FSE

Furry search engine

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Rain cascaded cold and biting down before Axis as he tried to push himself as far beneath the skyscraper's overhang as he could. It was just one of many jutting portions that adorned the building he'd been scaling just an hour earlier, but - when the storm rumbled in off of the ocean north of the city and brought with it a deluge - he was forced to hunker down as the wet surface would have become too slippery for even his reinforced claws to grip.

Keeping count of each floor as he ascended, he tapped the wall of the eighty-first at his back as he grumbled to himself and blinked the spray of rainwater from his eyes. The wind raced around every space of the building, but - luckily - it didn't strike him fully from where he sat. It ruffled his damp fur and loose clothing, his leather jacket flapping and popping as a sudden rush of air would slip beneath it, but it wasn't about to blow him off.

A blinding, violet bolt of lightning hissed through the curtain of rain and danced as it struck the tower of an adjacent building. Axis stared unblinking as the outline of the structure, and of Kirkkaasti City itself, was illuminated for a split second before being swallowed up once more by the storm and the dark. The thunder that followed was so resonating and deep that Axis felt the monstrous building he lingered on shudder. He peered up into the sky as more lightning pierced the bowels of the storm clouds churning overhead, and he felt his fur and whiskers stand on end as static built up in the atmosphere around him.

"Heh," he chuckled fondly. "I remember when I used to think that thunder was the dome of the sky cracking and falling apart." More lightning fell, and more thunder rumbled and pierced the air. Axis coiled his frayed, black tail around his leg and smirked. "It always sounded like glass breaking. I always watched the sky and waited to see a piece of it fall, but..."

He frowned and closed his eyes. Through his shut lids the lightning just came as a flash of light, but this time it remained and didn't fade into night again. The thunder did the same, and it hummed and drummed through the rain as the light grew brighter and brighter.

But it wasn't lightning or thunder. The light and sound wasn't of the natural world, but mechanical.

Axis peeled his eyes opened to see a portion of the clouds burst open, and wispy trails of vapor clung to whatever was descending, the rain smacking into and conforming over a shape that - as far as most would assume - wasn't there. Axis had to squint until his cheeks pinched sharply, but he eventually made out the translucent sheen of a cloaked Drop ship as it sank through the storm to land atop the very building on which he rested. A beacon light had been lit to mark a safe spot to touch down, and it was flashing like the lamp of a lighthouse and reflecting off of the glass panels of the building across from him that the lightning had struck.

A spark of anger burned in the pit of Axis' stomach as the ship unveiled its camouflage just before disappearing out of sight overhead. The logo marked on the side of the ship - a wing emblazoned against a burning sun - he'd recognize anywhere.

"Shit!" he hissed as he scrambled to his feet, lurching back as he remembered the deadly drop just a few feet out of sight ahead of him.

He could hear the thrum of the ship's engines as it landed, the hiss of the dock securing it in place so it wouldn't be blown into an explosive crash by the winds. He flung a paw out into the dark space above him to test his grip against the side of the building as rivulets of water coursed down it. His claws clacked against the concrete as he shifted his hand about, and miraculously he found some hold. He swallowed hard at how meager a hold it was, but it would have to do. Still, though, he wanted to keep from slipping so as to reach his destination.

With a grunt he ducked back beneath the overhang and peeled his sleeves back. He closed his eyes and did his best to control his breathing and get his heart to calm. He felt the energy bloom in the pit of his stomach like a burst of heat, and then it began to swirl through his body, seemingly tracing through every vain, bone, and bit of tissue to fill him up. Lights danced through his closed and fluttering eyes as he focused on the energy radiating through him. Once it reached the palms of his hands, the tips of his fingers seeming to spark like the static clinging to the air, he just latched onto it in his mind and held it. It wriggled and squirmed like a snagged fish at first, but soon it just became another part of him, like the beating of his heart or the air expanding his lungs.

