "Hmm? You say say something?"  Virgil would say turning his head a little. He turned back around and left the tent.

Benkei would approach Van and look at him "I know you have information on the oracle van as well as the location's of those monsters that took her " He Looked at kuro "I know you know what they are planning and have some other information about them, you two need to tell us everything you know and fast so come with me we will be departing tommorow" Just as he spoke he would notice virgil walking out the tent with his wounds healed "Hey virgil my good friend your awake and fine" He would attempt to approach virgil but then stop dead in his tracks immediately ".....Van you need to get as many people as you can away from this area along with the council members, find leo and tell him something is wrong with virgil " He would stand his ground look at virgil "You are no virgil are you? what did you do to his body and mind?" He could see the dark energy coming off from his body

Town Square

Van would rub the back of his head. "It's like I can never catch a break." Kuro would hover ahead of Van. "Look, all we know is that the Oracle will be used to open a gate. The guys that captured her all serve-" Kuro'd instantly pick up the vile aura nearby. He'd slowly hover back to Van's side, turning to him. "Yes, I know."

Stella and Nir would walk up to Van, watching Benkai walk up to Virgil. They'd both immediately detect the same darkness emanating from Virgil. "What-What is that?" Stella would step back, slightly behind Nir now. "Not again." Benkai realized that Virgil had not been himself. He'd command Van to warn Leo and the others, to help clear the square. But the white haired young man wouldn't budge. Stella would take it upon herself to take on the task, "I'll go warn Leo!" Nir would nod, "Okay Stella! I'll be here-" Van would suddenly cut Nir off, "In your state, you can't do anything. Clear the town square out. I'll handle this." As much as Nir wanted to object, Van was right. He'd nod and run off with Stella, each going their own way.

"Monk, you can hold your own right?" Van would step forward, unsheathing his shortblade.

Town Square

Virgil had emerged from the tent only to be detected by Benkei and company no sooner later. Benkei would attempt to greet Virgil but noticed the dark aura seeping from his body. Along with Van, Stella and Nir they would take caution. Virgil would then look at them. Nir and Stella would run off in opposite directions while Van and Benkei would stay. "Well well, what do we have here? You seem like you are itching for a fight." He would tilt his neck to side as if he were cracking it.

Benkei watchedas everyone was given a job and he stood beside van "Nir hurry back this is something im going to need you for the force inside virgil is stable but it has a mind this time its not berserk" Benkei would look at van as he asked him if he could handle his own "Yes i can but not for long my stitches my open up again if anything so i can not go all out " His armed glowed and the twilight breakers appeared again "I um didn't call for these they seem to react to him only and i do not know why " He stood with his fist up and one pointing at virgil

"Hmph." Van held the shortblade out, his other arm concealed in his crimson cloak. "A fight!? Oh! You're asking for it!" Benkai would mention his stiched wound. If he put in too much effort, it'd open up again. "I'll attack first..." Van's eyes would divert from Virgil for a moment. The mysterious gauntlets that would appear on Benkai's hands would catch his interest. "Where....Nevermind. Just look for an opening." In a blur, he'd quickly move in towards Virgil. Upon reaching him, he slash horizontally at his chest.

Nir would be escorting people away from the area. He'd gather the masses and direct them towards the city walls. Stella would just be arriving at the main tent. "General Lionsworth!!! We require assistance! Please!" Leo and the rest of the men in the tent would turn to her. "What is it? What's wrong?" She point in the direction of Virgil. "There seems to be a young man generating a dark magic!" The head councilman would stand from his seat, "Dark magic!? Leo, bring that man to us!!!" The general would nod and motion Francis, Orion, Rally and Edge to follow. "Come!! Let's see where exactly this dark magic is coming from!" The beastman would move out with Orion and Francis.

"Ahh now that glow is interesting but... familiar" Van would rush in to slash Virgil on his chest. Unfortunately for Van, the slash did not have an effect. It was stopped by the dark aura surrounding Virgil. "So you will be the first to face me?" The dark aura would begin to surround him and enclosing him. The short blade was still stuck on Virgil's chest with the darkness. Now as the darkness closed in on Van, spears of darkness would emerge striking at Van.