He opened his eyes and let them trace over the Clout markings that glowed and pulsed a rich, deep amethyst - the color of his energy. The tattoo-like lines flowed in one big connect all over him, but there on his arms they were more numerous and congregated as he was a physical wielder and manipulator of the energy. He could shape it to his will, form it into a protective shield or launch it from his hands like a grenade. He was a warrior, a fighter, and he had no need of the subtle techniques with which Psyches wielded their energies. He'd much rather spear a target with his constructs than duel them mind to mind. It was flashy and obvious, but that part he didn't care about. It had gotten the job done well so far throughout his life.

The energy that flowed within his markings churned as he focused on the form he willed it to take. Holding his palms upright, the energy stretched forth and enveloped his hands, and it curved over his fingers and elongated to fine points once it closed over his claws. His ears flicked to the hum of the ship as its engines revved, and soon it parted the rain once again to disappear into the clouds tumbling overhead. He glanced sideways as he shot out an arm and raked across the concrete wall with his construct gauntlet. The concentrated energy sliced through the stone with ease, gouging out five deep trenches. Axis focused more to firm the construct to keep it from simply melting through the wall, and once he could sink his claws in while keeping a grip, he stepped toward the edge of the overhang and stuck his head out to peer up the remaining height of the building. There were at least nineteen more floors.

"Can't waste any more time," he grumbled darkly. "Hope I still have a good reach."

And with that he grunted and tossed his arm, sending the clawed end of his construct flying up the side of the building. His energy stretched forth and glowed faintly like a violet lifeline, which it was about to be. He couldn't afford to lose focus and have the line stretch too thin, otherwise he'd plummet down the eighty one floors to splatter against the sidewalk. Gritting his teeth, he forced that cheerful scenario from his mind and whipped his hand back. Through the link of his energy, he felt the claws latch onto the concrete and sink in a good four or five inches. He held it firmly in mind and in actuality, and he didn't risk a look down as he squealed inwardly and jumped out from under the overhang.

Gravity seemed to yank him down for a moment, but then he was just dangling there in midair with the anchoring line of his energy pulled taut. The wind plowed out from around the building and tossed him like a ragdoll, but he paid neither it nor the rain any mind as he tugged his violet energy back into himself, thereby grappling up the side of the building with relative ease.

The roar of the wind as he ascended was deafening, but still he managed to pick up the hiss of the rain water as it struck his energy and evaporated. It steamed as well, like throwing water onto a fire, which he hadn't anticipated. It added a bit of extra cover for him, but he doubted that anyone would be able to spot him through the rain given how fast he was going and how dark it was. If only he could suppress his energy's glow.

Up ten floors he went before he spotted his claw above sticking into the wall. He braced himself for the shock he was about to receive when releasing the construct and having nothing tethering him to the building. He'd have to be quick and launch another grapple from his other hand; otherwise he'd be blown akimbo off into the night. Even as his energy line dwindled to a few yards he prepared his next construct. The energy bloomed and enveloped his left hand dangling by his side, and then he was at the end of his rope. He released the previous claw but continued to soar upward from his gathered momentum. His stomach heaved as he climbed unaided, and he launched his other claw just as gravity and the wind began to yank him down and off to the side. The amethyst line stretched off, and soon he had another sound hold, rocketing upward past another eight floors before his line ended and he shot up past the roof in a blur of flapping clothes and whipping tail and limbs.

He had anticipated the roof to be guarded, but he hadn't anticipated the weather to turn so harsh and unforgiving. No one dared dwell atop the building in the current conditions, and - with much relief - he shot out another energy grapple and pulled himself safely down to land behind the hydraulic dock that had secured the ship he'd spotted earlier.

Taking stock of his surroundings, he spotted the door that led inside just a few yards away. The roof was riddled with air conditioning units, pipelines, vents, and - in the center - an enormous glass, domed skylight. It was tantalizingly beautiful and just looking at it brought up the fondest feelings within Axis. A warm glow emanated through the bubble, and like a moth drawn to a flame, he wished to get closer to it. It held an odd and transfixing power over him, and the longer he stared the more his mind seemed to cloud. It was such an odd sensation, and it was familiar too somehow; the pulsing, amber radiance - he'd seen something just like it, but what? He was finding it difficult to remember now that he'd drifted out from behind the cover of the dock and gotten so close to the dome. He was finding it difficult to do anything else but walk toward that light...

Suddenly, as he was but a few feet away, his fur once again stood on end as if another lightning strike was about to touch down right over him. However, instead of coming from the atmosphere, the buildup of energy came from inside him. The closer he got to the amber dome the stronger it built up within his body. Every muscle seemed to be filled to bursting with the raging pressure, and even his Clout markings began to react violently, spilling excess energy from him and flashing harshly like warning lights.

He stared dumbly, unable to react, as an arc of yellow energy leaped from the dome and shot toward him, and without his bidding an arc of his own amethyst energy leaped out of his core and intercepted it. They stuck in midair with an explosive CRRACK, and he was blown backward by the blast of the colliding forces. He slid to a stop on his back a good distance away, the standing water on the roof seeping through his clothing and the rain water hissing and spurting steam as it struck his body with his energy still lingering over him protectively.

Lying there Axis' mind immediately cleared and he instantly knew what had happened and that he was a fool. The amber energy was unmistakable now that his thoughts weren't clouded by its influence. He sat upright with a grunt and grinned thankfully to the sheen of violet that cloaked his body. His energy had reacted of its own accord to protect him, and now it had clad him in a shell that was impenetrable to the Psyche influence that had just about ended him...again.

Stupid, he thought vehemently to himself as he reinforced his barrier. I should have done this first thing. He peered warily at the dome once again, and he was suddenly overcome with the want to smash it and let the energy stored within it extinguish all at once. "You've gotten stronger, Edge. Powering your building with your own energy; not to mention whatever else you're planning to do."

Axis knew that power. It belonged to the target he was after, the target that he'd spent so many years of his life training to free himself from.

"I'm coming for you," he hissed. "First though..."

He aimed a finger toward the dome and concentrated his energy to a fine point at the end of the digit, and like a bullet he shot the marble sized orb of power at a spot low on the dome. It wavered as it was about to strike the glass, seeming to freeze in midair, but with a push from Axis will it sliced through the repellant force of the amber energy and burned through the glass. Immediately a small fountain of the yellow power gushed from the hole to evaporate into the air like billowing dust.

Axis black hair whipped about his face as he smirked at Edge's reserves leaking away, and then he slipped toward a large vent shaft and pried off the cover, ignoring the door leading inside entirely.

* * *

"How go the preparations, Saecon?" Edge asked eagerly, a much too enthusiastic smile revealing his sharp, ivory fangs.

The Orozlaon (a proud race of Lion-like humanoids) lingered over his lead researcher's shoulder as he typed away at the control panel, his retractable claws tapping on the glass screen as he worked furiously yet calmly. Saecon, a Berdirianj (a race with both canine and feline characteristics), pressed his lips flat on his coyote-like muzzle while bobbing his tufted ears, his diamond pupils retracting into thin specks as he read over the information passing before his eyes.

"The readings indicate that the power levels are stabilized. The regulators are holding steadily, and there's no risk of the catalyzing process breaking down the amplification crystals prematurely." Saecon grinned satisfactorily back at his employer. "I've been working nonstop since you notified me of the situation last week, and I've left no margin for error."

Edge cocked an eyebrow at the young scientist, his tail twitching like a metronome at his heels. He pinched his goatee-like mane between his fingers and twisted, turning around and facing the machinery at his back.

It was an iron cylinder big enough for a man to stand within. It was supported in the center of the research facility by a hydraulic lift, pipes and chords and hoses spilling out from underneath it and connecting it to the various machines used to monitor every reading and reaction that may occur within it. Edge traced his eyes over the hourglass-like shape connected to the top of it, and he grinned at the glass container that housed the reserve of his energy used to power the experiments. His amber essence pulsed like a bottled sun from above, and it glowed faintly through the transparent housings linking it to the cylinder.

"So we're all set here?"

Saecon began to nod, but it turned into a nervous twitch of his head instead as a thought crossed his mind. "Well, there's still one thing..."