Benkei would watch as van had disappear and reappeared in front of virgil "Hmmm wow he is fast" Van would appear to slash at virgil but his blade would get stuck on virgil chest as the dark aura would seep out his body. Benkei would watch as the darkness would attempt to attack and consume van"No you don't!!!" Benkei would appear behind virgil with his fist glowing bright as the sun and would swing his fist on the back of his neck as the gaunlets grew wings and claws slashing virgl

Virgil's initial attack had continued onto attack Van while Benkei would appear behind him. He attempted to stop him. "You wish to challenge me as well?" Virgil would force his dark aura backwards against Benkei.

Although Van's attack had connected, it didn't meet Virgil's flesh. It met pure darkness that seeped from his body. The dark aura would catch the blade, holding it against his chest. Sharpened tendrils would then shoot out from that same aura, aiming directly for Van. "......" Van would swiftly unsheathe his main weapon of choice, Devourer. During the unsheathe, he'd slash the tendrils, along with the darkness holding his shortblade. The single movement would free himself, allowing him to dash away from Virgil and create some space. Devourer would vibrate as it would consume some of the magic, however, it was too potent for it to process easily. "This magic...." He'd look at Virgil, "So you must be the owner of that arm..." Kuro's small face would peek from the cloak, "I was thinking the same thing. It appears that he's using the same magic from earlier, when he was going on his rampage."

With the gust of the wind, three figures would land before Van. Leo, Francis and Orion would arrive in unision. "What is the meaning of this!?" Francis would cry out. Upon observation, Leo would realize that this magic wasn't of these lands. "What is this? You're the one from the observatory!" Stella would run into view, stopping beside Van. "Great. There goes my fun." She'd turn to the cloaked bounty hunter, "Fun? What are you, crazy?"

Benkei watched as van had attacked the possessed virgil. Benkei had attacked virgil but with no avail as he countered attacked with aura shooting out "Urgh dam it" Benkei would block the aura tendrils and he would swipe at them with his gauntlet's; tearing them apart with light energy" Van his aura is thick and has a mind of its own, i want to find a way to save virgil but i feel the only way to get to him is to get rid of that arm......cut it off van thats the objective now " Benkei would then see Leo, Francis and Orion , they looked at virgil with fear and disgust "My friends this is not his fault its that arm that was attached to him forcefully it is what remains of a demon god and its controlling him....to save virgil we have to cut it off immediately or he could lose his sanity and kill everyone!"

"Ahh there are more prey." Virgil would scan the field. The line up was quite impressive. Aside from Van and Benkei, there was Leo, Francis, Orion and Stella. Benkei had pointed out to everyone that they should be targeting the demonic arm however, Virgil would not allow it. "So you want my arm do you? Unfortunately for me I'm not complete yet so I'll take my leave." The darkness around Virgil would start to swirl around him forming a mini tornado. It didn't take long but the dark tornado had slowly faded away, Virgil however was no longer there.

Leo would squint his eyes, magnifying his sight on the demonic arm that Benkai spoke of. Van would step forward, his blade ready in his hand. "So cut it off eh? Way ahead of you." But before he could begin his next strike, he took off in a powerful vortex of darkness. Stella, again, would raise her arms, casting a protective barrier around the group. Francis and Orion would continue to watch the thrashing of darkness. Before they knew it, Virgil was long gone. "What the hell was that?" Orion would ask. Leo continued staring at Virgil's prior position, "I don't know." He'd reply. Leo would then turn to Benkai, "Benkai! I need you to explain to me what that was. This demon god you speak of, who is it? And how does that man have that?"

Orion would chime in, "General, I understand that we've been hit by a multitude of problems, like this demon god, but we have to begin sending our search parties out. The Oracle is our top priority." Stella would nod in agreement. ".....Yes, you are correct Orion. Come, let's begin dispatching search teams. Stella, once Nir returns, tell him to meet us at the square. He'll be leading a search team." Stella would nod once more, "Understood general."

Van would sheathe his sword, staring at the sky. Kuro'd hover out of his cloak and face him directly, "So are we going? Because we honestly have nothing better else to do." Van would sigh and close his eyes, "I feel like we have no choice now."