The Berdirianj expected a violent reaction from Edge at any sign that all wasn't well. He shied away a little, the wheels of his chair squeaking as he shimmied back a foot or so, but the Orozlaon continued to peer unfazed toward the synthesis container in the center of the facility.

"I know, Sae," Edge chimed. "And don't worry. I've planned accordingly. We'll have what we need soon enough."

A concussive bang rattled through the roof and shuddered the many connections webbing across it. The lights in the facility flickered, and the hourglass holding Edge's energy reserves flashed white-hot for an instant before returning to how it had been. Light poured through the small port window on the cylinder as the aggravated energy wound through the lines and into the container illuminating the contents.

Edge bared his fangs as the young, placid face within was bathed in light. He knew she was alive, but he'd grown so used to seeing her lifeless and still that he'd forgotten her heart was still beating. It had been so long.

"What was that!?" Saecon shrieked. He wheeled quickly back to his control panel as the screen flashed red with new, urgent readings. He sat rigid over the panel as he read and diagnosed what was going on, but he soon relaxed as the monitors stopped flashing and the readings returned to their previous state. He let out a sigh. "I thought something had gone wrong."

"Oh no, my friend," Edge rumbled. "Everything's going according to plan."

"What do you..."

A sharp hiss spouted from above, and both Edge and Saecon flicked their heads upward and leaped back as a portion of the venting for the facility came crashing down. It struck the polished floor with a thunderous boom, the cut edges of the metal glowing orange and sending sparks cascading between Edge's feet. Saecon stared fearfully at the empty box of metal, and he shrieked in terror as a being (another Orozlaon) fell from the ceiling and landed in a kneeling position with a sharp bang upon the vent.

He didn't move at first, and as frightened as Saecon was Edge seemed all the more relaxed. He watched as his employer eyed the other lion calmly with his arms crossed, and the intruder looked up with an enraged expression across his muzzle before stiffly pushing himself up and mirroring Edge's stance.

Saecon wasn't a wielder, but being around Edge for so long had given him all of the information he needed so as to tell a normal being from one who could manipulate their energies. Well, he knew what to look for, but Edge suddenly stiffening, followed by a pulse of static-like power that washed over the entire room made it clear. The wave struck the intruder, and just as it did a glowing, violet sheen rippled over his entire body and protected him from Edge's assault. If it had been an assault at all, that is. Saecon had been hit by it, but all it did was make his fur stand on end.

"Well, well," Edge chuckled hospitably. The intruder jerked as the Orozlaon stepped toward him, but he didn't make as if to attack. "It looks like you've finally found me after all of this time." He pointed daintily toward a far wall and smirked. "Did you scale the building like you did last time?" The intruder just scowled harder. "Oh, come now," Edge clucked. "You could have just taken the elevator. I assure you there wouldn't have been anyone to stop you from doing it the easy way."

"Like I believe that," the intruder growled. "An entire one hundred floor building for just you and your trained dog here? Nice."

It was true, though. Saecon had been told that Edge had other beings under his employment, but - as far as he knew - the tower facility here in Kirkkaasti only had a few floors dedicated to ethereal and energy wielding research, synthesis and core regulator technology development and testing as well. However, most of those fields were experimental, and Saecon was the only being - other than Edge himself - who had any hand in working in them within the company.

When the Orozlaon pulled Saecon from the pit of his old life developing self-sustaining ether engines for Sky-ships and other vehicles, offering him the top research position within Icarus Inc. and allowing him to pursue his true interests, he couldn't refuse. Sure, him being the only one dedicated to his work was suspicious as the topic was incredibly complex, but when Edge's true reason for hiring him came to light he understood why no one else worked with him. No one else could work with him. They probably would have refused had Edge asked anyway.

The intruder took his eyes off of Edge and peered toward the cylinder in the middle of the room. Edge shifted uneasily, but he stayed where he was. Saecon scooted further back in his chair toward the control panel at his back.

"She in there?" the intruder asked rudely.

"Of course; otherwise she'd be dead."

"You can't keep her in this state forever."

Edge chuffed sharply. "Oh? Well, I could if I wanted, but I don't plan on doing that."

The intruder froze midstride and tilted his head as he surveyed Edge. "What's the alternative?"

Edge chuckled. "You know very well what the alternative is." A deep, hearty thump resonated through the facility as Edge beat his chest once over his heart. "Life, my friend."

The intruder's face seemed to draw more shadows to it as his muzzle dipped into another frown. "You're insane."

"On the contrary..."

"You've tortured her enough by letting her spirit linger here when she should have passed on," the intruder growled. "She had a life, but you ended it along with..."

"Their deaths were not my fault!" Edge bellowed, his hackles bristling angrily.

"It was your fault entirely, brother!"

Saecon froze. His hand lingered over the button that would send out an energy pulse to shatter the intruder's protective shield and immobilize him, but this news came as a surprise and he found that curiosity kept him from going any further. Brother? Edge told him he had a brother and of the terrible incident that had taken place years ago when his younger sibling had trifled with ethereal powers beyond his understanding and killed their parents, maimed their younger sister, and then fled. Here, now, the younger brother was accusing Edge of the fault?

"You know nothing of what you speak, you insolent whelp!"

The intruder just shook his head as Edge began to tremble with fury.

"What you were after was unattainable, Edge. You sacrificed our parent's lives and tore out our sister's spirit! And for what?"

Edge's voice boomed pompously about the facility. "Eternal life!"

The intruder sniffed arrogantly. "More like eternal suffering, Edge, for both us and our sister. However, unlike us, she can pass on. And I intend to give her that luxury."

Saecon squeaked in terror as the air all around seemed to quiver. Edge stood rigid and stooped, his body becoming like a mirage as the Clout markings that flowed over his body began to burn and shine with amber energy through his clothing. The power he was emitting was so heavy and stifling that it was difficult to breath.

"YOU WILL NOT!" the enraged Orozlaon roared.

His eyes glowed white like the sun in his skull, and he flung an arm latent with energy out toward the intruder. The other Orozlaon seemed to cower as the radiant beam of power engulfed him, and Saecon watched in horror as his energy shield splintered and cracked like glass, and then it shattered all together and he was evaporated where he stood.

Edge didn't relax even after it appeared he'd blown his brother into oblivion, and neither did Saecon. He'd never seen this side of his employer before: Murderous and malevolent.

"By the old Gods!" the Berdirianj stuttered, his body draped over his chair. He pointed to where the intruder had been standing, his arm shaking in fright. "You just killed him!"

"Impossible," Edge seethed.

"But...but he's gone!"

"No," Edge growled. He looked around, seemingly absently, and then his smoldering eyes stopped as he passed over a portion of the floor. He lifted a hand and Saecon felt the polished concrete beneath his feet begin to quake. "He's just not here yet!" He roared and pulled his arm up, and with it bucked a fragmented segment of the floor itself and a body as well.

It was the intruder! He'd been beneath them the whole time! Doing what, though?

He was alive, and he was still covered in a glistening amethyst armor of energy. Edge tossed him into the air with his Psych abilities, but that was more or less because he'd brought the floor up with him. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to grip him with his powers. As long as the environment provided objects he could utilize, however, Edge could beat him to death without having to worry about the shield that kept him from getting ahold of him or his mind. Why he wanted to do that Saecon couldn't fathom, and he just watched in shock as Edge gripped chairs, rubble, desks, and anything else that was loose that he could throw with his mind.

"Welcome, Axis!" Edge bellowed madly. "It seems you've matured in body, mind, and wielding abilities over the last century!"

WHAT!? Saecon gasped inwardly. Edge didn't look a day over twenty-five! Could what Axis said have been true? Did...did Edge steal the life-force of his family to lengthen his own vitality? And Axis was the same?

The enraged Orozlaon's outstretched hands quivered as he concentrated, and he dropped them sharply, a tumult of vents from the ceiling shrieking as his Psych powers yanked them down. Axis' own Clout markings glowed brightly as he tossed up an arm, and the metal cascading down upon him froze in midair before he was crushed.