Benkei would watch as virgil would disappear and the dust cleared "Dam it!" Benkei would look at the tent that virgils friends were in and sighed "I'm sorry i could not save your friend my apologizes". Leo would then question benkei on who the demon god was and how did virgil obtain his demon arm "It is a long story my good sir but virgil was kidnapped by a unknown group and experimented on for a number of years, he arm was cut and replaced with that monstrosity". Benkei would lower his head "With the information my temple has gather , there is a cult of sorts that worship a demon god that once plagued this realm. His power was beyond this world but his body was destroyed by the twilight decendents years ago" He looked at virgil's friends and then leo " Their was also one more person that helped .......a powerful priestess much like the lady oracle herself, a relative if you will" Benkei sighed "Leo is right though she is top priority but far as i can see it we get her back, stop this war and we banish that demon back before he is completely whole again with the oracles help along with my gauntlets and nir's weapons" Benkei looked around "He won't be whole again that easy it will take some time so we must work fast"

After the during the conversation of those outside, Shinji and Biggs had exited the tent. Benkei was inclined to tell them that he was sorry that they could not help Virgil in his time of need. Shinji and Biggs would just look down in sadness but would look back up to the group ahead of them in determination. "It's alright, we already know where he's heading. We'll get him back, just like the other times." Shinjis resolve is strong! Biggs would nod in affirmation.

Leo, Orion and Francis were long gone. They were beginning to round up the search parties that would track down the Oracle. Stella would remain with Benkai and Van, waiting for Nir to return. "I pray to the good gods that you're able to locate your friend. May their light shine upon you all." Kira would suddenly run into view, joining up with the small group. "Wait a minute! Don't forget about me!" She'd stop at Stella's side. "I told papa that I'd be joining you all on your search for the Oracle!" She'd smile and hold up a thumbs up. "So it's settled!" The two girls would look in the direction of Nir, who was also walking back to the group. "We've pretty much got our search party!" Stella would nod and then turn to Van, who was a couple of meters away from them. "What about him?"

Nir smirked, "I have a good feeling he'll be working with us, right Benkai?" He'd then turn to Shinji and Biggs. "And you two, I hope you're able to find Virgil. If we manage to locate Persephone, we'll help you find him." He'd then reach into his pouch, taking out a small bracelet. "I made this when I was gathering the Galatians into the safer areas of the city. I wanted Remi to have it. I can see that she really cares about you all. It represents her love for you all." He'd hand it out to Shinji.

Benkei would look around as everyone as found their resolve and nods "Van will join us he has no choice and plus that little monster in his coat has all the information we need to search for my lady persephone" He looked at virgils friends "Make sure you stabilize him for when we bring the lady persephone back, the longer he is possessed by that beast the more powerful he will become and lose his sanity " He then ran towards leo "Leo i have a request, its about the royal families ancient library" He would sigh" I would like to look upon its books to see if i can find anything on the twilight realm and find out more about my powers as well as nir's and how we are connected"

The Galatian group of Leo, Francis and Orion had just made there way to gather the search parties. At this time Stella had wished Shinii and Biggs well as they were about to embark on their journey to find Virgil. Biggs would look flustered and could do nothing except nod his head. Shinji would turn towards the tent and was about to head back until Nir stopped him. Had also had expressed his concern on the matter of Virgil and wished them well. He had also given Shinji a bracelet that he had made. It was for Remi. Shinji without thinking had already accepted the gift. "Uhh.. thanks." Shinji would say as he would return to the tent. Benkei had told them to stabilize Virgil as quickly as possible or he could be possessed forever. Biggs would turn to Benkei, "of course! We haven't lost him yet and we won't be anytime soon. Thank you." He would then follow after Shinji to the tent.

Leo was stopped by Benkai, who questioned him about an ancient library. The beastman would slowly lower his head, "I would have gladly taken you to our library, but I'm afraid it was destroyed during Francis' rage." Orion would shake his head, remembering well what his counterpart had done. "Yeeeeah, when he's going berserk, there's not much you can do." They'd turn away and continue walking. Van, however, would manage to hear what Benkai brought up. "What do you want to know about the Twilight Realm?" He'd walk up to Benkai, Kuro hovering at his side. "And did you call me a little monster? You bastard!"

Nir would walk by both of them, Stella at his side. "We're going to gather our supplies. We should leave at dawn. When you're all ready, meet us at the Northern gates." He'd nod his head and walk off. Stella would wave, "It's best if you two got some rest." She'd walk off, joining Nir.