"Well now!" Edge cackled. "First an ethereal Avatar to distract me, and now psychokinesis!? You've thoroughly impressed me!" He roared again and flung his arms to the sides, and with the movement the vents Axis held over his head were swept across the facility to crumple against a far wall.

Axis lifted his face, and Saecon swallowed hard as he saw the lion's eyes smoldering a rich, pure violet aura. "Like you said, brother, I've...grown!" He launched himself forward, his arms flashing as purple energy shot out like battering rams, but Edge simply smacked the attack aside with his hands. The two bolts veered off and bombarded through adjacent walls, and Axis leaped over a heavy, metal desk that his brother had thrown to knock him across the facility. It squealed as it scraped across the floor, and Saecon nearly leapt to his feet as it hit a thick band of cables and flipped end over end, tumbling straight toward the synthesis chamber and...

"Ehja'!" Saecon screamed.

Both battling Orozlaons stopped dead and snapped their heads toward the cylinder. The desk continued on its path, and Saecon clasped his eyes shut as all of his time, research, and care was about to be destroyed.

There was a rending, piercing shriek that made the Berdirianj's skin crawl, but there wasn't a crash or boom of impact. He warily looked to see that the desk had been ripped in two, and the shredded halves had passed by the cylinder and the child inside. Edge and Axis stood motionless, their chests heaving and their arms extended toward their sister protectively.

The air began to quiver and hum. No, the entire facility was thrumming; Saecon felt the building begin to shake. He looked to Edge, and the lion's Clout markings were burning so bright that he appeared to be made of light itself. His white fur, mane, and hair whipped about as if he was standing in the full throws of a vortex, and when he spoke his voice seemed to be everywhere at once.

"You nearly destroyed eighty years-worth of blood, sweat, and tears. You nearly cost me everything!"

Axis wasn't perturbed in the slightest by his brother's daunting display of power. In fact, he seemed perfectly calm, albeit unsettled. Saecon was just as disturbed by Edge. This man wasn't who he thought he worked for. This wasn't the man who visited his time-frozen sister every single day, who would peer into that tank at her slumbering form and cry relentlessly. No, this wasn't that man.

Saecon didn't know who Edge had become. Axis did, however.

"Your power has gotten to your head. It's tainted you," he said boisterously, standing tall. "You tell yourself that all of this is meant to save her, but you know - you know - that's just a delusion of your own, warped mind."

"Saecon," Edge growled. Saecon felt his mind flutter drunkenly for a moment, and then he was looking at Edge.

"You've known all along what it would take to bring her back," Axis continued. "But, obviously, you're too frightened to accept the truth of it! Too selfish to let it go!"

Saecon, do it!

The researcher stared dumbly toward his employer for a moment, wondering where his voice was coming from as he hadn't spoken. Then he gritted his teeth as the voice boomed throughout the confines of his mind, ricocheting through every space and corner of who he was. Edge had penetrated his thoughts. He said he'd never do that. Saecon didn't like the feeling of it. The defilement of the act left his skin crawling.

NOW, YOU FOOL!

He didn't budge, but then his body was racked by an agonizing shock, and he began to move without his own consent. His eyes widened as the pain stretched hot and biting throughout his limbs, and his arm whipped out and smacked harshly against the button that would launch the energy pulse to immobilize wielders and their abilities. He thought this feature of the facility to be odd at first seeing as how Edge was a wielder. However, he had deemed it a necessary security measure as their research would be highly sought after, and other companies would go to any length to acquire their findings; hiring wielder mercenaries to steal it, more than likely. As unsettled as he was by the generator, Edge assured Saecon that the wavelength of his energy didn't match that of others and it wouldn't have any effect on him.

Well, he was wrong. Saecon then realized what Axis had been doing before Edge had yanked him up out of the floor. He must have been recalibrating the pulse generator that was nestled in the floor beneath their feet so it would catch Edge off guard. Indeed, the hole from where the floor had been pulled up was right next to the machine.