"Monk.....Where exactly did you get those gauntlets?"

Benkei would look at leo and sigh "Really lord Leo urgh well their is that then" nir would listen as the others had mentioned they would gather supplies for the journey to come. Benkei would nod "Yes gather any provisions and medical supplies in case of emergency and we will me u at the gate at down " Benkei would then hear van asking about how benkei had received the gauntlets and how he had wanted knowledge of the twilight realm. Benkei would ignore the little demon and answer van "Hmmm my gauntlets? you mean these " He would hold out his arm and a bright light had engulfed him as the twilight breakers would appear sprouting a angelic wing around the wrist "They did not look like this before so this appearance is just recent but these have been handed down by my temple to those worthy enough to wield them since the age of the greatest monk who had ever created them" He looked at his arm expecting it more "They say the monk was from the heavens of twilight himself and he established the very first monastery atop the great mountains where my temples lies,He crafted them with the hardest metals known to man and with a sacred holy jewel only he knew about" He waved his hand and his arm would turn to normal "If i recall the jewel was some kind of philosopher's stone or orichalcum? i really do not to know myself but i had to go to some intense training just to use them" He would then look at nir "But then they changed drastically once he pulled that blade of his out and it changed too so i figured if i could find out more about the twilight realm or even about the sacred monk of the twilight who created them i could find the answers"

Shinji and Biggs had just reentered the tent they had left. Remi was standing with her head down. Anna was sitting with Koji in her arms. Shinji would speak up now. "Are you all prepared?" The was a silence. Remi had picked up her staff from the wall and would face the two young men. She would slam her staff down with a bang. "Let's go! This time we will get him back for good!" Anna would rise with Koji jumping out from her. "I'll do everything I can to support you all!" She was extremely determined more than ever. Biggs would now intervene, "I'm glad you guys are ready but we need to prepare ourselves well. From Galtia, the Abuu Ruins will take about a week to get to by carriage. And then from there we must travel on foot for a few days in order to get to Rye Temple." "We need to prepare provisions for about 2 weeks then," Remi would add. "So Remi. You and Biggs should go and get that prepared. I'll go around the city and gather some more information about those people that attacked us." Shinji would say. "Umm.. Shinji?" Shinji would look at Anna. "What should I do?" "Uhh you can.. actually you should just focus on resting." "What!? No fair!" She would get angry and pouty and cross her arms. "Hey now.. don't get upset it's just that.." Shinji is a bit flustered in that he tried to calm Anna down. She would cut him off quickly however. "You can't keep treating me like I'm a little kid still! I'm apart of this team too right!? I'm also a survivor just as you! I want revenge for what that witch did to my grandpa... my family... my friends... my..." The tears would just roll down her face as she continued her rant. Remi and Biggs would stare as they could say nothing. "Please.. let me do something too. I can't take not doing anything anymore while you guys are risking your lives everyday." Anna would look at Shinji waiting for his answer. He would look at Biggs and then at Remi. Finally back to Anna. "Alright fine. You win. Just stop the water works." Anna would still have the pouty look on her face. Shinji would scratch his head. "Mmm.. how about you and I go look for a weapon for you and I train you?" Biggs and Remi would get shocked and simultaneously say "WHAT!?!" while Anna would say at the same time with excitement "REALLY?" "Yeah sure I'll do it why not." Biggs would now comment, "wow, I never thought I'd see the day Shinji trained anyone and it's Anna at that." "Yeah no kidding." Remi would add. Their minds were completely blown all the while Anna was dancing with joy with Koji.

Van listened to Benkai. There was much he knew about the Twilight Breakers, but he didn't know it all. ".....Megido. That monk's name is Megido. As for the Twilight Realm, it isn't heavenly at all. It's a dimension caught in between the light and darkness. Shadows are bound there, overlooked by the presence of humanity here in this world. There's nothing heavenly about it." Van would give Benkai a cold glare with his eye, the other covered by his bandaging. "I cannot explain those angelic wings on your gauntlets, but they indeed have something to do with Nir's sword. They're reacting to its power. Hold on to those, they may come in handy in the future." He'd turn around and begin walking to the meeting point.

Kuro would hover over to Benkai, "See you there monk man!" With that said, Van and Kuro would take their leave as well.