The pulse exploded out from the floor and rippled throughout the facility like a wave. Saecon felt his fur stand on end again as it passed through him without any side effects, but Edge and Axis immediately fell to their knees. Saecon was shocked by how instantaneous and savage the pulse was to them. It was as if they'd been plugged into an outlet and had their power chords yanked out. The once brilliant lights of their churning Clout markings went black, their eyes faded back to normal, and it was everything they could do just to keep from collapsing completely.

Then a shrill, popping crack emanated from above. Saecon lifted his gaze from the two powerless Orozlaon, and his blood seemed to flash-freeze as he laid eyes on the hourglass that held Edge's reserve energy that would have powered the synthesizing process to resurrect Ehja', but that was also keeping her alive and in stasis.

A spider web of white cracks was racing through the glass. The energy within the container was pulsing and churning madly, and Saecon could feel the heat of it blistering across his face with each violent reaction. Edge lifted his head weakly to the sight, and his eyes seemed to bug out of his head as his stores began to seep through the cracks and sputter into the air like wafts of dust. Still, the glass stayed together somehow.

"N...No!" Edge gasped as he lifted a quivering hand toward his power ebbing away.

Axis chuckled weakly and lifted his own hand, and his Clout markings flashed faintly as a bead-sized orb of energy wavered on the end of his finger. "Y...Yes," he gasped. The little orb shot like a bullet toward the splintering glass, and when it struck the container the facility was immediately shrouded in a hot, blinding light.

Saecon thought he'd been deafened. Surely such a violent reaction brought about an explosion of some sort, but...No, he opened his eyes to blink the spots away, and he could hear the faint tinkle and clack of glass as it rained down. The room all about him was bathed in warmth and golden light, and when he lifted his eyes to where the hourglass of energy had been his breath was stolen by the wondrous sight.

A nimbus of sparkling, violet and amber energy coiled like a fog in midair above the cylinder where the hourglass once hung. The spectacle was so radiant and overwhelmingly beautiful, like staring into the bowels of the universe and losing yourself in the stars and galaxies that stretched on and on into eternity. It flashed and pulsed, raised a soft breeze that trickled through Saecon's fur like gentle, caressing fingers, and then - as if both energies grew tired of fighting one another - they swirled together into a ruddy, earth brown. Another flash enveloped the facility, and Saecon shrieked and covered his eyes again. When he looked back the nimbus was a divine, swirl of golden light that sank in the air as if too heavy to stay afloat. It fell around the cylinder, the port window spouting bright, dancing lights as they flickered inside, and then it simply dispersed.

Saecon stared in awe of what had happened, the room about him completely and eerily silent. Then he jumped, scooting madly in his chair as his monitors and control panels began to chime all at once. He quickly wheeled himself back and draped himself over the controls as he read out the data and readings that were trailing across the screens.

He couldn't believe it.

"Sir! Sir, please! You have got to stop for a moment and...and look..." He looked over his shoulder expecting Edge to be there like he always was, but..."Oh no."

The two Orozloan brothers were draped limp and lifeless across the floor where they'd fallen from the energy pulse. Saecon padded cautiously over to the bodies, but he froze on the spot once he realized what had happened. Their arms were still outstretched toward the cylinder holding their sister, but their Clout markings were just as dark as their eyes that stared unblinking into the air. They were dead. Somehow their energies had been drained, or...Saecon peered curiously toward Axis' still face. The lion had been smiling.

Another flash of light poured out of the cylinder containing Ehja', and the monitors went mad. Saecon stared sadly at the two dead brothers, but then he returned to his monitor and found that the life sign readings that always indicated Ehja' was brain dead had changed. Her brainwaves were fluctuating and indicating thought processes. He stared in amazement at the charts before his eyes, and then he froze. What was that noise? A soft, muffled knocking?

He ticked his head around. It was coming from the cylinder.

Saecon peered at Edge and Axis, and he shook his head. He couldn't believe it as it was completely unfounded by any scientific explanation, but he'd seen it with his own eyes and he couldn't dispute the truth.

He realized what Axis had meant by saying Edge had known what it would take to bring Ehja' back, that he was too selfish to let it go: He would've had to relinquish what he'd stolen. There was no other way around that, and Axis had figured it out.

"You gave it back. Edge took part of her life and energy, and you got caught in the crossfire and part of it was in you too." He peered at the cylinder again. "You gave her life after all, even though you were the one to steal it from her in the first place. You were a fool, Edge."

The knocking continued. Saecon was afraid to approach and peek into the port window, but eventually his need to see the truth grew too powerful to bear. He slipped anxiously over, placed his hands on the cool metal container, and lifted himself up so as to see inside.

She was awake. Her golden eyes were wide and they peered up through the window and straight into Saecon's heart. He couldn't believe it. He'd spent so long attempting to figure out how to synthesize energy and revitalize damaged cells within a being, and here it had happened in the blink of an eye without any mechanical means or stimulation. Like a wielder's ability, the power had been willed to happen, and so it did.

Ehja' was alive.

The fragile little lion smiled up at him even though Saecon knew she didn't know who he was. He typed in the code to release the locks on the container, and they spouted steam and hissed as the hydraulic lift tilted the container back and the door popped open a crack. He had to heft it the rest of the way open, and once he did he calmed himself and slipped to the side of the padded interior. Ehja' must have been around twelve years old when Edge had stolen her spirit, and he'd kept her that young by infusing his own energy into her for years. She hadn't aged at all. Saecon doubted she even knew what had happened.

"Hello," he said sheepishly. "I'm so happy that you're okay."

He'd spent so long making sure that the child stayed safe and protected. To him she felt as much like a sibling to him as she had been to Edge and Axis.

She grinned up at him. Her frail little body looked so helpless lying there, almost like a baby bird that had fallen from its nest. He unbuttoned his jacket, and she giggled weakly as he draped it over her.

"Thank you, Sae," she trilled, her voice as gentle and sweet as a spring breeze.

Saecon was taken aback. "You...you know me?"

"Of course!"

"But...but how?"

She tilted her head slightly as she pondered, it sinking into the cushion beneath it and making her braided hair stick up.

"I dunno. I...I just do."

"Oh," was all Saecon could manage. He wasn't even going to attempt to try and understand.

Carefully he helped her to sit up, and she let her eyes rove over the mess that was the facility. She found the bodies of her brothers, but she didn't seem upset when Saecon broke the news to her.

She grinned at him which took him by surprise. "They're not dead," she sighed. "Not really. Axis did the right thing."

"What about Edge?"

Her muzzle tweaked into a grin. "He did too...in the end. They live in me now."

Saecon scratched the back of his head. This whole spiritual thing never made sense to him. "They...they turned into you?"

"Kinda," she said.

"Well, this is going to take a lot of explaining. The heads of Icarus are going to want to know the truth about what happened to their founder. I mean...by the Gods, I have to call the authorities." He gasped. "The bodies! Oh Gods, oh..."

They were gone. Edge and Axis bodies had just vanished from where they lay.

"Wh...where'd they go!?" Saecon stuttered, turning to Ehja'.

The little lion just shrugged innocently.

"Are you not upset by all of this?"

Her little shoulders bounced. "Clearly not as much as you. Besides, I've had a lot of time to myself to think and watch. I can't say I'm surprised. I'm just thankful Edge let his fear go when it counted."

Saecon swept a hand through his hair and massaged his temples. "I need a drink."

"Me too, and I'm hungry and cold. Can I have a sandwich?"

He stared in bafflement at the little girl who he thought would never truly live again, and here she was demanding food from him. He couldn't begin to make sense of what had transpired, but he knew a few things for certain: He needed a new job; he needed to open his mind to new and confusing ideologies, and he now had a child to take care of. It didn't seem fair to him, but it hadn't been fair for Ehja' either. He'd promised Edge long ago that he'd do whatever was within his power to see that little girl safe and happy again, and - although he was scared - he intended to see that promise through. What would happen would happen. The events he'd just lived through and witnessed were testament to that.

He had to move forward.

It was all that he could do.